Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

The Bathroom Wes felt cold against Margaret’s legs as she pressed a towel to her bleeding face. Each time she pulled it away fresh red bloomed across the white fabric. Her reflection stared back at her through the mirror, barely recognizable. Purple spreading beneath her left øye like spilled ink Lips split and swelling. Raw scratches carved down both cheeks. When she breathed too deep, something sharp stabbed between her ribs.

None of it hurt as much as the humiliation.

Margaret’s hands trembled as she tried to clean the wounds. That woman had destroyed her. Lucia had walked into this house and for her apart like she was nothing. Like she didn’t matter. Like she was just some obstacle to be removed.

“Ria and Lucas.” Margaret’s voice cracked as she spoke to her ruined reflection. “Those little traitors brought her here.”

She’d fed those children. Bought them clothes. Tried to make them feel at home. For months, they’d sat at her dinner table, slept under her roof, smiled at her in the hallways. And the whole time, they’d been waiting for their chance to betray her.

The bathroom felt too small suddenly. Margaret pulled herself up using the sink, gasping when pain fanced through her side. Each movement reminded her of Lucia’s fists, Lucia’s rage, Lucia’s absolute refusal to let Margaret keep what was

hers

Downstairs. She needed wine. She needed something to stop her hands from shaking, to stop the root from tilting, to stop the memory of Lucia’s face twisted with fury from playing on repeat behind her eyes.

Margaret gripped the banister with both hands as she descended, each step a small agony. The house echoed around her, empty and accusing. Monica’s room upstairs still showed signs of the fight. Broken glass. Overturned furniture. Blood on the carpet.

The wine bottle sat where she’d left it this morning, back when the day had seemed manageable. Back before everything fell apart. Margaret’s fingers slipped twice before she managed to pour, the dark liquid sloshing over the rim. She didn’t bother with measuring, just filled the glass to the top and drank.

It burned going down, stinging the cuts inside her mouth. She drank anyway.

“They planned it.” The kitchen absorbed her words, gave nothing back. “Ria called her. Lucas helped her. They set this whole thing up to make me look bad.”

The more Margaret replayed it in her mind, the clearer it became. Those children had orchestrated this. They’d waited until she was alone, until Marco was at the office, until there was nobody to protect her. Then they’d brought in their mother like some avenging angel to punish Margaret for daring to take Lucia’s place.

Margaret caught her reflection in the window glass. Mascara streaked down her face. Hair matted with dried blood. She looked like someone who’d lost a bar fight, not someone who’d tried to protect her family.

Fresh tears came, hot and angry. “I gave up my whole life for this. My career. My apartment. My freedom. And they just threw me away,”

The wine glass flew from her hand before she realized she’d thrown it. It shattered against the far wall, red liquid running down the white paint like blood.

The front door crashed open.

r

Margaret’s heart jumped into her throat. For one terrifying second, she thought Lucia had come back to finish what she started. But the voice that boomed through the house was Marco’s.

“Margaret! Where the hell are you? What happened to Monica’s room?”

She tried to straighten up, to look presentable, but there was no hiding this. When Marco appeared in the kitchen doorway, his whole body went rigid.

His eyes widened. His mouth fell open. For three full seconds, he just stared.

“Who did this to you?” The question came out strangled, barely controlled.

Margaret’s carefully constructed walls crumbled. She rushed at him, collapsing against his chest, her sobs coming so hard she could barely breathe. “Lucia. Your ex-wife came here and she attacked me.”

Marco’s arms came around her, careful of her injuries. His body had gone tense, like a wire pulled too tight. “Lucia did this?” “She brought Ria and Lucas with her.” Margaret choked out the words between sobs. “They all came together. They cornered me in Monica’s room.”

“Sit down.” Marco’s voice had gone flat, dangerous. He guided her to a chair, his movements too controlled. “Tell me everything.”

Margaret fook a ranged breath and is the lies flow. She painted the scene carefully. Lucia bursting in without warning, wild- Sel and saving Margaret trying to calm her down, to reason with her to explain that Monica was safe here. Ria and

biking the door so Margaret couldn’t escape.

“I told her we could talk about this calmly Margaret let her voice shake. ‘I said we could figure out what was best for Monica together. But abe just started screaming that I had no right to an opinion about her daughter

“Then what happened?”

“She grabbed me Margaret touched her bruised face. “I tried to defend myself, but she was so strong. So angry. She threw me against the wall and just kept hitting me

Marco’s jaw clenched so tight Margaret could hear his teeth grinding.

“Ria and Lucas just watched.” Margaret’s tears flowed genuine now, fueled by rage and humiliation. “They stood there while she beat me. They didn’t help. They didn’t try to stop her. They wanted this to frappen.”

“Where’s Monica?”

The question hung in the air like a blade.

“She took her.” Margaret’s voice broke completely. “Lucia took her and left. She left me lying on the floor bleeding and took our daughter”

Marco’s hands curled into fists. The knuckles went white.

“She said other things too.” Margaret kept going, each lie adding fuel to the fire building behind Marco’s eyes. “She said you were pathetic. That you’d failed as a husband and a father. That she’d make sure you never saw any of your children again.” Something shifted in Marco’s expression. The anger that had been simmering suddenly went cold, sharp, focused. “She attacked you in our house.” Each word came precise, controlled. “She turned our children into accomplices. She kidnapped Monica.”

“I tried to stop her.” Margaret reached for his hand. “I tried to protect our family. But I couldn’t fight all three of them.”

Marco stood abruptly. He walked to the window, staring out at the driveway where Lucia’s car had sat hours ago. His shoulders were rigid, his breathing too steady.

“Marco?” Margaret’s voice came small. “What are you going to do?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just stood there, silent and still, like he was calculating something.

Then he pulled out his phone.

“Louis.” Marco’s voice carried no emotion. “The timeline just changed. We need to move now.”

Margaret watched as her husband spoke in careful code. Words like “retrieval operation” and “permanent resolution” and ” acceptable risk factors.” The clinical language made her stomach twist.

“What’s happening?” She asked when he ended the call.

Marco turned to face her. His expression made her blood freeze.

“I’m ending this.” The simplicity of the statement was somehow more frightening than any threat. “Lucia crossed a line she can’t come back from.”

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