Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 137

Chapter 137

Chapter 137

The i

interconti buzzed at exactly right o’clock, its sharp sound cutting through the peaceful evening like a blade Lucia was in the kitchen with Monica, watching her daughter pick at a bowl of soup, when Alexander appeared in the doorway. “Marco’s at the front gate His voice came quiet, controlled. “Security is asking they should let him through.” Lucia’s hands went cold. “Don’t let him in. Tell them to call the police if he refuses to leave.”

“He’s already forcing his way through.” Alexander’s jaw lightened. He followed a delivery truck it.”

The doorbell rang once. Twice. Then came the sound of fists hammering against the heavy wooden door

“Lucia!” Marco’s voice carried through the house, loud and wild. “I know you’re in there! Open this door right now!

Monica’s spoon clattered against the bowl, her face draining of color. “He’s hers, He came for me.”

“Nobody is taking you anywhere.” Lucia wrapped her arms around her daughter, feeling Monica’s whole body trembling.” Alexander, take the girls upstairs. Keep them there no matter what happens.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with him.” Alexander’s protest came firm.

“Please. I don’t want them to see this. I don’t want them to hear what he might say.”

The pounding on the door grew louder, more violent. “LUCIA! Open this door or I’ll break it down!”

Lena appeared at the kitchen entrance, her eyes wide with fear. “What’s happening?”

“Take Monica upstairs.” Alexander’s voice shifted to something gentler as he looked at his daughter. “Both of you go to Lena’s room and stay there. No matter what you hear down here, you stay put.”

“But Dad…” Lena started.

“Do what your father says.” Lucia forced strength into her voice even though her hands were shaking. “Stay in your rooms. Everything will be fine.”

As Alexander guided the girls toward the stairs, Lucia walked to the front door with heavy steps. Through the frosted glass panels, she could see Marco’s shadow pacing back and forth like a caged animal ready to attack.

She opened the door to find her ex-husband standing there, his face twisted with rage and something that looked like madness. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and his eyes held a wild gleam that made her step backward instinctively.

“Where is she?” Marco demanded, pushing past Lucia into the house without invitation.

“Where is who?”

“Don’t play games with me! Where’s Monica? Where’s my daughter?”

“Monica is safe. That’s all you need to know.”

Marco spun around to face her, his hands clenched into fists. “Safe? You call kidnapping her safe? You call attacking Margaret and stealing my child safe?”

“I didn’t kidnap anyone. I rescued my daughter from a toxic situation that you created.”

“You beat up my wife! You attacked her in her own home!”

ľ

Lucia’s laugh came harsh and bitter. “Your wife? That’s what you’re calling her now? The woman who helped you destroy our family?”

“Margaret told me everything. How you came to the house with Ria and Lucas. How you planned this whole thing. How you attacked her like some kind of animal.”

“Margaret is a liar. Just like you.”

Marco stepped closer, invading her personal space. The smell of whiskey hit her nose. He’d been drinking. “I want Monica back. Right now. She belongs with me.”

“She belongs where she’s loved and cared for. Not in that house of horrors you’ve created.”

“That house is her home!”

“That house is where my daughter was cutting herself while your precious Margaret was too drunk to notice!” Lucia’s voice rose with emotion she couldn’t contain. “That house is where Monica was starving herself and having panic attacks and believing that nobody loved her!”

Successfully unlocked!

“That’s your fault! You’re the one who abandoned mer!

“I didn’t abandon anyone! You threw me away, remember? You chose Margaret over seventeen years of marriage and three

Chapter 137 children!

Marco’s face went-red with fury. “I chose happiness over a cold, bitter woman who never appreciated what she had!”

What I had?” Lucia’s voice cracked with disbelief. “I had a cheating husband who was planning to leave me for two years!! had a man who hid money from me and led to my face every single day!”

“I gave you everything! A beautiful home, financial security, social status!”

“You gave me scraps while you saved the real intimacy for your mistress!”

Marco raised his hand as if to strike her, but Lucia was faster. Her palm connected with his cheek in a sharp crack that echoed through the foyer.

“Don’t you ever raise your hand to me again.” The words came deadly quiet.

Marco touched his stinging cheek, his eyes blazing with shock and rage. “You hit me.”

“And I’ll do it again if you threaten me. Get out of my house.”

“Not without Monica.”

“You’re not getting Monica. Ever. She’s staying here where she’s safe and loved.”

Marco’s expression shifted, becoming calculating and cold. “Fine. You want to keep her? I’ll make you a deal.”

“I don’t make deals with you anymore.”

“Divorce him.” Marco pointed toward the stairs where Alexander had disappeared with the girls. “Divorce Alexander Kane and come back to me. Be my wife again. Then you can have Monica.”

Lucia stared at him in disbelief. “Are you insane?”

“I’m offering you a choice. Your daughter or your new husband. You can’t have both.””

“I can have whatever I want. I don’t need your permission to keep my own child.”

“Actually, you do. I’m her father. I have rights.”

“You lost those rights when you let her harm herself under your roof. When you ignored her cries for help. When you chose revenge over your children’s welfare.”

Marco’s smile was cruel and confident. “The courts won’t see it that way. They’ll see a mother who abandoned her children and then kidnapped one of them from her legal guardian.”

“Legal guardian? You mean Margaret? The woman with no legal relationship to my daughter whatsoever?”

“They’ll see a stable home with two parents versus a woman who married a man under federal investigation for terrorism.”

“Alexander was cleared of all charges. The whole world knows those accusations were fabricated.”

“Do they? Because I have friends in the media who might be very interested in the story of how Alexander Kane really built his fortune.”

Lucia felt a chill run down her spine. “Are you threatening to spread more lies about my husband?”

“I’m promising to destroy him if you don’t come back to me. You think his vindication protects him? You think one investigation clears him of everything? I have resources you can’t imagine, Lucia. I can make problems for him that will never go away.”

“You’re pathetic.” Disgust dripped from every word. “A bitter, broken man who can’t accept that he lost everything through his own actions.”

“I’m a man fighting for his family!”

“You don’t have a family anymore! You destroyed it when you chose to cheat! You destroyed it when you turned our children against me! You destroyed it when you fabricated evidence against innocent people!”

Marco’s face went white. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me. I know you created those fake documents against Alexander. I know you hired people to frame him for crimes he didn’t commit.”

“You can’t prove that.”

“Can’t I? Because the FBI is very interested in finding out who was behind the evidence tampering. And when they do, you’ll be the one facing terrorism charges.”

Alexander appeared at the top of the stairs, having heard the shouting. “Everything all right down there?”

“Everything’s fine.” Lucia called back, not taking her eyes off Marco. “Mr. Hart was just leaving.”

“I’m not leaving without my daughter” Marco’s voice came stubborn, defiant.

then you’re not leaving. Because Monica stays here.”

“Fine if that’s how you want to play this” Marco pulled out his phone. I’m calling my lawyer. I’m filing for emergency custody. I’m going to prove that you re am unnt mother who kidnapped her own child.”

“Go ahead. While you’re at it, I’ll be filing my own lawsuit. For full custody of Ria, bucas, and Monica. I’ll be asking the court to investigate the living conditions in your home. The drinking, the fighting, the complete neglect of my children’s emotional welfare.”

Marco’s phone froze halfway to his ear. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me. I have documentation of Monica’s self-harm. Thave witness statements about Margaret’s behavior. I have evidence of the toxic environment you’ve created. Let’s see which one of us a judge finds more compelling.”

“I have money. I have lawyers. I have connections.”

“And I have the truth. I have more money than you. I also have connections. I have better legal teatre. I have love. I have a safe home where my children can heal from the damage you’ve done to them.”

Marco looked around the elegant foyer, taking in the fresh flowers, the family photos, the obvious signs of wealth and stability. His face twisted with jealousy and defeat.

“This isn’t over.” The words came quiet, venomous.

“Yes, it is. You lost, Marco. You lost your wife, your children, your business, your reputation. You lost everything because you chose to destroy rather than build.”

“I chose to fight for what’s mine.”

“Nothing here is yours anymore. Nothing in this house belongs to you. Leave now, or I’ll have security remove you.” Marco walked toward the door, then paused with his hand on the handle. “You think you’ve won. You think Alexander Kane’ s money and lawyers can protect you from me. But you’re wrong.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise. I will get my daughter back. And I will make you pay for what you’ve done to my family.”

Marco yanked open the door and stormed out into the night, his footsteps echoing across the driveway as he headed toward his car.

Lucia locked the door behind him and leaned against it, her/whole body shaking with adrenaline and fear. Alexander came down the stairs and wrapped his arms around her.

“He’s gone.” Alexander’s voice came soft against her hair.

“For now. But he’ll be back. This isn’t over.”

“What did he want?”

“Monica. And me. He offered to let me keep Monica if I divorced you and went back to him.”

Alexander’s arms tightened around her. “And you said?”

“I told him to go to hell.”

From upstairs came the sound of crying. Monica had heard everything despite their efforts to keep her away from the confrontation.

“I should go to her.” Lucia pulled back.

“We both should. She needs to know she’s safe. She needs to know we won’t let him take her.”

As they climbed the stairs together, Lucia couldn’t shake the feeling that Marco’s final words had been more than just an angry threat. There had been something calculated in his tone, something that suggested he had already planned his next

move.

Whatever it was, Lucia knew it would be dangerous.

Because Marco Hart had nothing left to lose.

And that made him the most dangerous man in the world.

Chapter 198