Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 139

7 Likes

Chapter 139

The front dour slammed with such force that the entire house shook. Pictures rattled on the walls, and the sound echoed through the rooms like a gunshot. Marco stormed into the living room, his face twisted with rage and his hands clenched into fists.

Ria and Lucas were sitting at the kitchen table, picking at their dinner in silence. Margaret had locked herself in the guest bedroom hours ago, nursing her injuries and drowning her humiliation in wine. The house felt like a tomb waiting for

someone to die.

“WHERE ARE YOU?” Marco roared, his voice carrying through every room. “GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Ria and Lucas exchanged worried glances. They had been dreading this moment since they helped their mother take Monica away. They knew their father would come home angry, but the fury in his voice suggested something much worse than anger.

“We’re in the kitchen, Dad.” Ria’s voice came steady despite her fear.

Heavy footsteps thundered across the hardwood floor as Marco made his way toward them. When he appeared in the kitchen doorway, Ria gasped. His eyes were wild and bloodshot, his hair was a mess, and his clothes looked like he’d been in a fight.

“You treacherous little snakes.” Marco snarled, pointing an accusing finger at both of them. “You planned this whole thing, didn’t you?”

“Planned what?” Lucas asked, though he already knew what was coming.

“Don’t play innocent with me! You brought your mother to this house! You helped her attack Margaret! You helped her steal my daughter!”

Ria stood up slowly, her chair scraping against the kitchen tiles. “We helped Mom rescue Monica from a situation that was destroying her.”

“Rescue?” Marco’s laugh was harsh and bitter. “You call kidnapping a rescue?”

“We call saving our sister’s life a rescue.” Lucas rose to stand beside Ria. “Monica was cutting herself, Dad. She was starving herself. She was disappearing right in front of us, and you didn’t even notice.”

“That’s not my fault! That’s your mother’s fault for confusing her with mixed messages!”

“Mixed messages?” Ria’s voice rose with disbelief. “The only mixed message was you telling us that Mom was the villain when you were the one who destroyed our family!”

Marco stepped closer, his face getting redder with each word. “I saved this family! I gave you a stable home with Margaret! I tried to build something better!”

“You gave us a nightmare.” Lucas’s voice came cold. “You gave us a drunk stepmother who hated us and a father too obsessed with revenge to notice his children were falling apart.”

“How dare you speak to me like that! I’m father!”

your

“Are you?” Lucas’s voice was steady but filled with pain. “Because fathers are supposed to protect their children. Fathers are supposed to put their children’s needs before their own wants. You did the opposite.”

“You stopped being a real father a long time ago.” Ria’s voice shook. “You became someone we don’t even recognize.” “Don’t you dare judge me. You have no idea what I’ve been through!”

“We know exactly what you’ve been through.” Lucas took a step forward. “You cheated on Mom. You planned to leave her for two years. You brought your mistress to your anniversary dinner and humiliated Mom in front of everyone.” Marco’s blood went cold. “How do you know about that?”

“We heard you and Margaret talking. Multiple times. We’re not stupid, Dad.” Ria’s tears started flowing. “We knew what you were planning long before Mom did.”

The admission hit Marco like a physical blow. “You knew? All this time, you knew?”

“We knew you were planning to divorce Mom and marry Margaret. We knew you’d been lying to her face every single day.” Lucas’s jaw clenched. “And we watched you break her heart piece by piece.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you warn her?”

“Because we were children!” Ria’s voice broke completely. “We were scared and confused and we didn’t know what to do! We thought maybe you’d change your mind. We thought maybe you’d realize what you were throwing away.”

Chapter 199

“I didn’t throw anything sway. Your mother pushed me away with her coldness and her indifference.”

tliats a lietuese-took a step toward Marco, his hands clenched into fists. “Mom loved you. She would have done anything for you. But you couldn’t see it because you were too busy chasing someone younger and prettier.”

“Don’t talk about Margaret that why”

“Why not? She’s a homewrecker. She destroyed our family because she wanted what Mom had “

“Margaret didn’t destroy anything! She saved me from a loveless marriage”

“It wasn’t loveless Ria screamed the words. “Mom loved you! We all loved you! But you threw it away because you were selfish and weak!”

Marco’s hand moved faster than either of them could react. His palm connected with Ria’s cheek with a sickening crack, sending her stumbling backward

“DAD” Lucas shouted, rushing to his sister’s side.

Ria touched her reddened cheek, her eyes wide with shock and pain.

“You deserved that for the disrespect you just showed me.” Marco’s voice came harsh.

“Disrespect?” Ria’s tears flowed freely now. “I told you the truth. If you can’t handle the truth, that’s your problem, not mine.”

Marco raised his hand again, but Lucas stepped between them. “Don’t you dare touch her again!”

“Move out of my way, Lucas.”

“No. I won’t let you hit her again just because she had the courage to tell you what we’ve all been thinking.”

“And what exactly have you all been thinking?”

Lucas looked directly into his father’s eyes, his voice shaking with emotion. “That you’re a failure. That you’re a disappointment. That you threw away the best thing that ever happened to you for a woman who doesn’t even love you.” Marco’s face went pale, then flushed purple with rage. His fist moved before he could think. The impact connected with Lucas’s jaw with a sickening thud, sending the young man stumbling backward into the kitchen counter.

Lucas touched his mouth and his fingers came away bloody. His lip was split and already swelling, but his eyes burned with a fire that matched his father’s.

“Feel better now?” Lucas asked, spitting blood onto the kitchen floor. “Does hitting your son make you feel like a big man?”

“You deserved that for the disrespect you just showed me.”

“Disrespect?” Lucas wiped more blood from his mouth. “I told you the truth. If you can’t handle the truth, that’s your problem, not mine.”

Marco raised his hand again, but Ria stepped between them, her own cheek still red from his slap. “Don’t you dare touch him again!”

“Get out of my sight. Both of you.”

“Gladly.” Lucas pushed himself away from the counter, blood still trickling from his split lip. “Come on, Ria. Let’s leave the failure alone with his misery.”

“I SAID GET OUT!” Marco screamed, grabbing a glass from the counter and hurling it at the wall. It exploded into fragments, sending sharp pieces flying across the kitchen.

Ria and Lucas hurried toward the stairs, but Ria paused at the bottom step. She turned back to face her father, who was standing among the broken glass with his chest heaving.

“You want to know why Mom doesn’t want anything to do with you?” Ria asked, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “It’s not because of Margaret. It’s not because of money or boredom or any of the excuses you tell yourself.”

“Ria, don’t…” Lucas warned.

“You threw her away like garbage at your anniversary dinner. You brought your mistress to a restaurant and told the mother of your children that you were replacing her with someone younger.”

Marco’s hands trembled with barely controlled violence. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I have every idea. You had already planned the whole thing. You told her you were done with her while pretending to love her for months.”

“Your mother should have fought harder for our marriage!”

“Our mother was humiliated in public by a man she loved and trusted for seventeen years. You didn’t give her a chance to fight. You just discarded her and expected her to disappear quietly.”

Chapter 139

“I gave her everything she needed to start over!”

You gave her trauma and heartbreak. You destroyed her self-worth and then acted surprised when she found someone who actually valued her.”

Marco took a step toward Ria, his fists clenched. “Watch your mouth.”

“Or what? You’ll hit me too? Go ahead, Dad. Show us what kind of man you really are. Show us how you solve problems when words don’t work.”

Lucas moved to stand beside his sister, blood still trickling from his split lip. “Yeah, Dad. Show us. Hit your daughter. Prove to us once and for all that you’re exactly what you showed Mom that night at the restaurant.”

“What did I show her?”

“That you’re cruel.” Ria’s voice came quiet but cutting. “That underneath all the promises and wedding vows, you were just a self sh man who threw away seventeen years of marriage when something shmier came along.”

The words hit Marco like physical blows. He staggered backward, his face showing the impact of each accusation. “I didn’t throw her away. I was trying to find happiness.”

“You threw away the woman who loved you unconditionally for seventeen years.” Lucas’s voice came surprisingly gentle despite the blood on his face. “And now you can’t stand that she found someone who appreciates what you discarded.”

“I’m getting her back. I’m getting all of you back.”

“No, you’re not.” Ria spoke with absolute certainty. “Because we’ve seen what you really are. Because throwing away our mother showed us exactly how you treat people when you’re done with them.”

“I’m your father!”

“And she was your wife for seventeen years. If you could throw her away that easily, what makes you think we’re safe from the same treatment?”

Marco looked at his two children standing together at the bottom of the stairs. Both of them had tears in their eyes, but their voices were strong and their resolve was clear. They had chosen their side, and it wasn’t his.

“Get out of my sight.” The words came quiet, defeated.

“We’re going.” Lucas replied. “But Dad? When this is all over, when you’ve lost everything and everyone, remember this moment. Remember that your children tried to love you despite everything you did. Remember that we gave you chances to be better. And remember that you chose to be exactly who you are right now.”

Ria nodded in agreement. “We’ll remember too. We’ll remember that when it mattered most, when Monica needed saving, you were more concerned with your pride than your daughter’s life.”

They climbed the stairs together, leaving Marco alone in the kitchen surrounded by broken glass and broken dreams. Their bedroom doors closed one after the other, the sounds echoing through the house like coffin lids being sealed.

He walked to the bar and poured himself a large glass of whiskey. Drank it in one long swallow. Poured another.

His phone sat on the counter where he’d thrown it earlier. He picked it up, scrolling through his contacts until he found the one he needed.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify