Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Margaret stood at the upstairs window, watching the empty driveway where the Hart children used to park their bikes when they were younger. The silence in the house was different now. Not the tense, walking on eggshells quiet that had hung over them for months, but something else entirely.

Freedom.

She pressed her face against the cool glass and smited. A real smile, not the fake one she had worn for so long around

eful brats.

hisper came to her reflection. “Finally, they’re gone.”

bigger already. Cleaner. Like a weight had been lifted from every room. No more Monica’s depressing

ring the walls. No more Ria’s fashion magazines scattered everywhere. No more Lucas’s textbooks and ures reminding everyone how smart he thought he was.

alked slowly through the hallway, savoring the emptiness. She stopped at Monica’s bedroom door and pushed it e room looked abandoned, with rumpled sheets and clothes scattered on the floor from the girl’s breakdown ago. Margaret wrinkled her nose in disgust.

netic.” The word came out cold. “Always so dramatic. Always crying about something.”

e moved to Ria’s room next. Designer clothes b

ad cost Marco thousands of dollars. The iro style, hanging on her every word. And now

“Ungrateful little witch.” Margaret’s fing connections I gave her.”

But even as she spoke the words, matter anymore. The girl was so

Margaret saved Lucas’s room place. The boy had always even pretended to respe

“Good riddance.” Th

She turned and bottle of cha day she’d

The b

cel

closet. Clothes that Margaret had helped pick out, clothes that

her. Ria had worshiped Margaret for months, copying her

er precious mommy like all the rest.

nsive fabrics. “After everything I did for her. After all the

Satisfaction. Ria could run back to Lucia all she wanted. It didn’t

doorway, remembering all the times she had tried to put him in his wn good, too quick to see through her act. He had never liked her, never

st now I don’t have to pretend to care about your stupid grades.”

silk robe flowing behind her like a victory banner. In the kitchen, she opened a at Marco saved for special occasions. Well, this was special. This was the best

ok her first sip. She closed her eyes and savored the taste, the fizz, the feeling of

ut problems from the beginning. Constant reminders of Marco’s past life with Lucia. meone else first, better, longer. They had made Margaret feel like an outsider in her own th suspicion and barely hidden dislike.

w she could finally have what she had always wanted. Marco’s complete attention, his full

the living room, champagne glass in hand, and curled up on the expensive white sofa that the en allowed to sit on. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through social media, looking at pictures perfect couples, beautiful children.

idea hit her.

r own.

tup straighter, her mind racing with possibilities. Marco’s children were gone, but that didn’t mean the house empty. She could give Marco new

he would be their real moth

gined a little girl with M

to Marco as a hero

choose her over

Better children. Children who would love her unconditionally

ey resented.

ed in tiny designer outfits. A little boy who would ould call her “Mommy” and mean it, who

B

The whis

not too old to start over. And Margaret

he family he deserved.

Chapter 146

She pulled up the calculator on her phone and started doing math. If she got pregnant within the next few months, she Could have a baby by next year. Marco would be so grateful, so happy to have a child who didn’t come with all the emotional baggage of his failed marriage.

Margaret stood up and began pacing the room, her mind spinning with plans. She would need to stop taking birth control immediately. She would need to start eating better, taking vitamins, doing everything right to make sure the baby was perfect.

And Marco. Marco would fall in love with her all over again when he saw her carrying his child. He would forget all about Lucia and her spoiled brats. He would see Margaret as the mother of his future, not just a replacement for his past.

She walked to the mantle where Marco kept family photos. Mostly pictures of him with the children, a few photos with Margaret. She picked up one of the recent pictures and studied her own face, glowing with happiness and triumph. “You’re going to be a mother.” The words came to her reflection. “A real mother. Not a stepmother to ungrateful children who hate you. A real mother to a baby who will love you more than anyone else in the world.”

The idea filled her with warmth that had nothing to do with the champagne. She had always wanted children, but not other people’s children. Not children who came with seventeen years of memories that didn’t include her. She wanted her own baby, her own tiny person who would be hers from the very beginning.

Margaret set down the photo and walked to the window that overlooked the garden. She could already picture it. A swing set in the backyard, birthday parties on the terrace, Christmas mornings with a little one tearing open presents under the

tree.

Her phone buzzed with a text message. She glanced down and saw Marco’s name on the screen.

“Coming home soon. We need to talk.”

Margaret’s smile widened. Perfect timing. She would tell him tonight about her idea. She would make him see how wonderful it could be, how this could be their fresh start, their chance to build something beautiful together.

She hurried upstairs to the master bedroom and began preparing. She changed into Marco’s favorite outfit. The black silk one that he said made her look irresistible. She touched up her makeup, sprayed on the perfume he had bought her for her birthday, and arranged herself on the bed in a pose that she knew drove him crazy.

When she heard his car in the driveway, Margaret felt her heart race with excitement. Tonight would be the beginning of everything. Tonight, she would convince Marco that they didn’t need his old family anymore. They could make their own family, their own perfect little world.

She heard the front door open and close, heard Marco’s heavy footsteps on the stairs. He sounded tired, defeated. But Margaret would change that. She would give him something to look forward to, something to hope for.

“Marco?” The call came out sweet, inviting. “I’m up here, honey.”

The footsteps paused outside the bedroom door. Margaret arranged herself more artfully on the bed and put on her most alluring smile.

“I have something wonderful to tell you.” The words floated as the door opened.

Marco appeared in the doorway, looking exhausted and broken. bis hair was messy, his clothes wrinkled, his eyes red- rimmed with what might have been tears.

But Margaret didn’t notice any of that. She was too busy planning their future.

“The children are gone.” Her voice filled with joy “Those baggages are finally out of our lives. And now we can focus on what really matters.”

Marco stared at her, his face unreadable.

“We can have our own children, Marco. Our own perfect little family. Just you and me and babies who will love us more than anything in the world.”

She reached out to him, her eyes shining with dreams of the future she was already planning in her head. “What do you say, darling? Are you ready to start over?”

Marco stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Margaret sprawled across their bed in the black silk outfit. Her dark hair cascaded over the pillows, and her eyes sparkled with excitement and something else. Hunger.

“What did you just say?” His voice came out rough, strained.

Margaret’s smile faltered slightly at his tone, but she quickly recovered. “I said we can have our own children now. Our own family. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Marco felt something cold settle in his stomach. “No.”

Chapter 146

The word dropped between them like a stone.

Margaret blinked her perfect smile freezing on her face. “What do you mean, no?”

Tmean no, Margaret. I don’t want more children.”

She sat up straighter on the bed, her outfit slipping off one shoulder. “But Marco, think about it. We could have a fresh start. A baby who would love us both completely.”

“I already have three children.”

“Had.” Margaret’s correction came sharp. “You had three children. They’re gone now. They chose Lucia over you, remember?” The words hit Marco like physical blows. Each one true, each one devastating.

“They’re still my children.” The response came quiet.

“Are they?” Margaret stood up and walked toward him, her hips swaying. “When was the last time they called you? When was the last time they said they loved you? When was the last time they chose you over her?”

Marco’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. The truth was a knife twisting in his chest.

“That’s different.”

“It’s not different at all.” Margaret stopped in front of him, close enough that he could smell her perfume. “They abandoned you, Marco. Just like Lucia did. But I’m still here. I’m still fighting for us.”

“I don’t want more children.” Marco repeated, but his voice was weaker now.

Margaret reached up and touched his face, her fingers soft against his rough skin. “You’re just hurt right now. You’re not thinking clearly. But imagine it. A little girl with my eyes and your smile. A little boy who would worship you the way a son should worship his father.”

“Margaret, stop.”

“They would never leave you, Marco. They would never choose someone else over their daddy. They would love you unconditionally, the way you deserve to be loved.”

Marco closed his eyes, trying to block out her words. But they wormed their way into his brain anyway, painting pictures he didn’t want to see.

“I’m too old.” The excuse came weak.

“You’re forty-one. That’s not old. And I’m twenty eight. I’m perfect for having babies.” Margaret’s hands moved to his chest, pressing against his heart. “We could have the family you always wanted, Marco. The family you deserve.”

“I had the family I wanted.”

“No, you didn’t.” Margaret’s voice hardened slightly. “You had a wife who took you for granted and children who resented you. You had a family that held you back instead of lifting you up.”

Marco opened his eyes and looked down at her. In the soft bedroom light, she looked beautiful, full of promise. For a moment, he could almost see it. The future she was painting for him.

“Think about it.” Margaret’s whisper came close, intimate. “A baby who would reach for you first. A child who would run to you when they were scared. A family that would put you first, always.”

“Margaret…”

“We could be so happy, Marco. Just the three of us. You, me, and our baby. No ex-wives, no ungrateful teenagers, no complicated history. Just pure love.”

Her hands moved to his shirt, slowly unbuttoning it. Marco felt his resolve weakening with each button that came undone. “I’m scared.” The admission came broken.

“Of what?”

“Of losing them too. Of making the same mistakes.”

Margaret’s smile was soft now, understanding. “You won’t lose them because they’ll be ours from the beginning. No one else will have a claim on them. No one else will poison them against you.”

She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, her fingers trailing along his skin.

“And you won’t make the same mistakes because I won’t let you. I’ll be the wife Lucia never was. Supportive, grateful

devoted. Our children will see how much I love their father, and they’ll love you too.”

Marco felt himself drowning in her words, in her touch, in the promise of a second chance.

“I don’t know if I can do this again.” The whisper came uncertain.

Chapter 146

“Yes, you can.” Margaret rose up and kissed his neck. “You’re going to be an amazing father to our children. Better than you ever were before, because this time you’ll have the right partner.”

Her tips moved along his jaw, soft and warm and persuasive.

“Say yes, Marco Say yes to our future.”

Marco’s last bit of resistance crumbled as Margaret’s mouth found his. The kiss was desperate, hungry, full of promises and lies and hope. He pulled her against him, his hands tangling in her hair, and kissed her back with all the grief and longing and need that had been building inside him.

Margaret smiled against his lips, knowing she had won.

But even as Marco lost himself in Margaret’s embrace, even as their bodies moved together with familiar rhythm, his mind couldn’t fully let go of the image of three children sleeping safely in another house. Protected by the woman he had thrown away for the one lying beneath him now.

When it was over, they lay tangled together in the ruined silk sheets, their bodies slick and their hearts beating hard. Margaret traced patterns on Marco’s chest with her fingertip, her face glowing with satisfaction and triumph.

“That was perfect.” Her murmur came soft. “We’re going to make such beautiful babies together.”

Marco stared up at the ceiling, his mind slowly clearing from the haze. The weight of what had just happened, what he had just agreed to, settled on his chest like a lead blanket.

But Margaret was already making plans, her voice soft and dreamy in the darkness.

“I’ll stop taking birth control tomorrow. We should probably see a doctor, make sure everything is healthy. And we’ll need to start thinking about names…”

Marco closed his eyes and tried not to think about three other children who were sleeping safely in Alexander Kane’s house, protected by the mother he had destroyed.

Margaret’s hand moved to rest on her flat stomach, and Marco realized with a chill that there was no going back from this moment.

Lying here with Margaret planning their future, Marco wasn’t sure anymore which path would lead to redemption and which would lead to his complete destruction.

He had just sealed his fate in the most permanent way possible.

And he still had no idea if he was building something new of destroying the last pieces of himself that mattered.

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twas crowded for a Saturday morning, filled with farm femures and teenagers and couples wandering between stores. alked through the entrance with Menica on one side, didn, Lena on the other, and Ria and Lucas trailing behind. The air like coffee and perfume and the faint chemical sealt cent of new clothes.

should we start?” Lena bounced on her toes/her her excitement infectious. “We could do the department store first, or outiques, or maybe shoes?”

giggled at Lena’s enthusiasm. “You really dovy to shopping, don’t you?”

hat we’re all together.” Lena’s response camcame genuine and warm. “Shopping is just an excuse.”

t her heart swell watching the girls interamerate Three days ago, Monica had been locked in a room, starving herself, herself. Now she was walking throughouch malt with her sisters, actually smiling.

ed up beside Lucia, her voice quiet, dat Thank you for this. For all of this.”

n’t need to thank me.” Lucia squeezpected her daughter’s hand. “This is what mothers do. They take care of their

ung back slightly, looking uncamcomfortable in the sea of shoppers. His jaw still showed faint traces of the bruise, ow instead of purple. Every viene time Lucia looked at it, she felt a fresh wave of fury at Marco.

come on Monica woyedved for forward. “You can’t hide in the back. We need your opinion on everything.” hion on girl clothes?” Lucascas’s smile came reluctant but real. “I don’t think I’m qualified.”

bu cart carry bags. osalema linked her arm through his, pulling him into their little circle. “That’s what brothers are are for.” oved through the mad amd as a unit, stopping at store after store. Ria tried on jeans and sweaters, her face lightinging up cia told her to get wet whatever she wanted. Monica gravitated toward soft colors and comfortable fabrics, stilstill to take up too much space. Lena kept pulling outfits for everyone, playing stylist with natural enthusiasmsm. retended to cam complain about being dragged into clothing stores, but Lucia noticed the way his shoulderserschad The tension sien he’d carried for months was slowly melting away.

ere in a boatiroutique looking at dresses when it happened.

all well wens The voice cut through the pleasant buzz of shopping like a knife. “Isn’t this cozy zy

be body went rigid. She turned slowly to see Margaret/standing at the entrance of the stosede, designer handbag n her lips twisted in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes,

caschand immediately found Lucia’s, gripping tight. Lena stepped closer to her sisters. Laidassssyaw clenched, and w saw his hands ball into fists.

egatet. Lucia’s voice came cold as ice. “What do you want?”

garet sauntered into the store, her heels clicking against the tile floor. “Im shopping.lustust like you. Though I suppose re here buying things for children who already have perfectly good clothes at home he

ey don’t have a home there anymore.” Lucia’s response came sharp. “Their home is wsiivitteme now.”[

garet’s laugh was high and cruel. “Is that what you’re telling yourself? That you’re has rescuing them?” Her eyes swept over and Lucas with disdain. “They’re probably just using you for your new husband’s money. Kids are smart that way.” s face flushed red. “That’s not true.”

‘t it?” Margaret turned her attention to Ria. “Tell me, dear, how does it feel to ao abandon your father when he needs you st? After everything he’s given you?”

given us?” Lucas’s voice came low and dangerous. You meanean like the bruises on my face? Like the fear

t night wondering what would set him off next??

dismissively. “Oh please. Your father barely touched you. You’re being dramatic, just like your

er body vibrating with barely controlled cut cage. He hit my son. Twice. Hard enough to split his lip ot drama. That’s abuse.”

correction came sharp and certain. Somsomething you clearly never taught your children, which is

pectful.”

pline?” Monica’s voice came small but fierce. “Is that whwyd you call locking someone in their room for days? Is that at you call letting someone hurt themselves because you you’re too busy playing wife to care?”