Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Monica was running. Her feesgounded against cold concrete that stretched endlessly in every direction. The sky above was gray and wrong, swirling like smoke trapped under glass.

“Monica!” Ria’s voice called from somewhere behind her. “Monica, help us!”

She spun around and saw them. Ria and Lucas, standing frozen in the middle of the empty space. Their eyes were wide with terror, their mouths open in silent screams.

And Marco was walking toward them. Slow. Deliberate, His face twisted into something that wasn’t quite her father anymore. Something darker. Meaner.

“You’re coming home.” Marco’s voice echoed like thunder. “All of you. You belong to me.”

Monica tried to run toward her siblings, but her legs wouldn’t move. They felt heavy, like concrete had filled her bones.

“Mom!” She screamed for Lucia. “Mom, help them!”

But Lucia was too far away. Monica could see her in the distance, reaching out, mouth moving but no sound coming out. And Marco was getting closer to Ria and Lucas. Closer. His hands reaching for them.

“No!” Monica’s scream tore from her throat. “Don’t touch them!”

But Marco’s hands closed around Lucas’s arm. Then Ria’s. And they were being pulled away, dragged backward into darkness that opened like a mouth behind them.

“Monica, help us!” Ria’s cry came desperate, broken. “Please!”

The scene shifted. Monica was in a room with mirrors on every wall. And in each mirror was a different version of herself.

One Monica was rocking back and forth in a corner, her arms wrapped around her knees, hair matted and tangled. Her eyes were empty. Dead.

Another Monica was laughing. High and shrill and wrong. She was spinning in circles, her hospital gown twisting around her thin body. So thin. Bones showing through pale skin.

A third Monica was scratching at her arms with her fingernails. Drawing blood. Watching it run down her skin with a smile that made Monica’s stomach turn.

“This is what you are.” The scratching Monica looked up, her eyes meeting Monica’s through the inirfor. “This is what you’ll always be. Broken. Damaged. Crazy.”

“No.” Monica backed away, but there were mirrors everywhere. Everywhere she looked, she saw herself falling apart in different ways.

One was cutting her hair with scissors, chunks falling to the floor around her feet.

One was writing on the walls with something dark and wet. Words Monica couldn’t read but felt in her bones.

One was just sitting. Staring. Not blinking. Not moving. Like a doll someone had forgotten to wind up.

“You can’t escape what you are.” All the Monicas spoke at once, their voices layering over each other. “You’ll always be the broken one. The sick one. The one who ruins everything.”

“That’s not true!” Monica’s voice came out small, terrified.

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Chapter 149

fit The laughing Monica spun faster. “Look at what you did to your family. Look at how you made Mom suffer. Look at how you hurt everyone who loved you.”

The mirrors started cracking Que by one. Spider web fractures spreading across the glass. And behind each crack, Marco’s face appeared. Smiling. Reaching through the broken mirrors with his hands.

“You’re mine.” His voice came from everywhere. “You’ve always been mine. And I’m taking you back. Taking all of you back.”

His hands grabbed her arms. Cold. So cold it burned.

Monica screamed.

The scream ripped her out of sleep. Her body jerked upright in bed, tangled in sheets that felt like hands trying to hold her down Sweat soaked through her pajamas, making them stick to her skin. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard it hurt.

The room was dark. Too dark. Shapes moved in the shadows, and for a moment Monica was sure they were the mirror versions of herself, coming to drag her back into the nightmare.

“No. No. No. The word came out in gasps. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t pull air into her lungs. Her chest felt tight, compressed, like someone was sitting on it.

The scream came again. Louder this time. Tearing out of her throat raw and desperate.

Footsteps pounded in the hallway. The door flew open, and light flooded in from the hall. Monica’s eyes couldn’t focus. Everything was blurry through her tears.

“Monica!” Lucia’s voice cut through the panic. “Baby, I’m here. I’m here.”

Arms wrapped around her. Warm. Real. Not the cold hands from the dream. Monica grabbed onto Lucia like she was drowning, her fingers digging into her mother’s shoulders.

“I can’t breathe. Mom, I can’t breathe.”

“Yes, you can. Breathe with me.” Lucia’s hand pressed against Monica’s chest. “In through your nose. Out through your mouth. With me, baby. In. Out.”

Alexander appeared in the doorway, his hair messy from sleep. “What happened? Is she hurt?”

“Nightmare.” Lucia kept her focus on Monica, breathing slowly and deliberately. “Monica, look at me. Look at my eyes. You’re safe. You’re here with me.”

Monica tried to match her mother’s breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Slowly, the crushing weight on her chest started to ease. The room came into focus. Her actual room. With her actual family.

“That’s it. Good girl.” Lucia’s hand rubbed circles on Monica’s back. “You’re doing so good.”

Ria and Lucas appeared behind Alexander, their faces pale with worry. Lena was there too, clutching a stuffed animal Monica had given her.

“Is Monica okay?” Lena’s voice came small, frightened.

“She’s okay Just a bad dream.” Alexander turned to the other kids. “Give us a few minutes.”

They disappeared reluctantly, and Alexander closed the door. He crossed the room and sat on the other side of Monica’s

bed.

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Chapter 119

Do you want to talk about it?” His question came gentle, not pushing.

Monica’s hands were still shaking. She looked down at them like they belonged to someone else. “It was about Dad. And me. And all of us.”

“What happened in the dream?” Lucia’s arms stayed wrapped around her daughter.

Monica’s voice came out broken, stuttering between words. “Dad was taking Ria and Lucas. Pulling them away. And I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t move. And Mom, you were too far away. You couldn’t reach them.”

Lucia’s arms tightened. “That won’t happen. I promise you, that won’t happen.”

“But what if it does?” Monica’s fear poured out now, words tumbling over each other. “What if the court gives him custody? What if he takes them back? What if he takes me back?”

“He won’t.” Alexander’s voice came firm, certain. “The custody case is solid. The evidence is clear. Your father will not get custody.”

“But he’s their dad. And courts always give kids back to their dads. That’s what Margaret said at the mall. She said we’d see who wins in the end.”

“Margaret doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Lucia cupped Monica’s face in her hands. “Baby, listen to me. Your father hit Lucas. He neglected you when you were hurting yourself. He created an unsafe environment. No judge is going to give him custody.”

“But what if they do?” Monica’s tears started flowing again. “What if I have to go back there? What if I have to live in that house again?”

“You won’t. I swear to you, you won’t.”

“How do you know?” Monica’s voice went high, panicked. “How can you be sure?”

“Because I will fight with everything I have.” Lucia’s voice came fierce, absolute. “I will spend every penny. I will hire every lawyer. I will stand in front of that judge and show them exactly what your father did. And if by some impossible chance they try to send you back, I will take you and run. Do you understand me? I will take all of you and disappear before I let him hurt you again.”

Monica stared at her mother, seeing the truth burning in her eyes. Lucia meant it. Every word.

“There was more.” Monica’s whisper came quiet now. “In the dream. There were mirrors. And I saw myself in all of them. But I was different in each one. Broken in different ways.”

“What do you mean?” Alexander leaned forward.

Γ

“One of me was rocking and empty. One was laughing like I’d lost my mind. One was hurting herself. Scratching and bleeding.” Monica’s hands went to her arms, touching the old scars hidden under her sleeves. “They all said I was broken. That I’d always be broken. That I ruined everything.”

“Oh, baby.” Lucia’s voice cracked. “That’s not true. None of that is true.”

“But what if it is?” Monica looked up at her mother with eyes full of fear. “What if I am broken? What if I can’t ever be normal? What if I hurt everyone who tries to love me?”

“You are not broken.” Lucia’s words came strong, unwavering. “You went through something terrible. You survived something that would have destroyed most people. That doesn’t make you broken. That makes you strong.”

“I don’t feel strong. I feel scared all the time.”

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Chapter 149 –

Being scared doesn’t mean you’re weak.” Alexander spoke now. “It means you’re human. It means you’re healing. Fear is part of the process”

Monica wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “The mirrors kept cracking. And Dad’s face kept appearing behind them. Like he was breaking through Like he was coming to take me back.”

“He’s not coming for you.” Lucia pulled Monica closer. “He’s not getting near you. I won’t let him.”

“Promise?” Monica’s voice came out like a child’s. Small and needing reassurance.

“I promise.” Lucia kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I promise with everything I am.”

Monica was quiet for a moment, then the words tumbled out again. “Can you stay? Both of you? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course we’ll stay.” Lucia looked at Alexander, who nodded immediately.

“I’ll get some pillows from our room.” Alexander stood and headed for the door.

When he was gone, Monica leaned against her mother’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I’m so much trouble.”

“You are not trouble.” Lucia’s response came instant, fierce. “You are my daughter. And taking care of you is not a burden. It’s a privilege.”

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