Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Chapter 154

00

Marco found Margaret in the living room, her laptop open on the coffee table in front of her. Baby cribs filled the screen, each one more expensive than the last. Shopping cart notifications kept popping up in the corner, and Margaret clicked through them with the focus of someone planning a military campaign.

“We need to talk. Marco’s voice came flat, emp

Margaret didn’t look up from the screen. “Can it wait? In trying to decide between the Italian crib and the French one. They’re both gorgeous but the Italian one has better reviews,”

“It can’t wait.”

Something in his tone made her pause. She looked up, her finger frozen over the mouse. “What’s wrong? You look terrible.”

Marco sat down across from her, his hands clasped between his knees. “I called my lawyer today.”

Margaret’s face brightened. “About the company? Did he have good news about the investigation?”

“No. About custody. I’m going to fight for my children.”

The words hung in the air like smoke. Margaret’s smile froze on her face, then slowly melted into something cold and hard.

“What did you just say?”

“I’m filing papers to contest the custody agreement. I want my kids back.”

Margaret closed her laptop with a sharp snap. “Are you insane? You told your secretary you were done being their father. You threw them away. And now suddenly you want them back?”

“I made a mistake. I was angry and I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“You made a mistake.” Margaret’s laugh came bitter and sharp. “That’s convenient. What changed, Marco? What happened between yesterday when you were planning baby names with me and today when you suddenly want your old family back?” Marco’s jaw clenched. “I saw Lucas at the country club. With Alexander Kane. He called him Dad.”

“So what?” Margaret stood up, her hands on her hips. “He’s bonding with his mother’s new husband. That’s what you wanted. That’s why you gave up custody.”

“I didn’t give it up. I just needed time to think.”

“You told Diana to inform Lucia you were done being their father!” Margaret’s voice rose with each word. “Those were your exact words! Done being their father!”

“I know what I said! But I changed my mind!”

“Well you can’t just change your mind like they’re a pair of shoes you decided you want to exchange!” Margaret paced the room, her silk robe flowing behind her. “We’re having a baby, Marco. Our baby. And you want to bring three hostile teenagers into this house?”

“They’re my children.”

“They hate you! They testified against you in court! They gave their mother photos of bruises and statements about abuse!” Marco stood up, his face flushing red. “You manipulated me into giving them up! You got in my head and twisted everything

1/6

5:24 pm P P

Chapter 154-

Sant I dought was better off without them!”

Margaret’s mouth dropped open. “I manipulated you? Are you serious right now?”

“You know exactly what you did. All those conversations about fresh starts. About how my kids were poison. About how they’d never forgive me anyway” Marco’s voice grew louder. “You convinced me to walk away from them!”

“I didn’t convince you of anything! You made your own choices!”

“Everything is your fault!” Marco shouted. “You seduced me! You destroyed my marriage! You broke my family apart!”

Margaret grabbed a crystal vase from the side table and hurled it at his head. Marco ducked and the vase shattered against the wall behind him, water and broken glass spraying everywhere.

“Don’t you dare!” Margaret screamed, her face twisted with rage. “Don’t you dare put this all on me!”

She grabbed another object, a heavy book, and threw it. Marco dodged again as it sailed past his shoulder and knocked over a lamp. The crash echoed through the room.

“You seduced me!” Marco repeated. “You wore those tight dresses to the office! You flirted with me! You made sure I noticed. you!”

“You were the one who came after me!” Margaret snatched a picture frame from the mantle and threw it. Marco jerked sideways as it smashed against the doorframe. “You were the married one! You knew you had a wife and kids at home!”

“Because you made yourself impossible to resist!”

Margaret let out a scream of pure fury and swept her arm across the coffee table. Her laptop crashed to the floor along with magazines, remote controls, and decorative items. Everything scattered in a violent mess.

“You want to blame me for your choices?” She grabbed a ceramic figurine and hurled it. Marco barely moved in time as it exploded against the wall. “You’re a grown man! You made every single decision yourself!”

“You got inside my head!” Marco’s hands shook with anger. /You poisoned me against my own children!”

“I never told you to hit Lucas!” Margaret grabbed another vase, this one filled with fresh flowers, and threw it with all her strength. Marco dove to the side as it crashed into the bookshelf, flowers and water and shattered porcelain raining down “I never told you to neglect Monica when she was hurting herself!”

“But you were there! Always there! Making me think my family was the problem instead of the solution!”

Margaret upended the entire side table. Everything on it went flying. Coasters, books, candles, all crashing to the floor in a symphony of destruction.

“You came to my apartment!” Her voice came raw and wild. “You kissed me first! You told me your marriage was already over! You said Lucia didn’t understand you!”

“Because you asked the right questions! You played the sympathetic ear! You knew exactly what you were doing!“

She grabbed a heavy candlestick and threw it. Marco ducked and it punched a hole in the drywall. Her aim was getting better, more dangerous.

“Stop blaming me for your weakness!” Margaret’s hands found a decorative bowl and it went flying. Marco moved and it shattered against the fireplace. “You pursued me! You chose me! You left your family for me!”

“You seduced me away from them!” Marco shouted back. “You made yourself the answer to all my problems! You made me believe I’d be happier without my kids!”

2/6

5:24 pm P PC

Chapter 154

Margarei grabbed the TV remote and whipped it at his face. Marco caught it mid-air and threw it down.

“I never put a gun to your head!” She overturned a chair, the crash loud and violent. “You wanted an excuse to leave! I just happened to be there!”

“You convinced me to tell my secretary I was done being their father! That was your idea!”

“It was your mouth that said the words!” Margaret swept everything off the entertainment center. DVDs, photo frames, decorative boxes, all went crashing down. “Your choice! Your decision!” `

She grabbed a heavy coffee table book and hurled it like a frisbee. Marco twisted away and it hit the window, cracking the glass.

“You told me I’d be better off!” Marco’s voice broke. “You said they were holding me back! You said a fresh start meant leaving everything behind!”

“Because you wanted to hear it!” Margaret kicked over an ottoman, then grabbed a throw pillow and ripped it, feathers exploding into the air. “You were looking for permission to abandon them and I gave it to you! But that doesn’t make it my fault!”

“You knew I was married! You knew I had three kids! But you didn’t care!” Marco pointed at her, his finger shaking. “You wanted what you wanted and you didn’t care who got hurt!”

“And you were the married man who couldn’t keep it in his pants!” Margaret grabbed an expensive sculpture and raised it over her head. “Don’t act like you’re some innocent victim I corrupted! You knew exactly what you were doing!”

She threw the sculpture with all her strength. Marco barely moved in time as it crashed through the cracked window completely, glass exploding outward.

“You broke my family!” Marco’s voice came hoarse from shouting

“You broke your own family!” Margaret grabbed a stack of mail and threw it, papers flying everywhere like confetti. “The minute you decided I was more important than them, the minute you put your hands on me, the minute you lied to Lucia, you broke them! Not me! You!”

She picked up a potted plant and hurled it. Soil exploded across the carpet as the pot shattered. Marco’s shirt got splattered with dirt.

“I would have stayed with my family if you hadn’t gotten in the way!”

“Liar!” Margaret grabbed the other lamp and threw it. The cord ripped from the wall and it crashed into the couch. “You were miserable in your marriage long before I showed up! You told me that yourself! You said you felt trapped! You said you’d fallen out of love with Lucia years ago!”

“Because you asked me leading questions! You manipulated every conversation!”

Margaret let out another scream and kicked the coffee table over completely. It landed with a thunderous crash, one of the legs breaking off.

“I’m done listening to this!” She grabbed a wine glass from the bar cart and threw it. Marco ducked and it shattered against the wall, red wine staining the white paint like blood. “You want to rewrite history and make me the villain? Fine! But you know the truth!”

“The truth is you seduced a married man and destroyed his life!”

“The truth is you were weak and selfish and looking for an easy way out!” Margaret grabbed another glass and threw it. Then another. Then another. Marco dodged them all as they exploded around the room. “Don’t blame me because you couldn’t

3/6

5:24 pm P P

Chapter 154.

handle being a husband and father! Don’t blame me because you chose easy over hard! That’s on you!”

The room looked like a war zone. Broken glass everywhere. Overturned furniture. Holes in the walls. Water and dirt and feathers and wine staining everything.

Margaret stood in the middle of it all, breathing hard, her hair wild, her face red and streaked with angry tears. Marco stood near the door, also breathing hard, covered in debris.

“I can’t do this.” His voice came quiet now, all the fight drained out of him. “I can’t have this conversation.”

“Then leave!” Margaret grabbed one more vase and threw it with everything she had left. “Get out! Go chase your children who don’t want you! See if I care!”

The vase smashed inches from his head. Marco flinched, then turned toward the door.

“I need some air.” He grabbed his keys from the hall table.

“Don’t you walk away from me!” Margaret’s scream followed him. “Don’t you dare walk out that door!”

But Marco was already moving, already grabbing his keys from the hall table, already opening the front door.

“Marco! If you leave now, don’t bother coming back!”

He paused on the threshold, his hand on the doorframe. For a moment, he almost turned back. Almost went to Margaret and told her she was right, that he’d call the lawyer and cancel everything.

But then he thought of Lucas’s face. Of the happiness there. Of how his son had looked more at peace in that country club than he ever had in this house.

Marco walked out the door. Margaret’s screams faded as he got into his car and drove away, going nowhere in particular, just needing to escape.

Inside the house, Margaret stood in the middle of the living room, shaking with rage and fear. Her hand stayed pressed to her stomach as tears ran down her face.

He’d chosen them. Even though they didn’t want him. Even though he had a new baby on the way. He’d chosen them.

For a wild moment, Margaret considered packing her bags. Walking out. Going back to her mother’s house and starting over somewhere else.

But then reality crashed down. She had nowhere to go. Her mother lived in a tiny apartment and could barely support herself. Margaret’s friends had all been Marco’s friends first. She had no job, no income, no savings of her own.

And she was pregnant.

Margaret sank onto the couch, her breath coming in gasps. She’d given up everything for Marco. Her youth, her opportunities, her reputation. She’d burned every bridge to be with him.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify