Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 167

Chapter 167

The sunroom was bathed in golden afternoon light as Lena adjusted the camera angle one final time. Lucas sat in the middle of the elegant sofa, with Monica on his left and Ria on his right. Their faces were serious, set with purpose, but underneath the determination ran currents of fear. They were about to expose their most painful memories to the entire world.

“Are we ready?” Ria asked, her finger hovering over the live stream button.

Monica nodded, though her hands were shaking “People need to know the truth.”

“They need to know what really happened.” Lucas’s voice came steady despite the storm churning inside him.

Ria pressed the button, and the red recording light blinked on. Within seconds, viewers began joining the live stream. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of people tuning in to hear what the Hart children had to say.

Lucas looked directly into the camera, his fifteen–year–old face showing a maturity that came from surviving too much pain too young.

“Hello. My name is Lucas Hart. These are my sisters, Ria and Monica. You’ve probably seen us in the news today, but not the real story. Not the truth.”

His voice was calm, but Ria could see his hands clenched tight in his lap.

“Our biological father, Marco Hart, has been telling people that we were stolen from him. That we were manipulated and kidnapped by our mother and her husband. That’s not what happened. We want to tell you what really happened.”

Monica leaned forward slightly, her young face serious beyond her thirteen years. “Before we start, we want you to know that this is hard for us. We’re going to talk about things that hurt us. Things we never wanted to share with strangers. But people are believing lies about our family, and we can’t let that happen.”

Ria nodded, her designer clothes and careful makeup unable to hide the vulnerability in her eyes. “Everything we’re about to tell you is true. We have medical records, school reports, witness statements. But most importantly, we have each other. We lived through this together.”

Lucas took a deep breath and began their story.

“When our parents divorced, we made a terrible mistake. We chose our biological father over our mother. We believed his lies about her. We thought she was the problem, that she was trying to break up our family. We were wrong.”

His voice cracked slightly on the last words, and Monica reached over to squeeze his hand.

“Our mother never abandoned us.” Monica took over the narrative. “She was thrown out of her own home while we watched. Her belongings were packed and waiting for her when she came home from what she thought was an anniversary dinner. Instead, she found out her husband was leaving her for another woman.”

Ria’s face hardened as she continued. “That other woman was Margaret. And from the moment she moved into our house, she made our lives hell.”

The viewer count was climbing rapidly now. Ten thousand, fifteen thousand people watching three teenagers expose their deepest trauma on live television.

“Margaret wasn’t the kind stepmother the media is portraying.” Lucas’s voice grew stronger. “She was cruel. She was jealous. She hated us because we reminded her that our father had a life before her.”

Monica’s eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained steady. “Margaret threw away my artwork. Pieces I had worked on for months, that meant everything to me. She called them garbage in front of my entire art class.”

The camera captured every emotion crossing Monica’s face. The pain. The humiliation. The lingering hurt from those

memories.

“She told me I was plain like my mother.” Monica continued. “She said I would never be pretty enough for anyone to love me She made me feel like I was worthless.”

Ria leaned closer to her younger sister, offering silent support as Monica found the courage to share her darkest moments. “I started hurting myself.” Monica whispered, so quietly that viewers had to strain to hear her, “I cut my arms because the pain on the outside felt better than the pain on the inside. I thought maybe if I hurt enough, someone would notice. Someone would care.”

Tears were streaming down her face now, but s

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“But no one noticed. Margaret didn’t care that I was destroying myself. Our biological father didn’t care. They were too busy with their new life, their new love, their new plans.”

Chapter 167

Lucas’s jaw tightened as he watched his youngest sister relive those horrible months. “Margaret slapped Ria when she tried to defend our mother. She made me feet unwelcome in my own home. Every day was like walking through a minefield, never knowing what would set her off.”

Ria nodded, touching her cheek as if she could still feel the sting of Margaret’s hand. “She was jealous of everything about us. Our relationship with our father, our memories of our mother, even our love for each other. She wanted to erase our past and replace it with herself.”

The viewer count had reached thirty thousand people, and comments were flooding in. Messages of support, shock, anger. at what these children had endured.

“But the worst part.” Lucas’s voice broke completely now. “Was what it did to our father. We thought we knew him. We thought he loved us. But living with Margaret changed him.”

Monica wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “He became angry all the time. Nothing we did was good enough. Nothing we said was right.”

“He hit me.” Lucas spoke the words simply, letting them fall like stones into water. “When I tried to defend my sisters, when I told him the truth about how Margaret was treating us, he hit me hard enough to leave bruises.”

The confession hung in the air, stark and devastating. Forty–five thousand people were now watching a fifteen–year–old boy admit that his father had physically abused him.

“We were drowning in that house.” Ria spoke, her voice thick with emotion. “Drowning in toxicity and hatred and constant fear. We were losing ourselves, losing each other, losing hope.”

Monica looked directly into the camera, her eyes red from crying but blazing with determination. “And then our mother came to save us. Not because we asked her to. Not because we deserved it. But because she’s our mother, and she loves us more than we ever understood.”

“We had thrown her away.” Lucas spoke, shame heavy in his voice. “We had chosen our father and his new wife over the woman who had loved us our entire lives. We had believed lies about her. We had hurt her in ways we can never fully repair.”

Ria’s voice was barely above a whisper. “But she came for us anyway. When she found out what was happening to us, she fought for us. She saved us.”

“She brought us to Alexander Kane.” Monica spoke, and for the first time since the video started, she smiled through her tears. “The man we now call Dad. Not because he has money, like our biological father claims. But because he treats us like we matter.”

Lucas nodded, his own smile breaking through the pain. “Alexander, our Dad, he doesn’t just provide for us. He protects us. He listens to us. He makes us feel safe.”

“He came to my art exhibitions.” Monica’s voice grew stronger. “He cheered when I won competitions. He hung my paintings in his office because he was proud of me.”

Ria leaned forward, speaking directly to the camera. “He helped me with my design projects. He drove me to interviews. He never made me feel like I was in the way or asking for too much.”

“He taught me how to change a tire, how to play golf, how to be a man without being angry all the time.” Lucas added. “He

ľ shows me every day what real strength looks like.”

The viewer count had reached sixty thousand people, and the comments were overwhelmingly supportive. Strangers from around the world were sending love and encouragement to three brave teenagers telling their truth.

“Our biological father says we were manipulated.” Ria’s voice grew fierce. “He says Alexander bought our love with expensive things. That’s not true. Alexander earned our love by seeing us. By valuing us. By treating us like human beings instead of burdens.”

Monica nodded emphatically. “He didn’t buy us. He saved us. There’s a difference.”

“And our mother.” Lucas’s voice was soft with love and regret. “Our beautiful, strong, amazing mother who we betrayed so completely. She could have given up on us. She could have said we made our choice and left us to live with the consequences.”

“But she didn’t.” Monica whispered. “She forgave us. She loves us. She gave us a family again.”

Ria looked into the camera one final time, her eyes clear and focused. “So when you hear our biological father on television talking about how much he loves us, remember this video. Remember what we told you. Remember that love isn’t just a word. It’s actions. It’s protection. It’s sacrifice.”

“And remember that we chose this family.” Lucas added. “Not because we were manipulated or bought or stolen. But because this is where love lives. This is where we’re safe. This is where we can heal.”

Chapter 167

Monica leaned closer to the camera, her young face showing wisdom that came from surviving hell and finding hope on the other side.

“We’re not victims anymore.” Her words came firm. “We’re survivors. And we’re telling our story so other children know they don’t have to stay in places that hurt them. They don’t have to accept cruelty as love.”

The three siblings sat together in the golden sunlight, having exposed their deepest pain to sixty–eight thousand strangers, feeling lighter than they had in months.

“Thank you for listening.” Ria spoke simply “Thank you for caring about the truth.”

Lucas reached over and ended the recording, and for a moment, the sunroom was completely silent.

Then Monica started crying again, but this time they were tears of relief. Ria pulled her into a hug, and Lucas wrapped his arms around both of his sisters.

They had done it. They had told their truth.

But even as they held each other, Monica couldn’t shake the cold fear settling in her stomach. Somewhere in the city, Marco was watching. Or he would be soon. And when he saw what they’d just done, when he saw them exposing him to the world, what would he do?

The video was spreading across the internet like wildfire. Sixty–eight thousand viewers. Probably more by now. Probably hundreds of thousands within the hour. There was no taking it back. No undoing what they’d just put out into the world.

Lucas pulled back first, wiping his eyes. “Do you think we did the right thing?”

“I don’t know.” Ria’s honesty came raw. “But we did the only thing we could do.”

Monica stood and walked to the window, looking out at the gardens. The security guards were still patrolling. The walls were still high. But suddenly it all felt fragile. Like paper walls that could burn at the first spark.

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