Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 176

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Chapter 176

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Chapter 176

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Marco sat in his car in the hospital parking garage, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles had gone white. The echo of Margaret’s screams still rang in his ears. The sound of the water glass shattering against the wall. Her face twisted with rage and grief as she told him to leave.

He couldn’t go back inside. Couldn’t face her accusations again. Couldn’t look at the empty space where their baby should have been growing.

His hand moved to his jacket pocket, fingers brushing against the worn edges of a photograph he’d been carrying for weeks. Ever since the divorce papers were signed. Ever since everything fell apart.

Marco pulled it out slowly, carefully, like it might crumble to dust in his hands.

The photograph was old. Creased from being folded and unfolded too many times. The colors had faded slightly, giving everything a soft, dreamlike quality. In it, Lucia smiled at the camera, holding infant Ria in her arms. Marco stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder. Lucas, barely two years old, sat on his shoulders. And tiny Monica, just a few months old, slept in a carrier strapped to Lucia’s chest.

They looked happy. Like a real family. Like people who loved each other.

Marco’s throat closed up as he stared at the image. When had he last looked at Lucia like that? When had she last smiled at him with such open trust and affection?

The memory hit him without warning, pulling him back twenty years. Back to university. Back to when everything was still possible.

Lucia had been the campus beauty. Everyone knew her name. Everyone wanted to be near her. She moved through the halls like sunlight, drawing people to her without even trying. Smart, kind, beautiful. Everything Marco had never thought he could have.

And Marco? He’d been nobody. Just another rich kid whose family name opened doors but whose personality kept them closed. He’d had money, sure. Expensive clothes. A nice car/But none of that mattered when you were invisible. When people looked through you like you weren’t there.

He remembered the day everything changed. Late October, the quad covered in fallen leaves. Marco had been walking back from the library when he’d heard the laughter. The cruel kind. The kind that made his stomach drop because he knew what

came next.

Three guys from the football team had cornered him near the old oak tree. Big guys. Popular guys. The kind who thought their muscles and their status gave them the right to make others feel small.

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“Hey rich boy.” The tallest one, Derek something, had shoved Marco’s shoulder. “Heard your daddy bought you into this school. That true?”

Marco had tried to walk away. Had tried to ignore them like he’d learned to do. But they’d blocked his path, shoving him back and forth between them like a toy.

“Where you going? We’re just being friendly.”

The shoves got harder. More aggressive. Marco’s books fell from his arms, scattering across the ground. His glasses got knocked crooked on his face.

And then Lucia had appeared.

“Hey!” Her voice cut through their laughter like a knife. “Back off.”

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Chapter 176

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the toolball players had turned, surprised. Lucia stood there with her arms crossed, her face fierce despite being half their

size

“This doesn’t concern you, Lucia.” Derek had tried to smile at her, turning on charm. “Just having some fun with Marco

here.”

“Fun?” Lucia’s voice came sharp. “Looks more like three cowards picking on someone who won’t fight back. That make you feel tough?”

“We’re just…”

“I said back off.” Lucia moved closer, completely unafraid. “Or I’ll make sure everyone on campus knows that the big tough football team needs three guys to handle one person.”

They’d left. Grumbling and making excuses but they’d left. And Lucia had helped Marco pick up his books, straightening his glasses with gentle fingers.

“You okay?” Her eyes had been so kind. So genuinely concerned.

“Yeah. Thanks for that.” Marco had barely been able to speak. His heart was pounding but not from fear anymore.

“No problem.” Lucia smiled at him. Really smiled. Like she actually saw him. “I’m Lucia.”

“I know.” The words came out before he could stop them. “Everyone knows who you are.”

“Well now I know who you are too.” She’d handed him his last book. “Marco Hart. The guy who’s too smart to waste time fighting idiots.”

That had been the moment. The exact second Marco had fallen completely in love with her.

After that, he’d done everything he could think of to get her attention. He’d joined study groups she was in. Shown up at coffee shops he’d heard her mention. Found excuses to bump into her between classes.

For two months, he’d tried. Two months of fumbling conversations and awkward attempts at charm. Two months of thinking she’d never see him as anything more than the guy she’d rescued once.

And then one day, she’d said yes.

“You really want to take me to dinner?” She’d looked at him with something like amusement. “You’ve been following me around campus for eight weeks. I figured you’d give up eventually.”

“I don’t give up on things I want.” Marco had found courage he didn’t know he had. “And I want to take you to dinner.”

“Okay then.” Lucia’s smile had been like sunrise. “Let’s go to dinner.”

They’d been inseparable after that. The campus beauty and the rich invisible kid. Everyone had talked about them. Some people were jealous. Some people thought Lucia could do better. But none of that mattered because she’d chosen him.

After graduation, Marco had proposed on the same spot where she’d first defended him. Under the old oak tree with the fallen leaves.

“You saved me once.” He’d gotten down on one knee, hands shaking. “Let me spend the rest of my life saving you back.”

Lucia had cried and said yes and everything had been perfect.

Their wedding had been beautiful. Their honeymoon in Italy had been everything they’d dreamed. And when they’d bought their first house, a small place with a garden, Lucia had laughed and spun in circles in the empty living room.

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This is ours. She’d grabbed his hands. “Our home. Our life. Our future.”

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The pregnancy with Ria had been a surprise. They’d only been married a year. But Lucia had been so excited. So glowing

and beautiful.

Marco remembered coming home from work to find a plate waiting on the table. Covered with a cloth napkin. A note beside it that read “Your dinner is served.”

He’d lifted the napkin expecting food. Instead, he’d found a pregnancy test. Two pink lines.

“Surprise.” Lucia had appeared in the doorway, nervous and hopeful. “Are you happy?”

Marco had picked her up and spun her around, both of them laughing and crying. “Happy? I’m the happiest man alive.”

Ria’s birth had been hard but worth it. Holding his daughter for the first time, looking at Lucia exhausted but smiling in the hospital bed, Marco had felt complete.

Lucas came one year later. Another surprise. Another moment of pure joy.

And Monica. Their last baby. The one Lucia said completed their family perfectly.

“Three kids.” Lucia had laughed, holding newborn Monica while Ria and Lucas crowded around to see their sister. “We’re officially outnumbered.”

“Best thing that ever happened to me.” Marco had meant it. Standing in that hospital room, looking at his wife and three children, he’d felt like the luckiest man on earth.

Their life had been good. Better than good. Sunday morning pancakes. Beach vacations. Birthday parties in the backyard. Lucia singing while she cooked dinner. The kids laughing and playing and filling the house with noise and love.

When had it changed?

Marco stared at the photograph in his hands, trying to pinpoint the exact moment everything started to fall apart.

Was it when his business started taking off? When the late nights at the office turned into weeks away on business trips?

Was it when he started noticing that Lucia’s face had lines around her eyes? When he’d started comparing her to younger women in his office?

Was it when Margaret had smiled at him across a conference table and he’d felt something he hadn’t felt in years? Excitement. Newness. The thrill of being wanted by someone who didn’t know all his flaws yet?

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When had he stopped seeing Lucia as the woman who’d saved him? When had he started seeing her as an obligation instead of a gift?

The affair with Margaret had started slowly. Flirtation that turned to coffee. Coffee that turned to lunch. Lunch that turned to hotel rooms and lies and destroying everything he’d built with Lucia.

And Lucia had forgiven him. Again and again. When she’d found the text messages. When she’d smelled perfume on his shirts. When he’d forgotten their anniversary because he was with Margaret.

“I love you.” Lucia had said each time, tears streaming down her face. “We can get through this. We have three children. We have a life together. Please, Marco. Please come back to me.”

And each time, he’d promised to try. Promised to end it with Margaret. Promised to be better.

But he never kept those promises.

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nl the day he’d finally told Lucia the truth. That he was leaving. That he wanted a divorce. That Margaret made him feel young and happy and he was choosing his new life over the old one.

Lucia had looked at him like he’d physically struck her. “Marco.” Her voice cracked. “This is our anniversary. Our party. The children…” He had looked at her like someone who is not important and had thrown her out. He had made his divorce process very fast without caring about Lucia’s feelings.

Marco’s hands shook as he held the photograph That conversation had been the beginning of the end. The moment he’d thrown away seventeen years of marriage for a woman he barely knew.

And now? Now Lucia was happy with Alexander. His children called another man father. His unborn baby with Margaret was dead. And he was sitting alone in a parking garage holding a picture of everything he’d destroyed.

Why couldn’t Lucia forgive him one more time? Why couldn’t she see that he’d made a mistake? That he wanted his family back?

Because she’d already forgiven him too many times. Because she’d given him too many chances. Because his children had suffered enough.

But that couldn’t be right. Marco’s children loved him. They were just confused. Manipulated.

By Alexander.

The name burned in Marco’s mind like acid.

Alexander Kane. Poor, pathetic Alexander who’d spent their entire college years mooning over Lucia like a lovesick puppy. Lucia who’d barely known he existed. Lucia who’d dated him while Alexander watched from the shadows, too afraid to make

a move.

Marco had almost felt sorry for him back then. The guy who had everything except the one thing he wanted, his best friend Lucia’s love.

And now Alexander had swooped in and stolen Marco’s entire life. His wife. His children. His future.

It was all Alexander’s fault.

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