Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Alex spread the documents across his desk. Hart Industries financial reports. Shareholder lists. Partnership contracts. Everything public. Everything legal.

“This is what we have,” he said. “Now, what do we do with it?”

Lucia stood by the window, arms crossed. She looked at the lake but she wasn’t really seeing it. She saw her old dining room. Marco on calls. Seventeen years of overheard conversations.

“His weak points,” she said. “I know them.”

Alex turned. “What do you mean?”

“Marco used to take calls at home. Dinner. Breakfast. Late at night. He thought I wasn’t listening. Thought I was background noise. But I heard everything. Partners he hated. Investors he needed. Deals he was desperate to close.”

“You remember specifics?”

“Every word.” Lucia moved to the desk. She pointed at the shareholder list. “Richard Lewis. Marco’s biggest investor. Three billion. They hate each other.”

“How do you know?”

“Marco ranted about him after calls. Said Lewis was a control freak. Said he wished he could buy him out but

couldn’t afford it.”

Alex leaned forward. “What else?”

“Thompson Holdings. Owns twelve percent. Marco thinks their CEO is an idiot. He told him once at a conference. They’ve been enemies ever since.”

“Anyone else?”

Lucia scanned the list. “Jensen Brothers. Eight percent. Marco screwed them over on a manufacturing deal three years ago. They threatened to sue. Settled out of court. They never forgave him.”

Alex wrote fast. “This is good. Very good.”

“Why?”

“Unhappy shareholders sell. Especially if someone offers the right price.” He looked at her. “And his partners? The ones he relies on?”

Lucia closed her eyes. Dinner conversations. Phone calls. Complaints.

“Meridian Supply. They provide raw materials. Marco squeezes them on price. Their CEO told him once they would drop him if they had better options.”

“Do they have better options?”

“Not yet. Marco has exclusive contracts. But they expire.”

Alex smiled. “When?”

“I don’t know exact dates. Marco bragged he locked them in for five years. That was three years ago.” “Two years left,” Alex said. “We can work with that.”

“And his management team?”

Lucia thought of names and faces she remembered. “His CFO, David. Marco doesn’t trust him. Thinks he’s weak but keeps him because he’s good with numbers.”

Alex tapped his pen. “Trust issues. That’s exploitable. If David feels undervalued, he could be open to opportunities.”

“You want to poach him?”

“Not poach. Befriend. Build trust. Get infc

Successfully unlocked!

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Chapter 22

Lucia thought of Marco’s words at the wedding. Dead weight. Mediocrity. Nothing.

“No lines left to cross,” she said.

They worked through the afternoon. Layer by layer.

First. Shell corporations. Three of them. Delaware. Cayman Islands. Luxembourg. Different names. Different lawyers. No connection to Alex. No connection to Lucia.

“We start buying shares,” Alex said. “Small amounts. Different brokers. Different times. Build positions quietly.” “How much before Marco notices?”

“Legally? Five percent per company. We have three shells. Fifteen percent total before anyone notices.”

Lucia breathed in. Fifteen percent. Not control. But enough to matter.

“And the unhappy shareholders?”

“Approach them quietly. Offer premium prices. Make it worth their while to sell.”

“Like who?”

“Richard Lewis. If he is really that unhappy, we offer twenty percent above market. Three point six billion for his stake.”

Lucia felt the number. Staggered.

“It’s an investment. In justice. In taking back what’s yours,” Alex said calmly. “I can afford it.”

“Why do this? Really? It is not just helping me.”

Alex paused. “I’ve watched people like Marco my whole life. People who take and destroy and face no consequences. I am tired of it.”

“That’s enough?”

“That’s enough.”

They moved to the second layer. Business partners. Meridian Supply. Material providers.

“We create a competing company,” Alex said. “Better prices. Better terms. No exclusive contracts. When their deal with Marco expires, they switch to us.”

Lucia nodded. “Just like that?”

“Money talks. Loyalty does not.”

The third layer. Marco’s weaknesses.

Lucia had studied Hart Industries‘ financials for weeks. James taught her what to look for. She had found something. Something even Alex’s analysts missed.

“Look here,” she said. She pointed at the balance sheet. “His debt structure. It is wrong.”

“Wrong how?”

“These loans. Short term. High interest. Due in eighteen months.”

Alex leaned closer. “I see it.”

“Marco refinanced two years ago. He was stressed. Took weeks to close. Got better rates, longer terms. At least that’s what he told investors.”

“So?”

“The numbers don’t match. Rates higher. Timeline shorter. Terms worse. Not what he disclosed.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Board investigation big. SEC inquiry big. Shareholder lawsuit big.”

Lucia felt cold excitement. “Good.”

Alex studied her. “Since the wedding video, you have changed. You want real revenge. Not just your children back, but to destroy him completely.”

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Chapter 22

Lucia thought of Monica wearing her necklace. Margaret tearing photos. Marco calling her nothing. Seventeen years invisible. Disposable. Dead weight.

“Yes,” she said. “This is what I want.”

“Then keep going.”

Evening fell. They mapped connections. Created timelines. Drawings. Notes.

Lucia’s knowledge surprised Alex. Seventeen years of half–listening. Nodding while Marco explained deals. Everything stored in her memory. All useful now.

“The Harrison acquisition,” she said. “Five years ago. Marco said it was a disaster. Overpaid. Assets worth less than projected.”

Alex searched records. “Still listed. Minimal revenue. Minimal assets.”

“How do you remember this?”

“One dinner conversation five years ago. He was furious. It stuck.”

Alex shook his head. “Remarkable.”

“I had nothing else to do but listen. For seventeen years.”

By midnight, the plan was set. Sophisticated. Legal. Layered.

Shell corporations buying shares. Approaching investors. Competing offers to partners. Investigating financial irregularities. Slowly dismantling Marco’s empire.

“Timeline?” Lucia asked.

“Six months to a year. Fast moves get noticed. Slow moves stay invisible.”

“I can wait.”

“Can you? Watching from here while he is there. While your children are there?”

Lucia looked at the desk. At the plan. At the revenge.

“Yes,” she said. “When I face him, I want him broken. Desperate. To lose everything.”

“He might figure out you are behind it.”

“Good. Let him lie awake wondering how nothing became the threat that destroyed him.”

Alex stood by the window. “Something else. Your children. If he loses everything, they suffer too.”

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