Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The email arrived at seven in the morning.

Marco saw the notification while his coffee machine was still humming in the background. He had just sat down at his desk. The office windows were still dim with early light. The city outside had barely waken up.

He opened the email without thinking.

The subject line made his stomach tighten.

RE: Investment Agreement – TERMINATED

Marco frowned and clicked the message.

For a moment he simply stared at the screen. His brain refused to catch up with his eyes.

He read the first line again.

Then again.

“After thorough review of additional financial information that has come to our attention, Panda Investment Group has determined that Hart Industries does not meet our standards for financial transparency and ethical business practices.”

Marco felt the air leave his lungs.

He kept reading.

“We are immediately withdrawing from all proposed investment agreements. This decision is final and non negotiable.”

Final.

Non negotiable.

His coffee sat untouched beside his keyboard. Steam slowly faded into the cold air of the office.

Marco leaned forward.

His hand moved the mouse slowly.

There were attachments.

Several documents.

He opened the first file.

His chest tightened.

The screen filled with numbers he recognized instantly.

Offshore accounts.

Internal debt transfers.

Loans hidden under subsidiary companies.

Financial structures he had built carefully over years.

Every one of them exposed.

Marco opened another document.

Then another.

Each file revealed something else.

The hidden liabilities.

The accounting tricks.

The restructuring he had used to make the company appear stronger than it really was.

Everything was there.

Clear.

Organized.

Easy to understand.

Someone had prepared this carefully.

Marco leaned back slowly.

Chapter 55

His office suddenly felt too small.

260 quiet.

Too empty.

His phone began vibrating on the desk.

Then again.

Then again.

Messages flooded in.

Emails.

Texts.

Missed calls.

Board members.

Lawyers.

Investors.

Everyone had seen the news.

Marco barely noticed.

His eyes stayed on the screen.

Who did this?

Who had access to these records?

The information was precise.

Not rumors.

Not guesses.

Real documents.

Real numbers.

Someone had taken time to gather it all.

Someone who knew exactly where to look.

His phone rang again.

David Park.

Panda’s chief legal counsel.

Marco answered immediately.

“Mr. Park,” he said quickly.

The man’s voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Mr. Hart. I am calling to inform you that Mr. Panda asked me to contact you directly.”

Marco gripped the phone tighter.

“I saw the email,” he said. “There must be some mistake. Those documents need context. They don’t show the full picture.”

Park spoke without emotion.

“Our accounting team reviewed the files carefully. They also compared them with public financial reports your company submitted to investors.”

Marco felt sweat forming on the back of his neck.

“The numbers do not match,” Park continued. “Your company has been hiding substantial liabilities.”

“It is not fraud,” Marco said quickly. “Those are restructuring strategies. They are legal. Our lawyers approved them.”

“Legal or not is not the only issue,” Park replied.

Marco closed his eyes.

He already knew what was coming.

Chapter 55

“Mr. Panda believes the situation represents financial misrepresentation,” Park said. “Because of this, Panda Investment Group will not proceed with any partnership involving Hart Industries.”

Marco swallowed.

“This can be resolved,” he said. “Give me time. I can explain everything.”

“There will be no further discussions,” Park said.

His voice remained steady.

Professional.

Cold.

“Mr. Panda also asked me to inform you that your company is permanently blacklisted from future investment opportunities with our organization.”

Marco froze.

Blacklisted.

The word hit harder than the cancelled investment.

Panda Capital was one of the largest investment firms in the world.

If they refused to work with him, others would hesitate too.

“You are calling me a fraud,” Marco said quietly.

“Mr. Panda’s position is clear,” Park replied. “He does not conduct business with companies that hide financial risks from investors.”

Silence filled the line.

Marco opened his mouth to argue.

To defend himself.

But the words would not come.

Park ended the conversation.

The line went dead.

Marco lowered the phone slowly.

Fraud.

That word echoed in his mind again and again.

He had always stayed inside the law.

He had paid lawyers millions to review every move.

Every structure.

Every offshore account.

Everything had been designed to survive an audit.

But reputation was different.

Reputation did not care about legal boundaries.

Reputation lived in people’s opinions.

And Panda had just destroyed his.

The office door opened.

His assistant stepped in nervously.

“Mr. Hart, the board is requesting an emergency meeting.”

Marco did not answer.

“Mr. Hart?”

He waved his hand.

“Later.”

She hesitated.

“They are demanding an explanation.”

Chapter 55

“I said later, Marco repeated.

She felt quietly.

Marco remained in his chair.

The sunlight outside grew brighter,

Cars moved through the streets below.

The city continued as if nothing had happened.

But Marco knew the truth.

Something had broken.

The one investment that could save Hart Industries was gone.

Without Panda’s money the company would struggle to survive the year.

Debt payments were already stretching their limits.

Suppliers were nervous.

The board was divided.

Panda had been the solution.

Now that solution was gone.

Marco stood slowly.

He walked to the window and stared at the skyline.

He had built Hart Industries over twenty years.

One deal at a time.

One expansion after another.

He had sacrificed weekends.

Vacations.

Time with his children.

Time with Lucia.

All of it had been poured into the company.

And now it was slipping through his hands.

His phone buzzed again.

Another message from the board.

Marco turned the phone face down.

He could not deal with them.

Not today.

The hours passed slowly.

Meetings were cancelled.

Calls ignored.

Emails piled up unread.

By late afternoon Marco felt exhausted.

His head pounded.

His thoughts refused to settle.

He grabbed his coat and left the office.

No announcement.

No explanation.

He simply walked out.

The drive through the city felt unreal.

Traffic lights blurred together.

Chapter 55

Car horns sounded distant.

Marco barely noticed the streets passing by.

He pulled into the parking lot of a small bar he had never visited before.

The building looked old.

Paint fading.

Neon lights buzzing in the window.

Perfect.

No one from his world would come here.

Inside the bar smelled of cheap beer and wood polish.

A few people sat scattered across the stools.

The bartender looked up as Marco approached.

“What can I get you?”

“Whiskey,” Marco said.

The man poured a glass without asking questions.

Marco drank it quickly.

The burn in his throat felt good.

Simple.

Real.

He ordered another.

And another.

The bartender watched him carefully.

“Rough day?” he asked.

Marco let out a short laugh.

“You could say that.”

“Work trouble?”

“Something like that.”

The bartender shrugged.

“Happens to everyone.”

Marco wished that were true.

But not like this.

Not at this scale.

By the third drink his thoughts started slowing down.

The panic softened.

The weight inside his chest dulled slightly.

For a while he simply sat there.

Watching strangers talk.

Listening to music from an old jukebox in the corner.

No one recognized him.

No one asked questions.

For the first time all day he felt invisible.

He stayed until the room began to tilt.

Until his head felt heavy.

Until thinking became difficult.

Finally he left money on the counter and walked outside.

୮

Chapter $5

Cold air hit his face.

is car waited under a flickering streetlight.

Marco knew he should not drive.

But he did anyway..

The trip home felt longer than usual.

He pulled into the driveway crooked.

The front of the car clipped the mailbox.

Metal scraped against metal.

Marco did not react.

He climbed out of the car slowly.

The front door opened as he reached the steps.

Margaret stood inside the foyer.

Her arms were crossed tightly.

Her face looked furious.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

Marco blinked.

The lights inside the house felt too bright.

“Out,” he said.

“Your office has been calling all evening,” Margaret snapped. “The board is panicking. Investors are calling the house. And you disappear without telling anyone.”

Marco leaned against the wall.

“Needed a drink.”

“A drink?” Margaret’s voice rose sharply. “You smell like a distillery.”

He did not respond.

Her eyes scanned his face.

“You are drunk,” she said.

“Maybe.”

Margaret stared at him.

“The company is collapsing and you went drinking.”

“Nothing left to fix,” Marco muttered.

Her expression hardened.

“What does that mean?”

Marco rubbed his forehead.

“Panda pulled the investment.”

The room fell silent.

Margaret’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“Deal is dead,” Marco said.

“No. That is impossible.”

“They saw documents about the hidden debts. The offshore accounts. Everything.”

Margaret stepped closer.

“How?”

“Someone sent them the files,” Marco said.

“Who?”

Chapter 55

“I do not know.”

Her face twisted with anger.

“So someone destroyed the deal and you are standing here drunk instead of doing something about it?”

Marco looked at her slowly.

“There is nothing to do.”

Margaret slapped him.

The sound cracked through the hallway.

Marco’s head turned from the impact.

His cheek burned.

He touched it quietly.

Margaret’s voice shook with rage.

“Do not stand there acting defeated.”

Marco laughed weakly.

“Reality does not change because you yell at it.”

“Then fight,” she snapped.

“Against what?”

“Against whoever did this. Against the board. Against the rumors.”

Marco shook his head.

“You do not understand.”

“Then explain it.”

“Panda called me a fraud,” Marco said quietly.

Margaret froze.

“What?”

“He blacklisted us.”

She stared at him.

Fear crept into her eyes for the first time.

“Other investors will believe him,” Marco continued. “The damage is already spreading.”

Margaret stepped back.

“So you are just giving up?”

Marco turned toward the stairs.

“I am tired.”

“If you walk away from this,” Margaret said sharply, “I am leaving.”

Marco stopped halfway up the stairs.

But he did not turn around.

“I did not marry a failure,” she continued. “I did not leave everything behind just to watch you collapse.”

Marco continued walking.

Her words followed him.

Sharp.

Cold.

Accusing.

He reached his office upstairs and shut the door.

The room smelled faintly of leather and old paper.

Marco opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

He poured a glass and stood by the window.

Chapter 55

The house was quiet now.

Margaret’s footsteps moved somewhere downstairs.

Marco stared into the darkness outside.

The city lights flickered in the distance.

Everything felt unreal.

Only yesterday he believed the company would survive.

Now the future looked empty.

He drank slowly.

Trying to think.

Trying to understand.

Someone had planned this attack carefully.

Someone who knew the financial structure of his company.

Someone who understood exactly which documents would frighten Panda.

The timing had been perfect.

The damage immediate.

Marco poured another drink.

His thoughts grew slower.

Faces passed through his mind.

Business rivals.

Former employees.

Angry partners.

Anyone who might want revenge.

But none of them fit.

None of them had access to records this detailed.

He leaned against the window frame.

His reflection looked back at him in the glass.

Older than he remembered.

More tired.

More alone.

Marco finished the drink and poured another.

The bottle slowly emptied.

Downstairs a door slammed.

Margaret leaving the house.

He did not follow.

He did not move.

He simply stood there watching the city.

The company he had built was falling apart.

His marriage was breaking.

His reputation was destroyed.

Everything he believed was permanent was fading.

Marco drank until the bottle was empty.

Until the room blurred.

Until the weight of the day became too heavy to hold.

Finally he sank into the chair beside the desk.

Chapter 55

The darkness outside the window grew deeper.

And Marco sat there alone with the knowledge that his entipire was slipping away piece by piece.

And he still had no idea who had started the collapse.

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