Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Chapter 64

The article went live at six in the morning.

Lucia was already awake.

She had not slept.

Her laptop sat open in front of her. The screen glowed in the dim light of her office. A cup of coffee rested beside it, untouched, growing cold.

She refreshed the page again.

And there it was.

“Manhattan Socialite’s Dirty Secret: Margaret Hart’s Family Betrayal Exposed.”

Lucia stared at the headline for a long time before scrolling down.

The first photo filled the screen.

Margaret. Laughing. Leaning into a man who was not Marco. His hand on her waist. Too familiar. Too comfortable.

The second photo.

A hotel entrance.

The third.

A dinner table. Candlelight. Close. Intimate.

There was no way to explain it away.

No way to lie.

Lucia kept scrolling.

The words were sharp. Direct. Merciless.

Margaret Hart. Affair. Stepsister’s husband. Two years. While the sister was pregnant.

Lucia’s fingers went still on the trackpad.

Two years.

Not a mistake.

Not a moment of weakness.

A choice.

Again and again.

Her chest tightened.

She kept reading.

Medical records. Dates. Timeline.

The pregnancy.

The termination.

Lucia shut her eyes.

For a second, she could not breathe.

When she opened them again, the words were still there.

Nothing had changed.

This was real.

She leaned back slowly in her chair.

Seventeen years.

That was what Marco threw away.

Seventeen years of loyalty. Of quiet love. Of building a life together.

For this.

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Chapter 64

For a woman who could sleep with–her own sister’s husband and still smile at the family table.

Luola let out a small laugh.

It sounded empty.

She refreshed the page again

Comments were already pouring in.

Fast. Brutal. Endless.

“She’s disgusting.”

“Her own sister? While pregnant?”

“Some people have no soul.”

Lucia read them one by one.

She told herself she would stop.

She didn’t.

More comments appeared.

“I feel bad for the sister. Imagine finding out like this.”

“This is evil. Not just cheating. This is evil.”

Lucia’s eyes paused on that one.

Evil.

She whispered the word under her breath.

Then she looked back at the photo.

Margaret smiling like nothing in the world could touch her.

Lucia felt something cold settle inside her chest.

This was only the beginning.

She refreshed again.

The numbers kept climbing.

Shares. Comments. Reposts.

Other pages were picking it up now. Copying the story. Adding their own headlines.

The name Margaret Hart was everywhere.

Lucia closed the laptop halfway.

She could still see the light from the screen.

Still hear the faint notification sounds.

Her heart was beating fast.

Too fast.

She stood up and walked to the window.

The city was awake now. Cars moving. People rushing. Life going on like nothing had changed.

But something had changed.

Lucia had changed it.

She pressed her palm lightly against the glass.

For a moment, she allowed herself to feel it.

The satisfaction.

The quiet, dangerous kind.

Margaret was finally being seen.

Not the polished version.

Not the elegant version.

The real one.

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Chapter 64

The one Lucia had known all along

#should have felt–like victory.

And part of it did.

But something else slipped in

Soft. Unwanted.

Lucia closed her eyes.

Jane.

She saw her clearly.

A woman she had never met. A woman who had trusted her sister. Who had been pregnant. Carrying life. Believing her family was safe.

Now her name was everywhere.

Her pain laid out for strangers.

People discussing it like it was entertainment.

Lucia swallowed hard.

She had not thought about Jane when she gave the order.

Not really.

She had only thought about Margaret.

Only about revenge.

Only about making the truth impossible to ignore.

But now…

Now it was not just Margaret.

It was bigger.

Messier.

Ugly in a different way.

Lucia opened her eyes.

Her reflection stared back at her in the glass.

Sharp.

Cold.

Unfamiliar.

“Is this who you are now?” she asked quietly.

The room gave her no answer.

She walked back to her desk and opened the laptop again.

The article had grown.

More updates. More reactions.

A short video clip appeared on the side.

Reporters outside Margaret’s building.

Calling her name.

Waiting.

Hunting.

Lucia watched for a few seconds.

Then closed it.

Her fingers hovered over the trackpad.

She could stop here.

She could let this one story do its damage.

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Chapter 64

It was already enough to ruin Margaret’s image.

Enough to turn people against her.

Enough to make the world see.

Lucia sat still.

Her mind went somewhere else

Back.

To a different day.

A different room.

Her standing in front of people.

Whispers.

Judgment.

The feeling of being stripped operi.

Of being reduced to something small.

Something easy to throw away.

She remembered how it felt.

The silence after.

The loneliness.

The way nobody asked if she was okay.

The way nobody cared.

Lucia’s hand slowly curled into a fist.

Margaret had stood there.

Watched it happen.

Said nothing.

Lucia looked back at the screen.

At the comments.

At the outrage.

At the world finally seeing a piece of the truth.

A piece.