Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 87

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Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Ria pressed her ear against the study door, her heart racing as she listened to the hushed conversation inside. Her father’s voice was strained, desperate, white Margaret’s words dripped with poison.

“The auditors will destroy everything,” Marco said, his voice cracking. “Lucia has made sure of that.”

“Your ex-wife has always been vindictive,” Margaret replied smoothly. “She’s getting her revenge by destroying the company you built.”

Ria stepped away from the door and made her decision.

The next morning, Ria stood outside the gleaming office building that housed Kane Enterprises. Her hands shook as she approached the reception desk.

“Ria Hart to see Lucia Smith,” she told the receptionist. “It’s urgent. About Hart Industries.

After a brief phone call, the receptionist directed her to the elevator. “Thirty-second floor.”

The elevator ride felt endless. When the doors opened, she was greeted by a sleek office space that screamed power and

success.

“Ms. Hart?” A woman in an expensive suit approached. “Ms. Smith can spare five minutes.”

Ria was led to a corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows. Lucia sat behind a massive desk, reading documents with focused intensity. She looked up as Ria entered, her expression shifting to guarded indifference.

“Ria,” Lucia said, setting down her papers. “This is unexpected.”

“Morh,” Ria started, then caught herself. “Thank you for seeing me.”

Lucia gestured to a chair, her manner purely professional. “What brings you here?”

Ria sat down, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s about Dad. About the company. About what you’re doing to him.”

Lucia’s eyebrows rose slightly. “What I’m doing to him?”

“The audit. The takeover. All of it.” Ria’s words came out in a rush. “I know you’re angry with us, but Dad is falling apart. Margaret is poisoning his mind, and he can’t handle this pressure.”

Lucia leaned back in her leather chair, studying Ria with cold assessment. “And you want me to stop.”

“I want you to give him back his company,” Ria said desperately. “I want you to end this revenge and let our family heal.”

The word ‘family’ hung in the air like a blade. Lucia’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in her eyes, pain quickly buried under ice.

“Family,” Lucia repeated slowly. “Interesting choice of words.”

Ria flinched. “I know I don’t have the right to ask you for anything.”

“You don’t,” Lucía agreed bluntly. “But please, continue.”

The coldness in her mother’s voice made Ria’s chest ache. This wasn’t the warm woman who had raised her. This was someone harder, more dangerous.

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“Dad made mistakes,” Ria said, fighting back tears. “Terrible mistakes. But he’s suffering now. The stress is killing him.”

“Poor Marco,” Lucia said, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. “How difficult this must be for him.”

“Don’t you feel anything for him?” Ria asked desperately. “Don’t you remember loving him once?”

Lucia stood slowly, moving to the window overlooking the city. “I remember loving a man who threw me away like garbage when he found someone younger. I remember loving a husband who let his mistress pack my belongings while my children helped.”

Each word hit Ria like a physical blow. “We were wrong.”

“You were adults,” Lucia interrupted, turning to face Ria. “Sixteen, fifteen, and thirteen. Old enough to make choices. Old enough to understand right from wrong.”

“We were manipulated.”

“Were you?” Lucia’s voice rose slightly. “Were you manipulated when you walked away at the coffee shop? Were you manipulated when you told me you didn’t want to see me anymore?”

Ria sobbed, covering her face with her hands. “I Successfully unlocked! rything we did to you.”

“Sorry,” Lucia repeated, her voice flat. “The same word you used at Fashion Week. As if sorry could undo a family erased in a single night.”

Chapter 87

“What do you want from us?” Ria oried. “What can we do to make this right?”

Nothing Lucie said simply. “Because some things can’t be made right. Some betrayals are too deep.”

Ria looked up through her tears, seeing her mother clearly for the first time. Not the broken victim Margaret had described, but a woman who had transformed pain into power.

“But Dad didn’t deserve this,” Ria said weakly.

“Didn’t he?” Lucia’s smile was sharp as glass. “Let me ask you something, Ria. When your father discarded me at our anniversary party, did any of you show me pity? When Margaret moved into my house and threw away my belongings, did you protest? When I was left with nothing, did you offer me compassion?”

Ria’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

“When I tried to reach out to you, when I swallowed my pride and asked for a chance to explain, did you show me mercy?” Lucia continued relentlessly. “Or did you reject me again?”

“We were hurt,” Ria started.

“YOU were hurt?” Lucia’s voice cracked like a whip. “You were hurt when I lost my home, my family, my identity? You were hurt when I had to rebuild my entire life from nothing?”

Ria stepped backward, frightened by the fury in her mother’s eyes.

“And now,” Lucia continued, her voice dropping to deadly calm, “now that your father is facing consequences for his choices, now that Margaret is showing her true colors, now you want me to show mercy.”

“He’s your children’s father.”

“He’s the man who replaced me with a woman half his age,” Lucia cut her off. “He’s the man who hid assets during our divorce. He’s the man who let his mistress destroy every trace of our marriage while his children watched.”

Ria’s face went white. “Hidden assets?”

Lucia’s smile was predatory. “Oh yes. Did you think the audit was just about business practices? Your father has been very creative with money over the years. Very secretive about where certain funds have ended up.”

“You’re lying,” Ria whispered.

“Am I? Ask your father about the offshore accounts he set up during our divorce. Ask him about the money he moved to keep it from being divided equally.”

Ria felt the room spinning around her. “That’s… that’s fraud.”

“Yes,” Lucia agreed pleasantly. “It is.”

“But if the auditors find that.”

“They will,” Lucia said with certainty. “Preston & Associates are very thorough. And when they do, your father will face much more serious problems than losing his company.”

Ria collapsed deeper into her chair. “You’re going to destroy him completely.”

“I’m going to let him destroy himself,” Lucia corrected. “I’m simply providing the spotlight for his choices to be seen clearly.”

r “And us?” Ria asked, her voice barely audible. “What happens to us when Dad goes to prison?”

Lucia moved back to her chair, settling behind her desk. “That’s not my concern anymore.”

“We’re your children.”

“You stopped being my children the night you helped pack my belongings,” Lucia said coldly. “You made your choice. You chose Marco and Margaret over the woman who raised you.”

Ria was crying openly now, mascara running down her cheeks. “Please. I’m begging you. If you ever loved us, if we ever meant anything to you, please stop this.”

Lucia watched her daughter fall apart with the same detachment she might show to a business presentation. “Love,” she repeated thoughtfully. “You want to talk about love?”

She leaned forward slightly. “I loved all of you more than my own life. I sacrificed my dreams, my career, my identity to build a family that would be happy and secure. And when your father grew bored with me, all of you helped him throw me away.”

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