Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 98

Chapter 98

tucas burst through the front door with an energy Ria hadn’t seen from him in months. His face was flushed with excitement, his eyes bright with something that looked almost like hope. Behind him, Monica followed with a similar glow, both of them moving with the quick steps of people who had good news to share.

“Ria!” Lucas called out, his voice echoing through the marble hallway. “Where are you? We need to tell you something!”

Ria emerged from the kitchen where she had been staring at her laptop screen, trying to focus on online college applications but failing miserably. Her internship with Margaret had ended badly after the plagiarism scandal, and now she was struggling to find her footing in a world that seemed determined to punish her for her family’s mistakes.

“What’s wrong?” Ria asked, noting their excitement but also the underlying tension in their movements. “You both look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“We saw Mom,” Monica said, the word coming out in a rush of breath and emotiort

Ria’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean you saw Mom?”

Lucas pulled the Westbridge Academy acceptance letter from his jacket pocket, his hands trembling slightly as he unfolded it. “I got into Westbridge Academy, but Dad said he couldn’t afford the tuition. So we… we went to see her. To ask for help.”

“You went to her office?” Ria’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“She could have thrown us out,” Monica said, sinking onto the living room couch. “She could have called security and had us removed. But she didn’t.”

Lucas sat beside his sister, still clutching the acceptance letter like a lifeline. “She was cold at first. Really cold. She made it clear that she hasn’t forgiven us for what we did to her.”

“But then?” Ria prompted, sensing there was more to the story.

“But then she said she wouldn’t let our mistakes destroy my future, Lucas continued, his voice thick with emotion. “She’s going to pay for all four years at Westbridge Academy. Full tuition, everything.”

Ria felt her knees give out. She grabbed the back of the nearest chair for support, staring at her siblings in disbelief. “She’s paying for your school?”

“Not as a loan,” Monica added quickly. “As a gift. She said it was an investment in Lucas’s future. The future she always wanted for him.”

“Even after everything we did to her,” Lucas said, his voice breaking. “Even after we helped pack her belongings and chose Dad over her, she’s still willing to help me achieve my dreams.”

Ria sank into the chair, processing this information. Their mother, the woman they had abandoned, the woman who had cut them out of her life completely, was still acting like a mother when it truly mattered.

“She let me hug her,” Monica said suddenly, tears streaming down her face. “Before we left, I asked if I could hug her, and she said yes. It was brief, and she kept boundaries, but she let me hug her.”

“She still loves us,” Lucas said, wonder in his voice. “She made it clear that love doesn’t mean forgiveness, and forgiveness doesn’t mean we’re a family again. But the love is still there.”

Ria felt tears burning behind her eyes. While she had been wallowing in self-pity and failed applications, her younger siblings had found the courage to face their mother and ask for help. And somehow, they had touched something in Lucia that Ria had thought was dead forever.

“I can’t believe she…” Ria started.

“What did you say?”

The voice cut through their conversation like ice. Margaret stood in the doorway, her face twisted with a rage that made the air in the room feel dangerous. She was wearing workout clothes, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, but there was nothing casual about her stance. She looked like a predator ready to strike.

“Margaret,” Monica said, her voice immediately defensive. “We were just…”

“I heard what you were just doing,” Margaret snapped, stepping into the room. “You went crawling to that woman behind my back. You went begging to your precious mother while your father and I are dealing with our own problems.” Lucas stood up, placing himself between Margaret and Monica. “We needed help with my education.”

“You needed to stay loyal to this family!” Margaret screamed. “You needed to remember who has been taking care of you while she’s been playing house with her new boyfriend!”

Chapter 98

“Taking care of us?” Lucas’s voice rese to match hers. “When have you ever taken care of us? When have you ever put our needs before your own?”

Margaret’s face flushed red with fury. “I married your father! I became part of this family! I’ve been here while she abandoned you!”

“She didn’t abandon us, Monica said, standing up beside her brother. “We abandoned her. We chose you and Dad over the woman who raised us, and now we’re trying to fix our mistakes.”

“Fix your mistakes?” Margaret laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “By running to the enemy? By accepting money from the woman who’s trying to destroy your father?”

“She’s not the enemy,” Lucas said firmly. “She’s our mother. And she’s helping me go to school when no one else can.”

Margaret’s eyes blazed with something that went beyond anger into pure hatred. “You’re all backstabbers. Every single one of you. I’ve done everything for this family, and this is how you repay me?”

“What have you done for us?” Ria asked, finally finding her voice. “What have you actually done besides move into our mother’s house and try to erase her from our lives?”

Margaret whirled to face Ria. “I gave you opportunities! I let you work with me in fashion! I tried to help you build a career!”

“You stole my designs,” Ria said quietly. “You took credit for my work and used my talent to advance your own reputation.”

“That’s not…” Margaret started.

“And now you want us to reject help from our own mother because it threatens your position in this family,” Lucas added. ” You want us to sacrifice my education to protect your feelings.”

Margaret’s hand rose in the air, pulled back and ready to strike. But instead of Lucas, she turned to Ria and slapped her across the face with a sharp crack that echoed through the room.

“How dare you!” Margaret screamed. “How dare any of you speak to me like that!”

Ria’s head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, her cheek immediately turning red. She staggered backward, her hand flying to her face.

“That’s enough.”

Marco’s voice cut through the room like a blade. He stood in the doorway, his suit wrinkled and his tie loosened, but his presence immediately shifted the dynamic in the room. Margaret’s raised hand froze.

“Marco, they went to see her…” Margaret started.

“I saw what you just did,” Marco said quietly. “You will not hit my children.”

Margaret turned to face her husband. “They betrayed us. They went to that woman and accepted her charity while we’re struggling…”

“They secured Lucas’s future,” Marco interrupted. “They found a way to make sure my son gets the education he deserves.”

Margaret stared at her husband in shock. “You’re taking their side?”

“I’m taking my children’s side,” Marco said firmly. “Something I should have done months ago.”

“But she’s trying to destroy us…”

୮

“She’s helping my son go to Westbridge Academy,” Marco said. “That’s all that matters right now.”

Margaret looked around the room at the three siblings standing together, then at her husband who was defending them instead of her. “Fine,” she said, her voice shaking with rage. “Fine. Run to your precious mother. Take her money. But don’t come crying to me when she throws you away again.”

She stormed out of the room, her footsteps echoing angrily up the stairs. A few seconds later, a door slammed hard enough to rattle the windows.

Marco looked at his children, noting how they had unconsciously moved closer together during the confrontation. “You saw your mother?”

“Yes,” Lucas said carefully, unsure of his father’s real feelings about this development.

“And she’s paying for Westbridge Academy?”

“Full tuition for four years,” Lucas confirmed.

Marco nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. “Good. That’s… that’s good.”

He moved toward the window, staring out at the driveway where his expensive cars sat like symbols of a success that was rapidly crumbling around him.

Chapter 98

“Your mother always wanted the best for you,” Marco said quietly. “Even when we were married, your education was her top

Futy She used lu stay up late helping you with homework, researching schools, planning for your futures.”

Ria, tueas, and Monica exchanged glances, surprised by this rare moment of honesty from their father.

“I’m glad she’s still looking out for you,” Marcò continued. “Even after everything that’s happened.”

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