From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 137: She'd Been Left Behind

The moment she said that, the reporters went silent for a second. Then they exploded—louder than before.

But Riley wasn't done yet.

She turned her gaze to Sophia—still hiding behind Lucas.

"Sophia," Riley said softly, "why don't you take this chance to tell everyone who the real father is?"

The gratitude on Lucas' face froze. He looked at Riley like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

Sophia felt like she'd been dunked in ice water.

She peeked out from behind Lucas. Her face had no color left.

Sophia never expected Riley to trap her like this—by pretending to be the good wife.

Riley acted like she hadn't noticed either of them freaking out. She kept going, calm and sincere. "Sophia, you're not even blood-related to the Ashford family. But if every man in the family has to be suspected every time something comes up about your child—well, that would be terrible for our reputation. Terrible for everyone."

The whole scene went dead silent.

All the reporters just stared. Then—like someone flipped a switch—their eyes went wild again.

This wasn't a clarification.

This was an even bigger bombshell.

"Ms. Myers! Is Mrs. Ashford saying Jeremy's real father is someone else?"

"Ms. Myers, who is the father? Why won't he come forward?"

"Ms. Myers, you and Mr. Ashford are just adopted siblings. So how many men have you actually been involved with over the years?"

The questions came crashing down on Sophia like a tidal wave.

Sophia swayed on her feet. She almost fell.

She looked into Riley's calm, steady eyes. All she saw was deep, endless cold.

There was no way Sophia could answer any of this.

Her mind went blank. Everything buzzed. The questions kept stabbing into her ears.

Who was the father?

Who could she even name?

Lucas had no intention of admitting anything.

Riley's big, understanding speech had already shut that door completely.

If Lucas went back on Riley's words now and admitted the child was his, Ashford Group would be the laughingstock of Havenbrook by tomorrow. Lucas would be remembered as a man who betrayed his wife and crossed every moral line.

So—make up someone who doesn't exist?

Or name another man?

No. Impossible.

That will be like cutting off all my own escape routes. Pushing myself and Jeremy away from the Ashford family for good.

It will also make the Ashford family start asking real questions about Jeremy's background.

"I... I don't know..." Sophia stammered out a few broken words. "Stop asking me..." She sounded so helpless and so pitiful.

But the reporters didn't care about her tears. They pushed harder.

"Ms. Myers, is that a yes?"

"Who is the father? Why won't you say?"

Things were about to spiral completely out of control. Sophia's legs gave way. She grabbed Lucas' sleeve, her eyes rolled back, and she let out a small whimper—then collapsed into his arms.

Lucas had been annoyed with Sophia lately.

But when he saw her go limp, her face pale, falling toward him, his chest tightened.

Years of protective instinct took over. All his reasoning went out the window.

"Sophia! What's wrong?" He shouted without thinking.

He scooped her up like he'd done a hundred times before.

"Everyone, move!" Lucas shouted. He used his shoulder to shove past the reporters blocking his way. His eyes were bloodshot. He ran toward the car waiting at the curb.

Lucas was too worried to think straight. The only thing in his world right now was the unconscious woman in his arms.

He didn't even look back to see if Riley was following.

"Drive! Closest hospital!" Lucas barked at the driver as soon as he got in.

"Yes, Mr. Ashford."

The car sped off fast.

It all happened so quickly that no one could even process it.

Riley just stood there, frozen, watching the car carry her husband and another woman away—until it disappeared from sight.

She'd told herself so many times not to expect anything anymore and to get used to it. But when it actually happened right in front of her, the familiar ache still hit her chest.

Lucas had dumped the entire messy problem right on her lap in front of every media outlet in Havenbrook.

With the main attraction gone, the drama died down.

The reporters didn't bother giving Riley a hard time. She'd been left behind, after all.

People started drifting away.

One female reporter—who'd been relatively polite earlier—stepped closer before leaving. She lowered her voice and said to Riley, "Mrs. Ashford... don't take it too hard. But maybe... get a paternity test. Just to be sure."