From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 146: Thoroughly Embarrassed

He looked away, stiff. The questions in his mind kept growing.

But then he thought—Riley had her own connections and her own resources.

With her status as Mrs. Ashford, maybe she could get her hands on jewelry like this to make an impression. It wasn't impossible.

Maybe she just had connections he didn't know about.

"Mom, you've got it wrong," Lucas said, his voice dry. "I didn't buy that necklace."

Anthea's eyes went wide. "You didn't? Then where did it come from?

"Riley! Where did you get that kind of money? How could you afford something so expensive?"

"I told you," Riley said, her voice cold. "It's rented. But none of you believed me."

She kept going. "That necklace has to go back tomorrow morning—exactly as I got it. If even one diamond is missing, I pay full price. That's not chump change. At least a hundred million dollars. You want to cover that?"

"A hundred million?" Anthea gasped.

She shrank back, instinctively hiding behind Julian. "You... Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Julian's face wasn't looking too good either.

He hadn't been as obvious about his greed as Anthea. But at the words "hundred million dollars," his brow furrowed tight.

Lucas stood there, watching Anthea's expression flip in an instant, feeling annoyed.

Riley took in everyone's faces.

The disgust rose up in her throat.

She was tired.

She didn't want to keep fighting with these people and drain herself anymore.

"Believe it or not," she said lightly.

Then she turned and walked to her bedroom.

"Look at her!" Anthea popped her head out from behind Julian and pointed at the staircase. "She's so full of herself now. Can't even take a little criticism. She trashes the house, and it's our fault? Lucas, you really need to get her under control."

Lucas stood there, head spinning.

He felt like he couldn't handle any of this.

"Mom!" His voice sharpened. "Why can't you ever look at your own behavior? And Dad, too! Grandpa's coming back soon. Instead of helping me keep her calm, you make things worse?"

His face was tight with barely contained anger.

Anthea pouted, looking hurt. But she didn't dare say anything else.

Anxiety pushed Lucas to do something.

He headed up the stairs.

But just as he reached the bottom step, Sophia blocked his way. "Lucas... what's wrong?

"Is Riley still really angry? This is all my fault. If I hadn't fainted back there, maybe—"

Sophia didn't finish her sentence. She let it hang, taking all the blame on herself again. "Maybe I should go up and apologize to her."

But Lucas knew better.

Letting Sophia apologize to Riley would make everything worse.

He frowned and pulled his hand away from hers.

"Just worry about yourself," he said.

Lucas followed Riley to her bedroom door.

She was packing a suitcase.

Her movements weren't rushed. But underneath that calm, there was something final, something that didn't leave room for argument.

Lucas pushed the door open.

"Riley!" He sounded panicked. "Where are you going?"

Riley stopped folding her shirt. She set it gently in the suitcase.

After a moment, she turned around slowly. "Lucas, I'm tired of being in this house.

"You all think I come from nothing. That I'm not good enough for the Ashford family. I married into this family. I did everything I could to help your company. I wanted to change your minds about me. I wanted to prove I wasn't worthless.

"But I guess that's never going to happen."

Lucas stopped thinking. He grabbed the suitcase off the bed.

"Mom and Dad were just stressed about tonight," he argued. "They weren't really trying to hurt you. You just got back. You're still not well. I can't let you leave like this."

Riley just looked at him, mocking. "You can't let me leave because your grandpa's coming back. And you don't know how to explain it."

Lucas froze, thoroughly embarrassed.

Riley pulled the suitcase out of his hands and put it back on the bed.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'll explain it to him myself. He won't blame you."

Suddenly, Lucas realized—Riley wasn't throwing a tantrum. She actually wanted to leave.

His breath caught. Panic—real panic—set in his heart.

He stepped forward and took her cold hands in his. "Riley... don't go.

"What happened at the banquet tonight... that was my fault. I handled it badly. And Mom and Dad... They weren't thinking straight. They weren't really trying to hurt you. I'm sorry. On their behalf."