From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 147: Reconsider Our Relationship

The apologies kept coming, sounding sincere. But in the next sentence, his selfishness and cowardice slipped out without him even noticing.

He said, "Please. Don't leave. There are already so many rumors out there. The media is watching the Ashford family, waiting to see us fall apart. If you leave and get photographed—what will people think?"

Riley shook her head. The sarcasm in her eyes grew sharper.

She pulled her hand back gently. "I can't even control what you think. Why would I care what other people think?"

Lucas had no comeback for that. "Riley, what are you trying to say?"

Riley sneered, "Fine. Since you asked—explain this to me.

"Why would the media randomly suspect Jeremy is your son? Why does he keep calling you Daddy—and no one can get him to stop?"

She paused. Her eyes burned into Lucas', as if she could see right through him.

The weight of her stare made Lucas' chest tighten. He wanted to look away.

"And Sophia," Riley went on. "The minute she came back, you pushed me out of the company. Told me to make room for her.

"Your parents never treated me great before—but they were at least decent. After Sophia came back? Their attitude changed completely. Like I'd stolen something from her. They find fault with everything I do."

With every word, Lucas' face lost a little more color.

"Lucas," Riley said, "tell me. How am I not supposed to overthink when all these coincidences pile up like this?"

Lucas opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out.

Because every question Riley asked went straight to the heart of the matter.

He could have come clean right now.

He could have told her the truth about Sophia, about Jeremy, and about his tangled history with Sophia.

But Lucas had always been like this, indecisive and weak.

He did like Riley. Her independence and intelligence drew him in—made him want to conquer her.

But he couldn't resist Sophia either—that helpless, seductive act of hers.

He wanted the respectability marriage to Riley gave him, and he wanted the comfort Sophia gave him.

He thought he could have it all, keeping everyone happy and firmly under his control.

So he didn't have the courage to choose.

Riley watched the struggle flicker behind his eyes and understood.

She knew him too well.

With his personality—always wanting everything, never wanting to give anything up—there was no way he'd tell her the truth now.

After a long pause, Lucas finally spoke—same old lies. "Riley, you've really got it wrong. Jeremy has nothing to do with me. And Sophia? I've always thought of her as my sister. How could I have that kind of relationship with her? Don't overthink this, okay?"

Riley rolled her eyes, feeling no surprise.

She wanted to tell him to stop pretending.

Lucas thought she believed him, or at least, that his explanation had calmed her down.

Relief flickered in his eyes. He stepped forward with open arms, ready to pull her into a hug—the way he always did, his go-to move for smoothing things over.

But before he could touch her, Riley pushed him away, cold.

She zipped up her suitcase. "Looks like you still don't want to be honest with me.

"So, I think I need to seriously reconsider our relationship."

Lucas' pupils blew wide. All the color drained from his face. "What... what do you mean?"

Riley looked at him calmly. "Divorce."

Lucas' world seemed to hit mute.

The bedroom light was still bright. But all the color drained from his vision. That word echoed in his head.

Divorce? How could she—

He stood there frozen, his mind blank.

But Riley wasn't waiting for an answer.

She turned, grabbed her suitcase handle, and walked out of the bedroom.

By the time Lucas snapped out of it—his defenses in tatters—she was already gone.

He wanted to chase after her. But his legs wouldn't move.

Riley pulled her suitcase down the stairs.

Anthea was sitting on the couch, her face still hard.

She looked up when she heard the noise. Her eyes landed on Riley and the suitcase. Her anger flared up again.

"What do you think you're doing?" Anthea shot to her feet. "Where are you going with that suitcase? You're getting addicted to throwing tantrums, aren't you? It's the middle of the night—are you running away again to play the victim? Let me tell you something, Riley—don't bring your cheap tricks into the Ashford family. What do you think Ashford Manor is? A public market? Come and go as you please?"

The questions came like rapid fire.

Riley stopped. She turned slowly and looked at Anthea.