From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 248: Morning After

Sebastian didn't take the out she'd given him.

He held her gaze for a few seconds, then his expression grew even more intent.

What came next was a straightforward, almost disarmingly simple explanation.

"Riley, I stayed because I wanted to."

His tone was plain and honest—the kind of directness that felt unexpectedly genuine. It landed right in the center of Riley's chest.

"But if it makes you uncomfortable, it won't happen again." He sounded like he was asking for her consent in earnest, though the stubborn glint in his eyes was impossible to miss.

"We're getting married in just over a week anyway." He stated it like the fact it was, then smoothly shifted gears. "I guess... I let myself be a little selfish this time. Just went with what I felt."

Maybe it was the afterglow of his fever, but in that moment, Sebastian seemed to have shed the polished veneer of the corporate executive. What showed through was something persistent, a little raw, and undeniably real.

And surprisingly, Riley didn't mind it at all.

If anything, she found it kind of amusing.

Here was a man whose net worth had more zeroes than most people see in a lifetime, and his idea of a good time wasn't exotic cars or social scenes—it was staying in and playing solo video games.

And now, after leaning on her while he was sick, he'd quietly slipped into her bed in the middle of the night. It was... oddly endearing.

His honesty dissolved the last bit of awkwardness she'd been holding onto. A playful smile tugged at her lips.

Her eyes swept over his handsome features, and a very practical thought crossed her mind.

She leaned in slightly, holding his gaze. "When you say 'selfish', do you mean you wanted to... sleep with me?"

Riley's bluntness clearly caught Sebastian off guard.

This was a man who could command boardrooms with a nod, yet now he froze—utterly, visibly thrown. His brow furrowed slightly, and pure confusion flashed in his eyes, like his internal processor had just short-circuited trying to decode her meaning.

Watching him stall out, Riley let out a soft laugh. She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on an elbow to look down at him teasingly. "Mr. Torres, with a reaction like that, I feel like I just tried to flirt with a... shy college kid."

The word shy seemed to flip a switch.

Sebastian's expression cleared almost instantly. A faint, telltale flush crept from his neck up behind his ears, though he clearly didn't want her to notice. He moved off the bed in one fluid motion.

Standing beside it, he looked down at her, though his voice hadn't quite steadied. "You'll find out another time," he said, lowering his tone just enough to lace the words with intent. "Whether I'm... shy or not."

How had the conversation suddenly veered into such charged territory?

Riley could feel her own cheeks warming now. She cleared her throat lightly, breaking eye contact as she slipped out of bed, flustered. "I'm... gonna use the bathroom."

She was already halfway across the room before she finished the sentence.

By the time she'd washed up and stepped out, the guest room was empty.

Sebastian had returned to his own room at some point without a sound.

But the air still seemed to hum with the heat his last words had left behind.

The lingering warmth from that exchange didn't fully fade until Riley was already in the car, headed back to the construction site.

The moment she stepped onto site, refreshed and focused, all those wandering thoughts clicked off.

She'd barely settled at her desk when Anne rushed over, practically buzzing with excitement.

"Riley!" Her eyes were shining. "It's done. All of it!"

Riley paused, then understood. "The holdouts?"

"Yes!" Anne nodded eagerly, her voice trembling with enthusiasm. "The last two families just called. They agreed to the original relocation terms—no extra demands, not a cent more. And they were so polite about it, you wouldn't believe it. That huge headache we've been dealing with for months... just like that, resolved."

Riley picked up the paperwork, scanning the signed agreements in black and white. Inside, she knew exactly how this had happened.

Good news like this didn't just fall from the sky.

To get those stubborn families to change their minds so completely, so quickly, and without any drama—solving a problem that had stumped the whole site team...

Sebastian had clearly negotiated this for her behind the scenes.

And he'd done it right before spiking that fever.

Now that the biggest obstacle was cleared, Riley's role here was effectively complete.

She checked the time and turned to Anne. "I'll leave the follow-up to you. I'm heading back to Havenbrook this afternoon."

"What? So soon?" Anne's excitement melted into genuine disappointment.

She and Calvin still had weeks of work ahead wrapping things up on site.