From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 250: Poisoning the Well

He forced out a dry, awkward sentence, trying to steer the conversation away. "You... when did you get back? Why didn't you let me know?"

That guilty, almost accusing tone only made the line of Riley's mouth tighten into something colder.

She didn't even bother looking up. A slight lift of her eyebrow was her only reaction, her voice flat. "This afternoon. While you were busy playing daddy for someone else."

Jeremy, whom Lucas had just set down on the floor, seemed to pick up on the tense atmosphere.

Over the past few days, the little boy had been utterly spoiled by everyone around him. Now, seeing that his father was no longer paying him any attention, he redirected all his frustration straight at Riley.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, his shrill voice ringing out, "You're mean! Daddy put me down 'cause you showed up! I hate you!"

Riley didn't let it slide. Without even glancing at the child, she shot back directly at Lucas, "Then why don't you have him pick you up now?"

That single sentence pinned Lucas in place all over again.

Watching her son being challenged, Anthea could no longer hold back.

She started pointing a finger. "Riley! You're a grown woman—how can you talk to a little boy like that? What does Jeremy even understand? You come back from a business trip without telling any of us. Frankly, it seems like you don't care about this family at all!"

"Well, isn't that convenient? None of you ever really wanted me as part of this family anyway, right?"

"Riley, Mom is just concerned..." Sophia stepped in right on cue, slipping smoothly into her peacemaker role. She gently took Anthea's arm and softened her tone. "Everyone, let's not just stand around here. Since we've run into each other, why don't we have dinner together? We could celebrate Riley's success—she managed to handle those stubborn holdouts over in Cedar Creek. I heard the process was... a little messy, but the outcome is something to be proud of."

Sophia's words sounded supportive on the surface, but the pointed way she said "a little messy" hung heavily in the air.

Anthea, however, wasn't having any of it. She shot Riley a dismissive look and snorted. "Isn't doing her job what she's paid for? She did what she was supposed to do. What, are we supposed to throw her a parade now?"

The harshness of the remark stripped away whatever was left of Riley's patience.

She wasn't about to let this rare good mood of hers be completely wrecked by these people.

"No, thanks," Riley replied flatly. "I'm not that desperate for a meal. You all enjoy your family time."

With that, she didn't give any of them another glance. Taking Lydia—who was already fuming—by the arm, she turned and walked away, her steps firm and without hesitation.

Lucas instinctively moved to follow her, to explain, but his arms were trapped—Jeremy was whining and tugging at him, demanding attention.

He watched Riley's retreating figure, a swell of panic rising in his chest, but in the end he could only stand there, helpless, as she disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

The family eventually made their way into the private dining room, but Lucas barely tasted a thing throughout the meal.

His mind kept circling back to Riley's cold, detached expression—and to the phrase Sophia had so casually dropped earlier: a little messy.

Messy?

What exactly happened over in Cedar Creek?

Halfway through dinner, he couldn't take it anymore. He motioned for Sophia to join him out in the hallway.

Under the muted lighting outside the private room, he kept his voice low but urgent. "What did you mean earlier—that the process was messy? Did something happen to Riley in Cedar Creek?"

Sophia met his pressing questions with a perfectly measured look of unease.

She lowered her eyelids slightly and dropped her voice, as though sharing something uncomfortable. "Lucas, honestly... I don't know all the details.

"I just overheard some colleagues talking about it briefly. It sounded like when the project first started and they weren't getting anywhere, Riley... well, she might have gotten a bit desperate. She apparently thought about... taking a shortcut. She tried getting close to the town mayor's son—the one who's a little slow—thinking he could help move things along."

Then, as if catching herself, she quickly shifted into defense mode for Riley. "But later everyone said it was just a misunderstanding! And I really don't think Riley is the type to stoop that low just to close a deal. Please don't read too much into it."

Her words were crafted carefully—offering both an escape route and a trap.

She kept herself clean while skillfully planting a poisonous idea in Lucas' mind: that Riley had tried to cozy up to the slow-witted son of the local mayor.

Sure enough, Lucas' expression darkened by the second.

He didn't even stop to question whether it might be true. In that moment, the version of Riley that Sophia described—someone who would do whatever it took to get results—merged seamlessly in his mind with the stubborn, never-back-down woman he knew.

It sounded exactly like something she would do.

A sharp, humiliating heat rushed to his head.

Through gritted teeth, he asked, "Is that really what happened?"

"I... I don't know for sure," Sophia said, shaking her head with an air of innocence. Her eyes widened slightly. "Maybe it was just office gossip getting out of hand."