From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 32: The Secret Plot

She finished her dinner quietly, paying no attention to the others at the table—each lost in their own private calculations—and went straight up to her room.

After closing the door, she flopped lazily onto the bed, picked up her phone, and suddenly remembered what had happened at the jewelry store earlier that day.

She texted Sebastian, "Have you picked out a wedding ring yet?"

But after sending it, there was no reply for a while.

Riley checked the time and figured he was probably in the middle of a game and too busy to respond.

She didn't overthink it—after all, this was just a marriage of convenience.

Tossing her phone onto the nightstand, she got up and headed into the bathroom.

While Riley was enjoying a rare moment of peace, over in Sophia's room, Lucas, Julian, and Anthea filed in one after another, each looking more tense than the last.

Sophia shut the door quickly, still wearing just the right amount of hurt and worry on her face.

"Absolutely not! I won't allow this!" Anthea was the first to snap. She dropped onto the sofa, her carefully maintained face twisted in disdain. "Riley cannot have Lucas' baby. Who does she think she is? With that kind of background—if it weren't for her being useful to Ashford Group back in the day, I never would've let someone like her marry into this family in the first place.

"Letting her carry the Ashford name all these years has already dragged our standing down. If she actually has a child, all of Havenbrook will laugh at us."

Julian ignored his wife's outburst and fixed a sharp look on his son. "Lucas, what's going on here? I thought you arranged for Riley to take something to prevent pregnancy. Why is she suddenly so fixated on having a baby?"

Faced with his father's question, Lucas' expression flickered with unease.

He rubbed his temples in frustration, his voice weary. "It's because I promised her a belated proposal. It's given her all these unrealistic ideas."

Hearing the word "proposal", Anthea lost it again. "I told you, you never should've agreed to something so absurd.

"With where she comes from, marrying into our family was already more than she deserved. Even as a placeholder Mrs. Ashford, we've shown her plenty of respect and let her live comfortably all these years. What more could she possibly want?

"Now she's getting greedy, expecting some fancy proposal? You're lifting her up too high—what does that leave for our Sophia and Jeremy?"

Under his mother's barrage, Lucas looked even more worn down.

He drew a slow breath and tried to explain, "Mom, please calm down. The proposal is just a temporary solution.

"Riley has been with Ashford Group for years. Several of our long-term projects, not to mention some of our toughest major clients—she's the one who brought them in. Now that Sophia's taking over, a lot of things haven't been fully smoothed out yet. If anything goes wrong or there's an emergency, we might still need her to step in and help.

"But don't worry, it's only for now.

"Once Sophia learns the ropes and gets settled in properly, I'll find a way to call off the proposal. Riley... she's always been gentle and understanding with me. I'm sure she'll see my position and won't make a fuss."

Sophia felt a little better after hearing Lucas say that.

She knew that in his heart, her place and Jeremy's were something Riley could never match.

But remembering how confident Riley had seemed at dinner, she couldn't shake a growing worry.

She walked over to Lucas, leaned softly against him, and spoke with concern. "Lucas, your plan makes sense... but what if Riley actually manages to fix her health and gets pregnant before you end the proposal?"

She looked up at him, eyes glistening, fragile and pleading. "Lucas, you're too kind—you'd never force her to end a pregnancy. But if she has the baby, what happens to me and Jeremy?"

She didn't finish. Her voice caught, and tears welled in her eyes.

"Sophia's right!" Anthea cut in immediately. "That's a serious problem.

"That Riley is so cunning. What if she really has a child? She'll cling to the Ashford name forever, using the baby as leverage every chance she gets. It'll be a never-ending headache. We need to shut down this idea of hers for good, before she gets what she wants."

Right then, Sophia offered a suggestion at just the right moment.

"Actually... it wouldn't be hard to ruin Riley's plans.

"Since she trusts that prescription so much, why not make sure it doesn't work?

"For example, we could find a way to swap her medication, or mix in something harmless that neutralizes it. That way, no matter how long she takes it, she'll never get pregnant.

"After a while, she'll realize the medicine isn't working at all, and she'll lose faith in whatever her friend's been recommending."