From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 56: Mother and Son

"She was hemorrhaging heavily—it wasn't a miscarriage. What has she ever done for this family? Why should we bend over backward for her? If she doesn't like what's sent, then fine. Let her order her own meals from outside."

Once again, Lucas felt that deep-seated dismissiveness—the kind that ran through the whole household when it came to Riley.

He finally snapped. "Mom, when you had your hernia surgery two years ago, who stayed at the hospital day and night instead of going to the office? Every single meal you ate back then was prepared under Riley's watch. Now that she's the one laid up, how can you be so careless?"

Being called out so bluntly by her son left Anthea with no way to save face.

She slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

"Lucas! Is that any way to speak to your mother?

"When I'm sick, Riley takes care of me—that's her duty as part of this family! Besides, it's not like she's on death's door this time. Any nurse would do. Was it really necessary for you to stay out all night because of her? You didn't see how heartbroken Sophia was last night, crying over you!"

Sophia was the girl his mother had taken in and raised from a young age.

And later... she'd given him a son.

So it wasn't surprising Anthea favored her in every way.

But in comparison, she seemed to have completely forgotten everything Riley had done for the family since she married into it.

Arguing any further felt pointless.

A heavy wave of exhaustion washed over Lucas.

He looked at his unreasonable mother and didn't even have the energy to fight back.

"Fine. From now on, don't bother sending anything from home," he said coldly.

Then, without waiting for a response from Anthea's furious expression, he turned and strode upstairs.

Behind him, he heard his mother's dismissive scoff.

"Fine, we won't send anything. Like anyone really cares! She ought to take a good look in the mirror. If it weren't for this family, who would even call her 'Mrs. Ashford' with a straight face?"

All that status and respect should have been Sophia's.

Anthea had long hoped Riley would just disappear so her precious Sophia could take her rightful place.

Around noon, Riley's phone rang in the hospital room.

She picked up, and before she could even speak, Lucas' voice came through, tinged with guilt.

"Riley, about the soup this morning... Mom had the housekeeper mess it up. I've already had words with them," he began, smoothing things over with the usual half-truth. "Since you don't like the food from the house, just stick with what Lydia's ordering for now. Once you're discharged, I'll take her out to a nice dinner to thank her properly."

He sounded sincere, but Riley knew it was just his way of keeping the peace.

"Okay," she replied evenly, giving nothing away.

Lucas was quiet for a moment, then spoke again, sounding even more apologetic. "Work's been insane lately. I... won't be able to stay with you every day. How about I arrange for a private nurse?"

"Not necessary," Riley said flatly. "Focus on your work. It's not like I'm bedridden."

Lucas started to say something else, but Riley cut in softly with, "I've got to go," and ended the call.

Listening to the dial tone, Lucas leaned back in his office chair and tugged irritably at his tie.

Back in the hospital room, Lydia—who was in the middle of peeling an apple for Riley—glanced up in confusion. "Wait, I don't remember being that amazing. Since when did I arrange all three meals for you? And now Mr. Ashford wants to take me out to thank me?"

Riley took the apple, bit into it, and explained offhandedly, "It wasn't you. Somebody else helped arrange the meals. I just used your name so Lucas wouldn't read into it and cause more drama."

"Somebody else?"

Lydia immediately perked up. She leaned in closer, eyes bright with curiosity. "Who? Spill. Are you keeping something from me... seeing someone?"

Sebastian's refined, calm face flashed through Riley's mind.

But the whole situation was too complicated to explain, and she wasn't ready to tell Lydia about it yet.

"Just a friend," she said vaguely. "Don't overthink it."

"Yeah, right," Lydia drawled, clearly not buying it.

But seeing Riley didn't want to elaborate, she politely dropped the subject—though her imagination was already running wild.

Over at Ashford Group, things were piling up.

Lucas had been out of the office for just one day, and already his assistant was standing before his desk looking pale, holding two termination letters.

"Mr. Ashford, two groups said our project timelines were moving too slowly. They've sent formal notices to pull out of the partnerships."

Lucas felt a tension headache coming on.

He'd personally spent months securing those clients. Both projects were highly profitable and key to the company's second-half goals.