“Hey, who is that woman, Honey?”
Riley asked Theo, pretending not to know. As she continued to stare at Anna, her hand grabbed Theo’s arm.
“Ummm, well…”
“What’s going on right now? Why is that woman back here again?”
Anna’s eyes widened with anger. As soon as Riley saw Anna’s hand on her belly, she realized it instantly.
“She’s pregnant.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. What a ridiculous situation. It felt like going back in time. She remembered the first time she saw Anna. Everything had changed exactly the way she wanted it to.
Anna became Riley, and Riley became Anna.
“Did you bring another woman in while I was gone?”
Theo urgently grabbed Riley’s shoulder and made eye contact. Anna came over and separated Riley and Theo.
A venomous look landed directly on Theo. He subtly avoided eye contact and turned away from Anna.
“Don’t be ridiculous! We were already married when you were gone. Now that you’re back, what are we going to do?”
“Is that so?”
“If you don’t believe me, come in and see for yourself. We have the documents!”
“I had some things to take care of while you were away.”
Riley stared at Theo as he made excuses and then shook her head. She held Theo’s hand with a look of sadness and disappointment.
“Theo, it’s okay. I understand everything.”
“Riley?”
“I’ve been so lonely without you. I thought you were dead. I kept looking for you.”
Anna burst out laughing in disbelief. She looked at Theo in silence, and then suddenly her gaze turned fierce.
“Here, Theo’s child is growing. So there’s no place for you here! Get out of my house right now!”
She had been missing for over two months. When she looked at her belly, there was no visible sign of having a child. It meant that there was hardly any noticeable change.
During Riley’s absence, Theo seemed to have been constantly working hard to continue the family line.
Thinking that there was a child in Anna’s belly twisted and tangled inside her.
If he had married Anna instead of me and had a child, it would have been fine. After all, if I were gone, Anna would have been the one to bear the heir, so why did he insist on me so stubbornly?
It’s still unbelievable. Riley had no trust in everything Anna did.
“How can I believe that?”
Anna had already lied once. The fact that she was pregnant could also be a lie.
“Doctors have already come and gone. If you still can’t believe it, I’ll call a doctor again tomorrow.”
Anna was unwavering. It really seemed like she had a child in her belly.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to confidently call the doctor.
“How do I know if you haven’t bribed the doctor?”
Riley’s eyes fiercely scanned Anna’s body. As she trembled, Theo stood in front of Riley.
“Riley, the doctor I called was legitimate. Please do not make baseless accusations.”
He hadn’t changed. He was still unapologetically selfish and consistent.
In the end, it was meant to be like this.
Riley was angry. The feeling of injustice and suppressed rage kept bubbling up, making her want to kill the two of them right here and now.
But she didn’t want to end it that easily.
“Ah, Theo.”
Riley leaned towards Theo as if she was about to collapse. Startled, Theo quickly supported Riley, furrowing his brow at Anna as if scolding her.
“Riley, stop it now. Especially since you’re not feeling well.”
He subtly tried to stop her from mentioning Anna with a tone of concern. Anna found it difficult to accept Theo’s affectionate gesture.
With a shocked expression, she yelled at Theo, “How can you treat me like this?!”
“Anna, stop it. Do you have to be like this to someone who just came home?”
The tone of Anna’s voice, full of malice, made Theo frown. Despite standing up for her, Anna, who couldn’t understand, didn’t seem to please Theo.
“I’m fine. Don’t be so harsh. Theo, it’s your child, right?”
As Riley gently restrained Theo with her head nestled against him, she calmed him down. Despite her trembling voice, she had a calm expression.
“What’s this? That woman right now!”
Anna shuddered as she met Riley’s gaze, who was enjoying the situation with a smirk on her face. She hugged Theo more tightly, closed her eyes, and smiled as if showing off.
“Theo, I can’t live with that woman! Don’t you think about the stress my child will go through? What if that woman threatens my child again?!”
At Anna’s words, Riley’s smirking expression wavered. Her words about worrying for the child brought up old memories that tormented her.
“Anna, I understood you, but it seems you’re trying to push me away. If we look at it clearly, I was the owner of this place, right?”
“What, what did you say?”
“Anna, don’t worry. I have no intention of chasing you away. Surely there were reasons even for Theo in my absence.”
“Hah!”
With a gentle expression, Riley stepped out of Theo’s embrace. She lightly brushed the back of his hand, wearing a faint smile.
“Theo, I’ll stay in a separate cottage.”
“But… “
“I’m okay. So calm down, Anna. It’s not good for the kid, you know?”
Riley gently patted Anna’s trembling back and whispered in her ear as she passed by the frozen Anna.
“Riley, let’s go together. There’s so much to prepare, I can help you…!”
“No, it’s okay. You must be tired today, so go inside and rest. It’s better to take care of Anna first. She looks really bad.”
When Theo tried to approach, she raised her hand and refused.
At Riley’s firm words, Theo hesitated and stood still in that spot. Seeing the pale-faced crying Anna in front of him, he sighed deeply.
Entering the annex, Riley glanced out the window at the two of them. She went to the bathroom and washed her hands several times to control her anger.
Riley closed the curtain and locked the door. Leaning on the chair.
“Ren.”
She murmured Ren’s name quietly. With a blue aura, he appeared with some documents and handed her some money.
“I sold the store.”
“So quickly?”
“There’s a sucker who couldn’t manage it, and that’s you.”
Ren smirked as he spoke. When Riley looked at him with a doubtful look, he smiled and showed her the extended fingers.
“Five hundred thousand gold.”
“What?”
At the mention of five hundred thousand gold, Riley stood up in surprise. When she opened the envelope and saw that there really was five hundred thousand gold inside, she couldn’t believe the unbelievable price.
“That idiot just threw it away, but he bought it for 5 billion.”
“The whole store wouldn’t even be worth 1 billion!”
“Riley, this is what you call skill.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, I managed to achieve the impossible.”
Ren shrugged proudly and tilted his head. Riley was afraid to open the envelope he brought.
“Oh, that’s, what you asked for. It got postponed.”
“Why?”
It was a property division lawsuit. She had applied for a freeze on the Duke’s property under the pretext of receiving alimony along with the divorce.
Riley had secretly sold land in Anna’s name to take her share of the money when she left, but it seemed like it didn’t go well.
“It seems like the Duke had a hand in it?”
“So that’s why you came to find me like that?”
Not just that.
Theo had definitely picked up the scent after seeing the movement made for Riley in the royal family. No matter how carefully Carver acted, it would be difficult to suppress the anger.
“It seems that a trial was postponed because you didn’t attend after leaving.”
He didn’t want to put Riley, who hadn’t even sorted out her heart, in front of the judge yet. If she knew the fact that he had hidden the trial schedule, it wouldn’t end with just nagging.
Riley nodded with a tired expression.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
She wanted to lay her tired body in bed right away, but she couldn’t. There were too many things to think about.
“Oh, and by the way.”
Ren stared at Riley and took a deep breath.
‘Now that it’s come to this, I have to intervene myself.’
The trial was a month away. Ren planned to help Carver ruin Prince’s reputation beyond repair before the trial.
“I heard an interesting story.”
“An interesting story?”
Ren approached Riley and whispered in her ear. Even with everything Ren had brought so far, this one piece of information was unmatched.
“Anna, the baby in that woman’s belly. It’s not the Duke’s bloodline.”
ahhhh! wow