From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress (Riley and Lucas) novel Chapter 98

Riley gave a soft nod. “Maybe. Or maybe they just haven’t seen me in a while, so it feels new.”

The elevator stopped at the marketing department’s floor.

The doors opened and the stale, heavy atmosphere hit them right away.

It was supposed to be the most energetic time of the morning, but the entire marketing floor was as quiet as nap time.

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A few early employees were either secretly browsing shopping sites or scrolling on their phones. No hustle, no urgency–nothing you’d expect from a top company’s core department.

When they saw Lucas and Riley standing at the entrance, everyone scrambled to close their unrelated tabs and sat up straight, preter ding to work.

That flustered, caught–in–the–act panic said more about the department’s real state than words ever could.

Riley’s cool gaze swept across the room, taking in every slacking face.

She didn’t say a word. But her look alone dropped the temperature by several degrees.

Lucas‘ face turned even darker,

This was basically a slap to his face–right in front of Riley.

He’d pushed so hard to put Sophia in this position, and this dumpster fire was what he got for it.

He cleared his throat and walked ahead, leading Riley through the open office toward the director’s room at the far end–the one that used to be Riley’s, but now Sophia’s.

Riley stopped at the door. She didn’t go in.

She turned to Lucas. “Let’s talk in your office. This isn’t my space anymore.”

Lucas‘ temples throbbed. He nodded stiffly and led her into his spacious executive office.

Riley sat down without hesitation on the couch in the guest area and got straight to the point. “Give me the recent marketing reports and the progress updates on every active project. Let me see how bad it really is.”

Lucas had expected this. He’d already had everything prepared.

He picked up a thick blue folder from his desk, walked over, and handed it to her. “It’s all here.”

Riley took the folder. It was heavy in her hands. But she knew the weight wasn’t from achievements–it was from piled–up problems.

She opened it with her slender fingers and started scanning.

Riley read fast – really fast. The only sound in the office was the soft rustle of turning pages.

Lucas stood nearby, watching her focused, sharp profile. For some reason, his chest tightened.

7:43 pm

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Chapter 98 Impossible for Others

He hadn’t seen this side of Riley in a long time–the one who made tough calls at the negotiation table and gave so many rivals headaches.

She hadn’t even flipped through five pages before she stopped. “So, while I was gone, not only did the marketing department not Land a single new client, but none of the projects I already signed have moved forward at all. Is that right?”

Lucas nodded, looking embarrassed. But he still tried to make excuses for his precious Sophia. “Sophia came from the entertainment industry. She doesn’t know the first thing about business or corporate rules. Expecting her to fully handle the marketing director role this quickly was… a bit of a stretch.”

Riley let out a quiet, mocking laugh.

A stretch?

Who was it that swore Sophia was brilliant and just needed a chance?

Who pushed me out of the company to make room for her?

Now that she’s failing, suddenly it’s a stretch.

After a moment, Riley closed the folder.

She tossed it casually onto the coffee table and looked at him calmly. “So how exactly do you want me to help her?”

“Some of the smaller projects in there have simple processes–don’t worry about those,” Lucas said, trying to sound steady as he laid out the plan. “The main issue is the big projects. Their follow–up procedures are complicated and involve a lot of departments. I want you to walk Sophia through the entire process. Let her experience it firsthand. Then she’ll know what to do next time.”

He reached into the stack of files and pulled out the one on the Harper Group partnership.

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