Hillbilly Girlie Marries a Billionaire – Episode 25
Lucas ordered dinner sent to the master suite and carried the tray himself. Emily had lost her appetite, but he refused to let Sophie’s performance deprive her of food. The gesture echoed the day he dismissed Mia and promised she would never eat scraps in his home.
Emily asked whether he doubted her for even a second. Lucas answered no. He had watched Sophie weaponize tears too often, while Emily usually concealed pain until it became impossible to hide. Their habits revealed more than the broken plate.
He told her to stop yielding seats, tasks, and rooms merely to avoid conflict. Emily said choosing a battle was not surrender. On the farm, wasting strength on every stubborn animal left none for the storm that actually threatened the crop.
Lucas accepted the lesson but admitted he hated seeing anyone treat her as lesser. Emily touched the bandage still healing near his temple. She hated his habit of bleeding whenever he felt protective, so perhaps both needed to learn moderation.
Their teasing softened the room. Lucas arranged the restaurant’s signature dishes across a small table and tasted each first, claiming quality control. Emily accused him of stealing her dinner. He said marriage required sharing assets.
Downstairs, Victoria supervised Sophie’s private nurse and dismissed every staff member loyal to Emily. Grandfather Anderson overruled the changes, deepening the division in the household. The estate no longer felt like one family home but rival courts separated by a staircase.
Sophie sent Victoria a recording of Emily’s old surrogacy interview. Edited carefully, it made Emily appear willing to marry any wealthy man who paid enough for a child. Victoria played it during breakfast the next morning.
Emily listened to her frightened former self discuss medical costs and compensation. Shame tried to return, but Lucas took her hand. She told the table the recording was real and incomplete. She had already disclosed every part publicly.
Victoria accused her of lacking value now that Sophie carried the heir. Emily asked what kind of mother measured women only by the children they produced. Grandfather Anderson sharply ordered Victoria to stop.
Sophie entered wearing a flowing dress that emphasized her abdomen. She said she wanted peace and begged Emily not to hate an innocent baby. Her practiced humility made Emily’s refusal to embrace her look cruel.
Lucas announced that he loved Emily. The declaration silenced the room. Pregnancy, paternity, and family pressure would not change who his wife was. If the child proved his, he would fulfill every responsibility without giving Sophie Emily’s place.
Sophie’s expression cracked. She had expected duty to become romance once she entered the estate. Lucas reduced her victory to financial and parental obligation, denying the possession she wanted.
Victoria warned that the board might require marriage to the child’s mother for succession stability. Lucas said the board could remove him before he abandoned Emily. Grandfather Anderson looked troubled, aware that some directors would indeed prefer an undisputed traditional heir.
Noah interrupted with news from the laboratory. The paternity result would arrive in forty-eight hours. He did not reveal the discrepancy in the vial seal; he wanted proof of who altered it before Sophie could destroy evidence.
Emily noticed his unusual restraint and followed him into the hall. Noah showed her the photographs: the nurse sealed sample number 417B, while the laboratory receipt listed 419B. Someone had replaced the vial between collection and delivery.
They agreed not to tell Lucas yet. His anger might alert the conspirators, and Emily wanted the entire scheme exposed rather than merely another test ordered. Noah would trace the courier; Emily would watch Sophie.
Lucas found them whispering and misread their secrecy. Jealousy flickered before trust overcame it. Emily promised they were working on something that could protect him, but she could not explain until they had evidence.
He accepted her boundary reluctantly. The change mattered: earlier Lucas would have ordered answers. Now he trusted her judgment even when uncertainty made him uncomfortable.
That night, Sophie slipped into the service corridor to meet the clinic technician. Emily followed at a distance. She heard Sophie demand confirmation that the result would withstand scrutiny and threaten to expose his theft if he failed.
Emily raised her phone to record. A floorboard creaked beneath her foot. Sophie stopped speaking and turned toward the darkness. “Come out, Emily,” she called. “Let’s finally discuss what happens after the test proves your husband belongs to me.”