My Cold-Hearted Husband Wants Me Back
Chapter 159: The Motive

Chapter 159: The Motive

The next morning, the dining table that was expected to be lively with the addition of one more person, remained quiet.

Everyone was seated around the dining table when Eryx placed a bowl in front of Lunara without a word. It was warm porridge with soft fruits, nothing heavy.

Lunara glanced at it, then at him. "What’s this?"

"Breakfast," Eryx said, taking a seat. "Something light. It’s only been a week."

She didn’t argue. She picked up the spoon and slowly started eating.

Naomi yawned, her head resting on her palm. Across the table, Regina poured tea for herself. Lucas sat beside her, quiet, still looking unsure in a room full of people who seemed to know him better than he knew himself.

"Where’s my porridge?" Naomi asked, eyeing Eryx with a pout. "I want that kind of porridge too."

"Ask aunty to bring it for you," Eryx said, setting a glass of milk in front of Lunara before sitting beside her.

"Ouch, that’s cold," Naomi said dramatically, but she was clearly teasing. Then she turned toward the kitchen. "Aunty, can I have something light too? I don’t feel like eating much. Still..." She made a motion around her mouth, hinting at her morning sickness.

Lucas looked at her, confused.

"Oh," Naomi said, grinning. "I’m pregnant. You’re going to be an uncle soon."

Lucas just nodded. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes lingered on her, like he was still trying to catch up with everything.

Eryx, however, didn’t react. His gaze had shifted back to Lunara, watching her quietly, unsure if the conversation was too much.

Lunara didn’t look at him. She kept eating, but after a few bites, she sighed and glanced his way.

"Eat," she said, frowning. "I can’t digest properly with you staring like that."

Eryx gave a small nod and finally picked up his fork.

"Oh, and don’t mind him," Naomi added casually, noticing how Lucas had been observing the couple. "He’s basically a robot. Only takes commands from his wife. But give him a stressful meeting or a crisis at work and he transforms into a whole different creature."

Lucas let out a soft chuckle, the first sign of ease on his face that morning.

Eryx didn’t even look up. "I can hear you, Naomi."

"Good," she grinned. "Then you know your image is safe in this house—as long as you keep my account full."

Lunara hid a small smile as she put her head lower.

As the clatter of dishes and soft morning chatter filled the dining room, Regina stood up from her seat and walked toward the kitchen, mumbling something about checking on the fruit.

Eryx waited a beat, then stood too, quietly slipping away from the table. He glanced at Lunara, who didn’t look up, then followed his mother into the kitchen.

Regina was arranging slices of melon onto a small plate when she noticed him.

"What is it?" she asked without turning.

"I just need to ask you something," Eryx said, his voice low. "Something I didn’t want to bring up in front of the others."

She paused, then slowly turned to face him. "Go on."

"It’s about the investigation you mentioned," he said. "The one about the accident... Are you still looking into it?"

Regina’s expression tightened. "Yes. I have someone on it."

"Is there any progress?"

"Nothing concrete yet," she said. "But the person I hired said something strange that showed up in the insurance report. I don’t want to say anything until I know for sure."

"Insurance?" Eryx asked, frowning. "What about it?"

Regina’s hand stilled. She looked around and said quickly, "Can you all give us a moment?"

The maids nodded and quietly exited the kitchen.

Once the door swung closed, Regina lowered her voice. "Lucas suddenly bought a life insurance policy. For himself... and his girlfriend. It was registered three months before the accident."

Eryx narrowed his eyes. "That doesn’t sound like him."

"I know," Regina replied. "He never cared about that kind of thing. Not unless someone pushed him."

"You think she did?"

Regina hesitated. "I don’t want to believe it. But the policy named her family as partial beneficiaries. That’s not normal, Eryx. Not unless they were married or planning something long-term. But they weren’t."

Eryx’s jaw tightened. "You think someone from her side was involved?"

"I don’t know yet," she said. "But it’s strange, isn’t it? She dies in the same crash. The policy activates. And now someone tried to erase everything."

Eryx leaned back against the counter, his mind racing. "What about the payout?"

Regina shook her head slowly. "Nothing’s been paid out."

"Nothing?" Eryx echoed, his voice low. "For three years?"

Regina’s jaw tightened. "Yes, three years. They claim ’investigations’ are still ongoing. It’s been held up. I had someone look into it... something about the policy’s details don’t add up. But the more I dig into this, the more I feel like... he’s not the only one who might be alive."

Eryx froze, a chill running through him. "You mean... her?"

Regina nodded slowly, her eyes locking with his. "I know it sounds insane, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. What if she survived too? And someone’s been covering it up. I’m not sure who or why, but Lucas wasn’t the only one we thought was dead. I don’t know if it’s her family, or if someone else is pulling the strings, but this isn’t just a simple accident."

Eryx’s pulse quickened. "So, you think they both faked their deaths? And the insurance—"

Regina shook her head again, "Eryx, think... Lucas was not someone who was out of money, for what did he need to fake his death for?"

Eryx was silent for a few moments.

"You know why I was against their relationship so much?" Regina broke the silence. "She came from money problems," she said quietly. "Her parents had debt. Bad debt. When I looked into it after the incident, they were trying to cash out the insurance, but it didn’t work out."

Eryx frowned. "It didn’t work out because you froze the claim."

Regina nodded. "Exactly. But the way they moved so fast, so sure of what they’d get—it didn’t sit right with me. And the moment they realized the claim was being delayed, they backed off. No complaints. No legal threats. Nothing."

"That’s odd," Eryx muttered.

"Too odd," Regina said. "It was like... they didn’t want too many eyes on the case. Like they were afraid of what someone might find if they pushed too hard."

She leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. "Every dot didn’t connect. If Lucas bought the insurance himself, why tie it to someone whose family was drowning in debt? And why would they act like they knew they’d benefit from it?"

Eryx’s brow furrowed, the pieces turning slowly in his mind. "What if the insurance wasn’t really for them?" he said. "What if it was just a decoy?"

Regina looked at him. "A decoy?"

"Yeah," Eryx said. "What if it wasn’t about the payout at all? What if someone set it up to make it look like a financial motive—so no one would question the accident too deeply?"

Regina’s eyes narrowed. "You think someone staged everything to cover up the real reason?"

Eryx nodded slowly. "If someone wanted Lucas gone, or wanted something from him... faking a motive through the girlfriend’s family would’ve been the perfect distraction."

Regina exhaled, almost like a shiver passed through her. "That means this wasn’t just a grab for money. It was bigger."

"I don’t know, Mom, but I strongly believe they were targeting Lucas," Eryx said, his voice lower, more focused now. "Everything else feels like noise. The debts, the insurance—it’s all just smoke."

Regina looked at him, quiet for a moment. "Then why go through the trouble of making it look like an accident?"

"To cover up something worse," Eryx replied. "Something they didn’t want us to look into."

There was a beat of silence between them, the weight of the conversation settling in the room. Regina opened her mouth to say something else, but a loud voice cut through the air.

"Mom! Eryx!" Naomi’s voice rang out from the dining room, sharp and urgent. "You guys better come out—Grandma’s here!"

Regina’s face immediately tensed. "Matilda?"

Without another word, she rushed out, Eryx close behind.

As they entered the dining room, the tension in the air was sharp. Naomi stood in front of Lucas, one arm subtly stretched out, almost shielding him. Her expression was firm, lips pressed tight. Lucas, sitting behind her, looked unsure, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

And across from them—Matilda stood frozen.

Her cane tapped once against the floor, but she didn’t move. Her eyes were locked on Lucas like she was seeing a ghost.

"No..." she breathed. "That’s impossible."

Lucas shifted again, visibly uncomfortable under her stare. "Who is she?" he asked quietly, leaning toward Naomi.

Naomi didn’t answer right away, gulping, she replied, "She’s... our lovely grandmother."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.