The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

The question was enough to leave Sienna frozen for a moment. Her thoughts started to spiral again.

’How could this man possibly ask me that while looking at me like that? Did he know what I was thinking?’

Her hand clenches tightly. At this moment, countless honest answers were already screaming inside her head.

’You’re handsome, gentle, and kind. You’re also patient, mature, and calm...’

She swallowed after hearing her honest thoughts. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

And her thought didn’t give her time to relax; it continued to answer him—

’Zach, you are a perfect man. The kind of man who only existed in my sweetest dream and imagination. And somehow, the most frightening part was that you are real.’

Sienna let out another slow, deep sigh, trying to calm her heartbeat.

However, standing so close in front of him and seeing the gentle look in his eyes, she found all her efforts to steady herself had failed.

Sienna knew she could never say those things out loud.

So in the end, after struggling silently with her own heartbeat and thoughts for several long seconds, she finally forced herself to answer softly—

"You’re a good man, Zach..." Those were the only words she could now bring herself to say.

She saw him smile faintly after hearing her answer. It was not the kind of smile that came from amusement or politeness. It looked softer than that. Almost as if her words had reached somewhere deep inside him before he carefully hid his reaction again.

Then—

Slowly, he turned his gaze away from her and looked back toward the tall glass wall overlooking the city lights outside her apartment.

Sienna remained standing beside him.

Waiting.

The silence stretched longer than it should have. And somehow, it made her heart feel restless.

She lowered her gaze briefly while trying to steady her thoughts. Honestly, she still did not fully understand why he suddenly asked her that question.

’What kind of person do you think I am?’

The question sounded simple at first, yet the more she thought about it, the more complicated it became. Because deep down, she felt like Zachary had not been asking casually. It felt personal.

Just as the silence began stretching too long between them again, Zachary finally spoke.

"Thank you, Sienna."

His low voice immediately pulled her out of her thoughts.

She looked up at him in confusion.

"For what?"

This time, Zachary glanced at her briefly over his shoulder. "For complimenting me."

"I’m not complimenting you," she replied honestly.

After a brief pause, her voice softened. "I’m simply stating a fact. In my observation, so far, you are a good man."

The moment the words left her lips, something shifted subtly inside Zachary’s expression. For a brief second, he looked disappointed.

’Did I say something wrong?’

Sienna stared at him carefully, trying to understand the unreadable look on his face.

’Why does he look unhappy...?’

But as always, Zachary gave her nothing more. His expression returned to his usual calm.

"Zach, I’m serious. You’re a good man," she called softly.

His gaze returned to her immediately.

This time, the tension in his face finally softened properly. A warmer smile slowly appeared on his lips, more genuine than before.

"I understand," he answered gently. "...and thank you for hosting Sky and me today."

Before she could answer, Zachary finally lifted his wrist to check the time. The moment he saw the numbers on his watch, something rare happened. A shocked expression crossed his face.

"Almost ten...?" Zachary said, sounding slightly caught off guard, as if he genuinely had not realized how quickly time had passed while staying here with her.

"Wow," she said, pretending to be surprised while trying to hide her smile. "Time flies; I could have sworn it was only eight..."

Then both of them instinctively turned toward the living room. And immediately froze.

Skylar had fallen asleep on the sofa. He was lying sideways on the cushion, his iPad still loosely resting against his chest.

Sienna instantly covered her mouth, trying not to laugh at how adorable he looked.

Meanwhile, Zachary let out a quiet breath through his nose. Then, without hesitation, he walked toward the sofa and carefully picked Skylar up into his arms.

Skylar shifted slightly before instinctively burying his face against his father’s shoulder again.

Watching the scene made Sienna’s chest grow warm as she remembered the days they spent together at Pine Villa.

"I’m sorry," Zachary suddenly said while adjusting Skylar more comfortably in his arms. "We stayed too long."

But Sienna immediately shook her head. "No," she answered honestly, "I’m really happy you came."

Her lips curved into a small smile afterward.

"It reminded me of Pine Villa." She added.

The moment she mentioned it, Zachary looked at her quietly for several seconds.

Clearly, he remembered it too.

A faint smile slowly appeared on his lips once again.

"Hmm..." he answered simply.

Sienna walked beside him toward the entrance.

Before leaving, Zachary glanced toward her again.

"I’ll call you once we arrive home."

She nodded immediately.

"Okay." She said before walking them toward the elevator.

The elevator doors opened softly.

Zachary stepped inside, carrying Skylar securely in his arms. Under the warm hallway light, he looked calm and unbelievably gentle as he looked back at her.

"Good night, Sienna..."

"Good night, Zach..."

The moment Zachary disappeared from sight, Sienna remained standing there, motionless but not emotionless, for a whole minute.

Only after the elevator fully descended did she finally let out a deep sigh.

"Sienna..." she whispered weakly to herself while pressing one hand lightly against her chest helplessly. "You’re falling deeper..."

Finally, she couldn’t deny it any longer. She was falling in love with him. And what scared her most wasn’t her feelings, but the uncertainty.

Did Zachary feel the same way?

Or had she simply misunderstood every look, every moment, every gentle action between them?

Sienna slowly leaned back against the wall while staring blankly at the closed elevator doors.

Then one final thought crossed her mind.

’Should I confess to him?’