The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

Riley remained standing there, visibly shocked, staring at Zachary with a confused expression that refused to leave his face.

At this moment, his brain was working too hard. Too many questions were crashing into each other at once.

’This is Sienna’s apartment, right?’

’Why was Zachary Sterling at Sienna’s apartment?’

’Wait, did I come to the wrong place?’

’No. No. This is the right place. This is Sienna’s apartment.’

’Why did I suddenly feel as if I had walked into a scene I was absolutely unprepared to witness? Family drama...!?’

It took him nearly a full minute before Riley’s gaze finally shifted away from Zachary.

Slowly, he turned toward the apartment number beside the doorframe. Then toward Ava, standing beside him. And then back to the apartment number.

He lowered his voice dramatically. "Ava... are you absolutely sure this is Sienna’s house?"

Ava displayed a nearly identical confused expression to Riley’s.

"The last time I met her, she still came back to this apartment... so we are not at the wrong place," Ava answered, though her tone sounded far less confident than before.

Riley nodded slowly. Still completely ignoring the calm man standing in the doorway, he leaned slightly closer toward Ava.

"So, this is her place..." he whispered seriously, "...but I just want to confirm my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me."

Ava frowned immediately. "What trick?"

Riley’s curious gaze slowly drifted toward Zachary for several seconds before returning to Ava.

"Did you see a man standing in Sienna’s doorway?"

"Mmmhm." Ava nodded quickly and whispered, "Of course I did. He is a double handsome man."

"You know him?"

The line between Ava’s brows deepened. "Yeah. He’s one of a kind."

Riley stared at her. "Why is he here?"

Ava let out a tired sigh and looked at him like she was slowly losing faith in human intelligence.

"My goodness, why are you asking me that? I said I know him, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know me. So I wouldn’t have had the slightest idea why he’s here. You should ask him." She said, clearly embarrassed.

Riley finally let out a gentle, heartfelt chuckle, reassured that his eyesight was fine and that the man before him was his beloved uncle, Zachary Sterling.

He slowly lifted his gaze toward Zachary again.

"Uncle," he said carefully, "why are you here?"

Across from him, Zachary narrowed his eyes slightly. "I should ask you that," he replied calmly. "Why are you here?"

Riley ignored the question completely. Instead, he lowered his voice with exaggerated seriousness.

"Uncle... please tell me..." He leaned forward slightly. "Did I just accidentally walk into a family scandal?"

Zachary stared at him without expression. "No."

Riley looked deeply unconvinced. He lowered his voice even more. "Then why are you inside Sienna’s apartment?"

The calm expression on Zachary’s face remained unchanged.

Still, Riley noticed the subtle warning already beginning to form in Zachary’s eyes.

"If you came here only to ask me that," Zachary said calmly, "you can leave."

Riley and Ava are entirely shocked as Zachary begins to close the door.

"Oh—!"

"Wait, uncle!"

Both of them reacted at once.

Riley quickly grabbed the edge of the door before it could close completely.

"Uncle, please don’t—"

For one terrifying second, he truly thought Zachary might continue closing it anyway.

Thankfully, the door stopped moving.

Riley released a quiet breath. He decides to stop provoking his billionaire uncle.

He needs to focus on their mission. Coming to Sienna’s place was just to make sure their friends are now safe.

Although... things were clear in his mind, Zachary Sterling was the person who helped Sienna leave the police station.

Nonetheless, another question began to swirl in his mind.

’Since when did Sienna know Zachary Sterling? And how close exactly were they?’

"Riley, speak now or leave."

Zachary’s words immediately pulled Riley back to reality.

Even Ava straightened slightly beside him.

Riley decided not to challenge Zachary’s patient. He asked, "Uncle, I just wanted to ask... Is Sienna inside?"

The question hung between them.

For a brief second, the hallway became quiet.

And before Zachary could answer, the sound of the door opening could be heard from behind.

"Zach, I heard the doorbell ring. Who’s..." Sienna’s sentence halted as she saw Riley and Ava standing in front of her house.

She stood there, staring at her two friends for several long moments, her mind still struggling to catch up with the strange situation unfolding at her apartment doorway.

Ava and Riley stood side by side, equally shocked, while in front of them, Zachary remained calm enough to make her feel as if she were the only person whose world had suddenly turned upside down.

She slowly turned to Zachary. Their eyes immediately met. For a moment, neither of them said a word.

Then Zachary walked toward her with his usual calm steps, stopped right before her, and whispered, "Your friends are here. They came to see you."

Sienna blinked once, then looked back toward Ava and Riley as if checking whether they had somehow disappeared.

Unfortunately, they had not. They were still there, staring at her in confusion.

"I can see them..." she replied weakly.

Her voice sounded softer than she intended because her brain was already imagining what would happen next—interrogation with too many questions.

And unfortunately, her apartment was far too small for secrets.

Zachary looked at her for another second before asking, "Do you want me to stay or leave?"

"You can stay..." Her answer slipped out almost naturally. But immediately after saying it, reality struck her.

’If Ava and Riley stay inside my apartment when Zach is around, it could lead to a bit of chaos...’

Her gaze unconsciously swept around her living room.

There was barely enough room to breathe normally during emotional conversations, and Zachary would hear everything, every single word.

And knowing her two friends, they would absolutely interrogate her without mercy about why Zachary Sterling was casually standing inside her house in the middle of the day.

Just thinking about that conversation already made her feel slightly suffocated.