The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

A little later, Maya joined them again. She placed the fruit platter on the coffee table before picking up the remote. Skylar had been watching the National Geographic channel earlier, but Maya wanted to turn it off now that she was back in the conversation.

However, she accidentally changed the channel instead, switching it to an afternoon news program.

A news anchor was sitting with a colleague, discussing the latest entertainment and business gossip. The conversation quickly turned to Zachary Sterling, the CEO of Sterling Capital.

”So, the biggest surprise this week is that Zachary Sterling has finally answered the question everyone has been asking,” the anchor said, glancing at his colleague with an amused expression. ”The CEO of Sterling Capital has officially confirmed that he is married.”

His colleague raised an eyebrow. ”After all those years of speculation?”

”Yes. And apparently, his wife is much younger than him and is also from the business world. Her identity, however, has not been revealed.”

”So we finally have an answer about his relationship status, but we still don’t know who the mysterious wife is?”

”Exactly. Zachary Sterling has confirmed he’s married now. But he seems to have no intention of introducing his wife to the public yet. Naturally, that hasn’t stopped people from guessing.”

The two anchors continued discussing the unexpected announcement, joking about how curious the public had become. They mentioned that Zachary’s relationship status had been the subject of gossip for years, and now that he had finally confirmed his marriage, the questions about his wife had only become more interesting.

Sienna, who had just picked up her fork to eat a piece of golden melon, nearly choked when she heard the report. She froze for a moment, staring at the television as the news anchor continued talking about her husband as though he were some mysterious celebrity.

Maya, unaware that the news was responsible for Sienna’s sudden reaction, quickly handed her a glass of water. ”Oh dear, be careful while you’re eating. There’s no need to rush.”

Sienna accepted the glass and drank the water, trying to compose herself. She knew the announcement was coming, but hearing it discussed on television still made her nervous. Zachary had finally publicly acknowledged that he was married.

She was happy about it, of course, because it meant he was no longer hiding their marriage from the world. At the same time, she couldn’t help worrying that people might eventually discover her identity.

Maya sat back in her chair, her attention still on the television.

After listening for another moment, she looked at her husband. ”Zachary Sterling... he was your former boss, right, Jim?”

”Yes,” Jimmy replied. ”I saw him once at our company event years ago.” He smiled proudly as he remembered the occasion. ”He’s very handsome and tall. His wife must be beautiful too.”

”Of course,” Maya added, clearly becoming interested in the topic. ”Families as wealthy as theirs usually want their children to marry someone from a similar background. Now I’m curious. Who is his wife?”

Maya clasped her hands together excitedly, already enjoying the mystery.

Jimmy shook his head with a small laugh. ”He’s not a celebrity, Maya.”

”I know that, but his name has been appearing in the news quite often lately. Especially after all those gossip stories about him and Jessica Simmons a few months ago. Could his wife be her?”

”Oh, come on,” Jimmy said, amused by his wife’s theory. ”That was just gossip. Besides, the news just said his wife is a businesswoman, not a celebrity.”

”Ah...You’re right.” Maya nodded thoughtfully before looking back at the television. ”So, who is she? Ugh, why am I curious about Zachary Sterling now...”

”You and your soap opera theory...” Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh, amused by his wife.

Sienna listened to her aunt and uncle discussing her husband and could barely hold back her laughter.

They sat in front of her, trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious woman who had married Zachary Sterling, completely unaware that the woman they were talking about sat in front of them.

She lowered her head and pretended to focus on her fruit, hiding her smile as much as she could. The situation was too amusing, especially after everything they had talked about earlier.

Now, she could only imagine how her aunt and uncle would react when Zachary arrived to pick her up. If they were this curious about his mysterious wife now, their expressions would probably be priceless when they finally realized she was the woman everyone was talking about.

’It would be dramatic if Uncle and Aunty were shocked when Zachary arrived later,’ Sienna thought, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Her brow furrowed slightly when she realized it was already three in the afternoon, yet Zachary still hadn’t arrived. She wondered if his meeting had taken longer than expected. ’Is his meeting over yet?’

Sienna picked up her cell phone and checked for any missed calls or messages from him, but there was nothing.

Just as she was about to put her phone back into her pocket, a new message suddenly appeared on the screen.

”I’m on my way there. Please wait a little longer.” From: Zachary

Sienna quickly typed a reply, unable to hide her smile as she thought about what had happened earlier.

”I can’t wait for you to come here. My aunt and uncle love gossiping about you when they see you on the news.”

After sending the message, Sienna slipped her phone back into her pocket. A small smile remained on her lips as she imagined how shocked Maya and Jimmy would be once Zachary finally arrived.

”Look at you, you’re smiling to yourself,” Maya said, drawing Sienna’s attention back to her. She gave her niece a curious look, then asked, ”Did your husband contact you?”

”Yes, Aunty. He’s on his way.”

Maya immediately glanced toward the clock, then looked back at Sienna with a knowing smile. ”So he’ll be here soon?”

”Yes. He said he was on his way.”

Sienna tried to keep her expression calm, but she couldn’t help feeling a little amused. After listening to Maya and Jimmy discuss Zachary’s marriage and wonder about his wife’s identity, she was already looking forward to seeing their reaction when they finally discovered the truth.