The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

”Zach, don’t be too hard on yourself,” Sienna said softly. ”Just do what you can and what you think is right. You don’t have to solve everything by yourself.”

Immediately, she sensed her words eased some of the tension in Zachary’s voice.

”Thank you, my love.” His tone slowly brightened again. ”Have fun with Sky tonight.”

”We will,” Sienna replied with a smile. ”And you make sure you eat something. Don’t get so busy with work that you forget dinner.”

Zachary laughed softly. ”I’ll try.”

”Alright. I’ll see you tonight... Take care, Honey.”

”You too, my love.”

After a brief goodbye, Sienna ended the call and set her phone on the desk. She remained in her seat for a while, her thoughts returning to Riley and the reservation he had made for that evening.

The situation was certainly unexpected. Riley had been so confident that he had won the tender that he had arranged an entire celebration for his team, and now everything had changed.

Sienna couldn’t help wondering whether he would still go through with the dinner after losing the project.

She glanced at the time on her phone and then checked her watch. It was only a few minutes before she needed to leave and return home.

Her eyes drifted toward her phone again as she considered the reservation.

”Should I call Riley to confirm it?” she murmured to herself, wondering if she should make sure the dinner was still happening before she left.

However—

Sienna slowly shook her head, deciding not to contact Riley. She was convinced that her best friend probably needed some time alone to calm down after what had happened. There was no point in calling him repeatedly when he was likely still dealing with the disappointment.

To distract herself from thinking about how sad Riley must be now, she tidied up her desk to perfection, then left her office and headed to the cafe.

When she arrived at the cafe, she saw a few customers sitting around and enjoying their coffee and desserts, but she didn’t see Mia anywhere. A moment later, Mia came down from the second floor and noticed her immediately.

”Sienna, are you going home now?” Mia asked excitedly as she approached.

Sienna turned fully toward her, smiled, and nodded.

”Yes. How are the preparations upstairs?” Sienna asked casually.

She deliberately avoided mentioning what had happened to Riley. She still didn’t know whether he would eventually show up for dinner with his team, and she didn’t want to make Mia unnecessarily worried before they knew what was happening.

”Everything is going well,” Mia replied. ”We’re almost ready.”

”Good. Then make sure everything goes smoothly tonight.”

”I will. You have my word. Be careful on your way home, okay,” Mia said as she walked Sienna toward the front door.

”Thank you, Mia.” Sienna smiled warmly. She was glad to see that her best friend looked excited about the evening, even though she had a few doubts about how the night would turn out. ”And don’t forget to give me a call if anything comes up tonight.”

Mia gave her a thumbs-up.

”Sure, boss. I’ll call you if there’s any problem. Kidding! There won’t be!”

”Alright. I trust you. See you tomorrow.”

Sienna waved to her before walking toward her car.

As usual, her driver, Logan, was already waiting for her. He stepped forward and opened the car door, letting her in before returning to his seat and preparing to drive her home.

...

The rest of the evening passed quietly and uneventfully.

By the time night finally fell, Sienna was sitting at the dining table with her son, Skylar. She had already changed into something comfortable and was enjoying a quiet dinner with him.

Zachary wasn’t there, but Sienna had tried not to let his absence affect the evening. She knew he had work to take care of, and she had promised him that she and Skylar would still enjoy themselves.

Skylar seemed perfectly happy with that arrangement, especially because his attention was focused almost entirely on their delicious dinner and dessert.

Just as Sienna was about to enjoy her own dessert, her cell phone suddenly rang.

Sienna assumed it was Zachary, so she instinctively grabbed her phone. But when she saw Mia’s name on the caller ID, she quickly hesitated.

A small sense of worry settled in her chest.

If Mia was calling at this time, something had probably happened at the restaurant.

Sienna glanced at Skylar and gave him an apologetic smile.

”Sweetheart, Mommy needs to answer the call. You can continue eating your dessert first, okay?”

”Sure, Mom,” Skylar replied without hesitation.

He was already completely focused on his caramel milk pudding, carefully scooping up another spoonful as though nothing else in the world mattered. Seeing how seriously her son was treating his dessert, Sienna couldn’t help smiling.

She hurriedly stood from her seat and walked toward the window before answering the call. She wanted to speak privately, especially since she didn’t want to worry Skylar.

”Hi, Mia. Everything is alright there!?”

She had greeted her friend as usual, but the sound of Mia’s voice immediately made her more concerned.

”Sienna, sorry for the call. I just wanted to let you know that Riley and his team still haven’t shown up. It’s almost seven in the evening,” Mia said, her voice worried.

Sienna’s fingers tightened around her phone. She had already suspected that Riley might not come, but hearing that he still hadn’t appeared made the possibility feel much more real.

Before Sienna could respond, Mia continued, now her voice sounding a mix of increasingly worried and tired.

”Sienna, what should we do? All the preparations are done. Even the chef has finished the entire menu. We’re just waiting for Riley and his team to arrive.”

Sienna clenched her fists for a moment before forcing herself to relax. She understood why Mia was worried. The restaurant had prepared everything for a large group, and the staff had been waiting for hours without knowing whether the guests would actually arrive.

”Have you tried contacting him again?” Sienna asked calmly, trying to keep Mia from becoming more anxious.

”Yes. I’ve called him countless times. I have texted him dozens of messages. Ava too. I even called him again right before I decided to call you, but his phone is still turned off. He hasn’t replied to a single text message from either Ava or me,” Mia explained wearily.