The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

”I know,” Mia said. ”Benjamin is still behind bars. Besides, what does this have to do with his wife—” She halted mid-sentence, as if a new thought had suddenly occurred to her. ”Oh my God, Sienna...”

”What is it, Mia!?” Sienna asked.

”I just got chills.”

Mia sounded so serious that Sienna’s anxiety immediately spiked again.

”What do you mean?” she asked.

”What if...” Mia hesitated before finishing her thought. ”What if Benjamin’s wife is the one who leaked all this?”

Sienna slowly inhaled before answering.

”That’s exactly what’s confusing me.” She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. ”I clearly remember Benjamin telling me he’d already finalized his divorce. If that’s true, why would his ex-wife suddenly become part of this story?”

”You’re right,” Mia said.

Sienna lowered her gaze to the article still displayed on her laptop.

”Whoever tipped off the media either didn’t know Benjamin was already divorced...” she said thoughtfully, ”...or they intentionally left that part out.”

There was another brief silence.

Then Mia sighed. ”Or maybe he never really divorced her in the first place. Or, at least never finalized it.”

Sienna’s heart tightened.

”What if that jerk lied to you from the beginning?” Mia continued bitterly. ”Maybe he told you he was divorced just to trick you into sleeping with him.”

The words struck Sienna far harder than Mia intended.

Old memories that she had desperately tried to bury resurfaced one after another. She remembered Benjamin’s lies. His manipulation and his betrayal.

Most of all, she remembered the day he had thrown all the blame onto her, handed her over to the police, and humiliated her without the slightest trace of guilt.

The humiliation, fear, and anger she had worked so hard to leave behind came rushing back, making her chest feel unbearably heavy as her fingers slowly curled into tight fists.

After a long moment of silence, Sienna finally found her voice. ”Mia, thank you for telling me about this. I’ll take care of it.”

”Alright,” Mia replied, though the worry in her voice hadn’t faded. ”Just let me know if you need anything. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

”Sure, I will.”

Just as Mia was about to end the call, Sienna stopped her. ”Mia, by the way, how did you even find out about these articles?”

”I heard about them from the hotelier community,” Mia explained. ”The moment I read the article, I knew exactly who they were referring to.”

Sienna nodded thoughtfully before speaking again.

”Mia, can you keep an eye on the hotelier forums and our hotel’s intranet? Help me gather as much evidence as you can.”

Her voice gradually turned colder with determination. ”I’ll make sure that anyone who spreads my name or drags our hotel’s name into this ends up facing the consequences.”

Mia sounded fired up immediately. ”Sienna...that’s what I’ve been waiting to hear!” she said enthusiastically. ”Don’t worry. I’ll collect every piece of evidence I can find.”

A faint smile finally appeared on Sienna’s lips. ”Thank you, Mia.”

After the call ended, the room fell quiet again.

Sienna didn’t get up right away. She slowly placed her phone on the desk and turned her attention back to the laptop in front of her.

She reopened the article.

This time, instead of focusing on the story itself, her eyes drifted toward the comments below it.

One after another, she read them in silence.

She found that no one questioned whether the story was true. Not one person defended the woman being accused. Instead, the comments grew harsher with every scroll.

”Does anyone know which hotel this happened at?”

”If someone finds that employee’s social media account, tag me! I have a few things to say to her.”

”Same here! That woman deserves a virtual slap.”

”How can someone like her still work in the hotel industry?”

”She must be incredibly pretty if the boss risked everything for her.”

”I heard the hotel is in the capital.”

”I hope this goes viral. We need to find out who she is”

”What about the wife? I hope someone finds her too.”

”Yes! She probably needs everyone’s emotional support.”

”Come on, everyone. Let’s make this a trending topic!”

As she continued reading, her hands slowly tightened into fists. Anger burned inside her, but beneath it was something even harder to ignore. Fear.

What if they really found out her identity?

What if they figured out which hotel the articles were talking about?

What if they dragged not only her, but everyone around her into this?

She didn’t even realize how many times she had taken a deep breath before finally pushing back her chair and standing.

Leaving the laptop open on the desk, she slowly walked toward the window.

Outside, the night was quiet.

The pale light of the half-moon stretched across the garden, creating a peaceful view that stood in sharp contrast to the turmoil inside her.

She rested one hand against the window frame and stared outside without really seeing anything.

”What should I do?” she whispered to herself. ”Should I just ignore all of this?”

It had been a long time since Sienna had felt this conflicted.

Part of her wanted to pretend the articles didn’t exist and continue living her life. Rumors came and went, and perhaps this one would eventually disappear as well.

But another part of her couldn’t accept that.

Someone had deliberately twisted the truth, spread lies to thousands of people, and turned her into the villain of a story she had never chosen to be part of.

If she ignored it now, would the rumors only grow bigger?

Would more people believe them?

Would someone eventually uncover her identity?

The questions kept circling in her mind, bothering her because they left her with no answers.

Instinctively, she thought of Riley.

In the past, whenever she found herself in trouble, Riley was usually the first person to stand beside her and help solve the problem.

But things are different now.

After everything that had happened between them, asking for his help again would only reopen his wounds that had barely begun to heal.

She slowly shook her head.

”No...” Her voice was barely above a whisper. ”I shouldn’t ask Riley.”

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before another name appeared in her thoughts.

’Zach...’