The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

Chapter 149: Why Me?

Immediately, Zachary turned slightly to look at her, and a smile tugged at his lips.

"So," he asked casually, "when are you moving into my house?"

Sienna instantly sat upright again. She turned to face him fully.

"Zach, can I move after we’re officially married?"

A frown immediately appeared on his forehead. Clearly, he didn’t like that answer.

"Why?" He asked.

Sienna opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. No words came out of her mouth.

She honestly couldn’t explain why she refused. Maybe it was a habit. Maybe it was tradition. Or, maybe she simply wanted one thing in her life to happen in the proper order.

Seeing her struggle to respond, Zachary let out a long sigh. Despite that, he continued to hold her hand gently.

"Alright," he said. "You can move after we’re official."

Relief immediately radiated from her eyes.

Unfortunately, it lasted only a few seconds. Because Zachary calmly added—

"We’ll register our marriage on Monday."

Sienna was utterly stunned.

"Monday?"

"Yes."

She quickly counted the days in her head. Today was Friday. Which meant... She had only two days left.

"That fast?"

Zachary’s eyebrow slightly arched hearing her words.

"Why?" he asked. "You don’t want to marry me that fast?"

"I do!" Her answer came instantly. "I just didn’t imagine it would happen this fast."

Zachary appears relieved as he leans back against the sofa. He squeezes her hand gently, then says in his weak, low voice, "I’m old, Sienna..."

She stared at him, puzzled.

Before Sienna could ask, he spoke again, "A few weeks from now, I’ll be thirty-six."

His expression became unusually serious as his eyes stared back at her.

"I can’t delay any longer." He paused for a few seconds to take another deep sigh, then added in a tragic voice, "I must marry you sooner."

The performance was so entertaining that Sienna couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

"Mr. Sterling, why do you make it sound like you’re turning eighty?"

"Well, believe it or not... I feel eighty whenever Skylar starts running around the house," he said in his flat expression.

Her laughter only grew.

Finally, she nodded. "Okay. You can arrange it. But what about my family...?"

"Your family?"

She nods. A hesitation flashes in her gaze.

"I’m seriously concerned about my dad. He might cause trouble if he finds out I’m married to you."

Zachary’s expression instantly settled back into the relaxed, calm, and confident look she knew so well. It was the same expression that always made Sienna feel safe, as though every problem in the world could somehow be solved as long as he was standing beside her.

Then he gently lifted her hand. Before she could react, he pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles.

"Sienna...I told you earlier, no need to worry about them." His voice dropped softer, becoming even gentler than before. "I will handle your father and anyone in your family who tries to harm you—"

Sienna stared at him quietly. His words were not dramatic, and they weren’t spoken with anger or arrogance.

Instead, they carried a quiet certainty that somehow felt even more powerful.

For the first time in a very long while, she felt as though someone was standing in front of her instead of behind her. Someone willing to protect her rather than expect her to fight every battle alone.

The realization touched her deeply.

His warm gesture and confident promise reassured her once again that their relationship was no longer just an idea or a possibility. It had become real. Very real.

They fell silent afterward, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

Neither of them appeared uncomfortable with the silence.

Their hands remained clasped together on his lap, and every now and then, Zachary’s thumb softly brushed across the back of her hand.

The small gesture shouldn’t have affected her so much. Yet every single time he did it, her heart fluttered.

Eventually, Sienna was the one who broke the comfortable silence.

"Zach, can I ask you a question?"

He immediately turned toward her.

"Absolutely," he replied. "What is it?"

Sienna lifted her head and met his gaze.

There was something she had been wondering about ever since he proposed. The truth was, they hadn’t known each other for very long.

She had never spent hours telling him about her childhood. He didn’t know every detail about her life. They hadn’t even had the chance to share many personal stories yet.

"Why me?" she finally asked.

The question seemed to catch him off guard. For several seconds, Zachary simply looked at her.

Then he smiled slightly. "Because you are different."

Sienna blinked.

"Different?" She repeated the word immediately, unable to hide her confusion.

Out of all the answers she had expected, that certainly wasn’t one of them.

Zachary chuckled softly at her expression. "Yes. Different."

He shifted slightly on the sofa before continuing.

"You don’t see me as Zachary Sterling." His voice remained calm, "You look at me and talk to me differently than any woman I’ve ever met."

Sienna listened quietly.

"You don’t treat me like I’m someone important. You don’t seem impressed by my money or my position. You argue with me when you disagree. Sometimes you even look annoyed with me."

A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. "Because sometimes you are genuinely annoying. I can’t believe I’m the first woman to find you annoying. Well, sometimes..."

Zachary raised an eyebrow. "Hmm... you are the first. Am I really annoying?"

She nodded confidently. "Yep. Very. Sometimes."

His lips twitched. "Thank you for your honest review of me, my future wife."

Sienna smiled widely when he called her "future wife."

"Strangely enough," Zachary continued, "...ever since we met, I haven’t felt the need to guard myself and hide my emotions around you. Maybe that is why... When I’m with you, I can relax and just be me. A normal human with normal emotions."

His words were simple, yet they held an honesty she hadn’t expected.