Chapter 260: She Is!

Jessica’s eyes sparkled with confidence and arrogance.

"Don’t worry, Auntie. Zach has never been able to move on from me. You know that better than anyone."

Hannah gave a faint, thoughtful smile. "I do know he’s remained single since you left."

Jessica lowered her head briefly before looking back up.

"I’m sorry about what happened back then. I was too young and made many mistakes. But I’ve changed. I promise I won’t disappoint you this time. I’ll make sure Zach comes back to me, and we’ll get married."

Hannah simply nodded.

"Alright. We’ll talk about this another time."

Jessica smiled brightly. "Bye, Auntie. I’ll wait for your good news."

Hannah returned the smile politely before walking away from the store.

By the time she reached the corridor outside, her assistant had already returned.

"Have you found that woman and Sky?" Hannah asked immediately.

Her assistant lowered her head apologetically.

"I’m sorry, Madam. I couldn’t find them. It seems they’ve already left this area of the mall."

Hannah stopped walking.

A look of dissatisfaction crossed her face.

"What about those men she was talking to?"

Her assistant answered without hesitation. "They’re all Young Master’s bodyguards."

The words hit Hannah harder than she expected.

For a brief moment, her knees nearly gave way beneath her. She instinctively reached out and grabbed her assistant’s arm to steady herself.

"Madam!" the assistant exclaimed in alarm. "Are you alright?"

Hannah took a slow breath before nodding.

"I’m fine."

Although she said the words calmly, her thoughts were anything but calm.

If those men were truly Zachary’s bodyguards, then they wouldn’t have taken orders from just anyone. More importantly, they had obeyed the young woman’s instructions without the slightest hesitation.

That realization made the doubts she had been trying to suppress come rushing back with even greater force.

Without another word, Hannah resumed walking while taking her phone from her handbag.

"I need to call my son," she said quietly.

Only Zachary could tell her whether that young woman earlier was Skylar’s mother.

...

In one of the meeting rooms at the Sterling Capital Building, the atmosphere was quiet and focused as the senior executives listened to a presentation about the company’s newest investment project.

The speaker had just begun explaining the financial projections when the sharp vibration of a cell phone on the conference table interrupted him.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the sound before shifting their attention to Zachary, silently waiting to see whether the meeting should continue.

Without looking up, Zachary made a small gesture with his hand.

"You can continue."

His voice was calm, though slightly distracted, as he reached for his phone. The moment he saw the caller’s name on the screen, a faint frown appeared on his face.

It was his mother.

His parents were supposed to be on vacation in Europe. If he remembered the time difference correctly, it should still have been early morning there. Hannah rarely called him while traveling unless something important had happened.

’Why is Mom calling? Have they returned already?’ he wondered.

Not wanting to ignore the call, Zachary rose from his seat.

"Gentlemen, please continue without me," he said as he looked toward his assistant. "Record everything. I’ll review the meeting later."

"Yes, Mr. Sterling."

The phone continued vibrating in his hand as he walked out of the conference room. Only after the heavy doors closed behind him did he answer the call.

"Mother..."

He barely managed to say a single word before Hannah interrupted him.

"My son, where are you now?"

Her hurried voice immediately caught his attention.

"I’m at the office," Zachary answered while walking down the corridor toward his office. "Is something wrong?"

With his long strides, he reached his office within moments. Just as he stepped inside and was about to close the door, Hannah spoke again without giving him a chance to say anything else.

"Son, I saw Little Sky. He was with a young woman. Who is she?"

Zachary froze. His hand remained on the doorknob while his grip around the phone unconsciously tightened.

His thoughts immediately turned to Sienna and Skylar.

He already knew where they were today. Sienna had planned to take Skylar shopping at Mogul Megamall to buy his birthday present before having lunch together. They were supposed to be enjoying a peaceful afternoon.

So why was his mother calling about them?

A feeling of unease slowly settled over him.

Instead of answering her question immediately, he asked one of his own.

"Mom, where are you? Have you and Dad come back already?"

"Yes," Hannah answered quickly. "We returned yesterday."

She paused only briefly before continuing in the same anxious tone.

"But tell me, who is that woman? Why did you let Sky go out with her without Arthur?"

Zachary’s expression grew more serious.

He hadn’t expected his parents to return so soon. Even more unexpected was the fact that his mother had already met Sienna.

His mind immediately began piecing everything together.

His mother had seen Skylar and Sienna. And judging from the urgency in her voice...

Something must have happened.

Before he could respond, Hannah asked another question.

"Is it true... that she’s Sky’s mother?"

This time, Zachary didn’t hesitate.

He turned around, walked straight out of his office, and headed toward the executive elevators. Whatever had happened, he wanted to get to Sienna as quickly as possible.

"Yes," he answered firmly. "Sienna is Sky’s mother."

Silence followed.

Several long seconds passed before Hannah finally spoke again.

"Oh, what in the world...?"

The shock in her voice was unmistakable.

When she spoke again, her tone had softened considerably, and there was a hint of regret that Zachary had rarely heard from her.

"Son... why didn’t you tell your father and me?"

Zachary frowned. His mother’s reaction wasn’t what he had expected. He had prepared himself for anger or disbelief, but not regret.

More importantly, something about the conversation felt wrong. His instincts told him there was much more to the story than Hannah had revealed.

As the elevator doors opened, Zachary stepped inside and immediately pressed the ground-floor button.

"Mom," he said, his voice noticeably more serious, "what happened?"