Chapter 213: Another Alias

Chapter 213: Chapter 213: Another Alias

"Something came up at the office, so my brother had to go in!" Keith Sterling bounded up to Sienna Everett, asking curiously, "Sierra, what on earth were you up to this afternoon?"

"I went to the hospital." The DNA test was done, so Sienna Everett didn’t see a reason to hide it from Keith Sterling any longer.

As she spoke, she walked over to the sofa and sat down. Noticing the sliced watermelon in the fruit bowl, she casually speared a piece and started eating.

"What? The hospital?" Keith Sterling instantly grew tense. "Why would you go to the hospital out of the blue? Wait, are you sick? Where does it hurt? You have to tell my brother right away!"

As he spoke, Keith Sterling pulled out his phone, a panicked look on his face, ready to call Julian Forrester.

Sienna Everett quickly reached out to stop him, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Calm down! I’m not sick!"

Hearing this, Keith Sterling relaxed and heaved a long sigh of relief. "You scared me to death. I thought something happened to you. So if you’re not sick, why were you at the hospital? Visiting someone?"

"Not visiting anyone. I did another DNA test with the Prescott Family." Sienna Everett briefly explained the situation, sharing the results with Keith Sterling as well.

Keith Sterling sat on the sofa beside her, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "So, you’re saying Javier Prescott and Ian Prescott both doubted the results of the first DNA test, so they dragged you off to do another one in secret? And based on this new result, you’re really not related to the Prescott Family?"

Sienna Everett nodded, swallowed the watermelon in her mouth, and said, "I’ve always been an Everett."

Keith Sterling was the first to disagree, protesting vehemently. "Sienna, those ungrateful jerks from the Everett Family are not your family! Lumping you in with the Everetts is an insult to you!"

"Sierra," Keith Sterling said, raising an eyebrow with a rakish grin, "Besides, you’re married to my brother now. From now on, my brother, me, and our grandpa—we’re your family!"

A warmth spread through Sienna Everett’s heart, and her rosy lips curved into a smile. "You certainly have a way with words."

"Hey, I’m just telling it like it is!" Keith Sterling lifted his chin, lips curling into a proud, high-spirited smile.

"Oh, right!" Keith Sterling suddenly recalled something, his expression turning wary. "That guy, Sinclair... Simon Sinclair. Has he tried to contact you recently?"

"No." Sienna Everett shook her head, an eyebrow raised in surprise. "Why the sudden interest in him?"

"I’m not interested in him! I’m helping my brother keep an eye on the competition!" Keith Sterling declared righteously.

Sienna Everett was left speechless.

’A love rival...’

Keith Sterling leaned closer to Sienna Everett, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Sierra, what’s the deal between you and Sinclair? C’mon, tell me. I swear I won’t breathe a word of it."

Sienna Everett gave him a look that just screamed, ’Yeah, right.’ ’With that gossipy mouth of yours? As if anyone would believe that.’

"We just knew each other from before," Sienna Everett replied simply, not wanting to elaborate.

"Then what about that time back in Meridia, Yesteria? Why did he take you away? Did he have ulterior motives? Was he planning something shady?"

Sienna herself was puzzled. ’Simon Sinclair claimed I’d promised him something, but I still can’t for the life of me remember what.’

"My brother said that Sinclair guy took you to a seaside villa?" Keith Sterling complained indignantly. "Tsk. The guy sure knows how to set a romantic scene."

"Romantic?" Sienna Everett had to laugh. "What’s romantic about that? Simon Sinclair is actually kind of afraid of water."

"Afraid of water?" Keith Sterling was flabbergasted. "Seriously? A guy like him is afraid of water? He has to be faking it, right?"

Sienna Everett sighed softly.

She remembered learning a few things about Simon Sinclair’s past back when they first knew each other.

As a child, Simon Sinclair was frequently abused by his parents. His body was a canvas of bruises from their beatings, new injuries appearing before the old ones could heal. On his sixth birthday, his mother threw him into a swimming pool.

His mother held his head under the water, refusing to let him out and forcing him to stay submerged.

Just when he was on the verge of drowning, she would "mercifully" yank his head up, letting him gasp for a single breath before shoving him back under, forcing him to relive the terror of near-drowning again and again.

And all the while, his father simply stood by, watching impassively. He was even on the phone, checking in on his illegitimate son.

His head was forced under again and again, the cycle repeating until six-year-old Simon Sinclair finally passed out.

He’d been left with deep psychological trauma ever since.

Later, he forced himself to confront that trauma, even compelling himself to learn how to swim, but he never stopped hating the feeling of being submerged in water.

By extension, he disliked the ocean, too. Especially when the sun was out, the brilliant blue of the water’s surface looked exactly like that swimming pool from when he was six.

’That explained a lot,’ Sienna Everett thought. ’Simon Sinclair’s dark, twisted personality now was largely a product of his childhood.’

"That’s weird." Keith Sterling scratched his head in confusion. "If he hates the ocean, why would he take you to a seaside villa?"

Sienna Everett fell silent.

’Because I like it.’

’Simon Sinclair said I liked the ocean, so he took me to a seaside villa.’

"Anyway, let’s not talk about him anymore." Sienna Everett pulled a napkin from the dispenser and wiped her fingers. Simon Sinclair hadn’t tried to contact her recently, and she was enjoying the quiet.

Wait a minute.

Sienna suddenly remembered. The day Simon Sinclair had taken her... ’That was his birthday, wasn’t it?’

’He was nearly drowned by his own mother on his sixth birthday. After that, he never celebrated it again, feeling his very birth was an original sin.’

’Back when they first knew each other, she recalled saying to him:’

’"Simon Sinclair, your birth is not a sin. Not in the slightest."’

’"Your birthday has already passed this year. But in the future, if we’re still in touch when your birthday comes around, I’ll celebrate it with you!"’

’So that’s why he’d taken her away on his birthday and only let her go after midnight had passed...’

Sienna Everett raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose.

’What a mess.’

Just as Keith Sterling was about to say more, the butler of Veridian Gardens strode in. "Miss Everett, Manager Jennings from The Argent Auction House has arrived. He has a painting he’d like you to appraise."

"The Argent Auction House?" Keith Sterling laughed. "Isn’t that our family’s auction house? That’s where my brother spent a hundred million on that necklace for you."

Sienna Everett nodded, her heart still fluttering at the memory of the hundred-million-dollar necklace.

It was at that same auction that she had pointed out several forgeries, and the auction house had hired her on the spot as an appraiser to help authenticate paintings of dubious origin.

She hadn’t wanted to use her real name at the time, so she had casually picked the alias ’Winchester.’

For convenience, she hadn’t hidden her relationship with Julian Forrester from Manager Jennings, telling him he could come directly to Veridian Gardens if he ever needed a painting appraised.

Sienna Everett looked at the butler and said in a warm voice, "Please show Manager Jennings in."

The butler nodded in assent.

A moment later, Manager Jennings entered, his face wreathed in smiles. Upon seeing Sienna Everett and Keith Sterling in the living room, he greeted them with deference, "Miss Everett, Mr. Sterling!"