The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine

Chapter 183: The Memories Still Carried Pain

Near the end of their lunch, Skylar suddenly asked, "Dad, why didn’t you invite me to your wedding?"

Skylar’s question almost made Sienna choke on the food she had just swallowed.

"Cough! Cough!"

At the same moment, Zachary handed her a glass of water without being asked, as though he already knew she needed it. She quickly took it and drank while looking at the innocent little boy sitting across from them.

Skylar was staring at Zachary with obvious dissatisfaction, as if he had just discovered a serious betrayal.

"Did you forget your promise?" Skylar continued, clearly protesting. "I was supposed to become your wedding photographer."

"I’m sorry, buddy. I misspoke," Zachary replied calmly. "What I meant was that we’re registering our marriage. The wedding ceremony isn’t happening yet, and of course, you will be there as our photographer when it does."

The disappointment immediately disappeared from Skylar’s face. His eyes lit up so brightly that Sienna almost laughed.

"But," Zachary continued before the little boy could celebrate too much, "you won’t be the only photographer. There will be professional photographers too to do the job."

"Alright. It’s fine. Maybe I can learn something from the pro guys," Skylar agreed obediently with an obvious excitement.

While father and son continued their conversation, Sienna quietly focused on her lunch. In reality, she wasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying.

Her thoughts had drifted back to the incident the night before.

Sooner or later, she would have to tell Zachary what had happened. There was no way she could hide it forever. Once he noticed her injured arm, he would immediately start asking questions.

Lost in thought, she didn’t realize that both Zachary and Skylar had stopped talking and were looking at her.

When she finally glanced up with a confused expression, both of them smiled.

"Mommy, let’s go!" Skylar said enthusiastically as he jumped to his feet and put on his cap. "We still have lots of rides to try."

Sienna blinked for a moment before realizing he was talking to her.

Zachary immediately noticed her brief hesitation. Leaning slightly closer, he lowered his voice.

"If you’re tired, you can rest here. I’ll accompany him."

There was concern in his eyes, but Sienna was too distracted to notice it fully.

She shook her head and stood up.

"I’m not tired."

Walking over to Skylar, she reached for his hand and smiled.

"Let’s go."

The truth was that she still hadn’t gotten used to hearing him call her Mommy. Earlier, when he had said it for the first time, she had been so surprised and overwhelmed that her mind had completely frozen.

"What do you want to ride next?" she asked.

"Let’s see..." Skylar replied thoughtfully as they left the building, with Zachary following closely beside them.

For the next several hours, they explored the amusement park together.

Sienna didn’t ride as many attractions as Skylar and Zachary, but she stayed close to them the entire time. She took photos, recorded videos, and watched the father-and-son pair enjoy themselves.

As the afternoon passed, she found herself smiling more and more.

Before they realized it, it was already four o’clock when they returned to the giant roller coaster Skylar had wanted to ride from the beginning.

This time, Sienna stayed behind while Zachary accompanied him.

From a distance, she watched the two of them standing together.

Zachary was protective as always, making sure Skylar was safe before they boarded. Meanwhile, Skylar looked happier than she had ever seen him, his bright smile directed entirely at his father.

The sight warmed her heart.

When she had first entered their lives, she had felt like an outsider, a woman trying to find her place in a world that already belonged to them.

But after spending the entire day together, that feeling had begun to change. Little by little, she felt as though she belonged beside them.

At one point, a selfish thought even crossed her mind.

What if Skylar really were her son?

She knew it can’t be true.

Even so, the bond she felt with him continued to grow stronger.

Several times throughout the day, she had overheard strangers making comments about them.

One particular remark remained in her mind. "She’s so much like her son. They even have the same fair skin and hair color."

The comment had made her both happy and sad.

Happy because someone had naturally assumed she was Skylar’s mother.

Sad because it reminded her of the little boy she had carried and held for only a brief moment after giving birth.

Although the child belonged to her clients, she couldn’t ignore one undeniable fact. The child had been conceived using her egg. A part of her existed within him.

The thought reopened an old wound she had spent years trying to bury.

Slowly, memories of her IVF journey surfaced once again.

She remembered the hormone injections she had taken every day to stimulate her ovaries and increase the number of mature eggs. She remembered the egg retrieval procedure and the endless medical appointments that followed. She remembered the waiting, the uncertainty, and the emotional exhaustion that seemed to last forever.

Even after all these years, the memories still carried pain.

But what hurt the most wasn’t the treatment itself.

It was the fact that she had gone through everything alone.

No family members knew.

None of her friends knew.

During those difficult months, only the doctors and nurses had witnessed what she endured.

’Little one, where are you now?’

The question surfaced naturally in her mind.

’Your seventh birthday is coming soon. Are you happy? Are you healthy? Do your parents protect you? Do they love you?’

Sienna slowly exhaled, hoping it would ease the heaviness building in her chest.

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

The harder she tried to push those memories away, the stronger they seemed to return.

Then another thought surfaced.

’Sienna, you need to tell Zach about it. He deserves to know the truth.’

The thought lingered stubbornly in her mind.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She was afraid of how he might react after learning about her surrogacy and everything she had hidden from him.

’What if he gets angry?’

’What if he looks at me differently afterward?’

Those fears settled heavily in her heart, convincing her once again to postpone the conversation.