Chapter 312: Heavy Secret

Sienna finally managed to speak. "No, Aunty, Uncle. Arthur isn’t my husband. He’s our family butler." She turned toward Arthur and gestured to the empty chair. "You can sit with us here."

"Yes, Madam," Arthur answered politely. He then walked over and settled into the empty chair.

Maya and Jimmy looked at each other again, clearly relieved that they had misunderstood the situation. However, they realized her answer had raised even more questions than before, and they didn’t know what to expect.

Sienna saw their confusion and decided to explain the situation before they made more assumptions.

"My husband was tied up with some business today, so he couldn’t join us for lunch," Sienna smiled warmly as she continued. "He said he’ll come to pick me up later this afternoon."

"Oh, I see," Jimmy said slowly, nodding as he tried to take everything in.

Maya also nodded, but her curiosity remained obvious. She wanted to ask who Sienna’s husband was, how they had met, and when they had gotten married, but her attention kept returning to Skylar. The unexpected situation where she was meeting her niece’s son today made it hard for her to focus on anything else.

The conversation soon shifted toward Skylar. Maya asked him simple questions about school, what he liked to eat, and what he enjoyed doing, while Jimmy joined in and tried to make the little boy feel comfortable.

Skylar gradually became less shy and answered them naturally, occasionally glancing at his mother whenever he wasn’t sure what to say.

The atmosphere became much warmer as lunch approached.

What had started with shock and confusion slowly turned into a happy family gathering.

Maya was especially delighted to have Skylar sitting beside her. He looked genuinely excited.

Meanwhile, Jimmy also seemed pleased whenever the boy answered one of his questions.

...

Their casual, warm chat over lunch finally came to an end.

Arthur excused himself and went downstairs to wait in the car.

Skylar had also grown tired after the meal and the long morning. He eventually fell asleep on the sofa in front of the television, leaving Sienna alone with her aunt and uncle in the living room.

And finally, Sienna had a quiet moment to speak with Maya and Jimmy without Skylar interrupting or distracting them. She looked at them and could already tell from their expressions that they had been holding back a lot of questions.

Sienna smiled gently and took a breath before speaking. "Aunty, Uncle, you two must have a lot of questions you want to ask, right?"

Maya and Jimmy exchanged another look. This time, neither of them tried to hide their curiosity. They had welcomed Sienna into their home with open arms. Still, now they finally had the opportunity to understand what had happened in her life while they had been apart.

"Sienna," Maya spoke up first, her voice gentle but hesitant. "I just wanted to clarify something..."

"Yes, Aunty. Please, go ahead."

Maya glanced toward Skylar, who was still asleep in front of the television. She lowered her voice, worried that he might wake up and hear their conversation. "Is Skylar your biological son?"

Sienna smiled and nodded firmly. "Yes, he’s my biological son."

Jimmy, who had been listening quietly, suddenly leaned forward.

"Wait... how old is he?" His face had already begun to lose its color as he realized what Maya’s question might mean.

"He just turned seven," Sienna answered.

A heavy silence settled over the living room. Maya and Jimmy looked at each other, both trying to process the answer. Then, their eyes returned to Sienna, and the concern on their faces became even more obvious.

Maya covered her mouth in shock after hearing Sienna’s answer.

"Oh dear, you... you had him while you were still a teenager—" Maya paused, unable to finish her words as the memories came back to her. She knew how young Sienna had been, and she remembered Sienna living alone in another city while studying.

Seeing the expressions on her aunt and uncle’s faces, Sienna could only smile gently. They looked completely shocked, and she could see the pain in their eyes as they tried to understand what she had gone through at such a young age.

She had expected this reaction... If Maya and Jimmy ever learned she had given birth to Skylar while she was still so young, they would naturally have many questions.

They knew she was still in college then and living alone in another city. From their perspective, there had been no reason for them to imagine that she had been carrying such a heavy secret during those years.

Not wanting to leave them confused or make them worry even more, Sienna began explaining how she had met Zachary and how their relationship had eventually led to her giving birth to Skylar. She carefully chose what she could tell them, knowing that some parts of her past were still too complicated to explain.

She naturally didn’t reveal the truth about her arrangement with Zachary as a surrogate mother. She also didn’t tell them that she had used the money she received at the time to pay her father’s hospital bills and support her education.

Those were parts of her past that she still kept to herself, not because she wanted to lie to them, but because she didn’t want to burden them with everything she had been forced to endure.

Instead, Sienna explained that she hadn’t wanted to get married back then because she had been too afraid of her family, especially her father. At that time, she had felt as though her life was controlled by circumstances she couldn’t escape, and marriage had been the last thing she wanted to think about.

"But a few years later, God brought that man and me together again," Sienna continued, her voice becoming softer as she recalled how things had changed. "He proposed to me once more, and by then, I realized I couldn’t keep running away from my own life. I couldn’t run from my destiny anymore, so I accepted his proposal and finally reunited with my son."