The Billionaire's Heir I Never Knew Was Mine novel Chapter 198

Chapter 198: Did You Choose Me?

"Are you really... really my mom?" Skylar asked again, his voice muffled against her shoulder.

Sienna held him even closer.

"Yes, sweetheart. You are my son—"

Emotion tightened her throat, making it difficult to continue speaking.

"M-Mommy..." Skylar’s voice trembled.

"I’m so sorry, my son..." she whispered. "I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to watch you grow up." Sienna’s voice faltered despite her efforts to remain calm.

She had imagined apologizing to him countless times before. Now that she finally had the chance, the words felt utterly painful.

Skylar quietly hugged her for another moment before suddenly pulling back.

Looking up into her eyes, he asked with innocent confusion, "But, Mommy... Why did you leave me? Why did you only come now?"

Sienna’s expression grew tense.

Before she could say anything, Skylar spoke again, "And... when we first met, why did you act like you didn’t know me?"

The question caught her completely off guard.

Every explanation she had prepared instantly disappeared from her mind. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

She couldn’t tell her six-year-old son about the surrogacy or everything that had happened in the past. He was still too young to understand something so complicated.

Helplessly, she looked toward Zachary, silently asking for help. Yet before Zachary could answer, Skylar turned to him instead.

"Daddy..." Skylar’s little face grew serious. "Did you hurt Mommy?"

Zachary and Sienna froze. Neither of them expected Skylar to say that.

"Is that why she left me when I was very small?" Skylar continued to heighten the tension.

For a brief moment, Zachary was completely speechless.

Sienna immediately shook her head. "No, sweetheart," she said gently. "It wasn’t like that..."

Zachary leaned forward and spoke in the calm, steady voice Skylar had always trusted.

"Son, something happened a long time ago that caused you and Mommy to be separated."

He briefly looked at Sienna before returning his attention to Skylar.

"It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t Mommy’s fault either."

Skylar listened quietly.

"But that’s all in the past now," Zachary continued. "What’s important is that Mommy has come back to us."

A warm smile appeared on Zachary’s face as he stood from his seat and sat down beside his son.

"She’s here now, and she’s not going anywhere." Zachary reached over and gently ruffled Skylar’s hair. "So, let’s leave those sad things in the past, alright?"

Skylar looked back and forth between his father and Sienna.

After a few moments, he slowly smiled.

Zachary let out a slow breath before answering. "It started with my father. He suddenly pressured me to get married and have a child. If I didn’t, he planned to remove me from his will."

Sienna wasn’t particularly surprised. Riley had already told her about it.

"At that time, I didn’t have a girlfriend or even a woman I was close to..." Zachary trailed off when he noticed the faint smile on Sienna’s lips, as though she didn’t quite believe him.

"I’m serious. There wasn’t any woman I liked back then," he said, trying to convince her.

Sienna let out a soft laugh. "Well, you can’t blame me for not believing you. Honestly, no one would believe that a man as handsome and wealthy as you didn’t have a girlfriend."

She slowly shook her head and looked away, but before she could avoid his gaze, Zachary gently cupped her chin and guided her eyes back to his.

"You can ask anyone close to me. They all know I wasn’t in a relationship for the past ten years," he said earnestly.

Sienna didn’t respond right away. She was genuinely surprised to hear those words directly from him.

"I tried to open my heart, but I couldn’t," he continued quietly. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t force myself to accept any woman back then. Then one day, Scott suggested IVF, and I agreed without hesitation."

"Did you choose me?"

Zachary fell silent for a moment, carefully considering his answer before speaking. "To be honest, I didn’t. I gave Scott the authority to decide. The only requirements I gave him were that she had to be young, healthy, and intelligent."

Sienna nodded, believing him. She remembered the qualifications Scott had listed during her interview, and they matched exactly with what Zachary had just said.

"I’m grateful it was you, Sienna," he said, pulling her into his arms. "And... let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s just enjoy this moment together as a family."

Sienna lifted her head to meet his eyes, a gentle smile spreading across her face.

"Hmm... I’ll listen to my husband."