Maria Shriver Confronted Mildred Baena About Affair

It wasn't guilt or the looming threat of the story coming out that made Arnold Schwarzenegger spill the beans about his affair to wife, Maria Shriver -- it was Shriver's intuition.

The former first lady of California had longstanding suspicions about the identity of Mildred Baena's son's father. According to a joint investigation by RadarOnline and Star, she finally asked the housekeeper, who had been working for the family for 20 years, if Schwarzenegger was her now-13-year-old son's father. Baena broke down and confessed. The website reports that Schwarzenegger only admitted it after Shriver confronted him.

"Maria has suspected this for a long time and she asked the housekeeper," a source told RadarOnline. With confirmation from Baena, "Maria then went to Arnold and he confessed."

There have been some conflicting reports that Baena threatened to tell all when the 14-year secret became too much, but a friend said that that was never the case. "She was upset with Arnold at the time and didn't know what to do, she thought about going public, but it was a fleeting thought. Ultimately she didn't want to hurt Arnold. But she also didn't want her employment to end."

In the end, Shriver was the one to unravel the truth, and Baena resigned in January "without animosity."

The former action film star and California governor admitted he had fathered an illegitimate child with a household staffer on Monday (May 16). Since then, sordid details about the affair, his mistress and their son have continued to emerge. Yesterday, Shriver hired top divorce lawyer Laura Wasser, although whether she will actually divorce her husband of 25 years is still unclear. 

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