Baby after One Night with the Prince
Chapter 82 - Shift

Marco's POV.

Although she tries to hide it, I can hear Lily's hammering heart as it pounds away in considerable fear as the others filter in behind me. Tanya, Claire, Vivian's Family. I even called Eric and Oliver to come over and they now join us in the room. 'I've got you,' is the only thing blaring in my mind, I've finally caught her. Finally, I'd expose her for who she really is.

"You were trying to steal Tanya's necklace. Weren't you? Tell us what you were going to do with it. Tell everyone," my hand gestures to the group behind me, and their attention is clearly on Lily. She initially shrinks back from my accusation, and I see the panic sway in her eyes.

But only for a moment. Just a moment.

And then like the convincing woman that I have come to realize she is, her posture changes. Her shoulders roll back, trying to display some semblance of confidence. She arches her head saying with an innocent façade. "Oh no, you've got it all wrong! I just happened to see it lying there, and I was just curious and wanted to have a closer look. That's all. I swear," her lips display a sheepish smile, trying to appear embarrassed as she holds up the necklace.

However, I have been preparing for her attempts at deception. She isn't going to win. Not this time. I scoff. "I've installed cameras in this room, I recorded everything," and as I take out my phone, I see the subtle shift in her disposition. Her hands shake as her eyes widen in disbelief, realizing I've set her up to fall into my trap.

The others peer over my shoulder as I show them the video. It's apparent that she's desperately searching for the necklace, rummaging around my room trying to replace it. I then hand the phone over to Tanya in case anyone else wants to take a closer look, freeing my hand to pull out a set of documents, unfolding them and flinging them onto my desk to reveal the truth behind Lily's lies. "So, are you really Vivian's daughter?"

She squirms under my intense glare, but I don't give her a moment to speak. "Twenty-three years ago, Alpha Richard of the Blackhide Pack was desperate for a boy who would be the heir to his pack, so he took the surrogate's childbirth very seriously."

Now everyone is paying attention to me as I elaborate. "He spent a lot of money and sent her to the best hospital in the capital to give birth. But in the end, the surrogate gave birth to a girl. And from all the evidence, I believe, because of knowing that Richard would be furious, the surrogate decided to switch her baby with another."

I can hear a few gasps from behind me, but I don't falter in my efforts to tell the full story. "From the collected evidence, I replace out that the surrogate and Vivian's delivery room were right next door to one another. And Lily and Tanya were born on the very same day, with only a few hours between them. After they were born, both babies were placed in the same nursery next to each other."

My hand points to the documents as I say. "Although Oliver and I weren't able to replace the selected nurses who monitored the infants at the time due to how long it's been since then, we were still able to collect medical records. They show that on the first day, Vivian's baby's health tests were excellent, yet on the second day, the little baby suddenly became sick. On the contrary, the surrogate's baby was originally sick on the first day, however, the next day, her baby returned to having a full dose of good health."

And there is the kicker. "I don't think the nurses at the time thought much of it and may have just assumed it to be a natural flu that both of the babies received. But I think that the babies were switched!"

The room falls incredibly silent as everyone is in complete shock and disbelief. But my eyes are only on Lily. I bare down a heavy glare and she remains evidently startled by my replaceings. And yet she still tries to disprove it. "That- no. That's all just speculation. There's no direct evidence here to prove anything you've just said."

I can't help the scoff that leaves my lips as I utter darkly. "Then why don't you take off your diamond necklace that your always wear?"

***

Tanya's POV.

I can't believe everything that I'm hearing. It all sounds insane, yet Marco has so far proven every bit of it. To wonder, to even consider the fact that I might be Vivian's child and not the child of a surrogate seems unfathomable. My entire life, my existence was a lie?

When Marco suggests for Lily to take off her necklace, I watch as it cracks her walls of decisive deception. Her façade crumbles as her hand rests protectively on top of the piece of jewellery, cradling it close as if it would save her. She hesitates for what feels like centuries. But in the end, she shuts her eyes, inhaling a deep shaky breath, before she opens them again, and finally chooses to speak. "Since I was born a girl, my mother feared the way I'd be treated by Richard. She knew that he'd be cruel and despicable towards me simply because I was the wrong gender. And because of that, she decided to switch me with Tanya at birth. So, I could have a better life."

Her voice cracks with every sentence, and she fumbles over her words. Yet she still tries to maintain her composure as she explains. "At the same time, my mother coincidently obtained two ruby necklaces, both having magical properties. The one I received could make my body display Tanya's attributes and emit her Alpha scent. Whilst Tanya's necklace would suppress her own werewolf abilities and eliminate her wolf's scent all together, making her appear to be an omega. And hence her inner wolf couldn't manifest."

All this time, Lily has been avoiding eye contact entirely, but for a second, I watch her glance in Vivian's direction, before shifting her gaze back down to the floor. "The only thing I couldn't inherit was the Montenero family's genes of having an enhanced sense of smell and their talent for perfumery. So, when my mother came to see me before she passed, she told me the truth, and I bribed Brandon to help steal Tanya's perfume designs."

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My eyes widen. Now realizing that that was how she got a hold of all my ideas, and why Brandon had been trying to steal my designs! It was Lily. My startled disposition by the weight of reality setting in is mirrored in the others that surround me. Everyone is stunned by the prospect of me being the true princess, and Lily has been the fake all along.

As my gaze wanders to the others, my eyes can't help but land on Eric. And I'm somewhat confused by his reaction. He doesn't appear very surprised or angry towards Lily revealing her true identity. On the contrary, his eyes seem to keep staring at the diamond necklace in Lily's hand. He looks like he's caught up in a daze, but whatever is on his mind, there's a strange glint in his eyes that appear infatuated with the piece of jewellery.

But I don't have time to ponder on Eric's emotional state or his strange interest in the necklace. Because whilst everyone has believed Lily has resigned her fate, we have probably let our guard down.

The cracking of bones is impossible to miss. And my eyes grow wide as Lily has taken the opportunity to suddenly shift into her wolf form. Bright golden fur cascades over her body as her skin and clothes slip away and disappear. Sharp canine ears erect, and wolfish claws clack eerily against the flooring. Her growl splits through the stunned silence, as her lips draw back to show malicious teeth.

Her wolf form is smaller and scrawnier than normal alpha wolves, they lack size and muscle mass in comparison to strong werewolves. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't capable of inflicting harm. As a werewolf, they still are much larger than any normal wolf seen in the wild, and as indicated by Lily's menacing body language, still very much capable of inflicting death on a human.

And no matter how many people stand in the room, it's apparent who Lily focuses on. Her eyes sit squarely on me with dangerous purpose. Something within me must've known this was coming. Lily wouldn't go down without a fight. She has been caught, and she is ultimately going to prison for all her lies and years of deceit. This is the final act of her revenge. If she is going down, then I would bet she wants me going down with her.

She launches herself at me with outstretched paws and jaws wide. In the seconds that she closes the gap between herself and me, I feel like time stops as something within me snaps. The barrier hidden deep within me shatters, and from beneath it, my wolf arises to meet her challenger.