Chapter 28

Pregnant After One Night With The Lycan By Kellie Brown Chapter 28 The Cake Is As Sweet As You Tanya’s POV:

He’s here. Goddess saves me, Marco is here, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. There’s no way I have enough time to take down all the ribbons, balloons, and ornaments that I’ve used to decorate the interior of the townhouse.

There’s no time. The best I can hope to do is hide the birthday cake, so I pick up the tray where I’d set the cake and gift down and whirl around to try and stash it away. But it’s too late.

Title of the document I turn around and freeze at the sight of Marco hovering in the doorway. He stands there staring at me, his face unreadable as his eyes scan the gathered crowd. nobody dares cheer or yell ‘surprise!’

Everyone just stands there in deathly silence, and I wish I could disappear. I’m so ashamed I could crumple into the ground.

Marco takes a step towards me. Then another. Each step echoes in the quiet hall and feels like a blow to my heart until he’s standing right in front of me. I stare at the floor, feeling like an utter fool. He doesn’t say anything for a while, so I finally f*orc*e myself to tear my eyes away from the ground and slowly lift my gaze to look at him. His face is cold and unfeeling, and I have no idea what he’s thinking.

I flinch as he moves slowly, but he simply lowers his attention to the tray in my hands and blows out the little candle I’d lit on the center of the cake. I hold my breath in nervous anticipation as he raises a hand and slides a finger across the frosting before raising it to his lips.

His brows arch almost imperceptibly as he sucks the buttercream off his finger. “It’s sweet.” He’s so calm- so unexpectedly calm.

“Marco,” I say finally, unable to bear the silence any longer. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t know your birthday fell on the same day as your mother’s….”

Before I can finish the sentence, he nimbly dips his finger into the frosting again. Only this time, instead of licking it off, he taps his finger on my face, leaving a smudge of chocolate on the tip of my nose. It’s the most child-like thing I’ve ever seen him do, and for a moment, I swear I see the corner of his lip curl ever so slightly in a hint of a smile.

I’m completely frozen and perplexed, blinking up at him. No one else says anything as he lowers his gaze once again to the tray in my hands and picks up the decorated little gift box.

He examines the packaging for a moment before looking back at me expectantly.

“Is this supposed to be for me?”

His words snap me out of my daze, and I hurriedly set the tray down before turning back to face him. I try to reach for the little box to take it back, intending to hide it or dispose of it, but he swiftly moves it away, raising it up to eye level as if examining the ribbons.

“It looks like a birthday gift. Were you planning on giving it to me?” he asks smoothly.

Is he… teasing me?

“Y-yes,” I stutter, still dazzled by the uncharacteristic trace of playfulness. “It’s a special potion like the extraordinary perfumes. I made it to help you sleep better at night.”

But I was set up. I didn’t know why no one celebrated his birthday. If I’d known, I would have never…

“What’s gotten into you, brother?” Cathy asks loudly. Marco looks over at his sister as if suddenly remembering we aren’t alone in the townhouse dining hall. “You’ve never celebrated your birthday before. Why does it this year? What changed? What’s different a-”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Marco cuts in, interrupting her. “But I’m afraid it’s time for everyone to leave.

Tanya and I going to have a quiet dinner and celebrate privately.”

I genuinely don’t know who is more surprised, Cathy or me.

He really wants to celebrate alone with me? He’s not even mad at me?

As if to prove his point, he dr*a*p*es his arm over my shoulders, pulling me in close. I feel like I’m in some kind of strange, wonderful dream. All I wanted was to make him happy. Is it possible that I succeeded in spite of Ayana’s manipulation? My heart races in my chest as he holds me tightly.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” he addresses our gathered guests. “I appreciate the gesture. But you should all go home now. I would like to spend my birthday alone with my wife.”

Lily’s POV:

By the time Eric and I return to our chambers in the palace, I’m still fuming internally with jealousy.

Ayana must have been really desperate to set up Tanya like that and pull off that kind of prank. But…

He’d protected her. Even on the anniversary of his mother’s death, he’d stood by Tanya’s side and protected her from all of our judgment and potential humiliation. Seeing him wrap his arm around her and stand alongside her like that had been a slap across the face.

I thought I knew exactly what I was giving up when I walked away from my relationship with Marco, but nothing prepared me for the way he’s moved on. I left him. I’m the one in control, the one with the power. He should be heartbroken and lovesick with longing for me. “Well, I didn’t see that coming,” Eric says with a chuckle.

Eric sits on the living room couch with an amused smile on his face, and I make sure to maintain my composure. “My brother and his new wife certainly seem to be getting along quite well, wouldn’t you say? They seem … happy.”

I don’t answer, schooling my expression in pleasant neutrality.

“A relationship like that looks quite good,” Eric goes on, seemingly oblivious to the raging storm brewing within me. “I wonder if you miss it. Tell me, Lily, do you regret walking away from a life of love with my brother for a life of power with me?”

His words take me by surprise, and I’m so unprepared for them that I almost gasp. Instead, I quick my head to the side slightly, looking at him with a perfectly innocent expression of hurt and confusion.

Perhaps he was not so oblivious after all.

Eric has always been the perfect gentleman. Respectable. Gullible. Predictable. The perfect mark.

But as I turn to face him now, I can’t decipher the look on his face. He looks so casual and disinterested, but his words suggest he’s anything but. For the first time, I can’t read him, and I can’t make sense of it.

“What are you talking about, my darling?” I say, keeping the usual pretense. “I didn’t choose to marry you for power. I love you.”

Eric chuckles at my lies as if he could see through them. He leans back in his seat, propping his feet up on the coffee counter. He seems somewhat amused by my statement.

“Come on, Lily. Why don’t you relax a bit?” he says with a laugh. “After all, we’re the same, you and I.

We have more in common than you think.”

I maintain my look of confused neutrality, still trying to decipher this new version of Eric that I’m discovering.

“In fact, neither one of us saw this coming. I’m talking about Tanya, of course. No one expected my brother to marry so soon after you broke his heart. But that girl is amazing. Don’t you think Tanya is amazing?” he asks with a feline smile, folding his hands behind his head as he leans back comfortably.

“I mean, no one in your family has been able to make the extraordinary perfumes with their unique effects and healing powers. None of the Montenero’s inherited that special skill, right? And yet- Tanya did it. Twice now. First, she made the elixir that cured Cathy’s allergies, and now she’s done it again with a new perfume to help my brother sleep. That can’t be an accident or a coincidence, right?” I say nothing, biting my lower lip as he goes on.

“You know, now that I think about it, Tanya actually looks resembles Lady Vivian quite a bit. Are you sure you don’t have some long-lost sister, my darling?”

His question is posed as a joke, and when I step closer to him to examine his expression, he still looks like a gentleman. Charming. Casual. cla*s*sic.

I clasp my hands behind my back and lean against a nearby pillar, so he doesn’t see the way my fingers tremble.

“Wouldn’t that be something?” I reply, echoing his amused smile. “Unfortunately, my mother only gave birth to one daughter, and you’re looking at her.”

He hums softly to himself like the whole conversation is some kind of curious joke, but even as he looks away from me, I can’t shake off the feeling that he’s seeing right through me.