Chapter 4

"Scarlett, how could you be so cruel? You really tried to hurt your own child."

Alpha Caleb's voice was laced with fury, his hand gripping a long shard of bloodstained glass. The scent of his expensive cologne—mixed with the metallic tang of blood in the air.

Omega Juliet rushed over, tears streaming down her cheeks like a tragic heroine.Her designer dress, a delicate chiffon number from last season’s Valentino collection, wrinkled as she clutched his arm.

"It's okay, baby," she sniffled, clutching his arm like she was the victim. "Scarlett just couldn't accept handing me the baby. That's why she tried to... to hurt her. I know she didn't mean it." She turned to me; her eyes filled with fake sympathy. "Scarlett, I've tolerated your petty tricks and your jealousy, but how could you go so far as to harm your own daughter?"

I stood frozen in place, my bare feet cold against the hardwood floor. The nursery monitors on the dresser blinked silently, and its green light was a cruel reminder of how useless it had been.

What?

My mind couldn't even begin to process her accusation.

I would never hurt my child.

But before I could say a word, Alpha Caleb dragged me down the hallway like a rag doll and shoved me into the nursery.

A brutal kick landed behind my knees, and I collapsed onto the floor with a painful thud. My body trembled as I looked up.

The room smelled of lavender baby lotion and something sharper, something wrong.

There she was---my baby girl---lying in her crib, her tiny body covered in blood. A deep wound on her neck soaked through the soft pink blanket beneath her.

"No..." I whispered, crawling forward. My hand reached for her, desperate to check if she was still breathing---but Alpha Caleb shoved me back.

"Don't touch her!" he growled. "You don't deserve to call her yours. She'd never forgive an Omega woman like you. Not in this life or the next."

His words shattered something inside me.

I stared at my baby---pale, still, and heartbreakingly cold. This couldn't be happening.

"She's just sick," I whispered, denial taking hold as I wrapped her limp body in my arms. "She's not dead. She just needs a pack doctor. I can save her---I have to save her!"

I ran to the door, but Alpha Caleb blocked me.

"Please!" I dropped to my knees and begged, my voice raw, the way it got after too many nights crying into my wine glass, my forehead slamming into the floor again and again until it split open. "Please, let me take her to the hospital. She's not gone yet. She's still warm..."

Tears spilled faster than I could wipe them away.

But he didn't care.

He ripped my daughter from my arms like I was nothing. Like she wasn't mine.

And then he sneered.

"Spare me the fake grief, Scarlett. No one else went into that nursery today but you. Who else would want her to be gone?"

The accusation hit harder than his shove.

"No! That's not true!" I cried. "It was Juliet. I saw her go in there after I left. She was the only one who---"

"Enough!" Alpha Caleb roared. "You're a damn liar. You always have been."

He called for the housekeeper, Aunt Omega Martha.

She walked in, voice calm and rehearsed. "Mr. Vaughn, only Madam Scarlett entered the nursery today. I can confirm it."

My heart dropped.

No. No, no, no.

I turned to Alpha Caleb, shaking, desperate. "She's lying. I swear to God, I saw Juliet go in. She---she's the one who---"

But he wasn't even looking at me anymore. His eyes were locked on Omega Juliet, full of concern.

Omega Juliet clung to him like a damsel, eyes brimming with crocodile tears.

"It's all my fault. If Scarlett hadn't been so jealous of me all these years, maybe none of this would've happened. But this time... she's gone too far."

She paused dramatically, her voice trembling. "Caleb... you have to report her. She attacked a newborn. She doesn't deserve to walk free."

Alpha Caleb didn't speak for a moment. Then, with a cold nod, he agreed.

I was tied up and tossed into the backseat of a black SUV headed for the police station.

As we drove, Omega Juliet leaned over and whispered in my ear, her voice venomous.

"So what if I killed your daughter?" she hissed. "No one's going to believe you. You're the one wearing the cuffs."

I turned my head, glaring at her with every ounce of fury left in me---but she just smiled.

"Tomorrow's my wedding day. I'm marrying your mate. Oh, and I'm pregnant. This baby? His heir. The only child that'll ever matter to the Vaughn family."

She leaned in even closer.

"As for your pathetic little girl... don't worry. I'll make sure someone performs a ritual, so she'll never reincarnate."