Chapter 358

"Miss Roland?"

Darkness swallowed the living room without warning.

"Happy birthday to you..." A soft melody floated through the blackness. Evelyn Roland emerged, pushing a three-tiered cake while Bianca Savigny clapped and sang beside her.

When the lights flickered back on, Sebastian Valdemar's gaze locked onto the exquisite racing car model beside the cake.

His breathing hitched. Slender fingers clamped around his own throat, knuckles bleaching white.

"Cough... cough..."

The violent fit finally drew Evelyn's attention. She rushed forward—then froze.

Under the chandelier, Sebastian's face had turned deathly pale. Veins throbbed at his temples. But his eyes...

The whites had drowned in blood-red.

"Your eyes—"

Theodore Ashcroft arrived just as the crimson pupils swung toward him. The loyal assistant staggered. In all his years of service, he'd never witnessed this nightmare.

Sebastian radiated pure menace now, those hellish eyes scanning between Evelyn and Theodore with visible agony.

"Sir—"

A guttural roar cut him off. "OUT!"

Evelyn's voice cracked like a whip. "Sebastian!"

The red deepened to molten lava.

Her outstretched hand triggered an explosion. He lunged at the cake stand, upending it. Frosting splattered across hardwood as the racing model crashed down—miraculously intact.

Sebastian's pupils contracted. He snatched it up and smashed it against the floor with primal force.

Crash.

The shattering plastic seemed to satisfy some dark hunger. Bianca muffled a scream. Theodore stood paralyzed.

"GET OUT!"

A vase hurtled toward the doorway. Theodore barely dodged as porcelain shrapnel exploded at his feet.

Evelyn turned on her heel, the faintest red tingeing her own eyes.

"Master!" Bianca scrambled after her.

Only wreckage remained—and Sebastian standing amidst the debris, those unholy crimson eyes glowing in the light.