Chapter 157: Upcoming Tempest
[Music Recommendation: Max Richter - And Some Will Fall]
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Her voice trembled, barely above a whisper. "Let go, Ivan. Let go of my hand."
Ivan’s eyes widened at what she had just asked him, and instinctively his grip on her wrist tightened, "You...don’t believe me?" he asked quietly.
And her blue eyes lifted to meet his, gleaming with hurt and disbelief, "Are you seriously asking me to believe you when you never denied drinking from another woman? Why are you trying to hide it, Ivan?" As Eve spoke, she felt anger rise in her at the mere thought of him with some other woman.
"Eve," Ivan pulled her towards him when she tried to free herself from his grasp.
He gritted his teeth, knowing she was trying to run away from him. As she struggled, the wildness he had safely tucked away from her and everyone else made his appearance.
Gripping both her shoulders, he stared at her with a mix of slight craze and desperation,
"Eve...what are you trying to do? Run away from me?" His voice dropped to a strained whisper. "I won’t let you...you’re mine."
The quiet intensity of his tone made Eve go still, her breath caught as the air between them shifted into something dangerous yet tied by a fragile threat.
She looked into his eyes, and that’s when she saw it. The familiar fire that always burned within them was still there, but beneath it, something darker coiled. Her heart skipped a beat as Damien’s words echoed in her mind...corruption.
"No.." she whispered, as if struck by lightning at what she was seeing.
Sensing the sudden spike in her heartbeat, Damien and Cece decided to intervene as it looked like things were getting out of hand.
"Ivan, get a hold of yourself, you’re hurting Evelyn like this," Cece spoke firmly.
"That’s enough, brother," Damien added with a serious tone. "Why don’t you take a moment to cool down?"
Ivan’s wild eyes shifted fiercely toward Damien and Cece, and he nearly growled in warning. "You want to take my Eve from me? Why don’t you both stay out of this?"
Cece and Damien were completely taken aback by his response; he had never spoken to them with such hostility before.
Meanwhile, Eve remained frozen, her gaze fixed on Ivan as she tried to reel with what she was seeing. The dark matter swirling beneath his eyes kept her still, and she noticed that the more aggravated he became while speaking to Cece and Damien, the more that darkness seemed to intensify.
Understanding the implications of aggravating him, she quietly raised her hands and cupped his face, drawing his attention back to her. Parting her lips, she said softly, "It’s alright. I’m not going anywhere, okay? Just take a deep breath and calm down, alright?"
Her eyes reddened as tears threatened to fall, but she forced them back, focusing entirely on Ivan. No matter what, she couldn’t lose him; she mustn’t! He needed to calm down, and once he did, she would do anything...anything to bring him back to normal. Every cell in her body screamed to protect him, to keep him from sinking further into the darkness she’d just seen within him.
The pain in her heart burned far worse than the ache from his strong grip on her shoulders. She continued to gently caress his cheeks, as her eyes silently pleaded with him to believe her.
Ivan’s jaw flexed as he studied her. "You cannot run away from me, Eve," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
That was when Damien and Cece saw it, his molten red eyes darkened, as if ink had been poured into them, the blackness swirling through his irises before receding like smoke. Their hearts dropped to their stomachs as realisation dawned. Corruption. It was already taking hold of him.
Yet neither of them dared to move. They stood frozen, watching in silence as Ivan’s eyes turned back to red once more, but shadowed with something monstrous, remained fixed on Eve.
"I’m not running away. Let’s go back to our room...it’s already late," she said gently but carefully.
Ivan studied her like a hawk, and when she made no move to pull away or show any intent to flee once he released her, his grip on her shoulders slowly loosened.
She gave him a small, soft smile, yet even in his wild state, he could see the sadness shimmering in her eyes. Raising a hand, he brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek and murmured, "You’re sad...please don’t be."
At his words, Eve’s eyes began to well up again. She shook her head faintly in denial, but no words came past her trembling lips.
Ivan watched her in silence before speaking again in his low and flat voice. "I didn’t drink from a female. A woman came to me, offering herself, when I had only asked for male servers. When I told her to leave, she cut her neck to offer me her blood."
Eve’s eyes widened at his confession, but she stayed silent as he continued, "I got angry and retaliated. I squeezed her neck too hard because of which some of her blood splattered onto my lips, and I accidentally tasted it."
He continued caressing her cheek and spoke as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "If it makes you feel any better, it tasted bitter, so I spat it out."
Eve, Cece, and Damien stared at Ivan, stunned by how casually he spoke about attacking the woman. The same question ran through all their minds, ’Is she alive?’
Eve swallowed hard before speaking slowly, "I see." She met his eyes carefully. "So that woman...where is she now?"
Ivan didn’t even flinch, "Who knows? The manager must’ve taken care of it. It was his mess to deal with, for allowing her to interrupt my meal."
"Oh," was all Eve managed to say. She blinked and then glanced nervously at Damien and Cece before forcing a small smile. "My apologies for interrupting your rest. Why don’t we all retire for the night? I’m sure you both must be tired as well."
They exchanged a discreet glance and gave her a nod. "I’m glad all the misunderstandings are sorted. Well then, we bid you good night," Damien said politely.
Ivan looked at them for a moment before turning his attention back to Eve. "Shall we?" he asked, extending his hand for her to take.
Eve placed her hand in his and gave him a small nod. Then, after a quick glance toward Damien and Cece, she allowed Ivan to lead her back to their room.
Damien and Cece stood there, watching as Ivan and Eve disappeared. Once they were out of earshot, Damien ran a hand through his light blond hair and cursed under his breath.
"This is not good, Cece. I never thought my mere speculation about corruption would turn out to be true."
Cece looked deeply worried, "Damien, are you sure that’s what it is?" she asked, her dark red eyes flicking toward him. "How long does it usually take for the corruption to spread?"
"It can take effect within a few hours...sometimes even minutes," Damien said, his voice tight.
"Then..." Cece turned her gaze back in the direction Ivan and Eve had gone. "How much time do you think has already passed for Ivan?"
"Evelyn mentioned it started last night," Damien replied, his brows furrowing as he thought about it. "So it’s already been several hours. I can’t tell if his case is different...or if it’s even corruption for certain."
Cece’s expression darkened. "He’s been so on edge, especially about Evelyn," she murmured, worry laced in her tone. "Do you think he could...harm her?"
"He seems to have become even more emotionless than before, but that’s not all. His emotions toward Evelyn have intensified, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not,"
Damien said grimly. "We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, we need to warn the people we care about to be cautious around Ivan and not to provoke him. His corruption seems to worsen every time he’s pushed."
He then whispered, "Also, this has to be kept a secret...no one can know, or the officials will be all over it."
"Do you think he killed that woman?" Cece asked after a moment of silence.
Damien shrugged. "Who knows. Honestly, I’m surprised there hasn’t been a bloodbath, considering his condition. One woman who tried to provoke him is the least of our concerns right now. I’m more worried about my brother."
Cece let out a weary sigh and rubbed her face. "Me too..I’m worried about him and Evelyn as well."
"Maybe...she’s the safest bet we have to keep his condition under control," Damien said, worry marring his face for the first time as they continued to stare at the space ahead, not knowing what the future held for them.
With the clouds swirling outside, thunder rumbled in the distance, announcing the storm it promised to bring...yet most of those already asleep remained unaware of the approaching tempest.
