<h4>Chapter 245: Chapter 245 Apparitions and Challenges</h4>
Cecilia’s pov
Nine o’clock position.
There she was.
The Japanese mogul’s wife was waving at me with an elegant, humble smile.
The exact same woman who had knocked on our door earlier--the one I’d seen fall past our window.
A chill trickled down my spine like ice water.
"Y-you, l-look, look..." I frantically tugged at Sebastian’s arm, my words tripping over each other.
He turned to me instantly, eyes scanning my face. "What’s wrong with your mouth? Did you bite your tongue?"
I jerked my chin toward the woman, eyes wide.
Can’t you see her?!
Sebastian followed my gaze, gave a calm nod and a polite smile, then turned back to me. "I see her. What about it?"
Was he being... too calm? Was I overreacting, or was he underreacting?
My pulse thudded in my ears. "That woman...wasn’t she already..." I gestured downward in a slow arc, mimicking a fall.
Sebastian’s brows pulled together.
After a pause, he said lightly, "You’re imagining things."
Imagining? No way.
Using his arm as a screen, I cautiously peeked around him again.
My stomach dropped.
Had I really been wrong?
No. I’d memorized that smile. That face. I wasn’t wrong.
Sebastian, noticing my look, gently covered my eyes and turned my face back to him.
"Enough staring. Like I said, the energy in this ce is off. Nothing unusual should surprise us anymore."
Off? That wasn’t just energy--it was spectral and deeply wrong.
I wasn’t ready to hallucinate alone. I needed backup.
"Sebastian, you saw her too, didn’t you? Just admit it!"
I pulled his hand away, eyes searching his face.
If I was losing my mind, I wasn’t going down alone.
Sebastian looked down at me, solemn. "Yes. I saw it. Absolutely terrifying. My legs are shaking."
"I knew it!" I blurted. "There’s no way I was the only one seeing ghosts!"
Tang and Sawyer, who’d clearly been eavesdropping, finally spoke up.
"Ghosts?" Sawyer asked, his voice low and serious. "What ghosts?"
Tang, who had been leaning against the wall like nothing could bother him, suddenly perked up.
"Wait. Ghosts? Are we talking European phantoms? Japanese yūrei? Or like, vengeful brides in white?"
His eyes lit up like he’d just found a whole new season of his favorite horror show.
I blinked, unsure where to even start.
"Didn’t you hear that thud earlier?" I asked.
Both of them shook their heads.
Their expressions turned uneasy. Not skeptical--unnerved.
"I was in the bathroom the whole time. Didn’t hear anything," Tang saidzily.
Sawyer stumbled over his words. "Uh, I... I mean, I didn’t notice anything."
I nced between the two of them, suspicion rising.
My gaze settled on Tang. "You didn’t..." I shifted my eyes to Sawyer. "You didn’t do anything to him, did you?"
Tang blinked. Sawyer turned bright red.
"Excuse me?!" Sawyer snapped. "What the hell do you mean’do anything’? We’re both straight, alright? We handled it. Separately. Like adults."
He made a vague, unfortunate gesture with one hand.
Sebastian frowned and smacked him lightly on the forehead. "Why not shout it louder? Maybe broadcast it over the PA system."
Sawyer opened his mouth, then closed it. One nce from Sebastian and he detedpletely.
I winced in sympathy.
"Okay, sorry. I misjudged. It sounds like Tang still had some sense of restraint."
Sawyer looked emotionally concussed.
Tang, however, wasn’t having it.
"Cecilia, it’s not about restraint. We’re both men. Would you have jumped Evelyn if the roles were reversed?"
I hesitated. "Of course not."
"Exactly. So I wouldn’t have jumped Sawyer either. We’re grown men. We can handle ourselves."
Before he could borate further, Sebastian flicked him in the forehead with surgical precision.
Tang clutched his skull like a wounded soldier.
"Self-control," I said dryly. "So inspiring."
A few feet away, I noticed Evelyn and Vance exchange a look.
Then they both looked away, like they’d timed it.
Evelyn turned back a momentter, stepping toward Vance with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
"Sweetheart," she said, voice like a de wrapped in silk, "why couldn’t you stick to the straight male coping mechanism? Oh, right--you were curious about the other side."
She gave him a light smack on the ass, more mocking than affectionate.
Vance stiffened. "Don’t talk like that, Evelyn."
His tone was tight, and his face had gone a few shades paler.
Evelyn tilted her head, still smiling. "Too blunt for you? Who else would indulge you like I do? Say you love me, baby."
I couldn’t tell if she was teasing him or gutting him slowly in public.
Vance said nothing. He just stood there, jaw clenched, staring somewhere past her shoulder.
Whatever was unraveling between them, it ran deeper than tonight.
He looked like he might crack open at any moment.
I didn’t mean to stare, but I couldn’t look away.
Somehow, all of it--sarcasm, shame, messy human drama--felt... weirdly normal.
And suddenly, I realized I wasn’t thinking about the ghost anymore.
The fear that had gripped my chest like a vice had loosened.
My brain hadtched onto the drama in front of me like a lifeline.
God help me, I’d weed the distraction.
The guests were still gathered in the hall, growing restless.
That’s when Belinda finally appeared.
She’d changed.
Her forest-green, sheerce dress clung to her frame in all the right ces.
The transformation was striking enough to silence the room.
Moments ago, the guests had regarded her with unease--her face too stiff, her aura too cold. Now, several men couldn’t tear their eyes away.
Desire had overridden caution.
"How did everyone sleep?" she asked smoothly.
Her smile was elegant and measured, but something about it felt... off.
Her gaze lingered on Sebastian a beat too long.
Scattered murmurs rippled through the crowd.
No one mentioned the fall.
One man near the front stepped forward, a little too eager. "Miss Belinda, you said you had something interesting nned for us tonight. May I ask...what would that be?"
His tone dripped with innuendo.
The aphrodisiac had done its job. Now, lust had rewired his brain. He wasn’t expecting a game; he was hoping for something far more depraved.
Belinda’s expression didn’t change. "Sir, this is aworking event, not an orgy."
A few guests chuckled nervously. Others turned away, pretending not to notice.
She stepped forward, gliding through the crowd like smoke.
"Everyone here has ambitions," she said. "You wish to join our organization, and we are pleased to consider you. But we only wee those who can prove their worth."
She stopped in front of Sebastian.
Onece-gloved hand lifted toward his chest...
But before it could touch him, another hand intercepted. Mine.
Firm. Polite. Unmistakably possessive.
I met her gaze without blinking.
Whatever im she thought she had, it wasn’t happening on my watch.
Belinda’s eyes narrowed slightly, then softened. She withdrew her hand with grace.
Her smile sharpened. Then She moved on.
Beside me, Sebastian looked positively delighted. He slipped an arm around my waist and leaned in. "So territorial. I’m ttered."
I peeled his hand off with a look. "Eyes on the room, Alpha. You’re being watched."
Belinda returned to the front of the room.
She unsped the ne from her throat and handed it to the manager, who ced it on a velvet-lined tray.
"This," she announced, "is tonight’s entertainment."
The guests leaned forward.
"We’ve hidden it--perhaps somewhere in the castle, perhaps in the forest behind it. Who’s to say?"
She let the silence build.
"Whoever finds it will receive this ind as a wee gift upon joining our association. A small token of our appreciation."
The room exploded.
An entire ind?
Even among the ultra-wealthy, that kind of prize was impossible to ignore.
The prize wiped away any lingering difort.
No one was thinking about the drugged wine or the creepy dinner anymore.
This wasn’t just a game anymore. It was an opportunity.
A test.
The Moonveil Ascendancy had just revealed its true hand.
Power. Wealth. Influence--offered on a silver tter.
Sebastian leaned down, voice low in my ear.
"Do you like this ind, Cece?"
His eyes gleamed with challenge.
"I’ll win it for you."