The next day, as soon as Isadora returned from the hospital, she started working on her little surprise with Anthony.
By the time afternoon came, the entire estate had been turned upside down.
Pink balloons were tied to the staircase, ribbons covered the walls, and there were flowers, glittery decorations and all sorts of girly birthday stuff scattered everywhere.
It was so pink that even the servants didn’t know whether to stare or pretend they hadn’t seen anything.
Anthony, however, wasn’t pretending.
He had been watching Isadora decorate the place with growing anxiety.
“Miss Matthew, are you sure this is a good idea?
The young master is not going to appreciate this.” “That’s exactly why I’m doing it,” Isadora replied cheerfully, adjusting another balloon.
The more worried Anthony looked, the more amused she became.
Even the guards kept exchanging nervous glances as if they were waiting for a disaster to happen.
Valen, thankfully, wasn’t home yet.
Anthony had already told her that he would be away on business and wouldn’t return until the evening, which gave her plenty of time to finish everything.
By the time the sun began to set, the estate barely looked like Valen’s house anymore.
That evening, Valen finally returned with Ruel after spending the day handling business.
Ruel stepped out of the car first and opened the door for him.
Valen straightened his coat before making his way toward the entrance, completely unaware of the nightmare waiting for him inside.
He had barely climbed the first few steps when the guard standing by the door suddenly approached him with an uneasy expression.
“Sir, we tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.” Valen frowned.
“Stop who?” The guard hesitated.
“Her, sir.” That single word immediately made Valen suspicious.
He pushed past him and entered the house without another question.
The sight that greeted him made him stop dead.
Pink balloons were everywhere.
His eyes moved from the staircase to the walls, then to the ribbons, flowers and glitter covering practically every visible surface.
“What the fuck…”His voice was low, but the anger was obvious.
Before he could take another step, Isadora suddenly appeared from behind the decorations and threw a handful of confetti directly at him.
“Happy birthday!” Valen stood completely still.
Confetti was scattered across his hair and shoulders, while Isadora looked at him with the proudest smile imaginable.
Behind him, Ruel pressed his lips together, clearly fighting for his life not to laugh.
Anthony, meanwhile, looked like he was already preparing his resignation.
Valen slowly looked around the room one more time before his eyes returned to Isadora.
She smiled even wider.
“So… do you like it?” Valen stared at her.
“You don’t like it?” Isadora asked, looking around at the decorations as if she genuinely couldn’t understand the problem.
“I spent my whole day preparing this with Anthony!” Anthony immediately coughed and looked away, suddenly very interested in the floor.
He knew his boss far too well to get involved in whatever was about to happen.
Valen slowly turned his head toward him.
He remained frighteningly calm, but the anger in his eyes was enough to make Anthony straighten his posture.
“I see,” Valen said quietly.
“So everyone in this house has decided they want to die today.” Isadora’s smile disappeared.
“Wait…” Valen walked toward her and pulled the gun from beneath his jacket.
Before she could react, he raised it and pressed the barrel against her head.
Her heart nearly stopped.
She had known he would be angry.
Of course she had.
Part of the reason she had gone this far was to annoy him and get a little revenge for what he had done to Midnight.
But beneath all the teasing, she had actually meant well.
She simply didn’t want him to spend his birthday alone, locked away in his room as if he were attending his own funeral.
She had never imagined he would react like this.
Apparently, she had severely underestimated how much Valen Da Costa hated birthdays.
Isadora swallowed hard and slowly raised her hands.
“Okay… okay.
Valen, if it’s the color, we can change it.
Maybe pink isn’t your thing.” She cautiously took a step backward.
“We can use black instead.
I think black is your favorite color, right?” “Shut up.” He said cold Isadora immediately closed her mouth.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then, very carefully, she took one small step backward.
Valen’s eyes followed her.
She stopped.
Another tiny step.
His expression darkened.
“Isadora.” “I’m not doing anything,” she whispered.
“You’re moving.” “I know.” “Then stop.” She swallowed and stood still, but her eyes had already found the staircase behind him.
If she could just get there, maybe she could run to her room and lock the door before he— Bang!
The gunshot made her scream.
The bullet flew past her and burst one of the birthday balloons behind her.
She had never been that terrified in her entire life.
Her legs started trembling so badly that she lost her balance and fell onto the floor, staring at the deflated balloon in disbelief.
Valen lowered the gun as if absolutely nothing unusual had happened.
He slipped it back into his pocket and turned toward Anthony.
“Anthony.” “Yes, Master!”Anthony immediately stood straighter.
“Before I reach my room, I want every single piece of this stupidity removed from my estate.” “Yes, Master!” Valen turned and walked up the stairs, with Ruel following behind him.
Neither of them said another word.
The moment he disappeared from sight, the servants hurried to take down the decorations.
Nobody complained.
Nobody even looked at Isadora.
They simply worked as fast as humanly possible, probably hoping to survive the evening.
Isadora was still sitting on the floor, trying to convince her legs to work Then it suddenly hit her.
His room.
She had decorated his room too.
“Oh, shit.” She scrambled to her feet.
“He’s going to see it.” She hurried up the stairs, suddenly forgetting every ounce of fear she had felt a moment ago.
If Valen thought the living room was bad, he definitely wasn’t ready for what she had done to his bedroom.
“I better get inside before he kills me.” She reached her room and quickly slipped inside.
Just as she was about to close the door, a furious voice exploded through the mansion.
“ISADORA!” His voice echoed through the entire house.
She froze with her hand still on the doorknob.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
“…I’m dead.”