His Destructive, Toxic Love

"Did you recognize me from the start?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

She should have known. Out of all those beautiful girls, why did he choose her?

His cool fingertips brushed lightly over her red lips. "Is that really so hard to believe?"

"I just wanted to make some extra money," she said, her eyes trembling with fear she couldn't quite name, her fingers shaking uncontrollably.

"Making extra money means selling yourself?" His grip tightened around her wrist, making her face turn purple. "Will you tell your husband how many men you've spent the night with?" "No, I haven't slept with any," she stammered.

No one had been as generous as Casper. And no one had focused solely on her.

She clutched his wrist, her face losing all color. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have left with a client."

"Is that so, Mrs. Welton?" he asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.

She nodded, struggling to breathe. "Yes."

Maybe her desperate explanation softened him a bit because his grip loosened slightly. But did he fully believe her? Not really.

He stood up and lit a cigarette, taking slow drags. The gray smoke swirled around his features, making him seem even more mysterious and hard to read.

"Eliza, you're suffering from depression, and your mental state is getting worse. For your own health and safety, I think you should spend some time at Mercy Hospital," he said, his voice soft but heavy enough to crush her spirit.

Mercy Hospital? Was he planning to lock her up in an asylum too?

"No, you can't do this," Eliza's voice trembled with sheer terror. "You drove Robin mad. Do you want to drive me mad, too?"

He watched her quietly, his gaze deep and complex like the ocean at night, endless and turbulent.

"I'm doing this for your own good."

For her own good? Was it really?

After everyone in the Pinotti family had either died or gone mad, she thought she still had a sliver of hope. Little did she know, she was the last to be dealt with. All the talk of divorce, of letting her go, was a lie. He had never intended to truly let her go. His goal was to push her step by step into the abyss, letting her struggle in endless fear and despair.

"Casper, why? Why do you force me to hate you? Why?" she cried, tears of despair chilling her skin.

She had thought that her final act would be her liberation. Instead, it turned out to be her loss of freedom.

Casper watched her, his expression calm as she glared at him with red-rimmed eyes. Finally, he stubbed out his cigarette.

"When you get better, I'll get you out."

"Will you?" A flicker of confusion and despair passed through Eliza's eyes. She might never see that day come. "Casper, you're so cruel. Stop lying to me." Wiping her tears, Eliza stood up and ran. Tears streamed down her face; she needed to escape. She didn't want to be locked up.

Casper's large hand stopped her, pulling her back by the waist. "Where

do you think you're going? Even. Po

you can to the ends of the earth, I'd

bring you back."

"You're worse than a monster," Eliza screamed, her voice filled with endless grief and despair.

"It's your fault for not being obedient," he said, throwing her onto the bed and pressing his body against hers.

Several days later,

Eliza's hands were bound as she was taken to Mercy Hospital, a place she had desperately wanted to save Robin from but was powerless to do anything about. Stepping into this hospital felt like entering a gloomy purgatory on earth. Every breath seemed laced with despair, every inhalation like being bound by

invisible chains. Leaving this place

seemed only possible on the day of her death.