His Destructive, Toxic Love

She downed the last of the smoothie almost without thinking. It was cool, sweet but not cloying, and refreshingly delightful. After finishing it, she felt a wave of comfort wash over her. Casper came over with Brock in his arms and, seeing the empty glass on the table, frowned slightly. "Why did you drink so much smoothie? It might upset your stomach later." "I was a bit thirsty," she replied.

After dinner, Casper drove Eliza and Brock back to their place. He had hoped to stay a bit longer, maybe play with Brock, but Eliza shut him down with a firm, "It's late, we need to rest." "I could stay and play with Brock for a while," he pleaded.

"Brock needs to sleep too."

"Alright then."

Not allowed inside, Casper stood by his car and lit a cigarette, taking a deep inhale. The smoke swirled into the night sky, making the thoughts in his heart even harder to bear. The light from an upstairs window shone brightly against the darkness, and he wondered if he might ever be welcomed into that warmth.novelbin

After Eliza put Brock to bed, she too drifted off to sleep. She didn't know how long she had been out when her room's door silently and slowly opened. In a trance, wearing a white nightgown, she moved as if drawn by an unseen force, through the living room and out the front door. Her bare feet felt the cold, but she walked on without hesitation.

The night, as dark as ink, covered Oak Falls, and on the silent streets, only a solitary white figure roamed like a ghost. At a street corner, a dark car stopped for the red light. Inside, Dillon's gaze casually swept past the window and then froze. That familiar figure wasn't it Eliza?

He gripped the steering wheel, looking in her direction, his brow furrowing. Why was she out on the street at this hour? And in her nightgown, without shoes? Was she out for a walk, or was she sleepwalking? Dillon remembered that Eliza didn't have a history of sleepwalking. Yet, it was 2 a.m. according to his watch. Either way, it wasn't safe.

He was just about to call out to Eliza when the light turned green and the car behind him honked, prompting Dillon to drive on. As the car moved further away, he couldn't help but look back. Something was definitely strange.

Back at the hotel, Casper hadn't gone to bed yet. He sat by the window, holding a wine glass, the red wine inside gently swaying in the interplay of light and shadow, giving him a faintly melancholic air. "Mr. Casper, why haven't you gone to rest?"

Casper lifted his head slightly, his gaze a bit hazy. He picked up another wine glass, poured some red wine, and handed it to Dillon. "Join me for a bit. I... seem to be having some trouble sleeping."

Dillon gently advised him to rest.

The company had been dealing with a lot lately, and Casper was under a lot of pressure. But Dillon's intuition told him that this insomnia had something to do with Eliza

"You can't sleep, and I think someone else couldn't either."

"Who couldn't sleep?" Casper lifted his glass, his expression weary.

Dillon thought of Eliza wandering on the street. "On my way back just now, I saw Ms. Eliza."

"Hmm?" Casper's brow furrowed slightly, puzzled. "Didn't she go back already?"

At this moment, shouldn't she be at home, putting Brock to bed?

"I don't think I mistook someone else," Dillon said.

Casper's expression tightened, filled with confusion. "Where did you see her?"

"On the main street."

The main street? Casper sensed something was wrong. A feeling of unease rose in his heart. "In the middle of the night, you saw her on the main street? Why didn't you ask her where she was going?"

"I thought she was just in a bad

mood and needed a walk... she was barefoot and walking quite fast," Dillon said, pausing suddenly as he realized his oversight. A woman especially one with a child, wouldn't just leave her child at home and wander the streets in the middle of the night for no reason. There must be a problem.

"... Mr. Casper, could Ms. Eliza be in trouble?"

Casper wasn't sure. The dinner they shared earlier was quite normal, but Dillon's description didn't sound normal at all. A flicker of panic crossed his heart. "Let's go, we need to find her immediately."