His Destructive, Toxic Love

"Autumn, I..."

"Eliza, seriously, just trust me and meet him once. If he doesn't like us, we can just as well not like him back. He's just a small business owner, don't be too proud." That was the gist of their conversation.

But, making both parties uncomfortable wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Autumn, did you tell him about my conditions?"

"I spelled everything out clearly. Don't worry, we're all about honesty here."

Eliza thought for a moment, deciding to give Autumn the benefit of the doubt, "Alright then, Autumn, you set it up. Just send me the address and time."

"Sure, no problem."Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Autumn was very efficient.

She had just finished discussing this with Eliza in the morning, and by the afternoon, she had already sent the blind date's address and time to Eliza's WhatsApp.

The meeting place was at the entrance of a park in Oak Falls, where the elderly gathered for their morning exercises.

The time was set for 7 a.m.

Perfect, it wouldn't interfere with her work schedule at all.

The next day.

She arrived at the park entrance on time.

Watching the elderly energetically practicing Tai Chi and sword dancing, a pang of envy hit her.

Not far away, inside a dark luxury car.

A man peered out through the heavily tinted windows.

"Mr. Casper, Ms. Eliza... she's here for a blind date today," Dillon, from the front seat, confirmed the intel.

Casper's dark eyes narrowed slightly, his expression a mix of frustration and helplessness.

"She's getting bolder."

Dillon was sweating bullets.

He thought that the guy coming for the blind date today was probably in for a rough time.

Eliza glanced at her watch, noting the other party was already twenty minutes late.

For a blind date, wasting each other's time like this seemed pretty rude.

Without even meeting him, Eliza already had a somewhat poor impression of the man.

She decided to wait another ten minutes.

If he didn't show up, she would leave.

A man, looking a bit disheveled, jogged up to her, clearly out of breath, and immediately apologized, "Sorry for being late. Are you Eliza?" Eliza then looked up at the newcomer.

He stood against the backlight, the rising sun outlining him with a golden halo.

He was tall, dressed in a trench coat, wearing glasses; she couldn't see his face clearly.

Shielding her eyes, she slightly blocked the sunlight, "I am. And you are...?"

"Hello, my name is Manuel, Autumn introduced me."

He smiled, his sincerity as bright as the morning sun, exuding an air of intellectuality.

Though the first impression wasn't terrible.

The lack of punctuality still irked Eliza a bit, "Mr. Manuel, is being late a habit of yours for blind dates?"

"There was some traffic on the way, I'm sorry won't make excuses; being late is being late. Let me make

it up to you by inviting you to

breakfast as a small apology"

The man smiled apologetically.

Eliza decided not to hold it against him any longer.

"There's no need for breakfast, let's get straight to the point." She thought, just by telling him her conditions, he would probably back off, "I've signed the divorce papers with my ex-husband, and I'll soon have the divorce certificate. also have a son, you know about my job situation, no parents, and a brother who needs special care. I have a lot of responsibilities."

Eliza explained her situation briefly.

Yet, the man listened intently, nodding along seriously, seemingly moved by her predicament. "I'm aware of all that."

"Since you know, that's good. These are my conditions, this is who I am. I know you're in a good position, and I'm prepared. Since it's a blind date, let's be honest. If you think we're not a match, just tell me directlydt's

okay."