His Destructive, Toxic Love

Their eyes locked.

Out of nowhere, he leaned in and kissed her. She was startled and shoved him away. "Please, Mr. Casper, have some respect."

"Eliza, you're my wife." He was visibly annoyed, her repeated rejections fueling his anger. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you text me this morning, reminding me not to tell anyone at work about our relationship?" She stepped back to increase the distance between them. "At the office, we're just boss and employee." He stared at her, cold and intense. His rage was about to boil over, but he managed to keep it in check. With a deep breath, he slammed his hand down, shattering the ashtray on his desk. "Get out." Eliza turned and bolted. She nearly collided with Faithe on her way out. "Ms. Eliza? Did you upset Mr. Casper again? We're at work. Please mind your behavior."

Faithe tossed some documents at her. "Alright, back to work."

Eliza didn't argue. She gathered the papers and headed back to the design department.

The design department was on the twenty-second floor, just one floor below the CEO's office. Eliza had taken too long, and her supervisor wasn't happy. "Why did that take you an hour?" "Sorry, Molly. I'll be quicker next time."

"The last thing we need is a designer who drags their feet. I don't care where you worked before; here, we value efficiency. Got it?"

"Got it."

Thankfully, Molly didn't push further.

Eliza managed to keep her head down until the end of the day. She was the last to clock out, and as she was about to leave, someone from HR called out to her. "Eliza, still here? Hard work pays off, you know. A single unit just opened up, and I thought, why not reward the last

person to leave?"

The HR rep beamed as they handed her a key. "Here's the key to room 402, a single unit. Go check it out."

"Thank you so much." It felt like a ray of sunshine had cut through her dark world. "Really, I mean it....."

"Don't mention it. Lucky you." The HR rep added, "The studio apartment is right next to our building, super close. You'll save a lot of commuting time and can even sleep in a bit."

"Great."

The slightly rusty key in her hand sparkled with promise. She felt incredibly lucky.

After leaving the office, Eliza headed straight to the studio apartment. The floor was quiet, likely because most tenants were still out. She unlocked the door.

The room was reasonably clean.

The HR representative had told her the previous tenant had lived here with their partner and was getting married, leaving the unit vacant

There was a moderate o

double bed, hinting at its past use as a lover's nest. Eliza needed to change the linens and tidy up a bit before she could move in.

She'd prefer to live in her own place if she could, but that wasn't an option. Anything was better thanĈ going back to Welton Estate, which weighed heavily on her heart. The only question was whether Casper would let her stay here.

After some hesitation, she called him.

"Hello?" His voice was cool and detached.

Eliza paused. "Mr. Casper, I've applied for a studio apartment. It's closer to the office, and I plan to stay here for a while."

He chuckled softly on the other end. "Are you avoiding me?"