His Destructive, Toxic Love

Eliza kept quiet, her fingers slowly curling into fists.

Nova let out a breath, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "I need to change into a stunning dress. I'll be joining Casper at the banquet later."

A servant brought in a wheelchair. Nova tossed aside her crutch and settled into the wheelchair, heading upstairs.

Feeling a wave of guilt, Marian took a deep breath before approaching Eliza. "I'm really sorry, ma'am."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Marian. Adapting to the situation is your right." Eliza's words were soft but distant, lacking her usual warmth. Marian, troubled, fidgeted with the hem of her dress before quickly fetching the first aid kit and offering it to Eliza. "Let me take care of your wound, ma'am." "No thank you, Marian."

Nova had control over this household. Aside from the title Mrs. Welton, Eliza was treated worse than a servant.

She cleaned her wound with alcohol. It wasn't too deep, but it throbbed painfully.

After roughly bandaging it, she picked up the broken screen from the floor, found a bag to put it in, and left the house.

She had gone with Audrey to order this screen. She knew where it could be fixed.

Looking at the shattered frame and the stained embroidery, Eliza felt another piece of her already fragile peace slip away.

The studio that handled such restorations had already closed for the day. She had to plead with the security guard for a while before getting the manager's contact number.

The manager was kind enough to agree to come and take a look.

Holding the embroidery, Eliza waited in the cold wind for two hours before the manager arrived.

"Can you fix this?" she asked, handing over the embroidery.

The manager examined the blood-stained piece and hesitated for a moment. "It can be restored, but... it's a big project. Even with overtime, it'll take at least ten to fifteen days. And it won't be cheap." "How much?"

"It'll cost tens of thousands of dollars." Such top-tier craftsmanship always came with a hefty price tag. Eliza didn't have much money. She wasn't sure if she could afford it. "Could you give me an estimate?" "Around fifty thousand."

Fifty thousand. That was no small sum for Eliza.

She retrieved the embroidery. "I'll... think about it. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem. It's not cheap, so take your time to consider."

"Alright, thank you."

After parting ways with the manager, Eliza sat on the curb, staring at the night sky, lost in thought.

After a while, she checked her bank balance on her phone. She had just paid her mother's hospital bills, and her balance was nowhere near fifty thousand. It was clear she couldn't afford the restoration.

Eliza returned home, clutching the damaged embroidery. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Why should she bear the cost for something she didn't break?

2179

She found an empty cupboard and stored the embroidery there temporarily.

That night, Casper didn't come home. When Nova returned, she smashed things all over the place.

The servants gossiped about how

Nova had been ridiculed by several high society ladies at the dinner, and Casper hadn't defended her. She

was fuming.

To make matters worse, Casper's friends had invited him out for drinks after the dinner, and he left Nova alone once again.

When Nova came back, she was furious.

"Where is that bitch Eliza? Get her out here to serve me!"