His Destructive, Toxic Love

"Ms. Valerie."

Eliza peered through the peephole. It was Carlos.

What was he doing here so late?

"Mr. Carlos, is there something you need?"

Eliza's voice wasn't exactly warm, but it was polite enough.

Carlos grinned awkwardly and apologized, "I might have been a bit forward at school today. I hope you don't hold it against me. But the art competition about construction workers is really meaningful. It can help improve their working conditions and maybe even raise their wages." Not this again.

Eliza had no interest in discussing it, "Mr. Carlos, did you come all the way here just to talk about that?"

"Sort of." He pulled out a drawing from his bag, one he had done a few days ago. "Ms. Valerie, check these out. I drew them on-site, capturing moments of the workers at their jobs and during breaks." Honestly?

Eliza wasn't interested at all. A competition was unlikely to change the reality for a whole group of people. But, to be polite, she glanced at the drawings.

It was mostly scenes of workers hard at work.

But one close-up caught her eye...

A man's face, covered in dust, lips chapped, holding a piece of bread in a rag-wrapped hand-he was probably injured.

But those eyes... looked so familiar, like... Casper's eyes.

Eliza's heart skipped a beat.

It seemed abrupt to confirm someone was alive based on a single drawing.

Pointing at the figure, she asked Carlos, "Who is this?"

"A simpleton. He's really big and

strong. The foreman likes him, says he's young, strong, works a lot, and never seems to tire." Carlos had seen this man, and he was always dirty. "He never speaks. He might be mute; he looks quite pitiful

A simpleton? Mute? Working at a construction site?Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

How could this be the same ruthless, cunning, proud, powerful, and wealthy man?

It couldn't be Casper. Just someone who looked like him.

Still, she wanted to see for herself.

"Mr. Carlos, why don't you sign me up too? Tomorrow is the weekend; we can visit the construction site together. I'd like to see the workers' conditions for myself. What do you think?" en

Carlos thought it was a great idea.

Excitedly, he nodded. "Sure, I'll come by to pick you up tomorrow, and we'll go together." "Okay."

Carlos was about to take back the drawing when Eliza tightened her

grip on it. "Mr. Carlos, this is

really good. Could you give

me?"

"Do you think it captures the essence of hard work?" Carlos, always generous when someone appreciated his art, said, "If you like it, it's yours."

"Thank you."

After seeing Carlos off, Eliza stared blankly at the drawing.

For three months, Dillon had searched the area of the sea where Casper had fallen before giving up.

It was a deep abyss; Casper fell in with his car, and surviving was almost impossible.

Even if Casper had miraculously survived, Dillon would have been the first to see and rescue him...

Could Casper be this construction worker?

She didn't dare speculate lightly.

She flipped the drawing over gently and placed it on the table.