His Destructive, Toxic Love

"Casper, I'm in so much pain. Can you please come and stay with me?" Nova's fragile voice trembled on the other end of the phone.

Nova always knew how to play her cards right because Casper never could resist that tone.

He cast a cold glance at Eliza. "You're coming with me to the hospital."

"I'm not going." Her response was even icier.

His face darkened, eyes blazing with an anger he rarely showed. "Eliza, are you seriously refusing me?"

Casper was used to getting his way and always seemed blind to the obvious. Whenever Nova was involved, he'd always be on her side.

"Go upstairs, change your clothes, and come to the hospital with me."

Eliza gently straightened her torn blouse. Upstairs she went.

Her wardrobe held only a few high-end dresses she hadn't taken when she moved out. There were gifts from her mother-in-law.

She'd never worn them, always dreaming that someday Casper would take her to some grand event.

Eliza chuckled at her own naivety.

After changing, she descended the stairs. "I'm leaving."

He raised a hand to stop her and was about to speak, but his phone rang again. This time, it was a call from the Welton family mansion.

"What? I'll be right there." He grabbed her wrist, pulling her outside. "You're coming with me to the hospital."

"I said I'm not going. You-"

"Grandfather is in emergency care."

Jeffrey had been sick for over a decade, and at ninety, his passing would normally be seen as a natural part of life. However, the Welton family wouldn't accept it.

A fortune teller once said that if Jeffrey died, the Welton family's luck would take a nosedive for a decade.

The Welton family was wealthy, and Jeffrey was kept alive on cutting-edge medications.

When those stopped working, they turned their sights on Eliza.

Initially, Casper had flat-out refused to marry Eliza. But when Jeffrey gave his approval, she managed to wed him.

By then, the Welton family must have known her blood was special. Otherwise, an engagement alone wouldn't have been enough to make Casper marry her.

The entire Welton family crowded outside the hospital's emergency care ward.

Tristan saw Casper and pulled him aside. "Your grandfather's condition has worsened. Is there any change with Eliza?"

"Nothing," Casper replied flatly.

Tristan couldn't hold back. "What are you doing? Your grandfather needs her antibodies; if she's not pregnant, her antibody levels won't increase. What's the plan?" Casper didn't really have one.

Aaron had mentioned that only a complete blood transfusion could help Jeffrey. That was trading one life for another, and Casper didn't want to go that far.

Facing his son's silence, Tristan glanced at Eliza, standing quietly nearby. He knew some decisions were brutal, but the Welton family had no choice but to be ruthless to save Jeffrey.

"Let's do the blood transfusion," Tristan said.

Casper's pupils contracted. "Dad, doesn't her life also matter?"

"Whose life is more important between hers and your grandfather's?" Tristan struggled to keep his voice down. "Our family is falling apart because your grandfather is ill. With the transfusion, he'll recover, and so will Welton International."

Casper hadn't believed the fortune teller's words at first, but over the years, a few predictions had come true, and he'd started to believe it.

"There must be another way."

Tristan was stunned. After all these years, they'd explored every possible option. What other option could there be?

In the end, when it mattered most, Casper had gone soft.