His Destructive, Toxic Love

forgiven," he mused, "others send you straight to hell."

Susan thought she was summoned to explain herself, but as he gently lifted her chin with his slender fingers and scrutinized her face, which bore a striking resemblance to Eliza's, it became clear that explanations were the least of his concerns. "Some mistakes can be "Casper, Eliza isn't dead, and I haven't caused a major disaster. Please, let me go, and I'll be grateful for the rest of my life," Susan pleaded, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, fragile as a jasmine swaying in the wind.

"Crocodile tears don't earn sympathy," he said, dismissing her with a flick of his fingers, his gaze returning to the five bottles on the table. "Pick one to start."

"I don't want to," Susan stammered, trying to flee.

Dillon was quick to act, pinning her down to the table, "Ms. Susan, will you do the honors, or shall I assist you?"

"Please, let me go, Casper..." Susan was terrified.

Each bottle promised agony; to consume all five was unthinkable.

"Casper, my father can pay you. He can even give you the entire Torres Group. I'm the only daughter of the Torres family; he'd do it if you let me call him now," Susan's eyes trembled with fear and desperation, bloodshot from terror and evasion. But she was unaware that Ronan would never hand over the Torres Group to Casper for her sake.

"Ms. Susan, you seem to be mistaken. How could you be Mr. Ronan's only daughter?" Dillon pulled out his phone, showing her a photo of a family of four, "Doesn't he have two sons as well?"

Susan's pupils dilated in disbelief.

Sons? He had another family?

What did that make her and her mother? Lies? Deception?

Betrayal or exploitation?

"Why would he do this to us? How could he betray my mother, why..." Susan's voice broke as she struggled like a caged animal, Dillon barely holding her down, "Ms. Susan, to Ronan, you were merely a pawn for an alliance. If a pawn makes a wrong move, being sacrificed is part of his plan. Do you understand?"

A laugh of despair escaped Susan. She understood now.

She was not the cherished jewel but a sacrificial piece of the Torres family, informed on her twentieth birthday of her arranged marriage with the Welton family. Even after е discovering Jeffrey Welton's annulment letter, she was deceived into believing the engagement stood as long as the Torres family agreed. Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

Foolishly, she had fallen for Casper at first sight, visiting the Welton family, blinded by infatuation.

She sought love, losing her rationale, making mistakes, while Ronan aimed to leech off the Welton family for his illegitimate sons.

No one stood by her.

A pawn? Now, she was nothing but a discarded piece.

Overwhelmed by indignation and refusal to accept her fate, Susan grabbed the bottles, uncorked them, and downed their contents in one go. Dillon turned to Casper, who simply gestured with a calm demeanor, "Take her to Ronan. Let them deal with whether she lives or dies."

As Dillon delivered Susan to Ronan,

the potent effects of the

concoctions, especially the parasitic one designed to torment and degrade, began to take hold

He half-expected Ronan to erupt in rage upon seeing his daughter treated thusly, venting his frustrations and anger.