His Destructive, Toxic Love

Eliza took a couple of steps back, startled.

"Who are you?" she asked, eyeing him cautiously.

The man, without looking up, stubbornly held out a rose.

Eliza assumed he was a homeless man, but after getting no response, she shut the door.

She was back home and couldn't get the encounter out of her mind.

Who was that guy?

If he was homeless, maybe he was hungry and hoping for some food in exchange for the flower.

Should she call the cops?

But that seemed like such a minor issue. Would it be a waste of their time?

About an hour later, she peeked through the peephole again.

Weird, the man was still squatting outside.

Could he really be there for food?

Eliza opened the fridge, grabbed some bread she'd bought earlier, and decided to offer it to him.

She opened the door.

"Are you hungry?" she asked softly, holding out the bread like she didn't want to scare him. "Here, take this."

The man didn't take the bread or even look up at her.

He clutched the rose tightly; maybe a thorn had pricked his palm because there were drops of blood on the ground. Eliza's heart tightened. "Are you hurt? Do you need help with that?"

No response.NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.

The faceless man stayed hunched over, silent.

Eliza bent down, pushing the bread closer to him. "How about you eat this first, then I can help with your wound, okay?"

No matter what she said, the man didn't move.

Just as she was about to give up, he suddenly lifted the rose again and offered it to her.

"Is this for me?" she asked, puzzled. "Why are you giving me a flower? We don't even know each other. Are you hungry? Here, take the bread." He didn't say anything, dropped the flower, and ran off.

Eliza almost called out to him, but he was gone in a flash. Who was he, really?

He didn't even want the bread.

As she turned back, she noticed a name tag on the ground.

It was a small tag, about 2 inches long, with the name... Sam. Sam?

That woman's husband? The man from the construction site?

The one who looked a lot like Casper?

Why would he come to her doorstep to offer a flower?

Could it be...

Perhaps he was here because of that incident when he accidentally pushed her at the construction site. Was this his way of apologizing? Strange.

Eliza couldn't figure it out.

Holding the name tag, she glanced at her watch. It was late, and it was raining. She wondered if Sam knew how to get home.

"He must have come here. After that woman visited the construction site, my man was acting distracted, so he must have come here."

It was the familiar voice of the hefty woman.

Eliza stood at her doorway, peering down the entrance building.

She saw the hefty woman looking

furious and leading a group of middle aged women towards her. They cursed as if they were about to turn the world upside down.

The hefty woman's keen eyes spotted Eliza, and she quickened her pace.

"You, woman! What have you done with Sam? I knew there was something about you. You lure men and even managed to lure mine to your doorstep. Hand over Sam."

Eliza frowned slightly.

She couldn't make sense of the woman's accusations.

"Lady, you need to have evidence for your claims. Why would your man be at my place?"

The hefty woman, hands on her hips, pointed at Eliza, her voice fierce. "Yesterday, he was here, standing downstairs at your building's entrance, and I dragged him back home. Today, he ran off from home again. If not to your place, then

Where?"

"If you really can't find him, you should report it to the police. He's not here." Why bring the commotion to her doorstep? Eliza looked displeased.