His Destructive, Toxic Love

"You're saying you want me to stay home, watch the kids, and quit working altogether?"

How's that any different from making the same old mistakes? The only change now is there's a kid in the picture.

She pushes him away, clearly miffed. "So, you expect me to be a full-time housewife, just catering to your every whim, right?"

Casper, caught off guard by her strong reaction, is unsure what he messed up. "What I meant was..."

"Casper, you have no right to tell me how to live my life," she cuts him off, not in the mood for his explanations.

He hadn't expected Eliza to blow up like this. Sure, their child is still little. And he doesn't want to be apart from her. There was really no need for such a blow-up.

"I just think our baby is still young, and hey, we're not exactly strapped for cash. What I meant is..." he tries to explain, hoping she'll see there's no need for her to push herself so hard.

"I know the baby's young, just stop talking," she interrupts, clearly not in the mood to listen.

She gets out of bed and heads to her vanity, taking off her earrings and tossing them on the table. Casper watches from a distance, sees her frustration and misery. He knows that during their marriage, when he didn't let her work, she felt so stifled.

He only wanted to make things easier for her. Of course, she's free to work. But why Oak Falls?

"We shouldn't get all bent out of shape over this," he says, trying to keep things calm.

Eliza agrees but thinks Casper's got it wrong. "Women aren't just meant to stay home and look after kids."

"I'm not saying you should, just that our baby's still little, he needs you, and you wouldn't be at ease leaving him, right?" That makes sense, doesn't it?

He really can't wrap his head around what she's upset about.

"You think I'm being unreasonable?" she glares at him in the mirror.

Casper quickly shakes his head. "Absolutely not, it's just a miscommunication."

"I can't talk to you."

She doesn't even know why she's this angry.

She stands to leave, but Casper quickly gets up and holds her close. "Why can't we talk it out? Let's just take it slow. I'm not unreasonable."

"Casper, our relationship now is just

about being the parents of our child, not really a marriage. There's no need to have this conversation. Asking you is pointless."

Casper: ...

Is she trying to put some distance between them? Does she mean their marriage certificate is meaningless now?

"That's a bit harsh," he says, keeping her in the chair. "If a marriage certificate doesn't make us a couple, what does?"

"I never agreed to get back together with you."

That leaves him speechless.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

He knows he's in the wrong here. Even with a marriage certificate, it doesn't mean much.

"But you've been waiting for me for a year. You can't deny your feelings for me, can you?"

Eliza can't deny that over the past year, she's been deeply concerned about Casper. To say there are no feelings, how could there not be?

If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have flown to France to find him and persuade him to get treatment. But why does being with Casper make her feel so fragile? She dislikes this feeling. Dislikes not having her own say.

"Casper, you... you don't get me."

"I do." He understands she lacks a

sense of security, even though she's a well-known painter, it's not enough to quell her worries. He suggests, "How about this: you work in Falconridge, and I'll set up a studio for you, a workshop. Does that sound good? If not, I'll create a department for you at Welton International, where you'll call the shots, whether it's design or ancient painting restoration."

Eliza hadn't thought about these options.

But Casper's suggestions don't seem so bad. As she considers them, her anger starts to fade.

"I'm just used to being in Oak Falls." Her voice softens, losing its earlier edge. Casper, no matter howe much money I have, I need a job that fulfills me. Do you get that?