She tried to remember what she had eaten. It seemed like there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
"John, could you please hurry up?" she urged.
John was the Welton family's new driver, and he didn't know Eliza well. The car wasn't moving particularly fast, and he glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Mae had specifically told him to drop her off at Pine Street, which was known for being quite chaotic. He couldn't understand why such a beautiful woman would live there.
"Sure thing, Ms. Valerie. We're almost there," he replied.
After they reached Pine Street, Eliza's fever was making her lose consciousness. She struggled to keep herself together as she stepped out of the car, wandering aimlessly and losing her sense of direction. John noticed something was off. He thought about offering to help her up, but before he could say anything, she had already ventured deep into the shadowy alley, disappearing from view. The car slowly drove away.
Eliza, with her face flushed and leaning against the wall, stumbled forward. Her cheeks were burning red, as if scorched by a fierce flame.
What on earth was happening to her? She felt a strange, intense heat rising from within, coupled with a sudden, overwhelming longing for a man... She desperately tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, impossible to lift. She shook her heavy head, trying to dispel the sudden strangeness.
Could it be... Had she been drugged? Who would do that to her? The coffee? Why was her coffee spiked when nobody else's was? Who could have drugged her? Casper? If it were him, he would have insisted on taking her home, and then whatever happened next would seem all too natural. It couldn't be him. If he wanted her, he wouldn’t need to drug her. Then who could it be?
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