The Scent of Toxic Love

Chapter 1

The adult world has no place for princesses, princes, or servants who dream and fantasize about a life without worrying about the hearts of others.

Eleanor leaned against the wall, her jet-black eyes no longer clear but instead vacant. Her hair was tangled, and her face was haggard, with smeared makeup and eyeliner running down her pale cheeks. It was obvious without guessing that Eleanor had just been crying—not quietly sobbing, but wailing in agony. Or perhaps it was out of joy.

No one could grasp her mood at that moment. Eleanor tilted her head back, staring at the stark white ceiling, but somehow she saw murky patches spreading across it. It was as if some hallucination had invaded her mind, making her look like a madwoman.

Love, to her, was nothing but a poison slowly seeping into the body. Those who die from poison—who hasn’t willingly swallowed it themselves?

Eleanor used to be a beautiful girl, the lively, energetic, fresh type that everyone adored. Not only pretty, but she also came from a respectable family background.

That was why most of the men around her were drawn to her image, as if she radiated a gentle fragrance that invited diligent worker bees to chase after her.

She cared for a few people because they were kind, because they treated her well, or for some other reasons. Eleanor always acted kindly because she didn’t want to offend anyone. She wasn’t particularly fond of anyone. She had already given her heart to someone else.

Eleanor’s love story was like a fairy tale, so beautiful that she immersed herself in it and forgot that fairy tales were only for children. The adult world has no place for princesses, princes, or servants who dream and fantasize about a life without worrying about the hearts of others.

Andrew was a true servant. The first time Eleanor met Andrew was on a sunny day; she was struggling to carry a huge suitcase in the middle of the university yard. Andrew, a senior student, suddenly appeared and offered to help her. The image of this young man with an average-looking but kind face was etched in Eleanor’s mind from that moment on.

He didn’t even need to be rich or handsome. Everything depended on timing.

What if it wasn’t you that day, but someone else? - Andrew jokingly asked Eleanor. Eleanor laughed and lightly punched his shoulder a few times.

Then I’d love that other guy too. Whoever volunteers to carry my suitcase.

Though she said that to Andrew, deep down Eleanor had already decided for herself that if it wasn’t Andrew, it would be no one else. At that time, it was definitely him who appeared, as if it were fate. Looking back now, Eleanor realizes how foolish she was—blindly rushing into love like that.

She didn’t know where the scent of love began—whether it was her own charm or Andrew’s surprisingly fake kindness.

The human heart is truly something that cannot be measured by feelings alone but must be judged by money. She should have known this earlier. If you lay money out in front of you, sooner or later, greedy and cruel people will immediately reveal their true faces.

But all of this is just “what if,” and what’s lost or destroyed can never be recovered.

Thanks to Eleanor’s love, Andrew quickly became the director of her family’s company, even the chairman position was left vacant for him to take over.

Eleanor’s father didn’t seem to like Andrew much. At that time, Andrew told her:

It’s okay. I will do my best to prove that I deserve you, and your father will like me eventually.

Cunning people like him always know what they want and what they need to do. Andrew knew Eleanor’s father only wanted to be sure that he would love and not abandon her. The chairman position became a binding condition, and Andrew immediately agreed when the marriage topic came up.

But he’s different. - Eleanor argued with her father when he refused to let her marry Andrew.

People accustomed to living by deals and cold, rough contracts see marriage only as a tool. The life of tycoons, living off others and battling in the business world, is never easy or purely emotional.

Her father saw through Andrew’s true face, but Eleanor was blinded by his feelings and caring attentions.

How is he different?

He loves me. He’s not greedy for your money. He marries me because he loves me.

Do you think people who trample over others to live in this world can have such pure love?

Eleanor hesitated, pondering her father’s words, but in the end, she still couldn’t understand why he hated Andrew so much—the man she loved.

Eleanor’s father didn’t know how to advise his stubborn daughter, and so a grand wedding took place. Andrew was even obsessed with the role of a loving husband, to the point that even the media and Eleanor’s father gradually believed that Andrew’s loving gestures were genuine.