Without skipping a beat, Ivy said, "Why don't you come over now? We haven't started yet! I can send you the location.""It's fine! It's not like I was invited."Sensing the frustration in Layla's tone, Eric asked Ivy for her phone, and Ivy handed it to him without hesitation."I'm having dinner with Ivy near her university. It's quite far for you so I didn't ask you along," he explained patiently."Why are you buying my sister dinner?" Layla asked. "She doesn't even know you and doesn't know what happened between us..."An amused look appeared on Ivy's face as she thought to herself, "Did something happen between Layla and Eric?""I'm just buying her dinner. I didn't say anything that I shouldn't say." Eric blushed and changed the subject immediately. "Have you eaten?""I haven't! But I'm about to, so bye!" Layla hung up.Eric gave the phone back to Ivy and she accepted it calmly, feeling off."Your sister and I... It's not like that... I pretty much watched her as she grew up
Ivy had not imagined the situation to be so complicated and asked, "Why would Layla be in love with you, then?"If Eric truly had been her father's enemy, it would not make sense for Layla to fall in love with him."I told you. They had fought all the time. Even when Hayden and Layla were children, they fought. During their school holidays, Mike would take care of Hayden while I looked after Layla." Eric smiled as he recalled the past. "Your parents made up in the end, and I stopped viewing your dad as the enemy."Ivy nodded. "You've been with Layla for a long time, which means that she has been in love with you for a while. What about you? Do you like her?""Of course, I do, just not romantically. Your sister is a beautiful young lady, and anyone, no matter their age, would like her the moment they laid eyes on her."Ivy agreed. "Not only is Layla pretty, but she is also really kind, too. I would like her if I was a man.""Yeah," Eric muttered as he focused on the food."Mr. Sa
Avery saved a lot of people in the past and helping Eric did not mean much to her. Eric, however, saw Avery as his savior. In the yard, Layla had said goodbye to Eric, and he was about to leave when Avery came over and invited him inside. "Eric, since you are already here, why don't you come inside?"Eric hesitated."My mom is inviting you in. Why are you still standing here?" Layla teased before opening the car door for him.Eric stepped out of his car and followed them into the mansion. Once they entered the living room, Layla pulled Ivy to the dining room and started digging into the barbeque ribs Ivy brought home.Ivy glanced into the living room. "Layla, aren't you worried that it would be awkward for them to be alone?" Ivy felt awkward when she tried to put herself in Eric's shoes."Eric is extremely scared of our parents, so he's probably dying from nerves right about now!" Layla giggled."Oh, you are doing this on purpose!""He is too timid. It's a good chance for him
"What are you talking about?" Avery walked over to Elliot."Nothing much," he said. "I need some time alone with Layla.""Oh, are you asking me to leave?" Avery asked sarcastically. "You want to talk to her about Eric, right? Did you really think I wouldn't know what you were thinking? You are trying to get me to leave as if I couldn't figure out what you guys were talking about."Hearing his pride shatter, Elliot blushed."Mom, show Dad some mercy!" Layla said calmly.Avery hummed and turned to look at Elliot, "Come to the bedroom once you are done talking to Layla. I need to talk to you as well."Elliot felt uneasy, sensing that he was about to be lectured by his wife.After Avery left, Layla suppressed her laughter as she looked at Elliot, "What were you trying to ask me, Dad?"Elliot took a sip of water to regain his composure before saying, "Eric has a girlfriend now, so I trust that you won't do anything out of line, will you? There are plenty of good men out there, and a
"Layla won't do such a thing!" Avery interrupted him. "We raised our daughter. Don't you know what kind of a person she is? Don't you trust her?""Of course, I trust her. I am just worried that Eric might put her under his spell.""Eric isn't that kind of a man.""Avery, do you know Eric that well? We didn't raise him, and we aren't even that familiar with what kind of a man he is.""How can you say that? He is our friend, and we ought to trust our friends. We only came to know Jun, Tammy, and Ben later in our lives, so why can we trust them but not Eric?""Don't get so worked up. I will be more careful next time I see him." Elliot did not wish to fight with Avery over this.It had been a while since they had a fight, and he was not used to having an argument."I'm not worked up. You are the one who is out of line here. If Eric really is the kind of man you think he is, do you really think that Layla would still be here? She would have taken off with Eric a long time ago," Avery
Lucas' face appeared in Ivy's mind.She knew that she might be in love with Lucas, or she would not have gone all the way to Edelweiss just to see his university. She had felt happy despite not being able to see him. "Layla... I..." Ivy did not want to tell Layla about Lucas as she knew that the chances of her meeting Lucas again were slim."Why are you blushing? Are you shy? You haven't found anyone you like, or are you too shy to tell me about the guy you like?" Layla studied the look on Ivy's face. "It's fine. You will find someone even better. I'm sure there are plenty of brilliant boys in your university."Ivy nodded. "I guess, but I don't know them, nor do I want to get to know them. I just want to focus on my studies.""Do you like studying that much?"Ivy nodded again. "I like what I'm studying, and since I fall short in a lot of aspects, I want to be better.""You are so ambitious! I could never be like you." Layla realized that she had never been so dedicated to anyth
"Alright. There's no point in feeling embarrassed. Go find Nadia Raven if that’s what you want! It's not that big of a deal," Mike said. "Eric doesn’t know you are here, does he?""I don't have the obligation to share my schedule with him." Layla cut into her steak. "Do you know where Nadia works?""I can find out from the internet. Should I come with you?" Mike started looking Nadia up on his phone."It's fine. I will get there myself.""Fine. Rest well and go find her tomorrow!" Mike studied her face and teased, "You look like a mess after the long flight.""I want to get this out of the way soon so I can go home. My parents are going to be disappointed if they find out why I'm here.""They won't exactly be disappointed; more like, worried!" Mike cut a small piece of steak and placed it into his mouth. "Your dad doesn't like Eric, just like how he disliked me in the past. He would probably be treating me the same way he is treating Eric had I not started dating Chad. He holds a
"What did Eric say when you asked him about it?" Nadia asked."He told me to not worry about it." Layla got the feeling that Eric had refused to answer her question because he had not wanted to lie."Oh. So what do you think of... me and him?" Nadia wanted to hear Layla's view on the matter and knew that Layla had probably come all this way because she already knew what had happened."I don't think you two are actually dating. If you were actually dating, he would have told me about it a long time ago. Ms. Raven, I asked if he had a girlfriend before asking him out, and I only did so after he told me that he was single," Layla explained."I see... That's rather suspicious of him!" Nadia chuckled."What do you mean by that, Ms. Raven?" Confused, Layla asked, "Are you admitting that you're not really dating? Did he ask you to play the role of his girlfriend?""Layla, what will you do once I confirm your theory?" Nadia asked curiously. "I doubt your parents will accept Eric, and, if