Inside the classroom, everyone had their eyes on Eric and since he was standing in front of Ivy, they started to look at her as well. As they stared, they thought, "Why did Eric walk toward Ivy all of a sudden? Why is he grabbing her books? Do they know each other?"Eric soon realized how inappropriate his actions were, and he immediately took her book and held it up to the class. "I forgot to bring mine." He lowered his gaze and asked, "May I borrow yours?"Ivy nodded.Eric walked toward the front of the classroom with Ivy's book when another girl shouted, "Sir, you can use my book as well!""I only need one. Alright, let's begin."The classmate sitting next to Ivy whispered to her, "I thought you knew Eric Santos!"Ivy shook her head with a smile."But I have my book on the table as well. Why didn't he borrow mine instead?" The classmate sighed."Maybe he just happened to see mine first!""Oh... You are so lucky. Eric kind of smells nice... Your book is going to smell nice l
The smile on Ivy's face froze and thought to herself, "Eric Santos is Mom's friend? Did he borrow my book today because he recognized me?"She immediately opened her bag and took out her music textbook before flipping it open and tapping herself on the hand.Eric had left a message for her on one of the pages. He wanted to meet her, and there was a number next to his message. She assumed that it was his. "Please stop the car," Ivy immediately said to the driver.The car had just left the campus and had not gone far. Ivy got out of the car and dialed the number written in her textbook.Soon, the call was answered and Eric said, "Hello.""Mr. Santos, I'm sorry, but I just saw your message in my textbook," she said sheepishly."Are you still on campus?" Eric asked with amusement."Yeah. I'm in front of the university entrance.""Okay. I will come to you, then. I'll be there in about ten minutes," Eric said after checking the time."Okay." Once she hung up, she saw the driver wa
"I've just told your mom.""Yeah, I heard," Ivy said sweetly. "Mr. Santos, are you a full-time lecturer now?"He smiled and said, "I've already retired and teaching is just an interest of mine. I don't lecture much though." "Oh. What a coincidence!" Had Ivy not selected music, or had the lecturer not called in sick, she would not have gotten the chance to meet Eric. "Indeed. It's a shocking coincidence. I thought I was dreaming when I saw your name written on the inside flap of your textbook," Eric said. "When did you get home?""This summer.""How are you getting along with everyone?""Great. They are all very kind and caring toward me.""What about your relationship with your siblings?""Hayden came home from Bridgedale specifically to see me, and he even stayed home for a period of time! Robert and Layla are great as well. Everyone has been great!""That's good to hear. Your parents must be over the moon! They have been looking for you for years and have never given up o
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