The assistant felt sorry for her but understood her decision. "Ms. Tate, you are a wonderful woman. I'm sure you will find someone who loves you more than life itself.""I don't want to think about relationships for now," Layla said casually. "I was rushing into things because I wanted to be with Eric."Since that was no longer possible, she saw no point in rushing anymore."Ms. Tate, if even people like you have troubles in life, I guess I shouldn't be complaining about my life at all," her assistant said. "Maybe we are all alive to suffer."Layla forced a smile. "Don't say that. There are still plenty of things to be happy about. I've gained some level of clarity after getting here. I guess the pain does ease as time passes. Time is a wonderful thing.""Ms. Tate, you said you wanted to climb the mountain last night, so I checked online. Climbing all the way up is really tiring, so let's not do that! There's a spot on the mountain that we can get to by cable car. We can get there
Ivy had not expected to be told such a thing and did not know how to respond.Just then, Robert sent her another message. [You can talk to him if you want. He's not a bad person. I just don't know what to say to him since he keeps acting like he's being abandoned.][Is Layla close to him?] Ivy replied.[They are friends, I guess! Layla doesn't like him that way. She thinks of him as a friend, but he obviously doesn't think so.]After giving the matter some consideration, Ivy texted Robert a reply. [He is outside my university. Since he is Layla's friend, I guess I can meet him! Let's see if I can convince him to let this go.][I felt the same in the beginning, but I soon realized there was nothing I could do! If he keeps bothering you, block his number.][Sure. I will.]An hour later, Ivy arrived at the cafe where Andrew was waiting for her. They spotted each other immediately as Andrew was the only foreigner there and Ivy was the only person who stared right at him the moment s
When Ivy returned home, she saw that someone had tagged her in a message telling her that her photo had been posted on the university forum.Meeting with a foreigner meant nothing, and since they were not doing anything inappropriate, Ivy did not understand why someone would take a photo of them and post it onto the university forum.A majority of students were appalled by this action and were all speaking on Ivy's behalf.When Ivy finally opened the group chat, the other students in her major were discussing the picture amongst themselves. [This is definitely the work of someone in our department, right? I don't think students from other majors would do such a thing!][I hate these stalkers! They should go to a psychiatrist if they are going mad! Why would they take a photo of someone having coffee? Have they not seen coffee or a foreigner in their lives?! Pathetic!][I think this stalker is likely one of Ivy's pursuers! He was probably rejected and got jealous when he saw her
Ivy remembered her mother mentioning that they would not close the boy's factory down.[Why are you asking? Are you going to do something to our factory again? I've already apologized! I uploaded your photo on the net because I was frustrated! You were lying when you said you were poor, right? You seemed really happy talking to that foreigner!]Furious, Ivy shivered and gritted her teeth.Layla had always told her that she was too soft-hearted and that people would bully her for it. Ivy realized that the only reason that the boy had been this daring was that she had been too kind. She took a deep breath, took a screenshot of her conversation with him, and posted it on the group chat. She included a message along with it. [If I'm really capable of closing down a factory, I would never have been harassed by this guy to begin with. This is over, and I want to remind everyone to watch who you are friends with.]After sending the message to the group chat, Ivy felt much better. Howe
After the call, Ivy turned to look at Avery."Why did your lecturer call you at this time?" Avery had wanted to wait for Ivy to finish her phone call in the dining room, but she was still concerned."It's fine... It's that boy whose family runs a factory for canned food. He saw me meeting with Andrew in a cafe and took a photo of us to post on the university forum..." Ivy had not intended to tell Avery about this, but she did not want Avery to contact her lecturer in private."You met with Andrew today?" Avery asked. "Why?""He likes Layla, but she has been ignoring him. He was kind of upset and wanted someone to talk to," Ivy explained. "I gave him a few words of advice, and he probably won't come looking for Layla or me from now on.""Why did your classmate post that photo onto the university forum?""He wanted to mislead people into believing that I'm the kind of girl who plays around." Ivy pulled Avery back to the dining room. "The university has already deleted the photos an
[It's just something we organized for fun. Why is this affected?! Ivy Foster was in second place the last time I checked! She is number one to me, but the one ranking first comes from a wealthy background and practically bought the votes.]...Ivy blushed.She did not know about the poll, nor had she expected to be so famous among students.Though she did not care much about fame, she was still happy that there were so many people who voted for her.Although she had not asked for the admin to remove her from the poll, she assumed that they had decided to do so for their own sake. Since she did not wish to draw the attention of others and the troubles that came with it. She felt glad that they had decided to remove her from the poll. After a while, Layla responded to her message. [I will be back in a few days. I still haven't climbed the mountain here!]Ivy had messaged Layla earlier asking when she would be back.[Layla, are you going to climb the mountain on your own?][I'm
Eric had arrived the night before and rested the night at a hotel, so he had recovered from the jetlag."Go buy a thicker jacket later!" Layla glanced at the jacket he was wearing and noticed that it was a brand from Aryadelle.The temperature in Cambrode was much lower than that of Aryadelle, and jackets from Aryadelle would not be enough to fend off the Cambrode's freezing cold. The temperature on the mountain would be lower than where they were, and Eric would fall sick if he went outside wearing just a thin jacket."Yeah," he said."There's a store near this hotel. I bought my jacket there." Layla arrived a few days earlier than he did and already knew her way around."Sure. Are you done with work?" he asked."All done. I would have stayed a few more days even if you hadn't come. The view here is great." She glanced out the window as she spoke.It was white as far as the eyes could see. The glittering snow seemed the contain a magic that washed away all the unwanted thoughts
"Are you that afraid of the cold?" Layla chuckled."You said that we are going to climb a mountain, right?""Yeah! Just get the long one! I'm not teasing you. You are tall, so you won't look chubby even if you wear long jackets."Eric slid the jacket on and instantly started to feel hot as the store was equipped with a heater that was turned on. "I'll get this one, then!" Eric took it off."Buy a pair of winter trousers, too, or your legs will get cold." Layla stood in front of the shelf and handed him a pair of trousers.He accepted it and checked the size."Is the size right? I took a random one." Layla did not know his measurements."It's perfect." He went into the fitting room with the trousers, while Layla went to the ladies' section and looked at a few clothes that were of a similar style to the ones Eric had chosen. "Miss, would you like to try this one here? It's the same style as the one your boyfriend picked. A lot of couples buy these and wear them as couples wear