The Sway and Slide of Love

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure," Dylan replied. "But there have been a lot of issues at my company lately. It's not anything fatal, but the series of incidents makes it hard to believe it's all just a coincidence. And―"

He paused, his brow furrowing slightly.

Noelle looked at him. "And what?"

"What's more concerning is that several banks we've been working with have recently expressed their intention to terminate their partnerships with us. They've even refused to continue negotiations. I don't believe for a second that there isn't someone pressuring them to do this."

What he didn't say was-in Coppersville, there were only a handful of people who could actually pull something like that off. That was because he believed Noelle could figure it out on her own.

Noelle stood there, unmoving. She clenched her hands, seemingly trying to calm herself, but her teeth couldn't stop chattering.

It was at this moment that Dylan asked her, "If I lose, will you be disappointed?"

His question caught Noelle off guard, and her eyes immediately snapped to him. Dylan was standing there, looking straight at her.

Noelle shook her head.

"And you might have to live a harder life," Dylan said with a bitter smile. "I'll probably go back to teaching at the university, which means we definitely won't be able to afford hired help or a nanny. So, you might have to keep living like this."

"I think this kind of life is just fine," Noelle quickly replied.

Her words made Dylan laugh out loud.

Seeing him smile, the tension she had been holding onto slowly began to ease.

"You don't blame me?" she asked.

Dylan found her question a little strange. "Why would I blame you?"

"It's because of me that Hendrix is doing all this to you, no?" Noelle said softly. "So-"

Before she could finish, Dylan burst out laughing again.

Noelle turned to look at him with a confused expression.

Dylan reached out and ruffled her hair. "You're overthinking it. Didn't you just say that we're on the same side? So do you really think I'd blame you for any of this? And i've never told you this before, but I'm actually quite tired of the kind of life I'm living right now.

"Back then, I gave up my research and entered the business world because I thought standing at the top of fame and fortune would give me more. But now, I've already gotten what I wanted the most, so those things didn't matter to me anymore. Besides, don't you think it's better this way?"

Noelle looked at him, still a little confused.

"Hendrix is doing all this because he thinks I'll give in, right? He's probably waiting for me to kneel and beg for mercy or even to hand you over to him. But I won't do that. Eventually,noveldrama

he'll realize that all he's destroyed are things I don't care about. So, isn't that a better form of revenge?"

Noelle didn't particularly like the last part of what Dylan said, as she didn't feel like she needed to seek revenge on Hendrix. But Dylan's words still moved her deeply.

Before this, she had experienced too much competition and betrayal. She had even grown used to being treated as a pawn to be sacrificed. Her own biological family had treated her that way, and so had Hendrix.

So, when Dylan confirmed that Hendrix was behind all this, Noelle had almost instinctively assumed that she would be sacrificed again.