The Sway and Slide of Love

Instead, Seline apologized to Noelle about Dylan.

"I didn't have all the facts before, and I ended up meddling in your relationship. Honestly, I never expected Dylan to be that kind of person!"

Seline frowned as she spoke, but she noticed Noelle was looking at her intently. That gaze made Seline's frown deepen.

Then, she asked cautiously, "You don't blame me, do you?"

"Why would I blame you?" Noelle found it amusing. "This has nothing to do with you."

"But I was the one who pushed you into it—"

"I'm an adult. If I can't even think for myself on a basic level, does that mean I should blame someone every time I make the wrong decision?"

Noelle let out a sigh before continuing, "Besides, I also thought Dylan was a good fit at the time. But the truth is, we just weren't compatible."

"Not compatible? He's the one who doesn't deserve you!" Seline immediately retorted. "And you know what? Lately, people in the circle have been talking— saying that the woman who dumped Hendrix ended up getting dumped by him instead.

"Is Dylan out of his mind? He can't beat Hendrix in business, so now, he's resorting to slandering you? And more importantly, whatever beef he has with Hendrix is between them-why drag you into it? What did you even do wrong?"

Seline grew angrier as she spoke.

Noelle, on the other hand, just smiled and handed her a glass of water. "Here. Have some water. It'll calm you down."

Seline frowned as she looked at Noelle.

Noelle simply stood there, meeting her gaze.

It wasn't until Seline gave her a puzzled look that Noelle finally asked, "What's wrong?"

"Aren't you even angry?" Seline asked.

"About what?"

"About how Dylan treated you and all those things people are saying."

Noelle sat down across from her. Then, she took a sip of water before softly explaining, "When I first found out he lied to me, I was

upset angry, even. But after a while,

it just...

passed. Because honestly, I

never should've had those

no

expectations in the first place.

"People always look out for

themselves first. No one is going to

put you ahead of their own"

So more than anything, I was just disappointed. As for what you mentioned, I'm not part of that circle anymore, so what they say has

nothing to do with me."

After Noelle finished speaking, Seline was at a loss for words. In the end, it

seemed like Seline was the only one who was upset.

Noelle seemed to pick up on her thoughts and patted her on the shoulder. "There, there. Let's not be angry anymore. And stop worrying about me-what about you? How have you been lately?"

"How else? My dad has me runningnoveldrama

around learning everything under the sun. He said if I don't want to get married, fine. But I have to learn how to take over the family business. I told him we could just hire a professional manager instead.

"But he blew up at me, saying our family would be ruined because of me. How am

I supposed to handle that kind of pressure? So now, I'm stuck studying day and

night."

Seline looked completely exasperated, but Noelle just chuckled.

Then, Seline suddenly thought of something. "Oh, right! My dad's sending me

Halbort for an inspection. Didn't Rosie say she wanted to learn how to ski? Why don't I take you two with me?"