The Sway and Slide of Love

After Leah finished speaking, Noelle fell silent.

"So, you do know that you're the one who's dragging him down, don't you?" Leah looked at her, the sarcasm in her smile deepening.

"What do you want me to do?" Noelle asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you to leave him, of course!"

Noelle pursed her lips. "But Mrs. Pritchett, Dylan is an adult. He knows what he's doing. Besides, we've made a promise to each other. How could I abandon him now when he has stuck with me through it all?"

"Abandon?" Leah let out a sharp laugh. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on. His company was doing just fine before, so why is it suddenly being targeted? It's all because of you! Think about it has anything good ever happened to him since he met you?

"Every single time something bad happened to him, you were the reason behind it! Even back then! Do you really not know that his grandfather was accused of money laundering because of Hendrix? If not for that, Dylan wouldn't have gotten engaged to Jean! He sacrificed his own happiness for this family.

"Now that his life is finally back on track, you show up again. What exactly do you want from him? Will you only be satisfied when you have squeezed everything out of him? So, what right do you have to say you won't abandon him?

"If it weren't for you, would he be going through all this? He could have lived a happy, peaceful life. But because of you, that's never going to happen!"

As she spoke, her eyes started to redden. Though she had been angry with Dylan for the choices he made and hadn't spoken to him for a long time, she was still his mother at the end of the day. And no mother could watch her own child suffer like this and remain indifferent.

But she knew she couldn't persuade Dylan or stop him, so she came to Noelle instead.

"And one more thing," Leah

continued after a pause. "Do you really think your relationship will last? He's made this choice because he's blinded by love right now, but this is real life we're talking about. You don't live in some fairytale where everyone lives happily ever after.

"If you two actually get married, you'll have decades ahead of you. When he has nothing left and is stuck in a cramped little apartment with you, can you say for sure that he won't feel even the slightest bit of resentment toward you? And when that resentment starts to take over your lives, what will you do then?

"More importantly, he's doing all this because he loves you. But what about you? What can you give him in return? Noelle, are you really worth him sacrificing so much for you?"

Noelle was unable to come up with a response. She looked at the woman in front of her, completely silent.

Her reaction was within Leah's expectations, yet, she couldn't even muster a mocking smile.

After taking a deep breath, Leah added, "Ms. Swanson, you're a smart woman. After everything I've said, you understand it, don't you?"

Noelle remained silent, her gaze slowly lowering.noveldrama

Leah didn't say anything more. She simply stood up and walked to the door. But once she was there, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and said, "Oh, by the way, your daughter is adorable. You must love her very much, don't you?

"If you do, then I'm sure you wouldn't have another child taking away even a fraction of the love and attention she gets. So if I'm not mistaken, you have no plans on giving Dylan a child, right?"