Chapter 521: Chapter 521: Talk With Layla
"Drink this quickly."
Lana accepted the glass before drinking slowly.
"Thank you," she murmured softly.
Layla sat across from her before chuckling gently. "No, I should be the one thanking you."
As she looked at Lana’s slightly pale face, her expression gradually became complicated.
After remaining silent for a while, she finally spoke quietly.
"I’ll remember this help for a very long time."
Lana immediately laughed softly.
"Didn’t you already promise loyalty to me?" she teased playfully. "Why are you suddenly speaking so formally now? Are you planning to go back on your word?"
Layla could only smile helplessly after hearing the teasing in Lana’s voice.
Then, after a brief silence, Lana suddenly changed the topic.
"Since we’re already here... why don’t you tell me something?"
Layla tilted her head curiously.
Lana looked directly at her before asking quietly, "Why exactly did Betty and you break up?"
It had already been more than half a year since their separation.
At first, Lana genuinely believed the two of them would eventually reconcile. She had even seen them talking and laughing together several times, so she naturally assumed they had gotten back together.
That belief lasted until one particular incident.
Someone had casually asked Layla whether she was still single.
At that moment, Layla had hidden her emotions completely before calmly admitting that she was.
Meanwhile, Betty’s expression had looked terrible at the time, but she still remained silent and said nothing.
Remembering that scene, Lana quietly looked toward Layla.
Layla herself remained silent for several moments before finally speaking in a low voice.
"What if the person you loved the most had always looked down on you from the very beginning?"
Her fingers slowly tightened unconsciously.
"And what if they had been planning to leave you all along?"
Lana lowered her eyes slightly.
"If that happened..." she replied honestly, "then I would probably feel terrible."
Layla laughed softly, but there was no happiness within that laugh.
"That’s exactly what she did to me."
Her eyes gradually darkened.
"She never truly liked me. She had already planned to dump me from the start, yet she still acted as though she genuinely loved me."
A trace of bitterness appeared on her face. "I hate people like that the most."
After saying those words, she fell silent again.
Lana hesitated briefly before asking carefully, "Did you ever properly communicate with her about it?"
Layla suddenly laughed again.
"She claimed she only said those things because her stepmother was planning to harm her."
Her expression slowly became colder afterward.
"If that was really the case, then why didn’t she trust me enough to tell me the truth properly?"
Her voice gradually trembled slightly with suppressed emotions.
"Why did she always try acting like some tragic hero protecting me?"
Layla clenched her fists tightly. "I could have protected myself too."
Her breathing became slightly uneven.
"But no. Every single time, she made decisions for me without even asking what I wanted."
Layla lowered her head tiredly. "I’m honestly exhausted."
Hearing her words, Lana sighed softly. "I’m sorry."
After a long silence, Layla suddenly looked toward Lana with slightly confused eyes.
"I genuinely don’t know what I should do anymore," she admitted quietly. "Can you give me some advice?"
She hesitated briefly before continuing. "Am I even right for feeling this way?"
Lana remained silent for several moments.
Then she suddenly asked something entirely unexpected.
"Do you know that graduation is only three and a half months away now?"
Layla was visibly stunned before slowly nodding.
Lana continued calmly.
"After graduation, our paths may never cross again."
Her voice remained soft yet strangely heavy.
"Even if several of us aim for the same destination, that doesn’t mean all of us will successfully enter it."
The moment those words entered Layla’s ears, she immediately froze.
Betty’s dream had always been to enter Country R’s Mystic Association.
Meanwhile, Layla’s own dream had always been completely different.
Compared to Betty, she wanted to remain in their own country and enter the national Mystic Association instead.
For the very first time, Layla suddenly realized something she had ignored all along.
Perhaps their paths had already started diverging long before their relationship actually broke apart.
Lana continued speaking softly with her calm expression.
"At most, you and Betty only have three and a half months left to truly live like lovers."
Layla remained silent while quietly listening.
Lana slowly continued.
"After those three and a half months pass, both of you will eventually become busy struggling between your careers and your feelings."
A complicated emotion flashed through her eyes.
After all, Lana had already experienced this kind of separation before.
She understood better than most people how terrifying reality could become once dreams, ambitions, and responsibilities started pulling two people in completely different directions.
"I won’t say much," Lana murmured quietly, "but I can tell you one thing with certainty."
Layla slowly looked up at her.
"One day, you’ll definitely look back on this period of your life and realize that you wasted far too much time."
Lana’s voice gradually became softer.
"And at that moment, the only thing both of you will regret is not holding each other closer and not cherishing the moments you still had together."
The instant those words entered Layla’s ears, the emotional wall she had been desperately maintaining finally collapsed completely.
Her eyes immediately turned red.
A choked sob escaped from her lips before tears slowly began streaming down her face.
Seeing her crying like this, Lana gently moved closer before quietly consoling her.
"Maybe Betty was indeed wrong," Lana continued softly. "Maybe she truly had many flaws."
Layla silently lowered her head while trembling slightly.
"But completely ignoring her, refusing to communicate, and refusing to get back together is the biggest problem here, Layla."
Lana sighed softly.
"Trust me. One day, you’ll regret every single thing you’re doing right now."
The room became quiet except for Layla’s suppressed crying.
"You can still try talking things out," Lana whispered gently. "You can make her understand her mistakes properly, and once she does..."
