Layla's father had been hired by a group of underground extremist to train a child to become a master saboteur, and he saw fit to make watching over that kid his daughter's first job. As a result, Layla grew up with Trigger as her best friend and surrogate brother. This glimmer of humanity should have been a good thing for Layla, but it spelled disaster when her father passed away Layla was in line to take over the family business. Ichabod was hired to examine Layla's suitability as an unscrupulous businesswoman, and he decided that her friendship with Trigger meant she wasn't enough of a bad person to run an evil corporation. As a result, she was thrown out to the street without a dime. Luckily, Trigger took pity on his friend and convinced Ichabod to take her with them.
In case you didn't notice, Layla is greedy, covetous, materialistic, and just plain selfish. Practically everything she does is for material gain, and she never EVER considers what effects her actions might have on others. That said, she doesn't really TRY to be evil. In fact, on the rare occasion that Layla actually develops a personal attachment to something or someone (like, say, Trigger), she'll do whatever she can to protect it. Friendship can sometimes be just a less selfish form of selfishness, after all.
