Chapter 4

There was stunned silence for a full minute, both moms looked at her in stupefaction.

“You did what?’ Aunt Evelyn finally asked. She was the first one to recover. 

“But why?”  Her mom piped in.  She looked at Leigh trying to take it all in before her gaze narrowed and zeroed in on Rocky. 

Leigh knew what’s going through her mother’s head. 

“I want to live close to school.”  She said, exonerating Rocky from her mom’s accusing eyes. She wanted to come clean, but not at the expense of Rocky.  

“This is more convenient.  It is also closer to the University.”  Clearly her mom would not understand.

“I wanted to live like a normal college girl would.”  Leigh finally replied in a meek voice. It was not often she blatantly disobeyed her parents. She knew that like any  other parents, hers only wanted the best for her. 

“Don’t tell me you’re working?” A scandalized look appeared on her mother’s forehead.  She looked so horrified that Leigh had to look at the floor before mumbling her reply. 

“It’s just a part time job, mom.” She defended.  

“She’s working as a waitress in an Italian restaurant near the university.” Rocky snitched, making her wonder how he got wind of that bit of information since they had not been in contact with each other for months. 

Leigh saw her mom’s stricken look and thought she needed to explain herself. 

“I am enjoying myself, mom. Besides, I am earning my keep.” She admitted.  

Her mom looked upset.  In turn, Leigh glared at Rocky, who looked like he was enjoying every moment of her discomfort. 

“I don’t understand.  Do you want more money? Your father and I can raise your monthly allowance.  All you have to do is ask.”  Her mother looked flustered.  

Just by looking, Leigh could guess the thoughts that ran wild on her mother’s head and felt stifled. Leigh shut her eyes tight, willing herself to calm down.  All her life she had been cosseted, pampered and spoiled by her wealthy parents. As her parents' only child she grew up under their protection and was treated like a breakable glass. 

It was a huge relief on her part when she stepped into college and both parents did not argue when she told them she was moving out. 

She was ecstatic because they are finally letting her go and she could live independently, away from their restricting presence.  But her happiness was short-lived when she later learned that the reason her parents approved of her living away from them was because Rocky would be coming with her. 

Their parents thought that living together away from their parents’ protection would be for their best interest as they prepare for married life. 

Leigh scoffed in her head, but did not say more.

“Auntie Leslie, Leigh works because she does not want to depend on your family’s money all the time. She wanted to be independent like me.” At last, Rocky volunteered, taking pity on her. 

Leigh nodded.  She knew she could count on him to understand.   

Rocky never had to prove himself.  Even when they were still in high school, Rocky was a business whiz.  At a young age, he had invested furiously in stocks and reaped high yields making him the youngest billionaire in the country. 

It was also one of the reasons he was quite popular in school.

Automatically, Leigh’s eyes shifted to Rocky to bestow him a grateful smile, but the smirk that met her gaze caused her expression to freeze. Leigh knew that smirk. With his nature, she was sure that he would make her pay one of these days for saving her. 

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, Leslie.” At last, she found an ally in Aunt Evelyn. 

“I think it is good for Leigh to prepare and equip herself.  The role of being Rocky’s wife and heiress to your billions can be a bit overwhelming.  She needs the practice to be able to put up with Rocky’s future status..”  

Leigh almost rolled her eyes.  That is not what she wanted. 

“B-but, what would Leigh need except to keep her and Rocky’s home happy?   We all know that we only allowed her to study for the degree.  It has always been the idea that Rocky will manage both our companies in the future.”  Leslie Michaels said, making Leigh grit her teeth in annoyance.

Their parents, since she and Rocky were born, had already agreed among themselves to marry them off to each other.  She and Rocky grew up with that thought in mind. 

Leigh did not want to become a full time homemaker like her mom and Rocky’s mom. She wanted to be something more. 

Sensing that she only had the time now to get her opinion across and to clear the misconceptions of the years passed, Leigh squared her shoulders and started appealing to their moms. 

“Maybe I was born to manage Michaels’s enterprises, too?”  She wanted to give them the idea that she did not want to be a sit-at-home wife in the future and would have wanted to work her a*s and build a name for herself in the corporate world.

Both mothers looked at Leigh simultaneously, their expressions of growing horror made her feel their rejection even without them voicing the words out. 

“She can work alongside me.” Rocky put an arm around each mom’s shoulders, giving off the aura that what Leigh said was nothing out of the ordinary - that it was alright by him to have a working wife by his side.

But that is not the point here.  Leigh’s chest heaved with rebellious thoughts. 

She never wanted to work as Rocky’s wife or any other man’s wife in the near future.  

“Leigh is a good communicator.  She can always do my correspondence for me.” Leigh felt disgusted, but she could not outright refute because she saw the effect Rocky’s words had. 

At his suggestion, both mothers’ eyes grew wide, clapping their hands in excitement. They found his idea brilliant! It was like he had told them the secrets of the universe. 

Eyes glowing in excitement, the two moms clapped their hands in glee. 

“Oh, like your secretary.  That’s great!  You can work together and make a happy home together.  You can even bring your babies with you at work.” Auntie Evelyn enthused, making Leigh groan at the picture they were painting in her head. The idea of a demotion not sitting well with her. From an heiress who is set to inherit the company to a secretary who will work for a boss like Rocky Bolton. 

Feeling suffocated at the picture they painted, Leigh could not hold back anymore, and told them boldly. 

Leigh almost regretted her words when she saw how they wiped the sparkle that glowed in their moms’ eyes. Almost. 

She hated to break into their excited bubble and see the disappointment in their eyes, but Leigh figured if she did not step her foot down now, there wouldn’t be any chance for her to argue with them and insist on what she wanted. 

“Mom, Auntie Evelyn, I want to work.  I want to run Michaels’ enterprises.  I did not pursue a degree just to become a housewife.”  

Everyone froze.  By now, both mothers are sporting a frown. 

Hurt crossed her mom’s features. Even Aunt Evelyn’s face is scrunched up in distaste.  

Both their mothers were born into immense wealth and affluence. They do not have to work their entire life because their family could very well support them and their whims. 

They took up a degree not to work and build a career, but for adornment, to raise their value in society and in their husband’s eyes. 

She looked guilty so she avoided meeting their gazes. Her action made both parents suspicious. 

“Tell me, Leigh, did you and Rocky have a misunderstanding?  Did you fight?”  As she uttered the words misunderstanding and fight, Leigh’s mom’s face turned ashen, her voice becoming small.  

Leigh wanted to pull her hair out in frustration, as she very nearly gave in to the need to stomp her foot and yell her guts out, hearing both mothers cry pitifully in her face. 

She loved them dearly but her mom and Aunt Evelyn could be insufferable at times. 

Looking wildly around her, Leigh encountered Rocky smirking that her blood boiled. Rolling her eyes at him, she tried to placate the two women. 

“Mom, Aunt Evelyn, Rocky and I did not fight.”She told them the bold-faced lie. 

Yes, she and Rocky did not fight, but there had been a wall so thick wedged between them that never seemed to go away with the passing of time. 

It would be impossible for them to live together.  If she wants peace, one of them has to move out. And since the house was bought by Rocky’s parents as a gift to them, it was only fair that she left to let Rocky stay in peace in his house. 

But of course, she could not tell that to both parents without them twisting her words. 

“I want to finish college like any normal kid would.”  Leigh told them. 

She did know where she plucked out the courage to say this, but it was half the truth, anyway. 

She heard a hiss coming from behind, so she turned around. Seeing Rocky gave her an idea. 

“Look at Rocky.  He was hounded by girls day in and day out.  I don’t think that he could live in peace like that.”  Leigh told them, taking a dig at Rocky’s lifestyle to the astonishment of both their mothers. 

“Are girls today that shameless that they have to pester a guy for attention?” Aunt Evelyn said.

“A guy who is already committed to someone.”  Leigh’s mom added that their conversation shifted to girls these days and how blatant they have become in pursuing the man they liked, especially rich, off-the-market men.

Then they talked about their husbands and the women around them working every trick in the handbook to lure their men away, but so far none succeeded, or none that they knew of.   

Leigh smiled secretly after she succeeded in changing their topic. From her preference to work and live independently, it shifted to girls and Rocky in particular. 

Rocky shot her a warning look when his mother cut the momentary silence in alarm. 

“Don’t tell me that is the reason why you moved out? Did you two break up?”  Aunt Evelyn screeched, making Leigh groaned in her head.