[Book 2] What If

Chapter 40

"We wanted Ellie to get married soon."

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Lea could not believe what the woman uttered in front of her. Though Rebecca said it twice, the singer's mind are blocking all her thoughts as she could not absorb the information.

Despite having a high IQ of 140, the Broadway veteran could not fully process the news she just received. It seems her mind cannot accept the word 'marriage' to be associated with her protege.

And so, Rebecca continues to talk as she sees how surprised the Broadway star was.

"I'm not sure if Ellie had already mentioned this to you guys. But yes, we are requiring her to marry up 'till next year by the latest."

Lea tried to regain her composure as she took a big sip of her own wine. "No, she didn't. All she just shared to us is that, you guys don't want her to remain working here in the country."

"Well, that is true. But we do not really intend to limit her movements, as long as she agrees and sign on the prenuptial agreement, we'll all be satisfied."

"I see.. So that's an arranged marriage? I knew El is not seeing anybody right now."

The woman just smiled at Lea's commentary. The singer felt more intimidated with Rebecca's gesture. There's just something with the woman that makes her really uncomfortable and uneasy.

"Ellie's set to marry Darren, her ex-fiancee."

With the mention of her ex, Lea tried to juggle all her memories for the past instance that Ellie shared her experience with her last relationship. It happened way back their first dinner together after their rehearsal session at The Voice.

Her protege had shared how her relationship ended when she was left by the man after planning out their wedding. Somehow, Lea felt hurt realizing that Ellie had to go back to that kind of man who'd made her hurt and broken. The singer clenches her fist as she makes a crumpled fold on her dress as she places her hand on her knees.

The thought of Ellie's ex-boyfriend pisses her off, all the more that El is about to get married which means that the young woman would no longer be hers.

It was obvious on Lea's face that she was disappointed on hearing the news. But Rebecca wanted to be all honest with the singer who stood as her daughter's guardian here in the Philippines.

"Are you against or rather disappointed on our decision for Ellie?" she frankly asks the world class star.

"It's not like we could just meddle in your family affairs." Lea smiles as she gives a safe answer to the woman.

"I don't want you to think you're outsiders when it comes to Ellie. After all, you guys are her local family here in the Philippines. We truly appreciate all the things you've been doing for our child. Especially with how concerned you guys are when she got sick last year."

"Well, Ellie's been the same. She have given so much not just to us, but also to people around us who have come to love her because of her god-given talents and how good and how wonderful she is as a person."

The fair skinned woman could only nod and smile as the star compliments how awesome her daughter is.

"Listen Lea," The woman gave her another smile.

As those two words came out from Ellie's mom, Lea felt another chill run down her spine. It's as if she's been getting a warning, alerting her that the woman's next words would be something explosive.

She just stared at her protege's mom as she awaits her next words.

"Ellie is our only child. If possible, we want her to take over our family's assets. But the way I see it, that girl doesn't have any plans of doing so yet."

The Broadway star remained silent as Rebecca continues her dialogue.

"Our daughter's good at handling wealth and is filthy rich on her own right. So no matter if she pursues music, writing or even if she wants to enter show business, we could only care less. But as the only heir we've got, we expect her to settle down and marry, conceive and raise kids to carry on the family blood and ties."

There was conviction in Rebecca's eyes as she said those words. The woman flaunted such serious appearance on her face whilst maintaining her elegance and grace.

"I totally understand." Lea said. "Once our daughter Nicole grows up, we might also want the same thing. She's just our only child after all."

"Thank you. You see, we might not look close as a family but I know my daughter too well. We're living thousands miles apart from each other but I know what's going on her mind and how her heart feels."

The Broadway star starts to feel more uneasy as to where this conversation is going. She just have a bad hunch. They both drank a bit of their wine as Ellie's mom continued her piece.

"There's no way Ellie would remain fixated here unless there's a big reason. And I don't think that work would amount to that much of priority to her."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Lea, I know there's more to what the public knows about the two of you."

The singer couldn't help but feel sweats at the back of her neck. Lea was so surprised to hear this from Rebecca. She knew how careful she and El were whenever they're outside where people could see them.

They were so secretive about their relationship that even the closest persons around them such as her husband Rob and others have no idea, that they are more intimate than that of a mentor and a mentee's closeness should be.

Lea would like to deny the fact the woman just stated but she also doesn't want to look too much defensive.

"I agree that El and I are much closer compared to my other talents at The Voice. After all, we consider her our 'adoptive daughter' and almost everyone recognizes her as such."

"Please don't take it the wrong way. I'm not against you or whatnot. Again, I just knew my daughter too well. I understand how she does things for people she likes or she loves."

"I'm not really sure where you're getting at.." Lea says nervously as she took a big gulp.

"Lea, I'll just say this once. I know how my daughter really feels about you. Her dedication and sacrifices she does for you, she have already done it before - with Darren. So I'm pretty sure that her affection for you are not just for a coach or for a mother figure. It's more likely inclined to be romantic."

The Broadway star remained mum on everything Rebecca had just said. Her mind hasn't totally moved on from the fact that her protege had to marry someone else, and now the latter's mom is saying that she truly knows what's the real score between her and Ellie.

"But don't worry, I don't care much about your affair with Ellie. As long as it won't get public and she won't get hurt, that's fine with me. My husband doesn't even know about this so we can just keep this to ourselves."

Though the woman assured her of this, Lea could no longer keep herself calm as she finds it hard to process everything that's happening right now. She wanted to think of this situation as only a dream but as she pinches her own thigh, she could only resign to accept this as part of reality.

This is the first time that she was unable to do anything on a situation that was unexpectedly thrown at her.

And Lea hates to be in this tight spot she is currently in.