Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed novel Chapter 329

Mentioning that night she got drunk, Leda touched her nose with a hint of embarrassment.

“It was all my mom's fault, insisting I attend this so-called youth mixer. It was basically a speed dating dinner in disguise.”

The young men and women were like items on display, laid out for selection.

Nola was great in every way, except for being a bit of a worrywart.

Going on about how ‘unequal matches never work out' and ‘love can't survive on empty pockets,' blah blah blah…

Leda was over it.

After the last visit home, she laid down the law with Nola: she could consider matches of similar social standing, but the final choice was hers to make.

In return, Nola had to swear off arranging any more blind dates or mixers behind her back.

Roseanne: “Choose for yourself?”

“Yeah, as long as the guy's family isn't broke, my mom's cool with it. Easy, I'll just pick from our circle!”

“You're really going to pick?”

Roseanne blinked.

Leda had a thing for "younger charmers," but to find one among these men who would dote on her, pamper her, and treat her like a queen... that seemed nearly impossible.

Coming from privilege, they all had an extra layer of pride. We're all from influential families; why should I, a grown man, lower myself to woo you?

Leda coughed softly, lowering her voice, “I have to choose, or I can't face my mom. But I'm not picking a date; I'm picking a business partner.”

“A business partner?”

“Yeah, there are plenty of us in our circle being pushed into marriage. Since none of us want to follow our families' plans, why not team up?”

“How does that work?”

“We put on a show in public, pretend we're together, and then do our own thing in private!”

That way, they could keep their families off their backs without the constant nagging, while still enjoying their freedom on the side. A win-win.

Roseanne still urged her to think it through, not to get carried away.