Chapter 178: Have You Fallen for Her?
"Sister, what about me?" The young stud grabbed Sheila Hughes’s outstretched hand.
"You too! I’ll protect you too."
"Sister~"
"Sister~ Sister~"
"...Good boy."
"Okay, sister. Sister, can I go home with you tonight? I like you so much~"
"Sister will think about it."
Leah Sinclair patted the pretty boy’s face and started laughing. ’So this is what men feel when they look at a white lotus,’ she thought. ’It really is true. Aren’t all these calls of ’sister’ just like a white lotus’s calls of ’brother’?’
No wonder so many men fall for them.
As the calls of "sister" continued, Shawn Grant’s face darkened completely. Just as he was about to lose his cool and intervene, Asher Keating and Ethan Shaw arrived.
When Asher Keating saw the innocently smiling man leaning against Leah Sinclair, and the amused look on Leah’s own face, his expression turned ice-cold. He strode over in two large steps and yanked the pretty boy away from her.
"Hey, who are you? Sister, I..."
"Get lost!"
The pretty boy was so startled by his aura that he was momentarily speechless. Leah Sinclair glared at Asher Keating in annoyance and pulled the young man back to her side. "Don’t be scared. Sister’s here."
"..."
Her words made Asher Keating laugh in exasperation. "Sister? How come I never knew you had another brother besides Mason?"
"Are you saying President Keating is allowed to have a little sister, but I’m not allowed to have a little brother?"
Ethan Shaw had just shooed away Sheila Hughes’s young stud, and now she was leaning against his chest, cursing. "You stinking man! All of you are stinking men! Scumbags!"
"That’s not fair! I haven’t been messing around lately. What did I do to make you so angry?" Watching Sheila, Ethan felt a mix of frustration and heartache.
"Heh, all men are the same. Ethan Shaw, let me tell you something! If you dare find yourself a little white lotus sister or a green tea sister like Asher Keating did, believe me, I’ll personally castrate you!"
Ethan broke into a cold sweat. He still had no idea what was going on or why "sisters" were suddenly part of the equation. He glanced at Asher Keating, whose face looked like it was frozen solid.
Leah Sinclair turned to look at Sheila Hughes, who was clearly quite drunk. Leah’s own head was spinning, too. She sighed. "Ethan, take Sheila home. She gets rowdy when she’s had too much to drink."
Then she turned back to the pretty boy. "It’s late. Sister has to go home now."
"Then will you come find me again next time, sister?"
"Maybe, if there’s a chance. You’re good. A little green tea brother. Hmm, not bad."
With that, she stood up, patted Shawn Grant on the shoulder, and said, "Send me the address."
Shawn Grant looked at Asher Keating’s expression and felt his own cold sweat coming on. ’How could I possibly dare?’ he thought. ’I bet the only reason Asher isn’t moving right now is that he’s debating whether to just tie Leah up and drag her home.’
But Leah Sinclair didn’t even glance at Asher Keating. She grabbed her bag and walked out. Asher, his lips pressed into a thin line, grabbed her hand and started pulling her outside. Leah tried to wrench her hand away but couldn’t. He practically dragged her out.
Ethan Shaw followed them out, carrying Sheila Hughes. Shawn Grant watched them go with a sigh before heading back inside to deal with his other guests, a headache already forming.
"Let go of me!"
Once they were finally outside, Leah Sinclair began to struggle wildly to break free from Asher Keating’s grasp, but his hand was like an iron clamp, refusing to let go.
When they reached the car, Leah stiffened, refusing to get in. Asher finally lost his temper, grabbing her chin and yelling, "Have you made enough of a scene?"
His shout seemed to sober Sheila Hughes up a little. She lifted her head from Ethan Shaw’s arms, saw what he was doing, and instantly jumped down, furious. "What are you doing? Let her go! You let her go right now!"
"Control your woman!" Asher Keating roared back at Ethan.
Ethan quickly pulled Sheila back. "Sheila, what’s really going on? Can’t we talk about this calmly?"
"Let me go."
Leah Sinclair said quietly. Her gaze made Asher’s movements falter, and he slowly released her. Leah rubbed her chin. It hurt, but somehow, that pain couldn’t compare to the ache in her heart.
"Talk calmly? Talk about what?"
Sheila was now thoroughly drunk and belligerent. She grabbed Ethan and demanded, "Come on, you tell me! After we got together, did you ever let another woman call you by those two words, ’Ethan darling’? What did you say at the time? You said that’s the name I’d be calling you in bed, so you wouldn’t let any other woman say it. Isn’t that right!"
"!!!"
Ethan quickly covered her mouth. "Let’s talk about this kind of thing when we get home."
"I’m just asking you, is it true or not!" Sheila yanked his hand away, refusing to back down.
"Yes... yes, it is. And I haven’t, have I? Other people have tried to call me that, but I never let them." Ethan answered honestly, sneaking a glance at Asher Keating.
"Did you hear that, President Keating?"
Sheila sneered at Asher Keating. ’I’m putting it all on the line today,’ she thought. ’Even if he fires me tomorrow, I’ll accept it.’
Asher Keating’s gaze was heavy as he looked at Leah Sinclair. "So you’re still upset that Tiana Vaughn calls me Third Brother, is that it?"
"Yes, I’m upset!"
"I told you, if it bothers you, I can make her stop!"
Leah looked at him and laughed self-deprecatingly. "Only now that I’m upset do you think to make her stop? Then why is it that in the past, when other women tried to call you Third Brother, you never allowed it?"
Asher frowned and remained silent. Leah continued, "On the surface, you went along with me and docked her a month’s pay, but then you secretly paid her back yourself. President Keating is so generous; it’s no wonder she admires you so much, right?"
"...You found out?"
"I wish I hadn’t! Unfortunately, your precious little green tea sister has already spread the word for you. Her dear Third Brother, who pretends to punish her but actually pampers her. And what about me? I’m the malicious side character who uses her powerful connections to bully others, forcing her to kneel and apologize!"
"She’s not..."
"Not what? Not a bad person, just a little straightforward? Is that it?"
Leah’s eyes turned red. She took a step forward, staring intently at Asher Keating. "I just want to ask you one thing. Have you fallen for her?"
Asher Keating froze. A flicker of an emotion Leah couldn’t decipher crossed his eyes. He opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came out.
"I... understand."
Leah suddenly started laughing. ’I should have known,’ she thought. ’From the moment he didn’t stop Tiana Vaughn from calling him Third Brother in front of everyone, from the way he cared for her, secretly giving her money... I should have known.’
Moisture slowly welled up in her eyes. Leah took a deep breath, but when she spoke, her voice trembled uncontrollably. "In that case, Asher Keating... let’s break up."
The moment those words left her lips, Leah felt an endless darkness begin to envelop her. She couldn’t bear to stay a second longer and turned to leave. She was afraid that if she didn’t go now, she wouldn’t be able to hold on to the last shred of her dignity.
’This is normal. It’s all normal,’ Leah forced herself not to look back. ’For more than half a year now, haven’t I been trying to force myself to accept the fact that Asher Keating could fall for someone else?’
Sheila Hughes was completely sober now. She shot Asher Keating a venomous glare and ran to catch up with Leah, her voice urgent. "Leah, let’s talk this out. Arguments are arguments, but don’t just casually throw around those two words, ’break up’!"
"Third... Third Brother, what in the world is going on?"
Ethan felt like the entire evening had been surreal. ’Weren’t we just here to find them? How did it suddenly turn into a breakup?’ he wondered. ’Weren’t the two of them just fine last night? Asher was going crazy with worry just a little while ago.’
Asher Keating watched Leah’s retreating back, his lips pressed tightly together. Ethan saw that his fists were clenched so hard they were white, yet he made no move to go after her.