Chapter 179: Donate Them All
Ethan Shaw barely remembered how he’d gotten Asher Keating home. After getting him through the door, Ethan was in a hurry to find Sheila Hughes. He hadn’t even left Asher’s house when his phone rang. Seeing it was Sheila, he answered immediately. "Sheila, you guys..."
Ethan had only gotten two words out before he stopped, his eyes flicking toward Asher. Asher turned to look at him, and Ethan silently put the call on speaker.
"Leah, listen to me. You can fight with Asher, you can throw a fit, do whatever you want, but you can’t just break up with him like this! Talking about breaking up is too hurtful!"
"Not break up? So we can stay together until we can’t stand the sight of each other? His heart has already strayed..."
"It hasn’t! He was so anxious just now, I don’t think it’s strayed at all. It’s true he’s sponsoring Tiana Vaughn, and that woman always puts on that pitiful act in front of them. It’s a guy thing, you know? Being called ’big brother’ all the time definitely strokes their ego, right? Weren’t we happy earlier when all those people were calling us ’big sister’?"
"It has. I can feel it. The way he talks to Tiana Vaughn is different from how he talks to anyone else. Just now, I asked him if he had feelings for her, and he hesitated. It’s okay, I don’t blame him... It’s hard not to develop feelings for someone who’s been by your side for over two years."
Leah Sinclair took a large gulp of her drink. "You know what? I feel like Tiana is just like I used to be, and I’m... I’m like Madeline Sterling was back then. How did I never consider that, in Madeline’s eyes, I might have been a white lotus, too?"
A pang of pain shot through Sheila Hughes’s heart for no reason. She wrapped her arms around Leah. "No, Leah, it’s not the same. You never went out of your way to provoke Madeline Sterling. Everything you said and did to her was because she provoked you first, wasn’t it? Don’t talk about yourself like that."
Leah wiped her eyes, forcing her tears back. When she first found out Asher was sponsoring a female university student, she didn’t think much of it. When she saw Tiana at the company, she didn’t think much of it either.
But when Tiana kept calling him ’Brother Asher’ right in front of her, over and over, and she saw that flicker of hesitation in Asher’s eyes, her composure, for some reason, completely shattered.
She actually knew. Asher probably saw a shadow of her former self in Tiana. Otherwise, given his personality, he would never have sponsored a female university student for no reason, let alone let her join his company.
Aevon Group’s minimum educational requirement was a bachelor’s degree or higher, so the Keating Group’s standards would only be stricter. But Leah didn’t feel happy that Asher had pulled strings for Tiana because she saw a bit of herself in the girl. On the contrary, it only made her miserable.
"If this keeps going, Tiana will become the me I used to be, and I’ll become the Madeline Sterling of the past. Isn’t that ridiculous? He’ll end up hating me just as much as he hated Madeline back then. So... why shouldn’t we break up?"
"That won’t happen, Leah, it won’t. Don’t be like this. It hurts me to see you this way. If you want to cry, just cry, okay? Leah, don’t hold it in."
Leah stared blankly out the window into the darkness, her voice distant. "On New Year’s Day, when Ethan posted on his feed... after I saw that photo, I started having insomnia. It didn’t stop until I came back. Last night, lying next to him, was the only peaceful night’s sleep I’ve had."
"Sheila, my mom is coming soon. We were so close, just one step away. Why did it turn into this?"
"Leah... Leah..."
Sheila hung up the phone, her voice choked with sobs. She had originally wanted Asher to hear this, to hear Leah’s thoughts with his own ears, but now she regretted it.
’It’s not worth it. It’s really not worth it! That bastard, that absolute scumbag!’
Meanwhile, Ethan silently watched the equally silent Asher. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Asher, do you really have feelings for that Tiana girl?"
Asher’s thin lips were pressed into a tight line. He remained silent. Ethan couldn’t figure it out. Asher falling for Tiana?
’He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.’
But Asher’s silence left Ethan feeling deeply unsettled. It was just as Leah had said. All told, she had been with Asher for a little over half a year.
But considering the time Asher had been sponsoring Tiana, plus the time she had been at the Keating Group, it added up to over two years, maybe even three.
He had never brought Tiana to any of their gatherings, but... Ethan really had no idea what their private interactions were like.
In the end, Ethan left without saying anything else. Leah was staying at Sheila’s tonight, so he could only go back to his Silverwood villa alone.
After Ethan left, Asher lit a cigarette and stared out at the heavy night sky, his heart constricting bit by bit.
’Leah had insomnia. It started on New Year’s Day. All this time, and he hadn’t known at all.’
’He should have realized it sooner. She was used to sleeping with him. That time she thought he didn’t want her anymore, she had left with only one of his shirts because she would miss him so much she couldn’t sleep.’
’This time, when she went back to Kingsford and then abroad, she had taken only three things: the necklace he gave her, the watch he gave her, and that same shirt of his.’
Asher slowly closed his eyes. His heart had never ached like this before. Not even when Leah said she was leaving three years ago did it seem to hurt this much.
’For nearly half a year... He couldn’t imagine how Leah had managed to get through so many nights.’
When Sean Yates came to pick up Asher the next day, he could feel the oppressive aura around him. Sean didn’t know what had happened last night, but his intuition screamed at him not to provoke Asher right now, or he would die a miserable death.
But just because he didn’t provoke Asher didn’t mean Asher wouldn’t come for him. Not long after the car started moving, Asher’s cold, detached voice drifted from the back seat. "Did you find it?"
Sean’s heart gave a violent lurch. "Ah? Oh, not... not yet."
"You’ve got too many parts making noise. Go donate them."
"..."
Sean tremblingly escorted Asher to his office, then hurried off to get busy. Seeing Asher walk into the office with a stone-cold face, Edward Yates pulled Sean into the stairwell. "What’s going on? The boss seems to be in a really bad mood today."
"Probably had a fight with Leah Sinclair. I didn’t see her when I went to pick up the boss today."
Sean sighed and took a quick drag from a cigarette. "Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work. You’d better watch yourself, or the boss might have you ’donate’ those noisy parts of yours."
"???"
Edward was completely baffled. He looked up and saw Tiana Vaughn stepping out of the president’s private elevator, a thermal flask in her hand.
He frowned. "Tiana, you just had your pay docked yesterday. Can’t you remember the rules? And look at the time, you’re just getting here. Do you want your pay docked again?"
Tiana’s eyes instantly reddened. "I’s sorry, Chad. I... I’m just used to it, I forgot. I’ll be more careful in the future. I was late today because I was making porridge for Broth—... for President Keating."
"Didn’t President Keating already tell you not to cook for him? He’s sponsoring your education, not hiring you to do these things."
"I..."
Tiana clutched the thermal flask, looking aggrieved. Her eyelashes fluttered as she gazed at Edward with moist eyes.
"Fine, give it to me. President Keating is in a bad mood today. I’ll take it in so you don’t get caught in the crossfire," Edward said, reaching for the flask.
"Chad, can I take it in myself? I want to apologize to President Keating in person for the trouble I caused him yesterday."