Chapter 192: Something Fishy
Asher Keating was filled with regret. He should have been upfront with Leah Sinclair from the very beginning. The idea of sending her away for protection was foolish; he should have kept her by his side, twenty-four seven.
In the afternoon, Ruth Hughes came for a visit. Leah Sinclair was awake when she arrived.
The moment she saw the frail, thin Leah Sinclair propped up in bed, her brow furrowed. She walked over, took her hand, and said, "Leah, dear, how did you get so thin after a trip abroad? Is there nothing to eat in other countries?"
"No, no, Auntie, I’ve just never been one to gain weight easily," Leah Sinclair said quickly. In truth, she didn’t feel like she had lost that much weight.
"I heard a bit about what happened from Asher and his father. You’ve been wronged. That boy Asher, honestly... When you came back, I wanted him to arrange a dinner with you right away. But instead of a dinner invitation, what do I hear? That you two broke up."
"And to top it off, he found some little vixen. I was absolutely furious! The day I found out, I marched down to his office and slapped that hussy right across the face," Ruth Hughes said, fuming.
Leah Sinclair had already heard about this from Sheila Hughes. She felt a mix of warmth and embarrassment. "I’m sorry, Auntie, for making you worry."
"Hmph. Good thing it was all fake. If he had actually dared to break up with you and bring that little vixen home, you just watch how I would’ve dealt with him! He’d either do that or never set foot in the old family house again for the rest of his life."
"Mom, if I don’t come home, how are you going to see Leah?"
Asher Keating walked in from the doorway. He had heard Ruth Hughes’s voice from the stairwell. He had always known his mother was fond of Leah Sinclair, which was why he hadn’t said a word when she’d run to his company and slapped Tiana Vaughn.
"Let me tell you! Don’t even think about bringing any woman other than Leah back to the family house. I’m putting my foot down today."
"I wasn’t planning on bringing anyone else, anyway," Asher Keating replied with some amusement, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"Hmph, that’s more like it! By the way, you didn’t go to the office today? Wait, what happened to your hand?" Ruth Hughes noticed Asher Keating’s hand, stood up, and grabbed it, asking anxiously.
"It’s nothing. Got it while hitting someone yesterday."
Asher Keating didn’t give them the full details. Ruth Hughes had no idea how dangerous yesterday’s situation had been. Now, seeing Leah’s condition and Asher’s injured hand, a wave of retrospective fear washed over her. "The Sterling Family... they really know how to raise their daughters!"
"Mom."
Ruth Hughes realized her slip. Leah Sinclair was Tobias Sterling’s daughter, which made her part of the Sterling Family too, in a way. She was suddenly embarrassed and hurried over to take Leah’s hand. "Leah, dear, that’s not what I meant."
"I know, Auntie. It’s alright. Don’t mind me. If you want to curse them out, go ahead. My mom said I have nothing to do with the Sterling Family," Leah Sinclair reassured her. She truly wanted no connection to them.
Seeing that Leah Sinclair genuinely didn’t mind, Ruth Hughes breathed a sigh of relief. "You’re right. Tobias is a far better man than that Thomas Sterling."
The two chatted for a while longer. Finally, after repeatedly instructing Mrs. Lowell to take extra good care and telling Leah Sinclair in detail to rest well, Ruth Hughes left.
The weather was pleasant, so Asher Keating had the servants set up dinner in the courtyard. Nathan Grant wasn’t feeling well because of what happened yesterday—his stomach was upset. A nervous Chester Hale had taken him for a checkup and was only relieved after confirming everything was fine.
But that evening, Chester insisted he stay home. After all, when their group got together, there was bound to be smoking. Nathan Grant, however, really wanted to hear the story, so he joined them for a "virtual dinner" via video call with Chester.
"Third Master, come on. Spill it. What’s the full story?" Shawn Grant asked, lighting a cigarette with a roguish air.
Asher Keating wasn’t a man of many words, so he had Sean Yates tell the story. Sean took a sip of water and began to recount the entire sequence of events.
A little over two years ago, Asher Keating ran into Tiana Vaughn during a business dinner. At the time, she was a waitress at the restaurant. As Asher was leaving, he happened to see Tiana’s parents grabbing her and yelling at her.
At first, Asher Keating paid it no mind. But when he glanced over, he saw Tiana Vaughn’s teary, red-rimmed eyes, and those eyes were just so much like Leah Sinclair’s. He stopped in his tracks and listened for a moment.
Tiana Vaughn’s parents were cursing her out with vile words, saying they were going to make her drop out of school and sell her body to save up for her younger brother’s betrothal gift.
Hearing them mention selling her body, Asher Keating immediately thought of Leah Sinclair. He felt a pang of pity and had Sean Yates step in to handle it. Sean gave Tiana’s parents fifty thousand yuan to make them leave and told Tiana to quit her part-time job. Asher began sponsoring her education.
In the beginning, everything was normal. Her tuition and living expenses were all arranged by Sean Yates. Asher Keating was too busy and soon forgot he was even sponsoring someone.
But after about three or four months of sponsorship, Tiana Vaughn started asking Sean Yates about Asher Keating. She said she wanted to thank him in person. Sean thought it was a reasonable request. He asked Asher, who only then remembered the whole affair, and he told Sean to bring her for a meeting.
"But after she met the Young Master that one time, she started... tsk, fawning over him?" Sean Yates hesitated, feeling like he’d finally found a somewhat suitable word.
"She started showing up at the office every other day, bringing soup one day, some homegrown fruit the next. And she really... acted too much like the old Leah Sinclair. Her background, her situation, bits of her personality, even some of her little habits were strikingly similar. It felt like she was a carbon copy of Leah!"
"’Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ The Young Master started to feel that something was off and had me investigate her privately. I spent over a month digging, and it turns out her communications with the Sterling Family were extremely secretive."
"Later, she graduated and started complaining about how hard it was to find a job, hinting that she wanted to work at Keating Corporation. At first, we all thought she was sent by Morgan Sterling. So the Young Master had me arrange a position for her, to see what Morgan was planning."
Sean Yates took another sip of water and continued with the part about Madeline Sterling.
After Madeline Sterling disappeared from Arcadia and her entry wasn’t recorded, Edward Yates and his team had been searching for her. But Madeline was very good at hiding, and they couldn’t find her. Then, after receiving an anonymous tip, Asher Keating realized Tiana Vaughn must have been planted by Madeline Sterling.
At that time, it was only a few days before Nathan Grant’s wedding. No one knew if Leah Sinclair would return. Asher Keating assumed Madeline Sterling was targeting him, which is why he acted so cold and aloof when he saw Leah on the day she came back.
He didn’t want Leah Sinclair to get involved.
"After the incident yesterday, my brother took her away and used... um, some special methods. Tiana Vaughn confessed. Madeline Sterling’s goal in having her approach the Young Master was to make him fall for her, push Leah Sinclair out, and make the Young Master despise Leah."
"Before, we didn’t know if Leah Sinclair would come back to the country. The Young Master’s original plan was to pretend to get together with Tiana Vaughn to lure Madeline Sterling out and deal with the matter first. But then Leah returned, and later got into a conflict with Tiana, so the Young Master decided to play along with the situation. But Tiana... uh..." At this point, Sean Yates glanced guiltily at Asher Keating.
"She what? Don’t tell me she fell for Third Master Keating and had a change of heart???" Sheila Hughes asked anxiously.