I'm Afraid I Won't Be Able to Leave

Chapter 144: Chapter 144: The Grant Family Made a Mistake

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

The incident had happened so suddenly. Countless people were left shocked, resentful, or bewildered. Yet Leah Sinclair, the one at the very center of the storm, was sleeping more soundly than anyone.

「The Sterling Family’s old residence, in Thomas Sterling’s study.」

From the moment the four Sterlings returned, Thomas Sterling’s face had been livid. Morgan Sterling smoked in silence. Madeline Sterling, still in her hotel bathrobe, shivered in a corner while Jacqueline Vaughn held her hand, sighing and weeping endlessly.

Thomas Sterling, irritated by the crying, slammed his hand on the desk. ”Cry, cry, cry! All you know how to do is cry! Just look at the fine daughter you raised and the shameless things she’s done!”

Madeline Sterling had just started to feel warm and stop trembling, but his roar sent her shaking all over again. Jacqueline Vaughn jumped in fright as well.

After a stunned moment, Jacqueline Vaughn began to wail. ”You’re blaming me? Weren’t you happy about it four years ago? Huh? Weren’t you pleased when you got the call just now? What’s wrong? Did that vixen Mabel Grant show up and steal your heart away?”

”What does Mabel have to do with this?!” Thomas Sterling shouted, slamming his hand on the desk as he shot to his feet.

”See? See! ’Mabel?’ You say her name so affectionately! I knew it! You never forgot her... sob...” Crying, Jacqueline Vaughn lunged at Thomas Sterling, all traces of her usual elegance and poise gone.

”Mom, now is not the time for you and Dad to be arguing about Aunt Mabel. How many years has it been? Tonight’s disaster is what matters. We need to figure out what to do about Madeline first,” Morgan Sterling said, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

”You disgraceful girl! Get over here and kneel!” The mere thought of it made a vein throb in Thomas Sterling’s temple.

Looking utterly wronged, Madeline Sterling knelt in the middle of the study, biting her lip as tears streamed down her face. The sight of her only made waves of fury churn within Thomas Sterling.

He pointed a trembling finger at her, his voice thick with suppressed rage. ”Have you lost your mind? Did you forget what today was? How could you dare! How could you dare to cause such a huge scene on a day like this?”

”I... I just thought... on a day like today, if I could get together with Third Master Keating... wouldn’t it be perfect? At the old Mr. Keating’s birthday banquet, if something like that happened with him, the old Mr. Keating would surely force him to marry me.”

”Sob... Who knew... Who knew that Leah Sinclair would react so fast? She wasn’t my target! It’s all her fault! It’s all that bitch’s fault!”

Madeline Sterling cursed Leah Sinclair through her tears. Her face was a masterpiece, streaked with tears, smeared makeup, and the red imprint of a slap.

”I told you long ago your little tricks are useless on Third Master Keating,” Morgan Sterling said, glancing at her face before looking away in disgust. ”If he doesn’t want to marry you, he wouldn’t marry you even if you held a knife to his throat.”

”Why?! How could he? He’d rather marry that little bitch Leah Sinclair than me? What’s so great about her, anyway?”

His words provoked her. Another layer of resentment twisted her already contorted face. She couldn’t accept it.

’She was the one who met Asher Keating first! How long have Leah Sinclair and Asher even known each other? Why is he so good to her? Why does he keep rejecting me for her sake, humiliating me in front of so many people?’

”On what grounds? Hah. Didn’t you hear what Aunt Mabel said tonight? That’s her daughter. The Second Miss of the great Grant Family. You’re asking on what grounds? You couldn’t beat her when she was a nobody. Now, with her identity revealed, what makes you think you have any right to compete with her?”

Morgan Sterling leisurely lit a cigarette. ’So, Leah Sinclair is one of the Grants. And Mabel Grant’s daughter, no less. I never would have guessed. Does that mean Third Master Keating knew all along? Is that why he’s always been so protective of her? Heh, this is getting more and more interesting.’

Madeline Sterling’s face went white again. Her nails dug deep into her palms. She clenched her jaw, tears streaming down her streaked face.

The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t stand it. She started screaming hysterically. ”Impossible! She’s just a bar girl! A total bitch! How could she be Mabel Grant’s daughter?! They must be wrong! The Grant Family has to be wrong! It’s impossible!”

”Do you take the Grant Family for idiots?” Thomas snapped. ”Do you think Mabel would say that without concrete evidence?”

’I’m going to die of anger,’ Thomas Sterling thought. ’How did I end up with such an idiot for a daughter? She’s just like Jacqueline Vaughn, good for nothing but getting jealous and fighting over men.’

’I was counting on her to tie down Asher Keating. Now, it looks like I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t destroy her. If he holds back, it will only be out of respect for an old man like me.’

”You will kneel here and reflect! Tomorrow, you will go to the Grants’ and the Keatings’ homes and formally apologize!”

With that, Thomas Sterling stormed out. He had been so furious today that he felt completely drained. His blood pressure had to be through the roof.

”Apologize to her? I won’t! Mom! I don’t want to... Waaaah, Mom, I don’t want to apologize to that bitch! Who does she think she is?!”

The thought of apologizing to Leah Sinclair filled Madeline Sterling with resentment. She reached for Jacqueline Vaughn, but her mother, who had been sent into a jealous fury by Thomas repeatedly saying ”Mabel,” paid her no attention. Instead, she chased after Thomas, determined to have it out with him about Mabel Grant.

Morgan Sterling stood and straightened his clothes. He looked down at his sister wailing on the floor and gave a cold, sinister smile. ”You’d better start thinking about what you’ll do if Leah Sinclair finds out about that *other* thing.”

Madeline Sterling instantly went rigid, then began to tremble uncontrollably again. ”She won’t! She won’t find out. It was so long ago. She’ll never know.”

Morgan Sterling scoffed. Without a second glance at her, he walked out and headed back to his own villa.

「The Keating Family’s old residence, in the old Mr. Keating’s room.」

Although Asher Keating had instructed his parents not to tell the old Mr. Keating, the patriarch had lived too long and seen too much.

The moment Mabel Grant appeared at his birthday banquet, he’d felt something was amiss. Then, when he saw Theodore Keating and his wife take a call and leave in a hurry, a sense of unease settled in his heart.

He had instructed the butler to have the couple come to his room as soon as they returned, no matter how late it was. Theodore and his wife didn’t get back until the early hours of the morning. After hearing the butler’s message, Theodore Keating and Ruth Hughes exchanged a look, then went upstairs and knocked gently on his door.

”Come in.”

After a long moment, the old Mr. Keating’s voice came from inside. He had already been asleep but woke instantly at the sound of the knock.

When Theodore Keating and Ruth Hughes entered, they saw the old Mr. Keating propped up against the headboard. Theodore hurried over to place another pillow behind his back.

The old Mr. Keating patted his hand. ”Go on, tell me. What exactly happened tonight?”