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

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Where Was She Wrong?

Riley Sterling was called home by his family as soon as he got off the plane. They couldn’t wait to ask him about the situation in Kingsford.

Ethan Shaw was a little worried about Asher Keating. He tried calling him, but no one answered. Then he called Sean Yates, who told him Asher was at the Silverwood villa. Ethan rushed to his car, and Sheila Hughes, feeling a bit uneasy herself, went with him.

When they arrived at the villa’s entrance, Ethan saw the light on in the upstairs bedroom and breathed a small sigh of relief. He opened the door using the passcode he had gotten from Sean on the way.

The downstairs was empty, but empty wine bottles were scattered around. Ethan’s heart sank. He hurried upstairs to find Asher Keating sitting in front of the bedroom’s floor-to-ceiling window, a bottle of wine by his side.

Seeing this, Ethan managed to choke out, ”Asher.”

”Hm? You’re back?”

Asher Keating glanced at him before turning back to take a sip of wine. A sour feeling welled up in Ethan’s heart. He rushed over, grabbed the bottle beside Asher, and took a big gulp.

”What are you doing? Is the wine in Kingsford not good enough, so you came to drink mine?” Asher looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint smile.

”Asher, don’t be like this. If you’re hurting... talk to me. I’ll talk with you, drink with you!”

Ethan roared, his eyes red. He had never seen Asher Keating like this. When he’d first walked in, Asher had been sitting there so still, it was as if he wasn’t even breathing. A sudden panic had seized Ethan’s heart.

Too much had happened in the past few days. Everything had been so sudden and rushed. Forget Leah Sinclair, even a sharp guy like Ethan felt completely at a loss for how to react.

From the old Mr. Keating’s birthday celebration to Leah Sinclair’s departure today, it had been less than half a month. How could so much have happened in that short time?

Asher Keating had always been a rather cool and detached person. Having been with him for so long, Ethan knew clearly that Asher had never wanted to get involved in the Keating Family’s affairs in the first place.

His personality was a lot like Theodore Keating’s—easily contented. In the past, regarding Madeline Sterling, even though they were such good friends, Asher had never said a word to him or Riley Sterling when he was wrongly accused.

That was because Asher Keating was kind-hearted. He was always considerate of the fact that Madeline Sterling was a woman and wanted to let her save face.

Finally, Asher Keating had fallen for a girl, one he doted on and cherished in his heart. Ethan had always thought that Asher and Leah Sinclair would gradually walk down the aisle.

But now, Leah Sinclair had become the second young lady of the Grant family and had gone abroad so quickly. He knew that in his heart, Asher Keating couldn’t bear to see Leah go.

Sheila Hughes felt awful seeing Asher Keating like this. She walked into the room but didn’t know what to say. Her position was different from Ethan’s, but they were both there for their respective friends.

Asher Keating lit a cigarette and curled his lips. ”So I got dumped. It’s not a big deal.”

”That’s not it, Asher! Leah said... she didn’t tell you she wanted to break up.” Hearing him say that, Sheila Hughes couldn’t help but speak up to explain on Leah’s behalf.

”Not break up? If she didn’t want to break up, why did she fly to Eldoria? What’s the difference between that and a breakup! This time, Leah really... I’m not just saying this, but she really... went too far. Couldn’t she have just talked things through?”

”From leaving Riverfall, to returning to Kingsford, to going abroad—how long did all that take? Was she that impatient? Are the hamburgers in Eldoria that much better?” Ethan felt suffocated and chugged another mouthful of wine.

”Ethan Shaw!”

Sheila Hughes yelled. Furious, she also went over, grabbed a bottle, and chugged down a good amount.

”You don’t know Leah at all! Do you think she wanted to go abroad? She seems bold, with a fierce personality! But when she first came to Riverfall, it took her over a year to adjust. Now that she’s finally gotten used to Riverfall, she’s gone abroad again. What do you think that’s for? Do you really think it’s for that useless title of ’Second Young Lady of the Grant Family’?!”

Sheila Hughes finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. Even though Leah Sinclair had told her not to say anything, she couldn’t take it anymore.

She looked at Ethan, tears streaming down her face. ”She just didn’t want to make things difficult for Asher. She wanted to become better, to be able to stand by his side as an equal. Is that wrong?”

”You don’t know anything, so what right do you have to talk about her! On the day of the old Mr. Keating’s birthday, Madeline Sterling called her a bar hostess. She said that even if Leah married into the Keating Family, so what? She would never be able to shed that label, and she would only cause Asher to be mocked by others! Do you think that felt good for her? If it were you, what would you do?!”

Hearing Sheila Hughes’s accusation, Ethan stood there, stunned. After a long moment, he managed to say, ”She... Madeline Sterling was just trying to provoke her, wasn’t she? Did any of us care? Why would she care about that?”

”Of course you don’t care! Look at your status! But what about Leah? Those words were like a thorn stuck in her heart that she couldn’t pull out. Before, she had no options. With her status and position, at best she could become a project manager. Even becoming a chief engineer would have taken many, many years!”

”Now she has this opportunity. She wanted to get there faster, is that wrong? Her mother used Asher to force her back to Kingsford, saying that if she didn’t go back, she would make a move against the Keating Family. What was she supposed to do!?”

”It took so much for Asher to get where he is today. It’s not just you guys who know how hard it was for him—Leah knew too! She didn’t want to become his weakness. Is that wrong? You tell me! What did she do wrong?!”

Sheila Hughes cursed as she cried. You always feel for your own friends. For the past few days, her heart had been filled with frustration and pain.

She knew that while Ethan and the others hadn’t said anything outright, they were all blaming Leah Sinclair in their hearts, blaming her for being heartless and disloyal.

Only she knew that Leah Sinclair was doing all this for Asher Keating.

”You only saw how glamorous she looked when she appeared before you yesterday, but I saw her trembling as she walked. She was trembling!”

”Leah has always had very low self-esteem. When she first came to Riverfall, she had a Stonecreek accent and was mocked for being a country bumpkin, a hick. After that, she was afraid to speak. She kept to herself, and in the dorm, if we didn’t talk to her, she could go a whole week without saying a single word.”

”We were the ones who forced her to go out and socialize with people! I don’t even know how Leah is going to get through the next few years in such an unfamiliar place, without us! WAH... You don’t know anything, so what right do you have to say anything about her? She doesn’t give a damn about that bullshit title of ’Second Young Lady of the Grant Family’.”

Ethan stared blankly at the still-furious Sheila Hughes, stunned by her torrent of words. Madeline Sterling was one thing, but why was Mabel Grant involved in this too?

He turned his head dazedly to look at Asher Keating. ”Asher, Leah... she never told you?”

Even though he had guessed some of it, hearing Sheila Hughes confirm it still made Asher Keating’s eyes redden. ”She never tells me these things. She said she wouldn’t hide anything from me anymore, but isn’t she still hiding things from me?”

Asher Keating shook his head with a smile, his voice full of sorrow. He leaned back in his chair, not wanting to speak again.

’Madeline Sterling really did a number on her. With just one sentence, she planted a deep thorn in Leah Sinclair’s heart.’

’And that thorn wouldn’t just stay there. As time went on, it would only grow more and more painful.’