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

Phoebe Peyton made an excuse that she was finished eating and went back to her room. She immediately called Morgan Sterling to tell him what had happened.

Morgan Sterling was also surprised. “You watched them both go back to the room, didn’t you? How did it fail? Asher Keating even went over?”

“I did watch them go into the room, and I waited for over ten minutes. My brother never came out, so I left. I thought they were already getting it on by then. Who knew it would be such a coincidence that Asher would call her.”

Phoebe Peyton was furious. It was such a perfect opportunity. ‘Do Asher Keating and Leah Sinclair have some kind of telepathic connection or something?’

Morgan Sterling was silent for a moment. “It’s fine,” he said. “Even though it failed, the seed of doubt has been planted. No man can tolerate his woman being in a room with another man late at night.”

“So should I add some fuel to the fire?”

“No rush. We need to be more careful this time. If we’re too obvious, someone with Asher Keating’s personality will definitely get suspicious. For now, he hasn’t connected the previous incidents to you, so don’t do anything for the time being.”

Phoebe Peyton clenched her jaw. Though reluctant, she finally said, “Fine. I’ll listen to you.”

‘She really couldn’t rush this,’ she thought. ‘After all, Liam Peyton is involved. If it were just the Grant Group and Keating, I believe the Peyton Family would protect me for the sake of their reputation, even if everything came to light. But if Liam found out that I schemed against him too, then I’d be truly finished.’

After having breakfast with Leah Sinclair, Asher Keating planned to go for a walk with her. But Leah, concerned that he hadn’t rested well—after all, Sean Yates still wasn’t up—pulled him back to their room and told him to get some sleep.

However, Asher Keating wasn’t in the habit of napping. Instead, he wore her out. Leah was left a little stunned. As the man on top of her began to move, she thought, ‘Driving all night must have been exhausting. Why does Asher still have so much energy?’

Afterward, Asher Keating held her in his arms, gently rubbing her lower back to soothe her.

“Asher, what’s wrong?”

Leah Sinclair’s voice was hoarse. She felt Asher had been a little rough this time.

Asher’s hand stilled for a moment before resuming its motion. ‘It’s still early,’ he thought, ‘a good time to talk.’ He said aloud, “It’s nothing. Why were you drinking last night?”

Leah remembered what Phoebe Peyton had said and looked up at him. “Were you planning to terminate the partnership with the Peyton Group?”

“How did you know?”

Asher looked down at her. “Did Phoebe tell you?”

“Yes. We didn’t go off-roading yesterday, so we ran into each other and chatted for a bit. She’s the one who told me.”

Leah buried her head in his chest, her voice laced with guilt. “Asher, is it because of me?”

“Is that why you were drinking last night?”

“Mhm… I don’t want you to lose so much money on my account.”

Asher stroked her back. “Leah, you’ll be taking over some of the Grant Family’s businesses in the future, so you need to understand something. A good partnership is built on the condition that both parties have something the other wants, but it’s limited to just that.”

Leah sat up, showing she didn’t quite understand.

“I’m partnering with the Peyton Family. They want my resources, and I want their name recognition. That’s what we need from each other. If it were just that, it would be a great partnership. But if Phoebe Peyton wants more, then the partnership becomes unnecessary.”

Asher knew Leah didn’t understand these things, so he began to explain it all to her patiently.

“You… you know Phoebe has other intentions toward you?”

Seeing Leah’s astonishment, Asher couldn’t help but chuckle. He pointed to his own eyes. “These are for seeing, you know. They’re not just for show.”

“Then why before…”

“At first, I honestly didn’t realize Phoebe was so ambitious. She’s not like Madeline Sterling. Madeline was spoiled growing up, and then she entered the entertainment industry. The Sterling Family never let her get involved in business, so back then, the only thing on her mind was having me.”

“But the Peyton Family is full of internal strife. Phoebe knows exactly what she wants, especially now that her stepmother is pregnant with a son. She has to secure her own foothold in the family, or her father, Elijah Peyton, will just marry her off for an alliance.”

Asher’s explanation was so clear that it all clicked for Leah. “So, even though Phoebe has feelings for you, she wouldn’t dare let them jeopardize the partnership because she needs this project to succeed even more. That’s the only way she’ll have the leverage to contend with her stepmother.”

“Exactly.”

Asher’s lips curved into a smile as he listened. ‘See? My girl’s a smart one.’

“So what she did before… was she testing you and me? She likes you, and if she could have gotten together with you, she wouldn’t need to keep struggling within the Peyton Family. After all, being Mrs. Keating is a much more attractive prospect than her current, awkward position as the eldest daughter of the Peyton family.”

“Yes, that’s more or less it.”

Asher looked at Leah’s troubled expression and sighed inwardly. ‘The Grant Family didn’t have these kinds of internal power struggles, and they would never use their children as pawns in marriage alliances to gain some advantage.

On top of that, she’s spent the last few years living a quiet, simple life abroad. She really doesn’t understand the inner workings of these powerful families.

He knew Leah needed to understand all this. But if he had the choice, he would rather she remain the same innocent girl she had always been.

But they were going to spend their lives together. He could guarantee his own fidelity, but what about everyone else?

He didn’t want some pointless misunderstanding to drive them further and further apart down the line.’

Asher reached out and pinched Leah’s cheek. “The partnership with the Peyton Group is a good one, yes. But I’m a businessman. If I ever do decide to terminate it, it will absolutely not be just because of you. So you don’t need to feel guilty.”

“Asher…”

A pang of emotion washed over Leah. She knew Asher was saying that to comfort her, that his decisions weren’t solely about her, but it didn’t really make a difference. He was always like this, taking everything into consideration on her behalf.

But there was still one thing she didn’t understand. “If you’re not planning to end the partnership for now, then why did Phoebe tell me all that yesterday? Was she afraid I’d make a scene, or that I’d use a little pillow talk to convince you not to work with her?”

“A bit of both, I imagine. After all, if you did use some pillow talk on me, I really would end the partnership,” Asher said, his voice laced with teasing.

Leah couldn’t help but blush at his words. “Are you sure you don’t want to get some sleep?”

“No. Why don’t we get up and go for a walk? The scenery here seems nice.”

Seeing he truly wasn’t sleepy, Leah got up and changed her clothes. Asher was usually so busy that for the two of them to take such a leisurely stroll was a rare occasion.

They wandered aimlessly, with no particular destination in mind.

From a distance, Leah spotted a few black swans gliding leisurely across the man-made lake and excitedly pulled Asher over to see. She crouched by the water’s edge, carefully offering food to tempt the swans.

Not far from them, Liam Peyton watched the couple in silence. Leah turned and said something to Asher, who smiled and gave her cheek a pinch, making Leah laugh in return.

The sunlight made the lake’s surface sparkle, casting a shimmering reflection on Leah that illuminated her smiling face. A line from a classic poem surfaced in his mind: “The one I yearn for is there, across the water.”