Chapter 141: What a Lively Scene
Asher Keating watched Madeline Sterling coolly. Under his glacial gaze, Madeline’s face grew paler and paler.
When she didn’t speak, Asher Keating’s lips curled into a smirk. Just as he was about to say something, Madeline Sterling finally shouted, "I’ll talk! I... I just grabbed a random person. Asher... he was drugged and passed out, he couldn’t do anything. At the time, I just wanted to make the story stick, so... so I found someone else."
"After Asher woke up, I cried and told him we had slept together. I told him that he wasn’t completely passed out, that he’d still reacted... that the drug was very strong, so I just went ahead with it myself. He... he was in so much pain at the time, he didn’t question it and just believed me."
After Madeline Sterling finished speaking, the entire room fell silent. From the elders like Theodore Keating to the younger generation like Ethan Shaw, no one had imagined this was the truth behind the incident four years ago.
"Heh..."
Asher Keating’s clear, cold laugh echoed in the silent room.
SLAP!
Thomas Sterling snapped out of his shock and slapped Madeline Sterling across the face. "You disgrace!"
His face was contorted with fury. He turned to Theodore Keating and said, "Theodore, this... this is the Sterling family’s fault. We’ve wronged Asher. I’ll be sure to discipline her properly when we get home. I will personally visit to offer a formal apology another day!"
"That’s right... Mr. Keating," Morgan Sterling chimed in, his eyes filled with guilt as he looked at Theodore Keating. "This all happened four years ago. And what Madeline did today... we truly knew nothing about it. Thankfully, her plan didn’t succeed. My father and I will be sure to discipline Madeline when we get home. As for making it up to Asher, we will go back and discuss it thoroughly. We will definitely give you, and Asher, a proper resolution."
Theodore Keating’s lips were pressed into a thin line; he remained silent. Seeing this, Thomas Sterling turned to Asher Keating. "Asher, you... you have truly been wronged these past few years. Let me apologize to you first. Please, ask for anything you want... I..."
"What’s all the commotion about?"
Before Thomas Sterling could finish, a clear female voice rang out unexpectedly. Mabel Grant walked in, her high heels clicking on the floor.
"Mom..."
Mason Grant’s eyes reddened when he saw Mabel Grant. He stood and offered her his seat. Mabel Grant sat down elegantly, crossed her legs, and swept her gaze coolly over everyone in the room.
"Mabel, what are you doing here?"
Thomas Sterling frowned as he looked at Mabel Grant. They hadn’t seen each other in many years, yet she was still just as beautiful. He’d run into her in the banquet hall earlier and tried to greet her, but she hadn’t even spared him a glance.
"I have no interest in your past affairs—who slept with whom, who was drugged into oblivion, I couldn’t care less. But what happened today..."
Mabel Grant’s gaze swept over to Madeline Sterling, who began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Aunt... Aunt Mabel, I didn’t... I wasn’t successful today."
"You weren’t successful, no. But the Keatings’ third young master... someone helped him, didn’t they?"
Morgan Sterling froze. It was only then that he noticed Leah Sinclair wasn’t there. ’Could it have been Leah in the end? Her again?’ he thought. ’Heh. Are she and Asher really so fated?’
A sudden pain lanced through Asher Keating’s heart. He had only been suspicious before, but with Mabel Grant’s appearance, he now knew the answer.
"She’s Asher’s girlfriend, isn’t she? I saw her just now," Thomas Sterling said quickly. "That young lady... she’s quite impressive. She must be exhausted from the ordeal. Tomorrow, I’ll make Madeline apologize to her properly."
"Dad! Are you kidding me? You want me to apologize to her? Who does she think she is?" Madeline Sterling stared at her father, eyes wide. ’Apologize to Leah Sinclair? As if.’
"Lincoln Lowe!"
"Yes."
The moment Mabel Grant called out the name, the bodyguard beside her stepped forward and dragged Madeline Sterling into the open.
"AHH!! What are you doing? Mom! AHHHH! Let me go!" Madeline Sterling shrieked, reaching for Jacqueline Vaughn.
"Mabel Grant! Let go of Madeline!"
Jacqueline Vaughn lunged to grab Lincoln Lowe’s hand, only to be flung aside. When Thomas and Morgan Sterling tried to intervene, two other bodyguards stepped up to block their path.
"Mabel, what is the meaning of this?" Thomas Sterling’s voice turned cold. He hadn’t expected her to bring bodyguards.
"The meaning? You’ll find out in a moment."
As soon as Mabel Grant finished speaking, Lincoln Lowe slapped Madeline Sterling several times without hesitation. The room instantly filled with a chaotic mix of shrieks, smacks, and shouts.
Aside from the three Grant siblings and Asher Keating, everyone else was stunned, completely clueless as to what was going on.
Just as Theodore Keating was debating whether to intervene, Lincoln Lowe stopped. Jacqueline Vaughn finally had a chance to rush forward, crying out as she embraced the hysterical Madeline Sterling.
"Mabel Grant! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? What does any of this have to do with you? Just because you couldn’t be with Thomas back in the day, now you’re intentionally causing trouble for us!"
"Thomas Sterling?" Mabel Grant scoffed. "In his dreams."
"If it weren’t for Tobias, do you think the Sterling family could have had such a peaceful life in Riverfall all these years?"
Her words were arrogant, yet no one there doubted their validity. A faint smirk played on her lips, and the corners of her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes lifted in a look of pure derision, projecting the natural air of a superior.
"Mabel, this is a matter between us and the Keating family. It’s... not really your place to interfere, is it?" Thomas Sterling said, trying to change the subject before she could say more.
"Is that so?" The smile in Mabel Grant’s eyes deepened. "Then what if I told you that Leah Sinclair is my daughter—the Second Miss of the Grant family? Would you say... I have a right to interfere then?"
"..."
"!!!"
The room fell so silent it was as if no one was even breathing. For two full minutes, not a single sound could be heard.
"Wh-what? L-Leah Sinclair is the Second Miss of the Grant family?" Ethan Shaw’s voice was trembling so badly that he could barely recognize the sound of it himself.
"That’s right. She’s my sister," Mason Grant confirmed, his cold gaze sweeping over the Sterlings.
"Impossible! How could that be? She’s just some bar hostess!" Madeline Sterling screamed, struggling to stand up.
"Lincoln Lowe!"
Lincoln Lowe landed two more slaps across her face. "Watch your mouth."
Madeline Sterling clutched her face, frozen in utter disbelief.
"M-Mabel, could there be a mistake? Leah, she..." Ruth Hughes stammered, unable to process the revelation.
"No."
"She’s... she’s your child? Yours and Tobias Sterling’s?" Thomas Sterling asked, his brow deeply furrowed in disbelief.
"That’s right, Thomas Sterling. I bet you didn’t expect this, did you? Tobias has been dead all these years, but he still has a child left in this world."
"Impossible... Impossible!" Thomas Sterling’s hands started to tremble uncontrollably.
Asher Keating closed his eyes. ’So that explained everything,’ he thought. ’It explained why Leah Sinclair and Madeline Sterling bore a slight resemblance to each other. They were cousins; it was only natural.’
"Leah Sinclair is my daughter. You deserved every one of those slaps for offending her." Mabel Grant stood and patted Madeline Sterling’s badly swollen cheek.
She had already left, planning to schedule a meeting with Leah for the next day. But she had rushed back without a moment’s hesitation after receiving a message from Mason en route.
"What... what did you just say?" Leah Sinclair’s trembling voice suddenly rang out.