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

"You’re the one who seduced him! You’re the slut who led him on!"

Lynn Lawson waved the knife around frantically. The only thing on his mind were his father, Winston Lawson’s, words: any woman was fair game, and it was always the woman who seduced the man.

Asher Keating walked forward, his voice filled with suppressed anger. "Lynn Lawson, I’ll say this one last time. Put the knife down!"

"Don’t come any closer!"

Lynn Lawson pointed the knife at Asher Keating. The chilling look in Asher’s eyes frightened him, and the hand holding the knife began to tremble involuntarily.

But he still held the blade tight against Leah Sinclair’s neck. "Take one more step and I’ll kill her right now!"

Asher Keating didn’t stop. He continued walking forward, his eyes fixed on Lynn Lawson. "I’m the one who sent Winston Lawson to prison. A woman like her could, at most, call the police. Your dad wanted to settle with her, but I’m the one who said no deal. I’m the one who made him stay in there."

Leah Sinclair watched Asher Keating, her eyes wide with anxiety, and begged in a low voice, "Don’t come over here. He’s crazy."

Asher Keating gave her a reassuring look, then turned his gaze back to Lynn Lawson. "If you want revenge, you should be coming after me. It’s useless to go after her."

"It was you? I knew it! How could my dad be sent to prison by a woman? What good is a woman? So it was you!"

Lynn Lawson erupted. He shoved Leah Sinclair aside and charged recklessly at Asher Keating with the knife.

"Third Brother!"

"President Keating!"

"Asher!"

Countless voices cried out, but Asher Keating didn’t move. As Lynn Lawson charged, Asher saw his chance, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it back.

Lynn Lawson was too fat and clumsy to be a match for him. Asher Keating slammed him to the ground, pressing a knee into his back to keep him down.

The knife had been knocked from Lynn Lawson’s hand, but he was still writhing and screaming frantically, "Let me go! Let me go! It’s all your fault! All of you are going to die!"

Asher Keating lowered his head and said in his ear, "I was originally going to let it go with just crippling your dad. But you... you’ve served yourself up on a silver platter."

"What do you mean? Let go of... AHH, AHH! My hand!!!"

Lynn Lawson squealed like a stuck pig. The sound stunned the crowd that had started to gather, freezing them in place.

Asher Keating had just crippled one of his hands. Sean Yates came over and took over pinning the man down. Asher stood up and said coldly, "Let him rot in there with his father."

"Yes, President Keating."

The police arrived as well. Asher Keating looked at Leah Sinclair. Her face was pale, and her already faint lips were completely drained of color. Blood was still seeping from the cut on her neck. He frowned, took off his jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.

"Third Brother."

Leah Sinclair’s voice was choked with sobs. When Lynn Lawson had charged at Asher Keating, she felt as if her heart had stopped for a moment.

"It’s okay now. I’m here."

Asher Keating half-supported Leah Sinclair. Her legs were too weak to stand, and her whole body was trembling uncontrollably.

Zion Sawyer rushed over, terrified, her voice tinged with tears. "Leah, are you okay?"

Leah Sinclair shook her head. "I’m fine."

"Hey, it’s you guys?"

The lead police officer said in surprise. He looked at Leah Sinclair, then at Lynn Lawson who was wailing nearby, and it clicked. "The son of that rapist from last time?"

"Yes," Asher Keating said.

"Jeez, what a mess. But what’s with his hand?" the officer asked, pointing at Lynn Lawson.

"I did it."

"..."

Leah Sinclair explained nervously, "Officer, he was the one who charged with a knife. This... this counts as self-defense for Third... for President Keating, right?"

"Don’t worry, we’ll check the surveillance footage. As long as we can confirm he attacked first, it won’t be a big issue. What about you? Are you injured anywhere else?"

Although Asher Keating’s bluntness had left the officer speechless for a moment, he still spoke up and glanced at Leah Sinclair’s neck.

Leah Sinclair touched her neck. "No, it’s just a scratch."

"You should be grateful he didn’t pull out a lighter. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have the chance to be standing here talking right now."

The officer clicked his tongue. "Later, you two will have to come back with me to the station to give a statement."

"Officer, can we let Leah change her clothes first?" Zion Sawyer asked hurriedly.

"Sean Yates, go buy Leah Sinclair a change of clothes. There’s a bathroom in my office. She can take a shower and clean up. We’ll come when she’s ready," Asher Keating said, his voice still cool.

"..."

The officer was a bit speechless at his arrangements, but it was true they couldn’t let someone soaked in gasoline run around. It was too dangerous.

"Fine. But be quick about it."

"Asher."

Ruth Hughes walked over, her voice trembling. Tears were streaming down her face; the scene just now had scared her so badly she couldn’t move.

Asher Keating steadied her. "Mom, I’m fine."

"Mom!?"

Zion Sawyer exclaimed, "Auntie, you’re President Keating’s mother? But weren’t you here to see Director Hughes?"

Leah Sinclair was stunned as well. When Asher Keating had come down and spoken to Ruth Hughes earlier, the scene had been too chaotic for anyone to notice.

"..."

Ruth Hughes forgot to cry. It had all happened so suddenly that she’d forgotten her cover story. She glanced guiltily at Asher Keating, then at Leah Sinclair.

"I asked my mom to come get something from Director Hughes," Asher Keating said calmly.

"Oh, oh, I see."

’Leah Sinclair finally understood. This woman, Asher Keating’s mother, wasn’t here for Chester Hughes at all. She was here for me.’

’No wonder she asked me those questions. But what does this mean? Why would Asher Keating’s mother come looking for me? Did his family find out he’s keeping a woman on the side? Is she here to condemn me?’ At this thought, Leah Sinclair’s face grew even paler.

Asher Keating noticed her state and addressed the others at the scene. "After the officer is done with his questions, you can all go back to work. Leah Sinclair, come to my office. Mom, you come to my office too. Wait for Sean Yates to get back, and he’ll drive you home."

"Okay, good," Ruth Hughes quickly agreed.

Zion Sawyer wanted to go with Leah Sinclair, but Asher Keating wouldn’t let her. He said he would take Leah directly to the police station for her statement and bring her back afterward. Zion Sawyer and Todd Coleman had no choice but to leave, looking back every few steps.

Asher Keating led Leah Sinclair and Ruth Hughes to the elevator. Once inside, Asher grabbed Leah’s hand. She tried to pull away for a moment but couldn’t break free. She bit her lip, not daring to look up.

Ruth Hughes stared at the floor indicator, not daring to look anywhere else. Asher Keating also remained silent, his face cold.

When they reached the 28th floor, Asher Keating finally let go of her hand and stepped out of the elevator first. Ruth Hughes hurried out after him, with Leah Sinclair exiting last.

The new head of the President’s Office, Edward Yates, saw them and hurried over. "President Keating."

"Find out who gave Lynn Lawson information about Leah Sinclair."

"We already did. Lynn Lawson went to the prison to see Winston Lawson a few days ago. It must have been Winston Lawson who told him."

Edward Yates said quickly. He was Sean Yates’s older brother, two years his senior. He had been at another one of Asher Keating’s companies and had only recently been transferred here.

Asher Keating walked straight into his office. "You haven’t made a move yet?"

"I’m sorry, President Keating. He was just transferred, so we were afraid it would be too obvious. We were planning to wait a while before acting, but we didn’t expect..."

Edward Yates followed him in. Winston Lawson had just been transferred from detention to prison; they never thought he would tell Lynn Lawson what had happened.

Asher Keating stood before the floor-to-ceiling window without a word. Edward Yates didn’t dare to speak either. Ruth Hughes pulled Leah Sinclair toward the sofa to sit, but Leah was covered in gasoline and was afraid of ruining the sofa and making it hard to clean, so she hesitated. Ruth pulled her down firmly onto the seat.

"Make your move. Don’t make me say it again," Asher Keating said without turning around.