Chapter 97: Why Don’t You Try Climbing One?
Morgan Sterling’s mother, Jacqueline Vaughn, had originally been a mistress who schemed her way up. His father, Thomas Sterling, already had a fiancée, but he couldn’t control his urges, and Jacqueline schemed to get pregnant.
At first, the Sterling Family had no intention of letting her marry in. But when the fiancée’s family found out, they took a hard stance and insisted on calling off the engagement.
After much negotiation between all parties, the matter was handled with a fair degree of discretion. Few people knew the truth, aside from the older generation and a handful of insiders. So, Morgan Sterling couldn’t have missed the teasing in Asher Keating’s voice earlier—he knew that Asher was aware of the scandal.
Morgan Sterling was silent on the other end for a moment before chuckling. "Well then, congratulations to you both. It’s always great when lovers get their happy ending."
"Thanks."
Asher Keating hung up the phone. Leah Sinclair watched him, her lips pursed. They had just made their relationship official, but she never expected him to announce it directly in front of her whole department. ’Is this... his way of backing me up?’
Asher Keating gave her cheek a gentle pinch. "Go on, get back to work."
With that, he nodded to the members of Department One and turned to leave. Edward Yates said to Morgan Sterling’s assistant, "Assistant Lawson, this way, please."
"President Keating is so cool!"
Zion Sawyer suddenly yelled from behind them. Asher Keating gave a casual wave without turning around, and Leah Sinclair couldn’t help but laugh.
"Leah, Leah! Wow, you and President Keating are back together? Holy crap, President Keating was just so, so, so cool just now!" Zion Sawyer exclaimed, excitedly linking her arm through Leah’s.
Leah Sinclair felt a little shy, but she still gave a soft laugh and an "mhm" of confirmation. The entire department burst into cheers, leaving Leah stunned. "You guys..."
"See? I told you they’d get back together!" Todd Coleman chimed in enthusiastically.
"Leah, don’t you worry," Leo Lawson added, giving her a conspiratorial wink. "No matter what anyone else says, we here in Department One trust you. We know you’re not that kind of person. There must have been a good reason for everything with you and President Keating, so just ignore anyone who’s talking nonsense."
A warmth spread through Leah’s heart. Amid the cheerful celebration from Department One, the gloom that had hung over her recently seemed to melt away. Leah saw Mr. Langdon watching her with a smile, so she walked over. "Mr. Langdon, about my resignation letter..."
"Did you hand in a resignation letter? I don’t know anything about that. I cleaned up a pile of waste paper a few days ago, and it all went into the shredder," Mr. Langdon said with a grin before ambling back to his office.
It was all finally over. Leah let out a sigh of relief, sat down, and began to work in earnest. ’Now that my relationship with Asher is public,’ she thought, ’I’ll have to work even harder.’
’If I don’t have real skills, people will always say I’m just using Asher to get ahead. I have to prove to everyone that my work, and all my future accomplishments, won’t be because I’m leaning on him.’
That evening, Asher Keating made plans to have dinner with Ethan Shaw and their friends. Leah now knew how she had gotten back to Europa Gardens the previous night. Asher had explained that Chester Hale contacted Ethan Shaw, and then Asher had gone to pick her up himself.
She hesitated before sending a message to Chester Hale. "Dr. Hale, thank you for last night."
It was a long while before Chester Hale replied. "Don’t mention it. I just happened to be there. Is everything okay with you two now?"
"Yes. Asher asked me to be his girlfriend."
Chester Hale stared at the message on his phone, a faint smile touching his lips. "That’s great. Congratulations."
"Thanks. When you have some free time, I’d like to treat you to a meal."
"I’m pretty busy these days. My department is short-handed. I’ll let you know when I have some time."
"Okay."
Chester Hale put his phone down and went back to packing. He had decided to move to another house. ’If Asher Keating hadn’t come yesterday, or if he’d been even a little late,’ he thought, ’I would have taken Leah with me.’
’He knew Asher Keating owned many properties, just as he himself owned several. He’d once overheard that the place Asher spent most of his time was actually his villa in Silverwood.’
’The drive from the Silverwood villa to Azure Bay takes at least an hour and a half, especially at that time of night. I only gave him an hour. I wanted to see just how far Asher Keating would go for Leah.’
But when Leah had cried, talking about how her parents abandoned her, asking why they didn’t just kill her at birth, how she could have frozen to death that day... Chester Hale couldn’t stand it. In that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.
He had brought Leah out earlier than planned, but he still ran into Asher Keating at the door. It was clear Asher had come in a great hurry. The instant Asher took Leah from his arms, Chester knew he had lost.
Leah had quieted down the moment she was in Asher Keating’s embrace. While in his arms, her brows had been knitted in distress. She was simply too drunk and weak to struggle.
But she must have smelled that familiar scent. In Asher Keating’s arms, she was as quiet as a little kitten.
Or perhaps, he’d never even had a chance to win. Chester Hale asked his own heart: without Asher Keating, if he had been the one to face Morgan Sterling from the beginning, would he have defied him for Leah’s sake?
’The answer is no.’
The Sterling Family was more powerful than the Keating Family, and even more so than his own Hale Family. Asher Keating dared to oppose Morgan Sterling. His own defiant personality was part of it, but his ability was the true foundation of his confidence.
Asher wasn’t afraid of Morgan Sterling. He wasn’t even afraid of offending the Sterling Family. But Chester... he might not fear Morgan personally, but for the sake of the Hale Family, he couldn’t take that risk.
But Asher Keating had done it, and he’d done it right from the start. Back then, Leah was, to him, just a hostess from Azure Bay who had given him her first time. Yet for her, he was willing to face the possibility of Morgan Sterling using the Sterling Family’s power to crush the Keating Family.
Morgan Sterling probably wouldn’t go that far over a single woman, but what if?
The fact that Asher Keating dared to make such a move meant he was already prepared for a confrontation with the Sterlings. Chester Hale gazed out the window at the pitch-black night and was struck by a sudden premonition: the business world of Riverfall was about to be turned upside down.
When work ended for the day, Asher Keating drove right up to the main entrance to wait for Leah. She was still working overtime, tweaking some data, but Asher didn’t rush her. He just waited quietly.
Plenty of people saw him. Some came forward to say hello, others gossiped in hushed tones, and a few lurked in corners, trying to see if he was really waiting for Leah. Asher hung the peace charm she had gotten for him from his rearview mirror.
Reaching out, he brushed his fingers against the peace charm. Asher was in a fine mood. Tomorrow was New Year’s Day. Perfect timing—they’d made their relationship official right at the start of a new year.
As Leah and Zion Sawyer stepped out of the elevator, someone behind them started talking about her. They were supposedly whispering, but their voice was perfectly audible. "Hah, just as I thought. Having a few tricks up your sleeve is what really counts. We work our asses off day in and day out, but what’s the use? It’s better to be young, pretty, good at what you do in bed, and willing to sleep your way to the top."
The words were incredibly vile. Zion Sawyer whipped around angrily and saw it was Yolanda Lawson. Last time, only Nina Linton had been fired, but this one had somehow managed to stay.
Just as Zion was about to start a fight, Leah held her back. She glanced over her shoulder at Yolanda Lawson, a smirk playing on her lips. "Why don’t you try it?"