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

Leah buried her head in his chest. After a long while, she finally let out a soft, hoarse hum.

"Oh my God. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d swear it wasn’t real," Ethan Shaw said, staring blankly at the butterflies flying off into the distance.

"Same here. I’ve seen it on the news before, but I always thought it was a hoax," Riley Sterling added, also watching dazedly as the butterflies flew into the distance.

Chester Hale silently watched the two of them embrace. The sky, which had been gloomy, was now slowly beginning to clear. A few rays of sunlight fell upon them. They seemed to be in a world of their own, a world that, for now, had room for no one else.

When the cremation was over, a funeral home employee handed the urn to Leah and said softly, "My condolences."

Leah thanked them in a low voice and took the urn. The group then set off for the cemetery to lay Grandma Sinclair to rest. In the car, Leah clutched Grandma Sinclair’s urn tightly. Asher Keating, who was driving, reached out with one hand and took her icy hand in his.

It wasn’t until they reached the cemetery and saw the headstone that First Uncle Sinclair’s finger started to tremble. He pointed and shouted, "What... What is this?"

Leah looked up and saw her own name, Leah Sinclair, emblazoned at the very top of the headstone—the largest and most prominent name listed. First Uncle Sinclair and his family were all ranked below her. She, too, was stunned. By tradition, her name shouldn’t have been at the top.

"Who changed the headstone!"

Jack Sinclair rushed over for a closer look, then spun around and yelled. When he’d come yesterday, Leah’s name hadn’t even been on the headstone. How could one night pass, and while the stone was the same, the names on it were different?

"I did."

Asher Keating answered calmly. When Jack Sinclair left yesterday, he’d had Sean Yates follow him, worried he might pull some stunt with the headstone. He never expected the stone they’d had carved wouldn’t even include Leah’s name.

Sean Yates had called Asher Keating, who then told him to find someone to replace the headstone. Originally, he hadn’t even wanted to include the Sinclair family’s names at all, but he’d ultimately decided against it. He simply instructed Sean Yates to tell the engraver to put Leah’s name at the very top.

First Uncle Sinclair’s finger trembled as he pointed, his eyes red. "Mr. Keating," he demanded, "what is the meaning of this?!"

"It’s the same as before. Whoever pays the money makes the rules," Asher Keating let out a derisive laugh.

"I’m her biological son! Don’t you think this is going too far?"

First Uncle Sinclair finally roared. From last night until today, he’d been sidelined—it wasn’t his place to perform the key funeral rites. He had already lost an incredible amount of face.

And now, even on the headstone, his name was listed below Leah’s—a person with no blood ties to the family whatsoever.

"Going too far? You’re the ones who went too far! The funeral, the burial plot, the cremation, the urn, the memorial banquet, even the money for the pallbearers—Mr. Keating paid for every last cent of it! And you? You didn’t even bother to have Leah’s name engraved on the headstone. How is *that* for going too far?!"

Sean Yates couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward, shouting. He’d never seen such shameless people in his life. He had been about to leave yesterday right after Jack Sinclair did.

But for some reason, he’d decided to take one last look before going. Thank God he did, or they would have only discovered this today.

Sean Yates’s words caused an immediate uproar among the onlookers. Sheila Hughes glared furiously at the family. "Shameless!!"

First Uncle Sinclair’s family never imagined Sean Yates would expose them in front of so many people. Yesterday, it had been late when Asher Keating was throwing his money around, so not many people had witnessed it.

But today, everyone was here—all the relatives and neighbors. Faced with the scornful looks from all around, their last shred of dignity was torn away. They wished the ground would open up and swallow them whole.

Leah looked at them and let out a soft laugh. "I won’t argue with you now, not in front of Grandma’s grave."

Without another glance at them, she knelt and bowed her head to the ground three times. Then, taking a deep breath, she cast one final look at Grandma Sinclair’s photograph on the headstone before rising, taking Asher Keating’s hand, and walking away. Sheila and the others let out a cold snort and followed suit.

Sean Yates brought up the rear. Before he left, he swept his gaze over the remaining members of the Sinclair family. "Don’t even think about replacing this headstone. Mr. Keating said that since Riverfall isn’t too far from Stonecreek, he wouldn’t mind coming back once a month to check."

The memorial luncheon was clearly far beyond what the Sinclair family could afford. The relatives who hadn’t gone to the cemetery had been marveling at the spread. But when the group from the cemetery returned and shared what had happened, that marvel turned to scorn. As the two groups exchanged stories, the consensus was that First Uncle Sinclair’s family was utterly shameless.

Not that this stopped anyone from eating. After all, the feast was far grander than anything they’d ever had before; several of the dishes were completely new to them.

Asher Keating and his friends sat at their own table, and no one else dared to join them. Looking at the feast before them, Riley Sterling suddenly sighed. "Man, I don’t know... this just feels weird."

Asher Keating glanced at him. "Just eat."

"Asher, I’m not talking about Leah," Riley quickly explained. "I just think her uncle’s family is unbelievably weird. She lived with people like that for more than twenty years? Are they going to keep leeching off her forever?"

Riley Sterling rushed to clarify. For people of their social class, it was the first time encountering anyone like that. A casual night at a bar or treating friends to dinner would cost tens of thousands at a minimum, and buying a watch would easily start in the six-figure range.

So he truly couldn’t comprehend the Sinclair family’s behavior. Beyond feeling sorry for Leah, he was mostly just left speechless by their audacity.

Asher Keating took a sip of water and glanced over at Leah, who was being pulled aside by someone. "She won’t let them have their way."

"Let’s hope so. Hopefully, Leah won’t go soft if her uncle tries to cry and guilt-trip her," Ethan Shaw added with a sigh.

"Leah’s not like that!" Sheila Hughes retorted. "She’s never been a pushover."

She didn’t know how to explain it to them, finally blurting out sullenly, "In any case, Leah would never let her uncle’s family walk all over Mr. Keating because of her!"

When Leah returned from her conversation, Asher Keating had already rinsed a set of utensils for her. He placed a piece of fish in her bowl and, fearing she might refuse it, quickly added, "It’s fresh. Tastes decent."

Uncharacteristically, Leah began to eat. She ate the fish and a fair amount of the other dishes as well. She had barely eaten anything for the past few days, and in her haste, she started to choke a little. Sheila Hughes quickly poured her a glass of water and patted her on the back.

Seeing this, Chester Hale remarked slowly, "You haven’t eaten in days. Better eat slowly, or you’ll get a stomachache."

Leah swallowed the food in her mouth. "I know."

’I need to eat.’ She’d felt her blood sugar dropping a moment ago; she needed to get some energy back.

Asher Keating placed some vegetables in her bowl. Leah ate slowly. After a moment, Asher Keating spoke up. "I have to go back to Riverfall this afternoon. There’s some business at the company that I have to handle personally. Do you... want to stay here a few more days?"