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

Asher was also trying to figure out how to approach Leah in a way she could easily accept. ’This girl seems so soft and gentle, but she’s so stubborn at her core. I’m actually not sure she’ll agree if I try to end our arrangement early and just start dating for real.’

When Leah Sinclair returned, Asher Keating was on the phone. It was a call from Edward Yates, primarily to inform him that the rumors had indeed been spread by one of Aaron Keating’s people still at Aevon.

That Nina Linton was one of Aaron Keating’s people, and she was the one who first started spreading the story. As for her claim that her hand "slipped"? Heh, anyone could see what was really going on.

"Right. Find the person who took the photos and the one who filmed the video. If the videographer is confirmed to be just a bystander, forget it. But I want the photographer questioned thoroughly. I don’t believe in coincidences like this. Why release the photos now, after so much time has passed?"

Leah Sinclair took off her coat and sat beside him in silence. After hanging up, Asher Keating took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t annoyed about this incident; it was something Aaron Keating had said that was making him reconsider his plans.

Seeing his furrowed brow, Leah’s heart tightened. She spoke softly, "Asher."

Asher Keating looked at her. ’Forget it,’ he thought. ’I’ll sort things out with Leah Sinclair first.’ He’d never confessed his feelings to anyone before and felt surprisingly nervous. "You’ve heard everything?"

"I found out this afternoon."

Silence fell between them. Leah felt a fine, prickling pain start in her heart again. Asher had only just arrived at Aevon; he was at a critical stage of establishing his authority. Yet now this incident had surfaced, and with Aaron Keating’s people not yet fully purged from the company, she could only imagine how much pressure he was under.

In the end, Asher Keating was the first to speak. He toyed with his glasses, his voice a little low. "Leah Sinclair, have you... ever thought about ending this relationship?"

Leah Sinclair’s mind went blank. Though she had tried to prepare herself on the way home, telling herself she couldn’t cry or make a scene if Asher Keating decided to cast her aside, actually hearing the words still made her feel as if her heart had been dropped into an icy pond.

She bit her lip hard, forcing herself not to say the two words she wanted to: "Don’t go." She stood, walked over to the entryway, and took her small cardholder out of her purse. She pulled out a bank card and stood there silently for a moment before walking back. Sitting down on the far side of the sofa, she placed the card on the coffee table.

Asher Keating’s eyebrow shot up at the sight of the card. "What’s the meaning of this?"

Leah Sinclair took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "Asher, on this card is the money I won from Morgan Sterling and the others, the money you’ve given me over this period, plus a little of my own savings. It’s 498,000 in total. I haven’t used any of it. It’s still a ways off from 800,000, but this is all I can give you for now. The rest... I’ll pay you back slowly in the future."

Asher Keating’s lips thinned as he stared at the card. Then, his gaze shifted back to Leah Sinclair. He leaned forward and took the card. "So, you’ve been thinking about paying back the money this entire time?"

"...Yes. I never forgot."

Asher Keating suddenly laughed. He had been so careful to protect Leah Sinclair’s pride, so afraid of making things awkward for her, that he had never mentioned the six-month agreement. He had just figured that either time would make it irrelevant, or they could transition to a different relationship when the deadline arrived.

But the woman before him remembered it all with perfect clarity. She hadn’t even taken his offer of clearing the debt in six months seriously—all she remembered was that she had to pay him back the money.

’I thought she slept with me because she actually liked me. But it turns out, in her heart, it was just a way to repay her debt. So, all those countless times she moaned beneath me, was she just thinking that she’d spent another night with me and cleared a few thousand more from what she owed?’

Asher Keating held the card between his fingers, his voice dripping with sarcastic amusement. "So you ’never forgot,’ huh? If this hadn’t happened today, when were you planning on pulling out this card?"

"On... the day our six-month agreement was over," Leah Sinclair said, looking up at him with a slight tremble in her voice.

"Heh, I forgot what a scrupulously honest person you are. When you were sleeping with me, were you also thinking about how another session would knock a few more thousand off your debt? Did you keep a ledger? Just how many times have I slept with you in total?"

"Leah Sinclair, what made you so sure I wouldn’t lose interest in you before you’d slept with me enough times to pay it all off?"

Leah Sinclair watched his deep eyes darken even more, and a sharp pain spread up from the depths of her heart. She wanted to speak, but her throat felt as if it were clogged with cotton. She could only clench her own trembling hands and bow her head.

Asher Keating slowly stood up and gave her one last look. "You’re not the only person I can sleep with."

The color instantly drained from Leah Sinclair’s face. She clenched her fists, listening as Asher Keating walked to the door and grabbed his coat. She heard him call Ethan Shaw. She heard him say, "Book a private room. Time to have some fun."

The SLAM of the door closing struck Leah Sinclair’s heart like a hammer. She bit her lip until it broke, the pain stopping her from running out to hold him back. ’Asher has already made his decision,’ she thought. ’I can’t let myself become a burden to him.’

After a long while, a voice surfaced in her mind. ’Is it over?’

’Yes. He’s gone to sleep with someone else. He doesn’t want me anymore. He has no use for me.’ Her tears began to fall, splashing onto her hands.

The card was still on the table—Asher Keating hadn’t taken it. She picked up her phone and sent a text to Ethan Shaw: "Asher didn’t have dinner. Please make sure he doesn’t drink too much."

It was a while before Ethan Shaw replied: "What’s wrong with you two? Did you have a fight?"

When Ethan Shaw had gotten Asher Keating’s call, he assumed Leah Sinclair would be with him. But when he and Riley Sterling arrived, they found Asher by himself—and he was even asking for hostesses.

This completely baffled Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling. The women were called over, and Ethan had even specifically picked out two of the innocent, pure-looking type for him.

As a result, the two young women sat next to him for ages, but he didn’t say a single word to them, just drank and smoked by himself.

"We didn’t..." Leah replied with two words.

Ethan Shaw called her right back. It was loud on his end; Leah Sinclair could faintly hear a woman’s voice calling, "Young Master Keating, let’s have a drink!" and other similar things.

The fingers holding her phone turned white from her grip. ’So Asher really did go to find other women. The moment it’s over, he goes and finds someone else. But... that’s normal, isn’t it? What right do I have to stop him?’

Ethan Shaw had walked out into a hallway to talk to her. "Leah Sinclair, what in the world is going on with you and Asher?"

"It’s nothing. Just, please keep an eye on him for me. Sorry to trouble you. If that’s all, I’m going to hang up now."

"Tsk. What’s gotten into these two?"

Ethan Shaw stared speechlessly at the disconnected call before returning to the private room. Asher Keating was smoking with a cold expression, and the two young women beside him were at a complete loss, unable to get him to accept the drinks they were offering.

Women in their line of work knew a little about Asher Keating’s temperament. He was rather cold and didn’t like it when women threw themselves at him. But still, between his handsome face and his generosity, plenty were still eager to cling to him.

The two exchanged a look, deciding to take their chances. Even though his face was cold and he looked completely unapproachable, they still had to try. If he took one of them home for the night, sleeping with him even once would be a massive payday.

"Young Master Keating, how about a drink?"

"That’s right, Young Master Keating. How about I feed it to you?"