Chapter 46: Are You Pursuing Leah Sinclair?
Asher Keating took out his phone to transfer her money. He had told her before that he would give her a monthly allowance—she could name the amount—but Leah Sinclair had never brought it up.
She hadn’t used the card he gave her even once, which made him feel like he had no presence in her life. He thought about how Riley Sterling had been bragging just a few days ago about bagging a new internet model, dropping several million on her in three days.
Leah quickly pressed down on his hand. "Don’t. I don’t want it. I just... wanted to save up some pocket money."
’Are you kidding me? I haven’t even paid back the eight hundred thousand, and he wants to give me another two hundred thousand a month? With my tiny salary, it would take forever to pay it all back.’
Asher glanced at her and put down his phone. "Don’t even think about it. The company doesn’t allow side jobs. Besides, the guy who called you is bad news."
Leah asked, confused, "Why do you say he’s bad news?"
"As a company, no matter how small, it needs to have a basic level of risk management. It’s impossible for them to not have finalized the blueprints right before a bid. A designer quit? That’s just a line to fool a rookie like you. He probably took this on as a personal side hustle, couldn’t get it approved, and is now looking for your help," Asher patiently explained.
Leah didn’t understand much about the corporate world, but she trusted Asher. After all, he was the president of a major corporation. When it came to this stuff, he definitely knew what he was talking about.
She thought carefully about the blueprints. She hadn’t started on any projects of her own yet, but it made sense when she thought about it.
Sean Coleman had told her before that he worked for a small company, so they only did very small, uncomplicated projects—unlike Aevon, which handled major projects where bidding and proposals were planned far in advance.
So it wasn’t just this time; Sean had probably been lying to her the other times, too. Her brow furrowed at the thought.
Asher tapped the space between her eyebrows. "Besides, do you even know the market rate? You were thinking of agreeing for just five thousand? For this kind of design plan, especially for a hotel, a full 1,200-square-meter set would easily go for nearly twenty thousand. He’d be doing nothing and just giving you a small cut."
"It’s that expensive?" Leah was stunned. Her specialization wasn’t in design, so she really had no idea about the going rates.
"What, still tempted?"
"Even if I am, I wouldn’t dare. I don’t want to get fired." Leah’s heart ached with regret, as if she had just missed out on a fortune.
"Good that you know. Are you any good at drafting?"
"I’m okay, I guess. It was a required subject. In college, my professor even used my drawings as examples. It was mostly for assignments, though. It wasn’t my focus, so I didn’t do it much," Leah answered, nestled in his arms.
"Not considering a move into design? If you want, I can have you transferred to the design department." Asher started pressing her down, kissing her.
His kisses made Leah go weak, but she still managed to say, "Not interested. If I wanted to go into design, I would have majored in it from the start. I still want to work on projects... Mmph..."
Asher didn’t say anything more. He was annoyed at being interrupted for so long and needed to make up for lost time. Leah melted beneath him.
Asher didn’t stop until midnight. The next morning, as Leah was about to get up to prepare lunch, he pulled her back, telling her not to bother and to sleep in. But Leah had gotten used to the routine and got up anyway.
Roused by Leah’s movements, he couldn’t get back to sleep either. He got up, washed his face, and slowly sipped his congee. Watching Leah bustle about, he took out his phone and transferred two hundred thousand to her. When Leah saw the notification, she asked him what it was for.
Asher said matter-of-factly, "Living expenses. I don’t make a habit of spending a woman’s money."
"Asher, I have money..." Leah tried to send the money back.
"What can you even buy with that tiny salary of yours?"
"But this is too much. I really can’t spend all this."
"Have you forgotten what I said before? Don’t argue with me about this."
Asher raised an eyebrow. Leah fell silent for a moment before accepting it. She knew Asher was always forceful about such matters, so she decided to save it for now and pay him back all at once later.
She had a separate bank account just for paying Asher back. Excluding what she had spent on clothes, plus this two hundred thousand and the little bits she had added over time, the account balance was now 379,000. Even though Asher had said that half a year in his bed would settle her debt, Leah couldn’t accept those terms with a clear conscience.
Ever since she’d realized her feelings for Asher, she was the one who wanted to be with him. That made her even more determined not to let money complicate things.
Leah found an excuse to turn down Sean Coleman. As the New City project entered its final preparation and inspection phase, she became much busier.
Every day, she was organizing documents, writing reports, and running to the construction site. Mr. Langdon told her that based on the timeline, once they submitted the inspection report and the official review began, she could probably apply to have her position made permanent. Her performance these last few months had been excellent, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Leah suddenly felt a renewed sense of motivation.
Conversely, Asher’s schedule began to free up. Sometimes, seeing Leah busier than him, he couldn’t understand what an intern could have to be so busy about. ’It’s all thanks to you wicked capitalists,’ Leah wanted to retort.
During the last few days of work on the inspection report, Leah was so busy she didn’t get home until the early hours of the morning, so exhausted she would pass out the moment her head hit the pillow. Gritting his teeth, Asher would pin her down and refuse to let her go until she promised to make up for all their lost time once the project was finished.
Finally, the day to submit the inspection report arrived. After getting the report signed, Mr. Langdon delivered it to the supervising company. All that was left was to wait for them to approve it and move it through the process.
Seeing how hard his department had been working, and with the weekend coming up, he announced he was taking them out for a good time—first dinner, and then karaoke for anyone who was interested. The department erupted in cheers.
Just as Leah was agonizing over how to tell Asher she’d be home late, he sent her a text saying he had something on tonight and would be back late himself. She quickly replied that her department was having a dinner party and she’d probably be late too. He simply replied with an "Okay."
Mr. Langdon had generously booked a table at The Paramount. After they were seated, everyone joked with him, asking if he’d struck it rich.
"It’s only because you all had such a good time last time. I’m still hurting from the bill."
"Thank you, Manager Langdon!"
"Alright, alright, just enjoy yourselves. You’ve all worked really hard lately. How about we start with a toast?" Mr. Langdon stood up. Everyone toasted together, and then the lively meal began.
Zion Sawyer excitedly piled food onto her plate. "I have to make up for lost time. I feel like I’ve starved myself thin."
"Oh, give me a break. Your face looks rounder, if you ask me. I think it’s Leah who’s lost weight. Leah, you should eat more," Todd Coleman said from the side.
"You’re asking for it! Wait a minute! Todd, are you trying to woo our Leah? You’re always buying her coffee lately, and I never get one."
Zion put down her chopsticks, ready to gossip. Todd knew Leah liked coffee and had been buying it for her a lot recently. Leah would try to pay him for it, but he always refused, which struck Zion as a little odd.