Chapter 84: Are You Being Kept by President Keating?
The hot spring resort had much more to offer than just hot springs, and Leah Sinclair had a blast the entire weekend.
Although she couldn’t stroll around openly with Asher Keating during the day, he would take her for walks nearby at night.
On the second night, Asher even drove her to a famous local amusement park over an hour away from the resort—just the two of them.
Leah had never been to such a large amusement park before. Her eyes were wide with excitement, and everything seemed new and fascinating. Holding hands with him in a place where no one knew them made her heart soar.
During the midnight fireworks show, Leah stood on her tiptoes to give Asher a peck on the lips, but he held the back of her head and pulled her into a deep kiss.
When they parted, Leah gazed into Asher’s eyes and saw the fireworks reflected in them. For a fleeting moment, she felt a daze, as if they were just an ordinary couple, not two people in a kept relationship.
She took his hand and asked softly, "Asher, do you like me, even a little?"
But the crowd was too large and the fireworks too loud. Asher shielded her from being jostled, but he didn’t hear what she said.
On the way back, Leah asked curiously, "Asher, you’re not wearing your glasses today. Can you see clearly driving at night?"
Asher kept his eyes on the road. "I forgot them when we left. I don’t have bad eyesight."
"Huh? Then why do you always wear glasses?" Leah was surprised. She was only just finding this out. She had always assumed Asher’s prescription was just very weak, so it was normal for him to not wear them occasionally.
"My old man said my gaze is too cold, too revealing, so he got me a pair of glasses to hide it."
Asher glanced over at her. "What, without the glasses I don’t look like a refined scoundrel anymore? Are you interested now?"
Leah was reminded of the first time she met Morgan Sterling. She had said she didn’t like men who wore glasses, specifically that men in suits and glasses looked like refined scoundrels.
Morgan had even pointed out that her statement included Asher. She couldn’t help but laugh. "You still remember that."
"How could I forget? You were insulting him and managed to drag me into it." A smile played on Asher’s lips as well.
"I really was insulting him. But for you, Asher, ’refined scoundrel’ is a compliment, don’t you know? All those alpha CEOs in dramas nowadays... fans make video edits competing to see whose CEO is the most ’refined scoundrel’." Leah remembered Zion Sawyer discussing all the popular online videos and pictures like that with her.
Leah turned to look at Asher. It was true. Without glasses, even his profile seemed colder than when he wore them. But this version of Asher seemed even more handsome and dashing.
"What are you looking at?" Asher chuckled under her stare.
"It’s rare to see you like this, Asher. I have to get a good look."
Leah actually really wanted to take a picture of him. She had a few photos of Asher on her phone, but they were mostly of his back, candid shots she had secretly taken. She didn’t dare take a picture of his face, afraid that if she ever lost her phone, it would cause trouble for him.
A smile on his lips, Asher ruffled her hair. "Then why don’t you hurry up and take one? You can go home and worship it."
"Can I really?"
"Why not?" Her question surprised Asher. ’Am I that unphotogenic?’
Afraid he would change his mind, Leah quickly pulled out her phone. It was a bit dark in the car, and her phone wasn’t the best, but Asher’s good looks were camera-proof. Even a random shot came out handsome. Leah looked through the photos, her eyes crinkling into happy crescents.
Asher saw how happy she was. ’They’re just a few photos.’ He couldn’t quite understand why she was so overjoyed, but seeing her like this, he felt pretty good himself.
It was already three in the morning when they got back. Leah was so sleepy after her shower that she was dead to the world. When Asher came out of the bathroom, she was already curled up and asleep. He smiled, slipped into bed, and pulled her into his arms.
Leah was always cold; in winter, the bed would stay chilly if she slept alone. Sensing the warmth, she nuzzled against him like a cat and draped a hand over his waist. Asher felt her still-cool hand, held it in his, and drifted off to sleep.
After the team-building trip, Mr. Langdon told them it was time to get their heads back in the game. The acceptance inspection for the New City project was almost finished, and they couldn’t afford to mess up now. Everyone nodded in understanding.
That day, Mr. Langdon walked in with a file, beaming. "Announcement! The New City project has passed inspection! I’m going to sign the papers now."
"WOOHOO! Finally! Manager Langdon, does this mean we can get a good meal to celebrate?" Leo Lawson shouted excitedly.
"Yes, of course! I’m going to sign off first. You guys figure out what to eat. Where’s Zion Sawyer? Quick, let her choose."
"Here she comes! Zion! We’re having a big dinner tonight! Hurry up and pick a place!" Todd Coleman yelled excitedly to Zion Sawyer, who had just walked through the door.
It took a moment for Zion to react. "Huh? Oh, okay."
Everyone was in a state of excitement. After Mr. Langdon left, the crowd slowly dispersed. Zion returned to her desk, called out to Leah, but then hesitated.
Leah looked at her strangely. Zion’s face was pale. Worried, Leah reached out to touch her forehead. "What’s wrong? You don’t look well. Did you catch a cold?"
"No, it’s not that, Leah..."
Zion glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she stood up and pulled Leah toward the stairwell on their floor.
Leah looked at her, utterly confused. "What is it?"
"Leah... you... you and President Keating, are you... are you..."
The moment she heard those words, Leah’s intuition screamed that her relationship with Asher Keating had been exposed. The color drained from her face.
Seeing her reaction, Zion bit the bullet and blurted it out. "I just went to the restroom and overheard Nina Linton from Department Three and Yolanda Lawson from Department Two touching up their makeup and talking. They didn’t know I was in there."
"They said... they said you’re being kept by President Keating. That you only got into Aevon because of him. I got so mad, I came out and argued with them. You obviously started working here even before President Keating did! But... but they said the rumor is all over the company."
"Someone saw you get out of his car at the intersection in front of the company. Someone else said they saw the two of you outside A-KEN once, and President Keating was kissing you. And last time, when Lynn Lawson took you hostage, you called out ’Asher’ when Lynn lunged at President Keating. They’re saying, why would he have gotten involved when Lynn had you if it weren’t for your relationship?"
Zion wasn’t the type to keep things bottled up. At first, she didn’t believe it and argued with Nina and the others. But Nina showed her photos and videos. The photo was from the time Leah and her friends went clubbing. Afterwards, while they were waiting for the designated driver, Asher had bent down to kiss her.
The person who took it hadn’t seen Leah’s face. They just recognized Asher’s car and, seeing him kissing someone, snapped a picture out of sheer gossipiness.
And right after kissing her, Asher had leaned against the car door, blocking her from view. So, you couldn’t actually see Leah’s face in the photo. But somehow, it was now circulating with absolute certainty that the woman was Leah Sinclair.