Chapter 90: This Is My Resignation Letter
Zion Sawyer leaned over to look at the note, suddenly excited. "Are these from President Keating?"
"No."
Leah Sinclair took the bouquet and threw it straight into the trash can. She pushed everything else out of her mind and got to work. After her shift, she continued drawing. She drew for three straight nights—drawing, erasing, then drawing again. When she got tired, she would nap for a while on the sofa before waking up to continue.
After finishing the drawings, she still had to render and model them. Every day, aside from the bit of lunch Zion Sawyer dragged her to eat, she couldn’t stomach anything. Finally, just before the weekend, she completed Mr. Langdon’s test.
During this time, Morgan Sterling’s flowers arrived every day. Each delivery was ninety-nine roses of a different color, accompanied by a different card. When Leah didn’t react to the first delivery, Morgan started having his assistant deliver them directly.
And each time, Leah would throw the flowers into the trash can right in front of his assistant.
When Leah handed the complete set of drawings to Mr. Langdon, she saw admiration in his expression and secretly let out a sigh of relief.
"Not bad. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you."
Mr. Langdon praised her as he looked them over. "How many all-nighters did you pull?"
"Not too many."
Leah replied in a low voice, then hesitated for a moment before handing him a document. "Mr. Langdon, this is my resignation letter. I want to resign."
Mr. Langdon’s hand paused over the drawings. He had only just found out about Leah and Asher Keating’s situation and knew that Asher had left on a business trip the very next day. He couldn’t possibly ask Leah about it directly—it was, after all, her private life.
But now that Leah wanted to resign, he couldn’t help but ask, "Is it because of President Keating?"
"No, Mr. Langdon. It’s because of my own personal matters."
Leah took a deep breath and looked up at Mr. Langdon. It wasn’t just because of Asher Keating; there was also Morgan Sterling.
Mr. Langdon was silent for a moment. "I’ll give you a few days off. New Year’s Day is coming up, and we’re not that busy. Go rest for a few days."
Leah opened her mouth to speak, but Mr. Langdon raised a hand to stop her. "Leah, listen to me. I don’t want you to make the wrong choice over something like this. It’s easy to leave Aevon, but it’s very hard to come back. You’re very talented, and I don’t want to see you waste that."
Leah bit her lip. She knew Mr. Langdon was helping her, and in the end, all she said was, "Okay. Thank you, Mr. Langdon."
After leaving Mr. Langdon’s office, Leah told Zion Sawyer she would need to hand off her work for the next couple of days to rest. Zion Sawyer insisted she should get some proper rest and assured her she had everything covered.
Leah had been pulling one all-nighter after another to draw, sleeping only a few hours a night. She was completely drained. Before leaving the house this morning, she had been startled by her own dark circles and had deliberately applied foundation to avoid looking too haggard.
When she got back to Europa Gardens, Leah started packing her things. She didn’t have much more than what she’d brought with her; most of it had been bought by Asher later on.
She didn’t plan on taking any of it. Looking at Asher’s clothes in the walk-in closet, her eyes curved into a smile. Asher had been staying here, slowly bringing more of his life over, like an ant moving its home one piece at a time. His clothes and belongings accumulated until his presence was everywhere.
Leah took out his shirts and suits, organizing and ironing them one by one before hanging them back up. Then, she walked to the living room and grabbed a bottle of wine that was already open.
Asher kept a lot of wine here. He’d once discovered that after Leah had a drink, she became more forward in bed. So, they would occasionally drink a little at home to spice things up.
She couldn’t sleep, so she just sat there, drinking slowly by herself. She could usually finish a whole bottle without getting drunk, but after just half of this one, her head was already starting to feel fuzzy. ’Alcohol really is a good thing,’ she thought. ’At least it can make me sleep.’
She had found a place a couple of days ago. The moment she decided to resign, Leah had called Sheila Hughes to ask if her company was hiring.
Sheila’s hometown was in Transterra, out west, and her company happened to be starting a new project there. She asked Leah if she wanted to come check it out. Leah thought it was a good idea; she planned to visit Grandma Sinclair in Stonecreek first, then come back to officially resign before moving to Transterra.
She didn’t want to leave herself any room to turn back. Besides, Transterra was so far away that Morgan Sterling probably wouldn’t keep pestering her.
In the end, she found a short-term rental for a week. She couldn’t leave right away; there were still a few things to hand over at work.
On moving day, Leah took one last look back at the apartment.
"Asher, goodbye."
In the short-term rental, Leah tidied up a bit before lying down on the bed, only to find she still couldn’t sleep. The mattress was too hard, the room too small; she could barely turn over.
She laughed at herself. It was easy to get used to luxury, but so hard to return to a simple life. Since sleep was impossible, she finally got up and went to Azure Bay. Only after arriving did Leah realize her rental was surprisingly close—just a ten-minute walk.
Eve was surprised to see her. "Leah! What brings you here today? Where’s Young Master Keating?"
"He’s... on a business trip."
Leah forced a smile. "Eve, you got any liquor?"
"You silly girl. What kind of place do you think this is? Of course we have liquor."
Eve led her to the bar. "What are you having? Order whatever you want, just as long as you don’t bankrupt me."
Leah smiled and picked a bottle of Bacardi. Eve waved the bartender over, telling him to bring the bottle, some ice, and some juice. Leah added a little ice to her glass and started sipping slowly.
Eve could tell something was off. "What’s wrong?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "Did you and Young Master Keating have a fight?"
"No... We’re over."
"Huh?"
Eve was stunned for a moment, but she quickly recovered. This was normal for these wealthy young men. The fact that Asher Keating had kept Leah for this long was already a miracle.
She let out a long sigh. "So, what are your plans now?"
"Haven’t decided yet. I’m just going to rest for a few days. I’m exhausted."
Leah pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one, and then offered the pack to Eve with a smile. "Want one? I swiped them from him."
"Tsk, what’s there to swipe? You’ve been with him this long. What’s one pack of cigarettes?"
Eve rolled her eyes, took a cigarette, and lit it. "But Leah, when did you start smoking?"
"I don’t, really. Just been stressed these past few days. I was rushing to meet a deadline, and I survived on coffee and these."
Leah took a slow drag from her cigarette. It was a half-finished pack Asher had left behind. She’d smoked two while she was drawing, and on some strange impulse, she had taken the pack with her when she left.
As they were talking, a bartender came over to Eve and told her someone in one of the back rooms was looking for her.
"Go on, Eve, I’ll be fine by myself for a while."
"All right, I’ll go take care of that. Be careful, and don’t drink too much." Eve patted her on the shoulder and said a few more words to the bartender.
Leah sat alone at the bar, sipping her drink. After getting a little more than halfway through the bottle, she decided it was enough. She could probably go home and get to sleep now.
She stood up and told the bartender, "Can you hold onto this for me? I’ll be back tomorrow. Please let Eve know."