Chapter 70: She Is My Wife
Seeing something was wrong from the car, Chester Hale quickly got out and walked over.
"What is it?" Leah Sinclair asked, frowning. She had a gut feeling that Jack Sinclair wasn’t about to say anything good.
Sure enough, Jack Sinclair looked her up and down, his eyes full of ill intent. "I remember my dad saying that back when you were in college, he offered to pay your tuition if you agreed to be my wife, right? So much time has passed. How come you haven’t come back to be my wife yet?"
"Are you drunk?"
The strong stench of alcohol wafting off him left Leah Sinclair speechless. "Just go home and sleep it off."
"How am I drunk? Are you saying it never happened? Don’t you try to deny it."
Jack Sinclair grabbed Leah Sinclair and refused to let go. He used to look down on her, thinking she was unsophisticated and stubborn, but he never imagined she would become so beautiful after starting college.
’She was so beautiful now he’d almost not recognized her. His family had raised her for so long, and he wasn’t married anyway. Wasn’t it just perfect for Leah Sinclair to be his wife?’
"Jack, you’re drunk." Leah Sinclair frowned, trying to pull her hand back. She had no desire to argue with a drunk.
Chester Hale reached them and pulled Jack Sinclair off her. "Sir, let’s talk this out. No need to get physical."
"And who are you?" Jack Sinclair squinted at Chester Hale.
"Oh... You must be Leah Sinclair’s boyfriend from Riverfall, right? Well, let me tell you, Leah Sinclair is my wife! My family raised her all this time so she could be my bride!"
"Jack! I never agreed to that! I paid for my tuition myself with student loans! Can you at least try to be reasonable? Chester, just ignore him. He’s drunk. Let’s go." Leah Sinclair’s face turned completely cold when she heard this.
"Hey, hey! Leah Sinclair, you’re just an ungrateful wretch! You grew up eating our food and drinking our water! It’s all your fault! If it wasn’t for you, would Grandma be so tired? Would she have gotten that... that cancer? We all told her not to get it treated, but you insisted! And look how well that turned out! She’s a dying woman anyway!" Jack Sinclair bellowed furiously behind them.
Chester Hale’s brow furrowed. Just as he was about to speak, Leah whipped around and marched back in a few quick strides. He could say whatever he liked about her, but she would absolutely not tolerate him speaking about Grandma Sinclair that way.
’All these years, Grandma Sinclair had been nothing but good to her two grandsons, always giving them any little treat she had. But those two, egged on by their mother since they were little, had never shown Grandma Sinclair any respect.’
"Jack Sinclair! You say I grew up eating your family’s food and drinking your water? As I recall, when Grandma wanted to adopt me, your father—my uncle—didn’t want me to be a burden on you all. He went to the village chief and had a document drawn up proving I have absolutely no connection to your family, didn’t he? It was all there in black and white, with your father’s own thumbprint on it!"
"Grandma raised me all by herself these past years! Everything I ate, everything I drank, came from her! Did your family ever give me so much as a sip of water? Grandma’s illness could have been treated, but you all didn’t want to pay for it, so I did! Did I ever ask you for a single cent? To get that money, I... I..."
Leah Sinclair forcefully suppressed the bitter feeling welling up inside her. "I’m warning you! If you dare say one more bad thing about Grandma, I will take her away from here, and you can forget about ever getting another cent from me!"
Jack Sinclair was momentarily stunned by the Leah standing before him. He had just been acting out in a drunken stupor. ’This girl... they used to bully her relentlessly. At first, she would just cry. Then, she stopped crying and started to fight back. A girl against them, she was no match, of course. She was always the one who ended up getting hurt.’
’But when she got vicious, she was truly vicious. She had once bitten a chunk of flesh clean off his hand, and he still had the scar to prove it.’
’That was why, back when she needed money for college tuition and his dad suggested the marriage agreement, he’d been dead set against it. He didn’t want some shrew for a wife.’
"Let’s go," Leah Sinclair said without looking at him again, pulling Chester Hale away.
Jack Sinclair spat viciously on the ground behind them. ’That shrew... who would’ve thought she’d turn out so beautiful. If I’d known, I would have agreed back then. If I had, let’s see if she’d still dare to be so arrogant with me now.’
"I’m sorry you had to see that," Leah Sinclair said in a low voice once they were in the car.
Chester Hale was silent for a moment. "I didn’t know... I never realized your life was so difficult back then. I want to formally apologize for what I said to you before."
"It’s okay. That’s all in the past. I’m doing pretty well now."
Leah Sinclair gave a small smile and looked out the car window. "Even though my relationship with Asher is... what it is, at least he’s never wronged me. That’s good enough."
Chester Hale didn’t know how to comfort her. He was a doctor and had seen countless poor people who couldn’t afford treatment; he thought he’d grown accustomed to such things.
But hearing Leah Sinclair recount her story, word by word, and thinking about everything she’d left unsaid, he still felt an inexplicable weight on his heart.
Leah Sinclair didn’t say much on the way back, and neither did Chester Hale. Music played quietly in the car. All Leah wanted right now was to get back to the home she shared with Asher Keating.
’Even though she couldn’t really call it her home, and Asher wasn’t even there, it still held his presence, which made her feel safe. She really wanted to call Asher Keating, just to hear his voice.’
’But she stopped herself. Before Asher Keating left for his business trip, he had mentioned how important it was. She didn’t want to be a distraction.’
’Leah Sinclair herself didn’t even know when Asher Keating had become so important to her. She suppressed the bitter feeling in her heart and quietly watched the scenery flash by outside the window.’
It was almost five o’clock by the time they got back to Riverfall. Chester Hale was going to drive her home, but he got another call from the hospital. Leah Sinclair insisted he just drop her off at the subway station. Only when she was back in her apartment at Europa Gardens did Leah feel her heart slowly begin to warm up again.
’She knew how hard it had been for Grandma Sinclair to raise her all those years. The reason she had studied so hard to escape a small place like Stonecreek was so she could one day support her grandmother on her own.’
Leah Sinclair crouched in the entryway, hugging herself. "Grandma, please don’t get old so fast. Wait for me. I promise I’ll bring you here to live with me."
She didn’t know how long she crouched there. When she finally stood up, her legs were completely numb. She hadn’t slept well the night before, her head was hurting again, and she went to bed without eating dinner.
But when she woke up, Leah Sinclair felt even worse. Her head throbbed, she seemed to have a low-grade fever, and she felt completely listless.
Mr. Langdon saw she wasn’t well and asked if she wanted to go home and rest. She glanced at the time and said she’d just wait until her shift was over, since it was almost time anyway.
While she was working on some files, Zion Sawyer suddenly gasped, "Oh my god! Is this President Keating?"
Hearing Asher Keating’s name, Leah Sinclair looked up and asked what was going on.
Zion Sawyer quickly wheeled her chair over to her. "This entertainment gossip just popped up. It says Madeline Sterling had a ’passionate night at a hot spring with a handsome man’! Look, look! This has to be President Keating, right? He’s not wearing his glasses and the picture is a little dark, but I’m sure it’s him."