Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Mabel Grant’s Past
Back then, countless men wanted to marry into the Grant Family. You could say that almost everyone, whether Leah Sinclair recognized their names or not, had pursued Mabel Grant, hoping to win her favor.
The only ones who didn’t pursue her were probably Theodore Keating and Tobias Sterling. Theodore didn’t because he was in love with Asher Keating’s mother, Ruth Hughes, at the time.
Mabel Grant, however, had been proud and held herself to incredibly high standards since childhood. As far as she was concerned, none of her suitors were worthy of her attention. Yet, for some unknown reason, she set her sights on the second son of the Sterling Family, Tobias Sterling.
Despite a name that suggested a martial spirit, Tobias Sterling was a gentle, refined, and even coolly detached man. He didn’t fawn over Mabel Grant like all the other men.
For whatever reason—perhaps because he was so different from the men who constantly pursued her, or perhaps something else entirely—Mabel Grant began to take the initiative and approach Tobias Sterling.
However, Tobias Sterling didn’t seem to enjoy her company. But the more he pushed her away, the more Mabel Grant wanted to get close to him. And the closer she got, the more she realized she was genuinely falling for him. After all, despite his aloofness, Tobias was exceptional in every way, from his looks to his intellect.
After Tobias Sterling rejected Mabel Grant yet again, she was heartbroken and went to drink her sorrows away alone. She was targeted by some thugs, and in that dark alley, a despairing Mabel Grant thought it was all over for her.
But just then, Tobias Sterling appeared. One against three, he fought like a man possessed, beating the thugs until they couldn’t even lift a hand to defend themselves. Only then did Mabel Grant realize that Tobias had been secretly following her the entire time.
The truth was, it wasn’t that Tobias Sterling disliked Mabel Grant. Back then, it was impossible not to like a woman like her. While she could be proud, she never lorded her status over others without cause. In fact, she was very kind at heart.
Ruth Hughes came from a modest background, and many people looked down on her. It was Mabel Grant who first brought her into their social circle. But Tobias Sterling knew that Thomas Sterling would be the one to eventually take control of the family, which was why he kept his feelings suppressed.
After surviving that terrifying ordeal together that night, they could no longer contain their feelings for one another. They became intimate, and from that point on, they began seeing each other in secret, hidden from their families.
Just as they had finally worked up the courage to tell their families, the Sterlings and the Grants announced a marriage alliance. The couple to be wed... was Thomas Sterling and Mabel Grant.
When Mabel Grant found out, she caused a huge uproar at home, insisting that she wanted to marry Tobias Sterling. The Grant Family refused, but Mabel was incredibly strong-willed.
She threatened to kill herself if they made her marry Thomas Sterling, adding that she had already been intimate with Tobias. Furious, the old Mr. Grant locked her in the house and refused to let her leave.
Meanwhile, Tobias was punished by the Sterling family and then confined to the house. The truth was, he and Thomas weren’t full brothers. Tobias was the old Mr. Sterling’s illegitimate son from an affair, only acknowledged by the family later in life. This was the most significant reason he had always suppressed his feelings.
After much deliberation, Tobias decided he didn’t want Mabel to be estranged from her family because of him, so he chose to break up with her. He said cruel things to her when he ended it, leaving her utterly heartbroken. Despondent, she gave in and accepted her family’s arrangement.
But fate is fickle. Who would have guessed that Thomas Sterling would be ensnared in a scheme by Jacqueline Vaughn? The Sterlings wanted to hush the whole thing up, but Jacqueline went straight to Mabel Grant to gloat about it.
Deep down, the old Mr. and Mrs. Grant truly doted on their daughter, so they seized the opportunity to call off the engagement.
To spare Mabel further trouble, Tobias had already gone abroad alone and was unaware that the engagement had been cancelled. In her search for him, Mabel never married, traveling from country to country trying to find him.
It took a full three years for Mabel to find Tobias, by which time the old Mr. Grant had also relented. Just when they thought they could finally be together, Tobias returned to the country and was immediately beset by a series of "accidents."
Tobias knew Thomas Sterling was behind it. Despite being extremely cautious and taking precautions, he was ultimately killed when Mabel was five months pregnant.
Mabel had kept her pregnancy a secret from her family, but the old Mrs. Grant eventually found out. The very day Mabel gave birth to Leah Sinclair, her mother took the baby away.
Leah hadn’t wanted to listen at first, but she found herself completely captivated by Brandon Jacobs’s story. A history that had been buried for over two decades was now being unearthed. Leah was lost in the tale, her heart aching for her parents’ love story—happy for their moments together, sad for their struggles, regretful of their fate, and pained by their tragedy.
"So, Leah, don’t blame your mother. She just... doesn’t want you to go through what she did."
"In the Keating Family, it’s true that Aaron Keating isn’t particularly capable. The eldest son, Alan Keating, is Asher Keating’s greatest rival. If Asher can’t secure his position as the head of the Keating Family, your mother would never feel secure leaving you with him."
Brandon Jacobs looked at Leah’s quiet form and sighed softly. "Mabel said she was going to move against the Keating Family, but she only wanted to pull you out of this maelstrom temporarily. You were gone for over twenty years. She can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt again."
"The situation within the Keating Family is uncertain right now. She just... doesn’t want you to get entangled in it. She won’t actually move against the Keatings. In fact, when the time comes, she will help Third Master Keating."
Leah Sinclair was no fool. Thinking it over, she began to understand the intricacies of the situation. She realized that once her identity was made public, both the Sterling and Keating families would undoubtedly make their moves.
And she had agreed to come back with Mabel Grant for another reason: she didn’t want to become a vulnerability that could be used to tie Asher Keating’s hands.
Morgan Sterling had made so many advances on her before. He was her cousin now, so he probably wasn’t depraved enough to continue.
But she still had half the Sterling family’s blood in her veins. She couldn’t be sure how the Sterlings would treat her, and as long as she remained in Riverfall, Asher Keating couldn’t dedicate himself fully to his goals.
Leah was silent for a long time, then looked up at Brandon Jacobs. "So, Uncle Jacobs, what about you? What is your role in all of this?"
"What do you mean?" Brandon Jacobs frowned slightly.
"My mother told me you were her classmate in college. Even with everything going on between my parents back then, you followed her abroad and were even willing to marry into the Grant Family. That’s a remarkable devotion."
Leah’s tone grew colder. "But if my mother’s feelings for my father were so deep, how could she marry you two years after she thought I had died, and then give birth to Mason three years later?"
"These past few days in Riverfall, you only appeared on the first day for the old Mr. Keating’s birthday banquet. You were also there at the end, that morning we went to the Sterling estate. Other than that, you’ve barely shown your face to any of them."
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