I'm Afraid I Won't Be Able to Leave

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Was It Necessary?

"Third Master Keating,"

Leah Sinclair murmured, standing frozen by the door and watching the car recede into the distance.

Mason Grant saw it too. A sharp ache pierced his heart as he looked at Leah’s devastated expression.

"Sis, should I give Third Master Keating a call? He’s the one who... texted me just now. He said you were lost, so I came out to find you."

Leah turned to look at him. After a long moment, she slowly closed her eyes, her thick lashes brushing her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice held a barely perceptible tremble. "Don’t. Getting to see him, just for a moment... that was enough."

Mason placed her shoes by her feet. "Sis, even if you go abroad, you and Third Master Keating can still be together. Why do you have to... let things get like this?"

Leah silently slipped her shoes back on. Her feet were aching, so Mason helped steady her. Just when he thought she wasn’t going to answer, Leah said softly, "It’s not the same."

Mason didn’t understand what she meant, and he didn’t know what to say to comfort her, so he simply walked her back in silence.

When they returned, Liam Peyton was still waiting at the entrance to the banquet hall. Seeing them, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Everything all right?"

"It was nothing, Wynn. Just a minor issue," Mason said quickly.

"My apologies, Mr. Peyton," Leah said, her voice listless.

Liam Peyton glanced at her and smiled. "Not at all. Second Miss Grant is... quite spontaneous."

Leah thought back to how she had just flung off her shoes and felt a little embarrassed.

For the rest of the party, Leah forced herself to stay cheerful, a polite smile fixed on her face. No one noticed the hint of moisture in the corners of her eyes whenever she lowered her gaze.

After the banquet, Leah had planned to go for drinks with Ethan Shaw and Shawn Grant, but after what had happened, she changed her mind and declined.

Sheila Hughes was worried about Leah, so she took her back to her hotel room. Leah was leaving the next day, and Sheila wanted to spend a little more time with her.

Once inside the room, Leah kicked off her high heels and sank onto the rug by the bed, hugging her knees and staring blankly into space.

"Leah, come on. Don’t say a word. Just drink," Sheila said, producing a pack of beer from somewhere.

Leah grabbed a can and chugged half of it. She sniffled, then said softly, "I just... I saw Third Master Keating."

"What? Third Master Keating is here?" Sheila nearly choked on her drink, staring at Leah in disbelief.

"Yeah. He was here, but he didn’t come to see me."

"...Then why didn’t you call out to him?"

"I didn’t dare. If I had called out, I wouldn’t be able to leave tomorrow."

Leah finished the rest of the can in another long swallow. Maybe because she drank it too fast, her vision suddenly blurred, and she could no longer see Sheila clearly.

Watching her, Sheila’s heart ached with a bitter pang, and her own eyes began to redden. "Seriously, why do you have to do this? Huh? Why do you two have to put yourselves through this?"

Leah continued to drink in silence. The two of them went on like that, can after can. After who knows how long, Leah finally spoke softly, "I want to be his armor, not just his weakness."

Sheila stared at her for a long moment before finally sighing and pulling her into an embrace. "Leah, if you want to cry, just cry."

"I don’t want to cry. I just wanted to see him, and I did... That’s good. It’s really good."

Leah’s voice was hauntingly soft, sounding especially forlorn in the quiet room. The two of them sat there on the rug, leaning against each other and gazing out at the city lights beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In the next room, Sean Yates finished booking the tickets and looked up at Asher Keating. "Sir, they’re booked. The earliest flight back to Riverfall tomorrow, right after Miss Sin... after Second Miss Grant’s plane takes off."

"Mm."

Sean Yates watched Asher Keating’s silhouette as he smoked and sighed inwardly. Just when he’d thought his boss really wasn’t going to come, Asher had him buy plane tickets anyway. They had rushed, barely making it to the banquet hall a little after six, just in time to see Leah descending from the second floor.

In that moment, Sean was captivated by Leah’s elegance. He glanced at Asher Keating beside him, who stood with his lips pressed into a thin line, and felt a pang of sadness for him.

Asher Keating had been cold and distant for the past few days, speaking even less than usual. But the moment he saw Leah, a profound tenderness softened his gaze, as if the weariness from his hurried journey had melted away.

Asher Keating smoked in silence, gazing out the window at the Kingsford skyline.

He didn’t know how much self-control it had taken to stop himself from stepping out of the shadows and taking her hand when he saw her looking so lost and helpless. If that Peyton fellow hadn’t shown up a second later, Asher might have revealed himself.

After Leah left with that man, Asher stood watching her retreating figure for a long time before finally turning away. He didn’t know why he had come. He just had.

Perhaps it was just as he’d told himself: he only wanted to see her off. A single glimpse was enough.

Leah and Asher, separated by nothing more than a single wall, were completely unaware of how close the other was.

They were both looking out at the same city skyline, a forest of skyscrapers that glittered with countless lights, turning the dead of night into a perpetual twilight.

This was a city that never slept.

Leah didn’t return to the Grant estate that night, only heading back early the next morning. Everything had already been packed, so her departure wasn’t rushed.

Sheila Hughes went with Mabel Grant and Brandon Jacobs to see Leah and Mason off at the airport. After their flight departed, Sheila planned to wait for Ethan Shaw and the others so they could all fly back to Riverfall together.

Ethan Shaw and the others were supposed to be there for the send-off too, but Shawn Grant had dragged them out the previous night to experience Kingsford’s famous nightlife. They had partied a little too hard and still hadn’t woken up.

"Leah, text me when you land, okay? You have to take care of yourself over there. And if it’s too much, just come home. The Grant family is powerful and wealthy; we can take care of you," Sheila said, clutching Leah’s hand as tears streamed down her face.

"Don’t worry. If I could get through my freshman year, I can get through this. It can’t be worse than it was back then, right?" Leah smiled, reaching up to wipe away Sheila’s tears.

"Mason, take good care of your sister," Brandon Jacobs said, patting his shoulder.

"Don’t worry, Dad! I won’t let anyone bully her."

"We’re leaving."

Leah looked at the small group in front of her. Mabel Grant had been quiet today, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Leah’s own eyes started to water. After one last look at their faces, she turned and followed Mason through the security gate.

As Leah’s figure was about to disappear through the gate, Sheila tearfully shouted after her, "Leah! You have to come back! The food in Eldoria can’t possibly be as good as ours!"

"I know! I’ll be back! Wait for me!" Leah stopped but didn’t turn around, simply raising her hand in a wave.

Only after Leah and Mason’s figures had vanished and Sheila’s group had dispersed did Sean Yates speak up. "Sir, it’s almost time for us to board."

"Let’s go."

Asher Keating closed his eyes, then turned and walked toward the domestic departures gate. Sean Yates cast one last look toward international departures, sighed, and wheeled the luggage cart after him.

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