Chapter 272: Morgan Sterling Escaped

“Sir!”

Sean Yates’s panicked voice shattered the silence of the conference room. He was in such a hurry he didn’t even use the proper address. Everyone in the room turned to look at the man who had just thrown the door open. He was panting heavily, his face etched with anxiety.

Asher Keating’s heart lurched. Frowning, he looked up. Sean Yates ignored everyone else, hurried to his side, and whispered in his ear, “We just got word. Morgan Sterling escaped. The officers escorting him… they’re all… dead.”

The color drained from Asher Keating’s face. Before he could speak, his phone started vibrating. It was Ethan Shaw. A tremor of unease went through him.

“Asher! Morgan Sterling kidnapped Leah! Sheila is seriously injured! You have to get here, fast!” Ethan Shaw’s voice on the other end of the line was on the verge of breaking.

Asher Keating shot to his feet. “Are you sure it was Morgan Sterling?” he asked as he started walking.

“I… I’m sure. Sheila said it was him before she passed out. Asher, I… I…”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m… We’re in the ambulance. On the way to… to the People’s Hospital.”

Ethan Shaw was so choked with sobs he could barely speak, his eyes bloodshot. His clothes and hands were covered in Sheila Hughes’s blood. He never could have imagined that turning into the gate of Leah Sinclair’s apartment complex would mean witnessing such a scene.

Before Ethan arrived, Leah Sinclair had just finished her dress fitting and was driving back with Sheila Hughes. They had plans to eat hot pot at Asher Keating’s house today. Just as their car reached the base of her apartment building, a black, heavy-duty truck suddenly shot out from the side. Leah couldn’t swerve in time and crashed directly into a nearby wall.

Leah was driving, with Sheila in the passenger seat. The deployed airbags left them both dizzy and disoriented, and the front windshield was completely shattered.

Before they could recover, two men got out of the black truck, opened Leah’s door, and dragged her out of the car. Sheila, who had regained some of her senses, propped up her groggy body and tried to stop them as they pulled Leah into their vehicle. One of the men stabbed her twice, and she collapsed to the ground.

When Ethan Shaw’s car turned the corner, all he saw was Sheila Hughes’s collapsing form, Leah being dragged into the truck, and the black vehicle speeding away. He scrambled out and sprinted toward Sheila like a man possessed.

Sheila Hughes was bleeding profusely. She gripped his clothes tightly. “It’s… Morgan… Morgan Sterling. Save… go save… Leah.”

After hanging up, Asher Keating forced himself to calm down and rapidly issued orders. “Send someone to the People’s Hospital to stay with Ethan Shaw. Pull the surveillance footage and track Morgan Sterling’s route. Notify Shawn Grant and the others. Now!”

“Yes, sir!”

Edward Yates immediately began carrying out the orders. Asher Keating took a deep breath and dialed Mabel Grant’s number. The moment she answered, she nearly fainted. After hanging up, she immediately notified Brandon Jacobs. The two of them quickly arranged for a private jet straight to Riverfall.

As Asher Keating was speeding away from his company, his phone rang. He glanced at it with extreme irritation—a spoofed number. He slammed on the brakes, answered, and bit out the name through clenched teeth.

“Morgan! Sterling!”

“Heh heh. Not bad, Third Brother. Knew it was me, did you?”

“What have you done to Leah?”

“I haven’t done anything. You know I’ve always liked her. What could I possibly do to her?”

Asher Keating’s hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. His voice was bone-chilling. “Morgan Sterling! You’re a complete psychopath! Leah is your cousin!”

After a two-second pause, Morgan Sterling’s mocking tone came through the phone. “Tsk. Third Brother, I suggest you watch your tone. After all, little Leah is in my hands right now.”

Asher Keating forced his voice to remain calm. He put the phone on speaker, then immediately grabbed another phone and a map of Riverfall City from the glove compartment. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Heh. What do I want?”

Morgan Sterling sneered. “Third Brother, what could you possibly have to give me now?”

“Money. A new, legitimate identity.”

“Not enough.”

“What else do you want?”

“Your life!”

“It’s yours. Let Leah go!”

Asher Keating agreed so quickly that Morgan Sterling was clearly taken aback. He hadn’t expected him to agree without a moment’s hesitation. The other end of the line fell silent.

“Heh…”

After a long moment, Morgan Sterling let out a soft chuckle. The sound was like something scraping across a metal sheet—unbearably grating. The hand Asher was using to hold the map involuntarily crumpled a corner of it.

“I had no idea you’d go this far for Leah. But, Third Brother, more than seeing you dead, I’d rather see you suffer. You can spend the rest of your life never even dreaming of seeing Leah Sinclair again. Hahaha.”

With that, Morgan Sterling hung up, giving Asher Keating no chance to respond.

“Fuck!”

Asher Keating slammed his fist on the steering wheel, but he had to force himself to calm down. He listened to the recording of the call again and again.

‘In the recording, there’s the sound of wind, and some other noises he couldn’t quite make out. Did that mean Morgan Sterling was outdoors?’

Abandoning the car, Asher Keating ran back into his company building. He quickly connected the phone, cranked the audio to maximum volume, and tried to steady his nerves. Closing his eyes, he let the recording play over and over, the sounds filling the otherwise silent office.

After hanging up, Morgan Sterling lit a cigarette and walked back to Leah Sinclair. She was awake by now, her hands and feet bound. Several bloody scratches marred her face and neck—cuts from the shattered windshield when the car had crashed.

She stared intently at Morgan, inching her body backward. Morgan chuckled and sat down in a chair beside her, looking completely at ease. “Leah. Long time no see.”

Leah pressed her lips together. “You know, if you’re caught, you’ll get the death penalty for this.”

“Heh heh. What’s the difference? This time, the Grant family, the Peyton family, and the Keating family all ganged up on me. Weren’t you trying to have me killed anyway?” Morgan Sterling sneered.

“How… how did you escape?” Leah was baffled. ‘Wasn’t he supposed to be in prison?’

“Leah, there’s an old saying: money talks.”

Morgan Sterling casually blew a smoke ring. From the moment he found out he wasn’t a true member of the Sterling family, he had been planning, just in case his identity was one day exposed.

So, when he got his hands on Thomas Sterling’s private seal, he had already laundered a huge sum of money in batches through underground banks.

Back then, he’d laundered the money just to give himself a safety net. He never thought it would end up being the very thing that saved his life this time.

When he was taken away, the look he gave Hugh Sterling wasn’t just to tell him to contact the officials he had spent a fortune bribing; it was also a signal to get the money and put it to work.

Hugh Sterling understood his intentions perfectly. Morgan had spent nearly a full year abroad, during which time he had gotten to know several mercenaries. This time, it was Hugh who had contacted them and paid them to do the job.