The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

The Cole Group.

Zachary pushed open the office door. Nathaniel Cole was already at his desk, having signed all of the day’s documents.

It was only eight in the morning.

"President Cole, the people from the R&D center are here."

Nathaniel Cole stopped writing and looked up. "A quick ten-minute meeting."

After a brisk, ten-minute briefing, the meeting ended. Nathaniel Cole announced, "You have half an hour for breakfast. We’ll meet downstairs at the west entrance at 8:50."

Everyone got up and left.

Nathaniel Cole looked at Zachary. "Did you bring the thing I reminded you about?"

Zachary patted his briefcase. "I brought it."

"Make twenty copies and have them all bound." Nathaniel Cole’s expression was serious, a glint in his eyes.

Zachary immediately went to do it. Since there were so many documents, he asked Secretary Gwen and Caine to help him organize and bind them.

Caine picked one up and frowned. "Is President Cole planning to paper the streets with these?"

Zachary just smiled.

He couldn’t imagine that scene, but he could easily picture President Cole dropping the files in front of the bid evaluation committee, the picture of someone with the situation completely under control.

Secretary Gwen, on the other hand, muttered as she worked, "That damn scumbag. Today, he’s going to find out what it feels like to be brought down by the other woman."

"Zachary, can we really not come with you?"

Zachary gave her a helpless look. "You can still watch the drama unfold from here. Besides, I’m going with President Cole, and we can’t leave the office completely empty."

Secretary Gwen sighed, "Fine."

She slammed the stapler down with a forceful CLICK-CLACK. Caine reminded her, "Easy there, don’t break it. These documents are going to eliminate our biggest rival."

"I know," Secretary Gwen said. "Does Jennings know about this?"

Caine shrugged slightly. "I don’t know."

Both of their expressions turned melancholic.

Zachary had to step in. "Miss Jennings knows. And you shouldn’t call her Jennings anymore. It’s better to call her Miss Jennings."

Secretary Gwen asked, "Why?"

Caine answered first, "It’ll make President Cole happy."

"Exactly." Zachary stacked the twenty sets of documents. They wouldn’t fit in his briefcase, so he had to find an inconspicuous plastic bag, stuff them all inside, and tie it shut.

8:50 AM.

Nathaniel Cole’s car departed from the west entrance of Cole Tower and arrived at the first floor of the Bidding Center at 9:20.

...

「No. 9 Norsen.」

Leila Jennings finished washing up and applied some light makeup. She picked up a pair of colored contacts, the prescription label still on the package.

She followed a tutorial to put them in, let her eyes adjust for a moment, and then went to put on the outfit Mr. Duncan had prepared for her.

A black mock-neck base layer, a calf-length brown leather skirt, and the skirt even had a pocket.

A thin black leather belt cinched her waist, and she wore black, square-toed ankle boots with a chunky heel.

The heel wasn’t high. Leila Jennings paced back and forth a couple of times without any discomfort, then took out her phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Mr. Duncan.

Butler Duncan reminded her that although it was sunny, the temperature was still low, so she absolutely must not forget to wear a jacket.

Leila glanced at the brown blazer draped over the side of her bed. It felt comfortable and thick to the touch.

Fully dressed, Leila Jennings headed out. The research institute’s car was already at the main gate. The driver was Mr. Chandler, who had been responsible for shuttling her between The Cole Group and the institute for the past four years.

"Mr. Chandler, good morning."

"Good morning, Dr. Jennings."

Today, it wasn’t just Mr. Chandler. There were also two bodyguards, a man and a woman, flanking her on either side.

"Dr. Jennings, should we get breakfast at the institute, or should I grab something on the go?" Mr. Chandler turned back. "I suggest we buy something from a random place on the street. That way, there won’t be any issues."

Leila wasn’t as calm as she appeared. Ever since her internal clock woke her up, she had been pondering what to pay attention to and what to say at today’s event, so she hadn’t made herself breakfast.

She nodded. "Yes, let’s get four servings from a street vendor, one for each of us."

Mr. Chandler made a mental note, stopped the car along the way, and bought four simple breakfasts.

Leila put her phone in the leather skirt’s pocket and took her breakfast. "Mr. Chandler, remember to file for reimbursement."

"Dr. Jennings, you’ve mentioned it every single time for the past four years. I won’t forget." Mr. Chandler chuckled, took a couple of bites of a fried dough stick, and drove toward the Bidding Center.

They arrived at nine o’clock.

Leila got out of the car, flanked by her bodyguards. She first took the elevator to find Professor Cheney. All the top leaders from the institute were there, including, of course, Mr. Jacobs.

Sarah Lynch, needing to avoid a conflict of interest, wasn’t with Mr. Jacobs. Instead, she was in a small conference room next door with all the members of the project team.

Leila greeted each of the leaders one by one. Their gazes were filled with admiration, and even Mr. Jacobs offered his congratulations.

"Chief Engineer Jennings, it hasn’t been easy for you to get to this day."

"Thank you, Mr. Jacobs." Leila responded politely, then turned to the other leaders. "I’m not part of the evaluation committee, so I’ll head next door."

Everyone nodded.

As Leila left, Professor Cheney followed her out. "The monitor in the small conference room next door is connected to this one," he said. "You’ll be able to see every company’s presentation, and we’ll be streaming the live feed to you. You all need to listen carefully and discuss it to reach a conclusion. We’ll still ask for your opinion in the end."

"I know." Leila nodded and glanced at the door to the small conference room. "Is Sarah Lynch here?"

"She’s here. Downstairs."

"Downstairs?" Leila was a little confused; she hadn’t seen her on the way up.

Professor Cheney said meaningfully, "Probably waiting for someone."

As for who she was waiting for? It was self-evident.

Leila’s eyes lowered. Professor Cheney couldn’t tell what she was thinking, so he reminded her, "You can’t let your personal feelings get in the way today. The project’s interests must come first."

Leila understood what Professor Cheney meant.

To put it bluntly, it meant she couldn’t deny the capabilities of Stellaxis Technologies just because of her scumbag ex-husband, nor could she favor The Cole Group just because she had worked there for a while and not give other companies a fair chance.

Leila understood it all.

"I won’t let my emotions cloud my judgment."

"Good." Professor Cheney looked at her seriously, then his expression softened into a gratified smile. He reached out and patted her shoulder. "Mr. Jacobs was right, it really hasn’t been easy. Thorne would be proud of you. We’re all proud of you."

A small smile played on Leila’s lips.

She pushed open the door and went in. Chloe was the first to stand up, calling out, "Senior!"

The others also rose to their feet one after another. "Chief Engineer Jennings."

"Please, sit. Have you all had breakfast?" Leila pulled out a chair and sat down. Everyone turned to look at her, their eyes shining with fervent excitement.

"No matter how excited you are, you still need to eat on time. An army marches on its stomach, after all." Leila was about to order breakfast for everyone when she patted her pocket and realized her phone was gone.

She froze for only a brief moment, recalling her journey from home. She remembered putting her phone in her pocket partway through and hadn’t been anywhere else.

’It probably fell out in the car.’

If it had fallen out after she got out of the car, it would have made a sound, and the bodyguards would have noticed. It must have slipped out silently inside the car for no one to have seen it.

"You all stay seated, I’m just going to run downstairs." Leila stood up and had Chloe call Mr. Chandler. Luckily, he hadn’t gone far and drove the car back to the front of the building.

The bodyguards followed Leila all the way down. As she reached the entrance, she saw Sarah Lynch sitting on a sofa, just as she’d expected.

Sarah Lynch was staring down at her phone, her two thumbs flying across the screen. She was probably texting Sean Sinclair.

Leila walked past her nonchalantly. The bodyguards happened to block Sarah’s view, so when Sarah looked up toward the entrance, she didn’t see Leila at all.

Mr. Chandler’s car was already parked at the entrance. He was about to get out to look for the phone, but Leila told him not to bother. She leaned into the car herself and felt around under the seat, where she found her phone.

At the same time, a Bentley pulled up behind Mr. Chandler’s car.

At first, Leila didn’t recognize it as Sean Sinclair’s car. It was only when she saw the familiar license plate that she remembered his old car had been wrecked by Nathaniel Cole, and he’d gotten a new one.

’What rotten luck.’

’Running into him at a time like this.’

Leila watched as Sean Sinclair, dressed impeccably in a suit, stepped out of the car. He was accompanied by Assistant Quinn and a young man she had never seen before.

Sean didn’t notice her. His gaze was fixed on the building before them, and she had no desire to be noticed by him either.

But the young man’s eyes were fixed on her, and they didn’t move away.

"Mr. Forrester?" Sean Sinclair turned to Liam Forrester and found him staring blankly at something, his eyes wide and sparkling with a faint light.

He had been young once, too. He knew exactly what that look meant.

’Love at first sight.’

’Who did Mr. Forrester see?’

Puzzled, Sean followed his gaze.

It was Leila Jennings.

A Leila he had never seen before.

Her features were as perfect as a painting, her expression cool and aloof. Her outfit was sharp and sophisticated. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, and her amber pupils shone like brilliant gems in the sunlight.

A gust of wind blew past, and Leila raised a hand to tuck away a few stray strands of hair.

Their eyes met.

Sean froze as well. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, staring blankly at Leila.

She wasn’t just elegantly beautiful like at the gala; she radiated an air of sharp competence and intellect.

No matter which side of her it was, it was a Leila he had never seen.

He didn’t know if it was because he’d been too busy lately and hadn’t seen her much, but he felt that Leila had changed a great deal.

She was getting more and more beautiful, and the way she looked at him was getting more and more... cold.

Sean frowned slightly. He wanted to ask why she was here, dressed like this. Hadn’t she already resigned from The Cole Group?

But someone beat him to it.

"Sean, you head inside first. I have something to take care of." Liam Forrester walked straight toward Leila. The young master’s cheeks were slightly flushed, but before he could even speak, a bodyguard stepped forward and blocked his path.

Seeing that she had bodyguards, the young master assumed she was the daughter of some major corporation, here for the same reason as him, and immediately tried to get friendly.

"Are you also here for the bid? Hi, my name is Liam Forrester. What’s your name?"

The young master’s eyes were sparkling.

Unsure of his intentions, Leila gave a slight nod and replied, "Leila Jennings."

’What a cool, aloof beauty!’

’I like her!’

This was exactly the young master’s type. His face grew even redder.

"Can I get your contact information?"

"Mr. Forrester." Sean walked over, his face dark. But since this was the Crown Prince of the Forrester family, he had no choice but to force a smile.

"Leila, what are you doing here?" Sean looked at the man and woman standing in front of her. "Who are they?"

Liam Forrester was surprised. "Sean, you two know each other?"

Sean nodded. He was just about to say that Leila was his wife when a voice suddenly called out.

"Sean!"

Sarah Lynch walked out. She froze when she saw Leila and Sean standing together.

’On such an important occasion, how could Sean bring Leila here?’