The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Sarah Lynch felt like she had just heard the biggest joke of her life.

She sat in her chair, chin held high, and looked Leila Jennings up and down.

"They say clothes make the man and golden robes make a Buddha, but just putting on the robes doesn’t make you one, Leila."

’If Leila actually had this kind of ability, would she really have been at home washing clothes and cooking for Sean every day?’

"You just happen to have the same name. You’re not the same person. Don’t delude yourself," Sarah Lynch added, not bothering to get up from her seat.

Leila Jennings glanced at the bodyguards.

The bodyguards moved to either side of Sarah Lynch and, in front of everyone, hauled her to her feet.

Sarah Lynch roared, "What are you doing?!"

Leila pushed aside the chair Sarah had been sitting in. Chloe immediately wheeled a new swivel chair over, calling out, "Leila."

Sarah Lynch’s head snapped toward Chloe.

Leila sat down, and the others also greeted her. "Chief Engineer Jennings, you’re here."

Leila nodded. "The breakfast I ordered for you all will be here soon. It’s a bit late, I know. You can have a few bites now and wait for lunch."

Sarah Lynch stood to the side, completely dumbfounded.

The bodyguards released her and took up positions on either side of Leila.

Leila looked up at her, replying to her earlier words. "Ms. Lynch, you’re the one who shouldn’t be deluding herself."

The bidding had already begun.

Leila glanced at an empty seat. "Ms. Lynch, please, sit."

Her posture was one of complete authority.

Sarah Lynch remained frozen, staring at Leila in disbelief. When she first heard the name Leila Jennings, she’d had her doubts. After all, it was too much of a coincidence—the same name in the same city.

But the Leila Jennings by Sean Sinclair’s side was nothing like a powerful chief engineer.

She was so drab and unremarkable.

And The Sinclair Family had constantly belittled her, making it all sound so convincing, claiming she was just a minor administrator at The Cole Group making a paltry four thousand a month.

Later, Leila did indeed work at The Cole Group. Even after becoming Nathaniel Cole’s secretary, she lasted less than a month.

How could she possibly be the person in charge of the self-developed chip project?

Sarah Lynch felt her mind buzzing, as if her brain was at war with itself. One part insisted everyone was ganging up to deceive her; the other argued that no one had time for such nonsense right now.

Leila sat in her seat, perfectly calm and composed.

The breakfast she’d bought arrived. She had the bodyguards bring it in and distribute it. There was a portion for everyone, including Sarah Lynch, naturally.

Sarah stared at the hot breakfast on the table, her chest heaving slightly. She still couldn’t believe it.

"What proof do you have that you’re Chief Engineer Jennings?"

"The fact that I’m sitting here is proof enough," Leila replied.

"Ms. Lynch, Chief Engineer Jennings is Chief Engineer Jennings. Who else could she be?" someone spoke up. "We all know the Chief Engineer. It’s just that Ms. Lynch only joined when the project was nearly finished, so you’ve never met her."

The person’s words were a thinly veiled jab, implying she had gotten her position through connections.

A flash of anger ignited in Sarah Lynch’s eyes.

Chloe said, "If Ms. Lynch doesn’t believe it, you can go ask Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs has called Leila into his office several times."

This person was jabbing at her too.

Everyone knew that every time her grandfather summoned Leila to his office, it was because of her.

Sarah Lynch spun around angrily. She was going to find her grandfather and get confirmation.

"Ms. Lynch, where are you going?" At a look from Leila, the bodyguards stepped forward and blocked Sarah Lynch’s path.

"The bidding has begun. To prevent information leaks, no one is permitted to leave the conference room without authorization," Leila said, looking at her. "Ms. Lynch, would you like to take your seat, or should I have you seated?"

As she finished speaking, the bodyguards at her side cracked their knuckles.

Sarah Lynch had no choice but to sit. She snatched her bag from the chair and slammed it onto the table with a THUD, as if to vent her displeasure.

Leila reminded her again, "Ms. Lynch, please remain quiet."

Sarah Lynch shot Leila a hateful glare, her fingers digging into the strap of her bag, her nails sinking deep into the genuine leather.

Everyone was focused on the presentations from the various company representatives. Only Sarah Lynch was completely distracted.

She now believed that Leila was the Dr. Jennings who had been avoiding her all this time.

An unprecedented sense of crisis washed over her like a tidal wave.

’If Sean finds out how capable Leila actually is, will he find it even harder to let her go?’

’Will The Sinclair Family have a huge change of heart once they learn Leila’s true identity?’

’And at the contract signing ceremony this afternoon, how would she explain the things she’d said in the past?’

Sarah Lynch suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Watching Sean Sinclair stand before the evaluation committee and company representatives, speaking with such eloquence, didn’t bring her much joy.

Listening to her grandfather’s effusive praise for Stellaxis Technologies only filled her heart with dread.

She had no idea if Leila would retaliate against her and Sean.

Sarah Lynch glanced at the composed Leila.

Leila was still holding a pen, discussing each company’s proposal with the other researchers.

Chloe said, "Leila, from what we’ve heard so far, the product Stellaxis Technologies plans to make aligns well with our original intentions."

"Let’s wait and see." Leila looked up. The main conference room had paused for a five-minute break. She said to her team, "You all should take a break, too. Have some water."

Sarah Lynch shot up from her seat, trying to leave again.

The bodyguards were standing right at the door.

"Leila, what is the meaning of this?" Sarah Lynch turned back to look at Leila, who was sipping water.

Leila was the one who was confused.

"Ms. Lynch, did Mr. Jacobs not tell you the rules for the bid-opening meeting? Even during breaks, you are not allowed to leave or use any devices to contact the outside world."

Chloe added, "Ms. Lynch, the documents were sent out a long time ago. Did you perhaps not read them carefully?"

Sarah Lynch’s face turned green with anger.

Never in her life had she been subjected to so many rules.

"Leila, why did you hide this from Sean?" Sarah Lynch strode toward Leila, her tone accusatory.

Leila leaned lightly against the conference table, holding her cup as steam drifted gently upward.

Her voice was just as light. "I signed a non-disclosure agreement. Everyone on the project team signed one. We’re not allowed to say anything, not even a single word, to our families."

"Professor Cheney just told his wife he was busy; he never even mentioned the word ’project.’"

"During the busiest two years, no one on our team could go home. We couldn’t even easily contact people. Several times, our families’ calls were routed to the research institute. Chloe’s parents only stopped asking questions after the local police paid them a visit."

"Ms. Lynch, even though you arrived late, surely you understand what a national-level secret project is, and what a non-disclosure agreement entails, right?"

Sarah Lynch knew Leila was deliberately calling her out for not having respected the NDA. It was her own fault, really. She’d only mentioned a few things to win favor with Sean and The Sinclair Family.

And she’d done it right in front of Leila.

But who would have known that Leila was the project’s chief engineer!

At this moment, Sarah Lynch was forced to suffer the humiliation in silence.

She glared at Leila for a long moment before reminding her, "Leila, don’t you dare harm Sean. For the sake of your... connection, I hope you’ll watch what you say."

She didn’t say the words "husband and wife."

Chloe was still there.

Chloe had been at that party where she had personally told both Chloe and Professor Cheney that she and Sean were getting married.

Sarah Lynch ground her teeth.

Leila thought, ’Even at a time like this, Sarah isn’t worried about herself, but about Sean.’

’Their bond was truly stronger than gold.’

"What kind of bond could there be between him and me?" Now it was Leila’s turn to deny her marriage to Sean Sinclair.

To her, that marriage was nothing but an embarrassing Chapter in her past.

"Wait," Chloe said, looking confused. "Leila, you know President Sinclair from Stellaxis Technologies, too?"

Sarah Lynch was taken aback.

’So Chloe didn’t know?’

She felt her confidence returning. At least for now, no one would be spreading rumors about her getting involved in someone else’s marriage.

Leila looked at Chloe, her voice softening slightly. "Go sit down. We’ll talk about other things later. Now is not the time."

"Oh." Chloe obediently sat down and began whispering with the others, telling them about what happened at the party concerning Ms. Lynch and President Sinclair of Stellaxis.

The others listened with furrowed brows, worried that Ms. Lynch would team up with Mr. Jacobs to ensure the bid went to Stellaxis Technologies.

With the backing of Stellaxis, wouldn’t Ms. Lynch be able to walk all over them even more?

She might even try to walk all over Chief Engineer Jennings!

The break was about to end. Sarah Lynch was still staring at Leila. "Think this through. If Sean loses the bid, what good will that do you?"

"No matter who wins, it’s good for me," Leila said. "The patent is in my name."

The mention of this made Sarah Lynch even angrier.

She knew that patents were intellectual property. If Sean were to divorce Leila, Leila would have to give him half the patent royalties. Would Leila be willing to do that?

’If it were me,’ she thought, ’even if I caught my husband cheating, I would never let another woman profit from it.’

Sarah Lynch nearly choked on her own breath.

If Leila refused to divorce him, she would never have a legitimate status.

And Sean wouldn’t dare to file for divorce; he was the one who had cheated.

Sarah Lynch felt like she had walked into a dead end. Giving up a prize like Sean was impossible, but she was unwilling to remain the nameless third party forever. If her family found out, they would break her legs.

"Leila, so you knew about us all along." The jealousy in Sarah Lynch’s eyes intensified.

Leila retorted, "Knew what about you?"

Sarah Lynch didn’t dare answer.

She couldn’t bring herself to say the word "affair."

The bidding resumed. Sarah Lynch had to sit back down, her mind racing, desperately trying to find a solution that would solve this once and for all.

She racked her brains but came up with nothing.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The Cole Group’s luck wasn’t great; they were chosen to present last.

Nathaniel Cole stood to one side of the screen, his deep, pleasant voice explaining how, if The Cole Group and Lantech Technology won the bid, they would apply the self-developed chip across the military, agricultural, and industrial sectors.

It was a grand vision.

But with The Cole Group’s economic power and political connections, a full-fledged effort could maximize the utilization of this chip.

Nathaniel Cole’s closing statement was particularly powerful.

"The advent of this self-developed chip means we no longer need to over-rely on imported chips. Our goal is to take a substantial step forward on our nation’s path to chip independence. It is the lifelong pursuit of The Cole Group and Lantech to have our products benefit the people, improve their daily lives, and strengthen our nation’s technological prowess in the military, agricultural, and industrial fields."

When he finished, thunderous applause erupted.

A small smile touched Leila’s lips. Nathaniel Cole had truly understood the national purpose behind secretly developing this chip.

The project team members also applauded.

Chloe said, "It’s hard to choose between Stellaxis Technologies and The Cole Group. One has strong industry expertise, the other has immense economic power and a high degree of political awareness. This is tough."

Just as everyone was preparing to get up, Nathaniel Cole spoke again. "If the experts would be so kind as to wait a moment, I have one more set of materials prepared."

Nathaniel Cole looked at Zachary.

Zachary tore open a black plastic folder and distributed twenty copies of the documents to each member of the evaluation committee.