The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

"You’re too young for crushes," Nathaniel Cole said as he got up, bid his parents goodnight, and returned to his room.

Cherry Cole stomped angrily down the stairs.

"Dad! Mom! You need to give me a new brother!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs, making sure her dear brother Nathaniel couldn’t possibly miss it.

Ms. Neville poked her daughter on the forehead. "You’re being ridiculous."

Mr. Cole chimed in, "Exactly. And if we did, it would be a little brother."

Ms. Neville shot her husband a glare. "You’re not helping."

Cherry Cole, furious, thrashed around in her mother’s arms. "I don’t care! I don’t care! I want to trade my brother in!"

...

When Sean Sinclair arrived home, Charles Jordan was busy directing staff from several luxury boutiques as they hung clothes in the closet.

Seeing that President Sinclair’s closet contained only his own clothes and none of his wife’s, Charles Jordan thought, ’President Sinclair finally gets it. He’s finally learning how to pamper his wife.’ He must have gotten rid of her old clothes ahead of time; otherwise, given her frugal nature, she would have just kept wearing them.

"There isn’t enough space here. Hang them in the room next door." This was also one of President Sinclair’s orders: to convert a guest room into a walk-in closet for his wife.

Charles Jordan turned at the sound.

"President Sinclair, we’ve sorted and put away your wife’s clothes and shoes as you requested."

Looking around the crowded apartment, Sean Sinclair suddenly realized that three bedrooms was too small. Leila Jennings really had been roughing it with him.

"I want you to look at some more properties in the next couple of days."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, why is this apartment still in my name? Didn’t I already transfer it to Leila Jennings?" Sean Sinclair asked, looking puzzled.

Charles Jordan looked surprised as well. "Your wife handled the property transfer herself, sir. She didn’t want me involved."

Sean Sinclair frowned. "Tomorrow, I want you to check for any changes to my assets."

He suspected the contract Leila had him sign had to do with his assets; it never even occurred to him that it could be a divorce agreement.

With the mandatory one-month cooling-off period, as long as he didn’t consent, Leila couldn’t divorce him.

If Leila sued for divorce, they would have to divide their assets.

The Leila of today wasn’t the woman they thought they knew. Her future net worth would only continue to climb, possibly even surpassing his. There was no way she would agree to a divorce that involved splitting assets.

Sean Sinclair suddenly felt a wave of relief. The institution of marriage was protecting his marriage to Leila.

He couldn’t imagine Leila divorcing him.

But Leila was furious right now. She refused to see him, and he couldn’t rule out the possibility that she might sue for divorce.

If she sued on the grounds of his infidelity, Leila wouldn’t have to give up any of her assets, while he would be cleaned out completely.

The most important thing now was figuring out how to justify every penny he had spent on Sarah Lynch.

And that became Charles Jordan’s most daunting task in recent memory.

When Charles Jordan was given this assignment, his mind went blank for a good moment before he finally nodded and agreed.

’And to think,’ he mused, ’I used to feel so lucky that my boss was the upright and honorable President Sinclair. I thought I wouldn’t have to clean up personal messes and deal with romantic drama like other executive assistants.’

He had been so naive.

It was an inescapable part of the job.

Charles Jordan took out a Porsche key and handed it to Sean Sinclair. "President Sinclair, your wife’s gift has been delivered."

"Good." Sean Sinclair took the key. ’It may not be a gift to celebrate winning the contract anymore,’ he thought, ’but it can be a peace offering.’

’How could four years of history just shatter in an instant?’

He would fix the rift between them. He had to.

"Charles, get me a few new phone numbers."

Since Leila had blocked his entire family, he would just have to contact her from an unknown number.

Charles Jordan replied, "Yes, President Sinclair."

Sean Sinclair added, "And keep an eye on the eldest Miss Cole. She’s Leila’s only friend." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Understood."

Once all the clothes were hung, Sean Sinclair motioned for Charles Jordan and the others to leave. He then went to wash up.

He had just laid down when he suddenly received a message from Liam Forrester.

[Sean, do you know Leila Jennings?]

Sean Sinclair’s brow furrowed as he recalled the look of pure puppy love on Liam Forrester’s face when he’d seen Leila. He immediately began typing a reply, intending to inform the boy that Leila was his wife.

Before he could finish, another message from Liam popped up.

[Do you have her contact info? Can you send it to me?]

’Of course.’

Liam Forrester was after his wife.

Just as he was about to hit send, Sean Sinclair’s finger froze. He deleted the text he had just typed.

A moment later, he sent Liam Forrester the contact information.

Liam Forrester’s face lit up when he received Leila Jennings’s contact information. He immediately tapped to add her as a friend.

He clutched his phone, waiting and waiting, but his request was never accepted.

’Maybe it’s too late,’ he thought.

Liam Forrester had no choice but to go to sleep, telling himself she would probably accept his request in the morning.

「The next morning.」

Sean Sinclair’s phone screen lit up. He glanced at it, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He tapped the screen.

Waking up in the Forrester family home, Liam Forrester saw the acceptance notification on his phone and sprang out of bed, feeling invigorated and cheerful all morning.

Hailey Forrester asked curiously, "What’s got you so happy?"

Liam Forrester replied, "You wouldn’t get it."

Hailey Forrester teased, "Did you finally get your dream girl’s number?"

"How’d you know?" Liam Forrester grinned, two adorable dimples appearing on his cheeks.

Hailey Forrester looked at her handsome, cheerful younger brother. "Not to burst your bubble, but girls our age aren’t usually into the sweet, ’puppy-dog’ type."

"Girls my age might not, but older women do." Liam Forrester tossed his phone lightly in the air, his happiness obvious.

"?" Hailey Forrester’s eyes went wide, but then she composed herself. "No wonder you never dated anyone in school. So you’re into older, more mature women."

Liam Forrester waved her off. "I’m heading to Stellaxis."

The young master sat in his luxury car and sent his first message to Leila Jennings.

[Hi, my name is Liam Forrester. Do you remember me?]

Leila Jennings glanced at the message and replied that she did.

The next moment, she got a call from Professor Cheney, asking her to come to the institute.

As Liam Forrester’s messages kept popping up, she finally replied with a simple "I’m busy," which at last silenced him.

Leila Jennings took a taxi all the way to the institute’s entrance. For the first time, she didn’t have to hide who she was.

The moment the security guard saw her, he stood up and said respectfully, "Dr. Jennings."

"Morning." Leila nodded at him. Everyone she passed on the way greeted her.

"Morning, Dr. Jennings."

"Congratulations, Dr. Jennings."

Leila Jennings smiled and nodded in response to each of them. Professor Cheney and Chloe stood watching from the third-floor skywalk.

Chloe sighed. "This must be tough for her. If she didn’t smile and greet everyone back, people would probably start saying she’s arrogant."

Professor Cheney turned. "Come on, let’s go check out your senior’s new office."

"Okay!"

The three of them met at the office door.

Once inside, Professor Cheney got straight to the point. "This is a house the government has arranged for you. As for your professional title, the paperwork has already been submitted. These are offer letters from various universities, and the terms get better with each one—research grants, relocation allowances, tuition for future children, and so on. Take a close look."

Leila looked at the housing information first.

No. 10 Everett Street. It was an old, unassuming residential compound on the outside, but during major holidays, long lines of visitors would form at the gates of every home.

In this place, even food deliveries had to go through a security check.

The privacy was excellent.

Professor Cheney said, "If you move there, Sean Sinclair won’t be able to get in even if he tries to bother you."

Leila Jennings nodded. "I’ll move in as soon as possible."

"There was one other thing," Chloe chimed in at the perfect moment. "It’s about the investigation and disciplinary action against Mr. Jacobs."