The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

The car was insured, but that wasn’t the important part.

Charles Jordan felt like quitting.

He rushed off to deal with the car repairs.

Cecilia Sinclair said apologetically, "Charles, please don’t tell my brother about this for now. Even though the car was a gift for me, I damaged it the very first day I drove it. He’ll be at least a little upset, right?"

Charles Jordan was exasperated.

First, it was dealing with Sarah Lynch, then Cecilia Sinclair, and now he had to figure out how to break the news to President Sinclair.

President Sinclair had been at his wit’s end lately because his wife was angry with him.

And now, the gift he had prepared was ruined.

To make matters worse, he had seen the purse meant for the president’s wife sitting on the passenger seat.

Charles Jordan remembered this purse vividly. For one, it was the most expensive of all the bags they had looked at. For another, the saleswoman had strongly recommended the new model, convincing him with the argument that delicate, compact purses were better suited for slender people.

Charles Jordan decided to tell her the truth. "Miss Sinclair, this car was intended for President Sinclair’s wife. And so is this purse you’re holding. You should think about how you’re going to explain this to President Sinclair. He’s not in a good mood lately."

’It would be a miracle if he were in a good mood.’

’The project was gone, his wife was furious, his Lover was causing trouble, and even his own family wouldn’t give him a moment’s peace.’

When Cecilia Sinclair heard the car was for Leila Jennings, her eyes flew wide. "Has my brother lost his mind? Leila doesn’t even know how to drive! Why would he buy her a car?"

"She can learn to drive," Charles Jordan reminded her. "Miss Sinclair, it’s perfectly normal for a husband to buy his wife a car."

"Miss Sinclair, I can’t help you this time. After the car is sent for repairs, I will tell President Sinclair the truth." He knew that for President Sinclair, only two things mattered right now.

Securing Elder Shepherd’s patent to protect his current position.

Placating his wife to save his marriage.

Everything else had to take a backseat.

Ms. Lynch, his Lover of many years, was no exception, to say nothing of Miss Sinclair.

Cecilia Sinclair watched helplessly as Charles left, then glanced at the car being towed away. Realizing her brother really was in a terrible mood lately, she began to panic.

She decided to play the victim and complain first.

When she got home, she went straight to her parents. "Dad, Mom, you have no idea! My brother actually bought Leila Jennings a car worth over two million! And bags worth hundreds of thousands, and a whole room of clothes! The master bedroom can’t even hold it all, so he converted a guest room into Leila’s personal walk-in closet!"

"They’re all designer brands! He’s never bought you two so many expensive things. Leila is earning her own money now, so why is she still spending my brother’s?"

The mention of money struck a nerve with Mrs. Sinclair.

She couldn’t stand Leila controlling her son’s finances before the divorce, and now that they were separated, her son was still throwing money at her?

That was unacceptable.

Cecilia Sinclair added, "Mom, I think Leila must have asked for it all."

"They’re already div— She still has the nerve to ask for things?!" Mrs. Sinclair’s voice rose sharply.

Mr. Sinclair didn’t think Leila had asked for any of it. It seemed more like his son was using these gifts to win her back.

"Sean should be treating Leila better."

He was still in favor of his son winning Leila back.

"Hasn’t our son been good enough to her all these years? She held the purse strings," Mrs. Sinclair said, fuming. Just then, her son called.

Before she could even question him, Sean was already furious.

"Mom, Dad, I’m too busy to deal with things at home right now. You two need to keep Cecilia in line. Don’t let her touch Leila’s things again. This is the last time I’m going to tolerate it."

"Also, I’m changing the codes to my and Leila’s house."

"I’m hanging up."

Mrs. Sinclair stared at her phone in disbelief.

"Mom, what did he say?"

"He’s changing the door codes. We won’t be able to just let ourselves in anymore."

"What?" Cecilia panicked. She’d had her eye on several purses in the glass cabinet and was planning to use them in rotation. Now her brother wasn’t going to let them in the house?

"I barely touched Leila’s car. Does he really have to go this far?"

Mrs. Sinclair, however, was thinking about something else.

’They’re divorced. I absolutely cannot let Leila get any more money out of the Sinclair family.’

’A gift worth tens of thousands would be fine, but a luxury car worth over a million? What was that all about?’

’Even she, his mother, had never received such an expensive gift.’

’No.’

’I have to go find Leila.’

「The next day.」

Mrs. Sinclair went to the entrance of the research institute alone and told the security guard, "I’m looking for Leila Jennings."

"What is your business with Dr. Jennings?"

Hearing someone respectfully refer to Leila as "Dr. Jennings" made Mrs. Sinclair bristle. She couldn’t understand how such an ordinary person had suddenly become the center of everyone’s attention.

It even forced her to speak politely, lest she give anyone a reason to gossip about her.

"It’s a private matter. Just tell Leila Jennings that someone from the Sinclair family is looking for her. She has to see me today. If she won’t, I’m not leaving this spot."

Mrs. Sinclair couldn’t think of any other way to get a meeting with Leila.

The guard was speechless. Not wanting her to make a scene at the entrance, he went ahead and called Dr. Jennings’s office.

As it happened, Leila Jennings was at the institute that day.

When she got the call from security saying someone from the Sinclair family was looking for her, her first thought was Sean. Only after asking for more details did she learn it was Mrs. Sinclair.

Mrs. Sinclair was the most likely to cause a scene, so Leila had no choice but to go out.

On her way, she received a message from Logan Bell. He hoped she could obtain solid evidence confirming Sean Sinclair’s affair with Sarah Lynch, such as incriminating chat logs, hotel records, photos, videos, and so on.

Leila Jennings frowned.

’She didn’t have anything like that. Getting it would take time and certain tactics.’

She put her phone away and went to deal with Sean’s mother.

When Mrs. Sinclair saw Leila, she immediately tried to rush in but was stopped at the gate, forced to wait for Leila to come out.

"What do you want?"

Mrs. Sinclair looked at the woman before her. Leila was completely transformed.

Her hair was soft and smooth, not clinging to her clothes like it used to.

Her skin was smooth and glowing, and her cheeks had filled out a little; she no longer looked as gaunt and malnourished as before.

The woman was positively radiant.

’How did she improve so much the moment she divorced my son? It was as if he had been a jinx on her.’

"Why didn’t you put more effort into your appearance before? Were you deliberately trying to embarrass my son?"

Leila asked, "Is that what you came here to say?"

"No." Mrs. Sinclair shook her head, getting back to the point. "Why are you making Sean buy you cars, clothes, and purses? Didn’t you agree not to take any assets in the divorce?"

’So this was about money.’

’Sean bought her things?’

"You’re mistaken. Those were bought for Sarah Lynch."

"My son told me himself they were yours, and he wouldn’t even let his sister touch them. He even changed the codes on the door," Mrs. Sinclair said self-righteously. "Leila, it wasn’t enough for you to control his money when you were married to Sean, and now that you’re divorced, you’re still making him spend money on you? Have you no shame?"

’Who was the shameless one here?’

Leila almost laughed in exasperation. "The money is Sean’s to spend, you should be trying to stop him. In over four years of marriage, besides the three thousand yuan a month, I never took any extra money from Sean."

"Impossible!" Mrs. Sinclair declared.

Leila thought of something and said with a wry smile, "I’m guessing you still don’t know why Sean lost the project bid, do you? His messy private life wasn’t the root cause. The real reason is that he’s suspected of bribing Sarah Lynch, an external expert on the former project team."

"Bribery, meaning he gave Sarah Lynch a lot of money."

She watched Mrs. Sinclair’s confused and dazed expression.

"There’s something you should see. Even outsiders have seen it. As Sean’s family, you have a right to know." Leila dialed Miss Moss’s number. "Miss Moss, could you please go upstairs and get a file for me? I’ll send you a picture of it."

"Of course, Miss Jennings. Where should I bring it? I’ll head over as soon as I find it."

"To the pavilion in the park next to the institute." ’We can’t just stand out here in the cold wind.’

Mrs. Sinclair asked warily, "What file?"

Leila replied, "A generous gift you all should have received a long time ago."