The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Sean Sinclair knew he couldn’t hide it any longer, so he simply admitted, "Sarah was in need, and I happened to have the funds to support her career. It’s a tough path for a woman to walk."

Hearing her son admit with his own mouth that he had squandered his fortune on Sarah Lynch, Mrs. Sinclair fainted from rage again.

The doctor came over and warned them not to agitate the patient any further.

Sean Sinclair watched his mother with a worried expression. He had chosen to hide the truth precisely because he was afraid this would happen; it was why he’d let his parents mistakenly believe the money was all spent on Leila Jennings.

"Come with me." Mr. Sinclair led his son to the far end of the hospital corridor.

The sharp sound of a slap rang out.

The force of his father’s slap snapped Sean Sinclair’s head to the side.

His father had held back, so he wasn’t bleeding, but a fiery sting quickly spread across his cheek.

"I thought you were just spending a little money to keep Sarah Lynch happy. I never imagined you would squander most of your personal fortune on one woman! What is wrong with you? Have you given up on your own life? On this family’s?"

Sean Sinclair swallowed and met his father’s gaze. "Dad, I was just supporting Sarah’s career. Think of it as a private investment."

"What book or person ever taught you to pour your entire fortune into a single project? Don’t you understand the concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket?" Mr. Sinclair’s face was as black as thunder. He refused to believe his son didn’t know better. ’He’s just been sweet-talked into idiocy by Sarah Lynch.’

’What a brainless fool.’

’No wonder Leila Jennings was so adamant about the divorce, even going so far as to give up her share of the assets.’

’So this is the kind of injustice Leila Jennings had been enduring in the Sinclair family for all these years.’

’All while watching her husband ignore his family and his future to pour everything he had into some other woman.’

A heavy weight settled on Mr. Sinclair’s chest as well.

This time, the Sinclair family had truly thrown away a treasure to pick up trash.

"A private investment? And how did that work out? You know better than anyone what kind of situation Sarah Lynch is in right now!"

Sean Sinclair was rendered speechless.

’If this really was an investment, then it was a complete and utter failure on his part.’

"I haven’t given her any more large sums for research since Sarah returned," Sean Sinclair said, trying to save a little face.

Mr. Sinclair shot back, "Then what about Sarah Lynch’s car and apartment? She’s only been back a month or two, yet you’ve arranged everything for her down to the last detail. When have you ever arranged things so meticulously for your own family, including Leila Jennings?"

"You’ve really outdone yourself. Deceiving your own family and landing yourself in such a pathetic mess!"

"Your mother was worried you were overtired from working overtime, so she told the housekeeper every day to make all sorts of nourishing soups for you. And how do you repay her? By angering her so much she ends up fainting in a hospital."

"I never meant to make Mom faint." Right now, Sean Sinclair had no idea how to explain why he had scrimped and saved for years just to pour money into Sarah Lynch. What was done was done. He had already stopped, and he was ready to put it all behind him.

Mr. Sinclair’s expression was icy. "Consider that slap a lesson. If you go back to acting like a brainless fool over Sarah Lynch, then you can forget you have a father."

"Dad," Sean Sinclair said, his face a mask of shame.

Mr. Sinclair continued, "If you had put even a fraction of the energy you spent on Sarah Lynch into your relationship with Leila Jennings, things never would have gotten to this point. You make me so damn angry."

The thought that they had lost such a wonderful daughter-in-law—lost because of his son’s foolishness, but also because of his own interference—made his chest tighten, and he struggled to breathe.

Sean Sinclair promised, "I won’t be like that anymore. From now on, I will treat Leila Jennings right."

’What’s the use of that now!’

’You’re already divorced!’

Mr. Sinclair bitterly regretted not arranging for a fake divorce certificate. He’d been blind, too. He’d failed to see Leila Jennings’s true potential and hadn’t realized that Sarah Lynch was just an empty vessel making a lot of noise.

He, a senior executive at an education group who had spent years dealing with government officials, couldn’t believe he’d been so thoroughly outmaneuvered by his own family.

’It’s always darkest under the lamp.’

"Sean Sinclair, you need to sort out your feelings for Sarah Lynch right now. Put your mind on your work and on Leila Jennings, and you go win her back! Do you hear me?"

’As long as his son can win Leila Jennings back, they can just get remarried.’

Sean Sinclair’s gaze was determined. "I know. But I haven’t been able to see Leila Jennings recently. Even when I get a chance, Nathaniel Cole always gets in the way. I think he likes Leila."

The mere mention of it made him angry.

’Leila is a married woman, yet she’s always with another man, choosing to ride in Nathaniel Cole’s car over mine time and time again.’

Mr. Sinclair’s brow furrowed for a moment before smoothing out. "It’s just a rich man’s game; there are no real feelings involved. Even if Leila Jennings is a top-tier scientific expert, her orphan status means she’ll never be accepted by the Cole or Neville families. What heir to a great fortune would marry a divorcée?"

Sean Sinclair felt there was something odd about his father’s last sentence.

’What does he mean, a divorcée?’

He said, "Leila Jennings won’t divorce me. And I would never, ever divorce her."

Mr. Sinclair looked at his confident son, momentarily at a loss for words.

’In the past, he would have believed him.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Focus your attention on Leila Jennings. Do you understand?"

"I know," Sean Sinclair said. "My attention should only have been on Leila Jennings to begin with."

’Leila was the wife he had personally married.’

’He should have cherished her.’

Mr. Sinclair looked at his son’s red cheek. "Does it hurt? Good. Let the pain be a lesson. I don’t care what kind of past you and Sarah Lynch shared. You’ve done more than enough for her."

"I know." Sean Sinclair nodded and followed his father back into the hospital room. His mother was still unconscious.

Cecilia Sinclair, who had heard the news, rushed in and threw herself beside the bed, bursting into tears.

"Dad, Brother, what’s wrong with Mom?"

Mr. Sinclair said curtly, "Your brother made her this angry."

"Brother, what did you do?" Cecilia Sinclair demanded. "How could you make Mom so angry that she ended up in the hospital!"

"That’s enough." Sean Sinclair looked at his sister, the usual indulgence gone from his eyes. "You’re disturbing Mom’s rest."

Cecilia Sinclair stared at him, stunned, before quickly asking, "Was it because of Leila Jennings? Did you make Mom faint because of her?"

In recent years, most of her mother’s anger had stemmed from something related to Leila Jennings.

’Leila Jennings was a born pot-stirrer, always trying to tear their loving family apart.’

Their mother had indeed fainted after the truth about Leila Jennings came out, so Sean Sinclair didn’t refute his sister’s words.

"I knew it," Cecilia Sinclair said through clenched teeth. "That pot-stirrer Leila Jennings won’t be happy until she’s turned our house completely upside down, will she? She’s just a b—"

"Cecilia," Sean Sinclair interrupted, his gaze turning sharp. "Have I told you to respect Leila Jennings or not? She is your sister-in-law."

"I don’t want her as my sister-in-law!"

"She will always be your sister-in-law," Sean Sinclair said, his voice firm and resolute. "No one cares what you want. You took Leila Jennings’s purse, took her car, and even damaged it. Count yourself lucky I haven’t made you pay her back and apologize."

"If you dare disrespect her or touch her things again, I won’t just be cutting off your allowance—you can forget about studying abroad, too. You should start thinking about how you’re going to get a job and support yourself."

Never in her entire life had Cecilia Sinclair imagined having to toil away at a job.

’She was supposed to graduate, study abroad to burnish her credentials, and then come back and have her parents and brother fund her own art exhibition. After that, she would enter high society, marry a wealthy heir, and spend the rest of her life in luxurious leisure.’

’But because Leila Jennings had refused to give them money, that path had stalled at the "study abroad" step. And now, because of Leila Jennings again, her own beloved brother was telling her to get a job?’