The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Hailey Forrester and Caleb Dalton walked out, one after the other.

Hailey Forrester stopped and asked, "Are you leaving?"

Caleb Dalton said, "I’m going upstairs."

President Cole had invited him to the celebration party tonight, but since Daniel Lane had just returned, he hadn’t gone upstairs yet.

Hailey Forrester said, "Then I’ll head back on my own."

Caleb Dalton asked tentatively, "Want me to take you upstairs?"

"If you want me dead, just say so. Forrester and The Cole Group are competitors. The heiress of the Forrester Group at The Cole Group’s celebration party? Are you trying to make people think Forrester is a step below Cole?" Hailey Forrester said. "You really are up to no good. No wonder you’re Nathaniel Cole’s private doctor."

’Birds of a feather.’

Caleb Dalton was speechless. "..."

’No good deed goes unpunished.’

He took a step to head upstairs just as Leila Jennings was coming down, and the two ran right into each other.

"Miss Jennings?"

"Dr. Dalton."

Hearing the surname Jennings, Hailey Forrester turned around. ’Isn’t that Sean Sinclair’s wife?’

She stopped in her tracks.

"Miss Jennings, where are you headed?"

"To get my phone." Leila Jennings had just stepped out onto the deck to take a call when Nathaniel Cole suddenly appeared and startled her, causing her phone to fall to the deck below.

No sooner had she said that,

Nathaniel Cole’s figure appeared at the top of the stairs. He slowly made his way down.

His icy gaze fell on Caleb Dalton.

"Weren’t you having dinner with Daniel Lane?"

"Mr. Lane and Mr. Grant had something to discuss, so I bowed out." Caleb Dalton stepped aside to let Leila Jennings pass, watching as the cold, impassive President Cole silently followed her like a shadow.

Hailey Forrester’s gaze shifted between the two of them.

’A woman’s sixth sense told her that Nathaniel Cole’s intentions toward Sean Sinclair’s wife weren’t pure!’

Caleb Dalton said, "President Cole, I’ll head up first. You two take your time."

’I won’t disturb you.’

Suddenly, a hand rested on his arm.

Caleb Dalton looked back at Hailey Forrester. "?"

Hailey Forrester smiled. "Didn’t you offer to take me upstairs?"

’She wanted to know what was so special about the woman who had caught the eye of both Sean Sinclair and Nathaniel Cole.’

Caleb Dalton knew she had been rejected by Nathaniel Cole in the past, then taken an interest in Sean Sinclair, only to give up on him as well.

"Miss Forrester, please don’t cause a scene. If you stir up trouble, the Forresters will have your back. If I get into trouble, nobody will have mine. The shock would give my elderly grandmother a heart attack."

"Relax." Hailey Forrester gestured for him to hurry upstairs.

Caleb Dalton was not reassured.

But he was no match for Miss Forrester, and the two of them headed up.

Just as Leila Jennings bent down to retrieve her phone, a hand beat her to it.

The phone lay in the man’s warm palm.

"I’ll get you a new one."

Leila Jennings reached for it, and as their fingers brushed, Nathaniel Cole felt an icy coldness from her touch.

’Why are they so cold?’

"I never even used the last one you gave me; it’s still new." Leila Jennings was referring to the phone he had given her previously.

He looked Leila Jennings over. She was wearing a turtleneck, thick trousers, and a cashmere coat with the belt tied snugly. Her lips were rosy; she didn’t look cold.

And yet, her fingertips were truly frigid.

"Why are your hands so cold?"

Leila Jennings was looking down, texting back the orphanage director whose call she had just accidentally dropped, when a concerned voice suddenly came from above her head.

She looked up.

There was a dazed look in her clear eyes.

Nathaniel Cole asked again, "Are you cold?"

Leila Jennings lifted her slender, pale fingers, wiggled them, and said, "It’s normal. A lot of women tend to have poor circulation, so their hands and feet get cold in the winter."

After she finished her text,

"President Cole, shall we head back?"

Nathaniel Cole nodded, then asked, "Who was that on the phone?"

’Leila Jennings was beginning to seriously doubt the rumors about President Cole being a man of few words. The man clearly had a lot of questions.’

"From home."

’So, the orphanage.’

A flicker of light crossed Nathaniel Cole’s eyes. "What did they need?"

"They sent me the chart with the children’s heights and weights." A faint smile played on Leila Jennings’s lips. "Now I can contact the manufacturer to get their winter coats made."

Nathaniel Cole’s brow twitched, and the corners of his own lips lifted in a slight smile.

"Your records were sealed before, so I never had the chance to ask. Where did you grow up?"

Leila Jennings replied, "Province G."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Daniel Lane, Julian Grant, and Sarah Lynch emerged.

The lights on both banks of the river were dazzling, and the skyscrapers flashed with their own unique light shows. The cruise ship glided slowly across the water, creating gentle ripples in its wake.

The two groups of people faced each other.

The moment Daniel Lane saw Nathaniel Cole, he immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"President Cole."

"Mr. Lane."

Looking at Nathaniel Cole always made Daniel Lane feel a bit wistful. They were about the same age, yet this "Crown Prince" had ascended to the throne in his early twenties. He, on the other hand, was nearly thirty, and his father still hadn’t abdicated, so everyone still called him Mr. Lane.

’The comparison was infuriating.’

Nathaniel Cole, a true prodigy, had always been a figure whom the other wealthy young masters both envied and respected.

After exchanging greetings, Daniel Lane glanced at Leila Jennings, who stood to the side. He was visibly taken aback when he got a clear look at her face.

But he quickly thought, ’It must be a coincidence.’

’The world is a big place, after all.’

Having learned his lesson from Julian Grant and Sarah Lynch’s situation, Daniel Lane didn’t dare make any assumptions and asked properly, "And this is?"

Nathaniel Cole replied just as formally, "A business partner."

He deliberately flicked a glance at Leila Jennings from the corner of his eye.

He had never forgotten that she had once referred to them as "business partners."

Leila Jennings nodded calmly.

The way Daniel Lane looked at Leila Jennings changed instantly. Not just anyone could be a partner of the Cole Group. He extended his hand. "And you are?"

Leila Jennings was about to reach out her own hand.

But Daniel Lane was met with a cold, warning glare from Nathaniel Cole, which made him quickly pull his hand back.

Leila Jennings’ hand, already extended, was left hanging awkwardly in mid-air.

The next look Cole shot him wasn’t just a warning; it was downright murderous.

Daniel Lane: "..."

’President Cole, why don’t you just put me out of my misery?’

"You can just call me Leila Jennings." Leila Jennings retracted her hand, not seeming to mind. Her gaze met Sarah Lynch’s, and then Julian Grant’s beside her.

’Those two had been staring at her this whole time.’

Daniel Lane pressed on, "What kind of project are you working on, Miss Jennings?"

Nathaniel Cole answered for her, "In-house chip development."

Daniel Lane glanced over. ’President Cole, what’s with that proud look on your face?’

But what really shocked him was his next question. "You’re in R&D? Julian Grant’s friend is too. I wonder if you two know each other?"

’Way to touch a sore subject.’

Sarah Lynch was completely speechless.

Julian Grant couldn’t believe what had gotten into Daniel Lane today.

Leila Jennings nodded. "We know each other."

Nathaniel Cole added, "You could say she was a former subordinate of Leila’s."

The word "former" echoed the "in the past" that Miss Forrester had just mentioned.

If Daniel Lane still didn’t get it, he’d have to call himself an idiot.

’He’d only been gone for a few months. Just how many major events had he missed in City A?’

He decided it was best to just shut up.

Julian Grant wanted to leave with Sarah Lynch. It was his fault for bringing her here today, subjecting her to one taunt after another. Now, he had to see her home safely.

Coincidentally, the cruise ship was about to arrive at another dock along the river, where it would stop briefly.

The moment the cruise ship came to a halt, Sean Sinclair appeared in everyone’s line of sight.

Sarah Lynch was the first to spot him, and her face immediately lit up.

’Judging by how anxious Sean Sinclair looked, he must have seen her social media post and gotten jealous.’

In reality, the first person Sean Sinclair looked for was Leila Jennings.

When he received the picture Leila had sent, his first thought was, ’Could Leila be on the cruise ship, too? Otherwise, who took the picture?’

’It was possible someone else had taken it, of course.’

’But he couldn’t pass up even the slightest possibility. He had to come and try his luck, no matter what.’

’Lady Luck was on his side. Leila was really on the cruise ship.’

Sean Sinclair was overjoyed.

’He could finally see her again.’

Everyone present could see that Sean Sinclair had come for Leila Jennings.

All eyes turned to her.