The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

"Cecilia usually disrespects me, and I’ve always put up with it. But I can’t tolerate her disrespecting my friend." Leila Jennings met Sean Sinclair’s accusatory gaze without a shred of worry or fear.

She didn’t care anymore.

She was utterly and completely disillusioned.

Cherry Cole added angrily, "I told her I was my beautiful friend’s sister, and your sister called me *another* unwanted orphan. What do you mean, ’another’? Doesn’t that prove she’s always calling my friend—her own sister-in-law—an orphan? Oh, right, she probably doesn’t see it that way. She tells everyone this lady over here is Mrs. Sinclair."

Sean Sinclair’s eyes narrowed, and he whipped his head around to look at his sister and Sarah Lynch.

Sarah Lynch explained, "I was holding your card. The store staff misunderstood."

The sales associate chimed in hurriedly, "A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! It’s our fault."

’Heavens!’

’Who would’ve guessed? President Sinclair’s primary credit card isn’t with his wife, but in his mistress’s hands!’

’Don’t men usually give the secondary card to their mistresses?’

The sales associates broke out in a cold sweat.

Sean Sinclair asked, "Cecilia, why did you..."

"Brother!" Cecilia Sinclair showed him her red, swollen face again. "I didn’t mean it like that! Besides, Leila Jennings is an orphan to begin with. This person said she was her sister, so of course I thought she was an orphan too. Am I not allowed to state facts?"

"I just said one little thing, and Leila Jennings slapped your own sister! Brother, divorce her! I don’t want her as my sister-in-law."

"And you." Cecilia shot a vicious glare at Cherry Cole. "All this ’beautiful friend’ talk, doesn’t it make you sick? A frumpy housewife like Leila Jennings, who wears cheap clothes, never wears makeup, and only knows how to do chores—what part of her is ’beautiful’? What does she have that’s worth you sucking up to her like this? You’re practically licking her boots! Are you insane?"

"You’re the one who’s insane! You’ve used so many beauty filters they’ve smoothed your brain away." Cherry Cole made a sound of disgust and rolled up her sleeves. "My friend Leila *is* gorgeous! She’s beautiful and capable!"

"What’s the matter? If you’ve got a problem with that, go wash your face! I want to see how many craters are left after you scrape off that wall of spackle. With how heavy you went on the contour and shadow, your face must be as flat as a pancake!"

Cherry Cole was way too formidable in a fight.

Cecilia Sinclair, who could barely string together a proper insult, was no match for her. All she could do was seethe, her chest heaving, before turning to her brother to whine and complain.

Sean Sinclair looked at Leila Jennings. "Tell your friend to show some decency, Leila. She’s your friend. I don’t want to make things difficult for her."

Leila almost laughed. "I doubt you could make things difficult for her."

’The Cole Family. One of the most powerful families in City A.’

’And Cherry Cole, their one and only daughter.’

"Leila." Sean Sinclair didn’t understand the fearless expression on Leila’s face.

"Sean Sinclair, is it? Let me just look you up." Cherry Cole took out her phone and tapped away. "Oh, the president of Stellaxis Technologies?"

"Scared now, aren’t you!" Cecilia said. "Leila, if you want your friend to have any future in City A, you’ll take her and get lost. Otherwise, my brother won’t let her off the hook. And for that slap, my brother and my parents won’t let you off the hook either!"

She lifted her chin and snorted coldly.

"Cecilia," Leila Jennings looked at her, "if you don’t apologize to her, you’ll find that slap was getting off easy."

"Leila, how can you talk to Cecilia like that?" Sean Sinclair frowned.

Sarah Lynch chimed in, "Leila, Cecilia is Sean’s sister. What’s wrong with just letting it go? Do you really have to fight until someone wins?"

"The day she starts cursing you out, give me a call. I want to see just how you ’let it go’." Leila Jennings gave Sarah Lynch a meaningful look.

Cecilia had been clamoring to study abroad for a year, but Sean always put her off with various excuses. The truth was, he didn’t have enough money to get her in.

’Do they think you can just waltz into a world-class university?’

’And all this time, the Sinclair family thought Sean’s money was with me.’

"Leila, you..." Sarah Lynch looked aggrieved. "How can you try to drive a wedge between Cecilia and me?"

"Leila, don’t even think about it! I will never fight with Sarah in my entire life! If she were my sister-in-law, it’d be so much..."

"Cecilia!" Sean Sinclair shot his sister a sideways glance, warning her not to spout nonsense here.

’He wasn’t going to divorce Leila.’

Cecilia fell silent, though she was clearly resentful.

"Apologize, Cecilia." Leila stared fixedly at her. "If you don’t, I’ll make good on my threat."

Thinking of the fiery sting on her face, Cecilia felt a pang of fear and shrank back, hiding behind Sean and Sarah.

"Brother, look at her! She’s threatening me!"

"Alright, Leila, don’t keep harping on it." Sean stepped in to mediate. "Cecilia didn’t mean to insult anyone, but you gave her a solid slap. That’s enough."

"How do you know she didn’t do it on purpose?" Cherry Cole just couldn’t understand. How could a man so completely refuse to side with his own wife?

’Then why did he even marry her?’

Cecilia seized the opportunity to add, "I didn’t mean it, but you did! And you," she pointed at Cherry, "didn’t you call for your brother too? Where is he? Where’s your brother! What a coward."

Just then, security guards appeared on every floor of the mall, and the shoppers began to leave one after another.

The store manager went out to ask and came back looking worried. "The higher-ups have ordered the mall to be cleared."

’To be able to clear out this entire mall... the person who’s arrived must be someone extraordinary.’

’The young lady next to Mrs. Sinclair gave the name ’Neville’ and is a VIP guest, but there aren’t any powerful families in City A with that surname.’

’Speaking of the name Neville, there is a family in City B... and the Nevilles of City B travel with a full security detail.’

’That’s beyond just being a powerful family.’

’It couldn’t be, could it?’

The way the store manager looked at Cherry Cole changed.

Cecilia looked at Leila and Cherry. "So what if they’re clearing the area? We’ll settle this score outside!"

"Why settle it outside? We’ll settle it right here." A deep voice came from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look. The first thing they saw was a pair of long, straight legs and a pair of red-soled leather shoes.

The red soles stepped onto the floor. Nathaniel Cole stood in the doorway, his piercing gaze sweeping over the crowd before finally landing on his sister and Leila Jennings.

Cherry Cole’s face lit up. She pulled Leila Jennings over to stand beside her brother. Then, mirroring his posture, she lifted her chin and pointed at Sean Sinclair, Cecilia Sinclair, and Sarah Lynch.

"Brother, she called me an orphan! And she’s got such a punchable face."

Cecilia glared angrily.

"She claims to be Mrs. Sinclair, and she’s got that whole fake-innocent thing going on!"

Sarah Lynch clenched her fists.

"And this President Sinclair looks like a complete idiot."

Sean Sinclair stood frozen. The man who had arrived was Nathaniel Cole, and behind him was his assistant, Zachary.

’Then the one who called him ’Brother’...’

’...was the Cole family’s heiress!’

’He remembered now. The chairman’s wife at the Cole Group was a Neville—from *the* Neville family in City B, the one everyone knew about.’

’No wonder she’s also known as Nina Neville!’

But Cecilia and Sarah didn’t recognize the man before them. They only saw that he came with an assistant and bodyguards, so his status must not be low.

However, Sean Sinclair’s current status in City A wasn’t low either.

"Who are you?" Cecilia, having been spoiled her whole life, feared nothing and no one.

"Cecilia, do not be rude to President Cole," Sean Sinclair scolded.

The moment she heard the surname "Cole," Sarah Lynch immediately made the connection, and a chill ran down her spine.

Cecilia echoed, "Cole?"

Sarah Lynch cursed her for an idiot internally, but explained aloud, "Nathaniel Cole, the President of the Cole Group. His status is higher than your brother’s."

The first part of the introduction was lost on Cecilia, but the last part, she understood perfectly.

Cecilia, who had always bullied the weak and feared the strong, felt her legs go weak.