The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Sean Sinclair spent the entire day shopping with Sarah Lynch, buying her a whole new wardrobe from head to toe and acting as her personal bag carrier.

When Sarah Lynch got thirsty, Sean Sinclair handed her water.

When Sarah Lynch’s legs were sore, Sean Sinclair massaged them for her.

When Sarah Lynch couldn’t walk another step, Sean Sinclair squatted down in front of her and carried her on his back to her new home.

After setting her down on the sofa, Sarah Lynch tilted her head up and kissed the corner of his mouth. "You worked so hard today, Sean."

Sean Sinclair reached out and gently ruffled her hair. "Take a shower and get some rest," he said softly.

Sarah Lynch froze. It was only seven o’clock.

"Sean, are you leaving already?"

"We’ve been out all day." Sean Sinclair glanced at his watch. It was 7:10. He’d be home by 7:30, which was around the same time Leila Jennings would be arriving.

He picked up his jacket, draped it over his arm, and turned to leave, but his fingers were suddenly caught.

Sarah Lynch’s voice was full of tender affection. "Sean, are you really going to leave?"

"It wouldn’t be right for me to stay." Sean Sinclair’s brow furrowed slightly. "Leila Jennings and I are still husband and wife."

A chill ran through Sarah Lynch’s heart, and her eyes instantly welled with tears. "Have you fallen in love with her?"

"No," Sean Sinclair replied quickly. "Sarah, don’t let your imagination run wild. The one I loved four years ago was you, and the one I love now is still you."

"Then what about Leila Jennings?"

"Leila Jennings..." Sean Sinclair repeated her name, his throat tightening. "I married her. I have a responsibility to her."

Sarah Lynch found this laughable. ’So now he has a responsibility to Leila Jennings? Then what does that make me?’

"Sean, I know it’s all my fault. I should have done everything in my power to stop you that night, then we never would have ended up like this." A single tear slid from the corner of her eye, and Sarah Lynch gently wiped it away, the very picture of pitiable beauty.

Sean Sinclair’s heart clenched. He rushed forward to comfort her. "Sarah, it’s not your fault. It’s... You just have to give me some time."

With her eyes still red, Sarah Lynch asked, "Do you still love me?"

"You’re the only one I love." Sean Sinclair cupped her face and kissed her.

Sarah Lynch threw herself into his arms. "Sean, I’m scared."

"What are you afraid of?"

"My family is very strict with me, especially my grandfather. If they found out I was entangled with a married man, they would surely berate me." Sarah Lynch hugged him tighter. "But I can’t help it, Sean. I never forgot you during those four years abroad. I thought about you every single moment, but I didn’t dare say anything, I couldn’t, because you were married."

"All this time, I’ve had to pretend to just be a friend or an old classmate. I acted like everything was fine on the outside, but my heart was breaking."

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I regret it. I regret not coming back sooner. If I had rushed back on your wedding day, would you still have married someone else?"

Sean Sinclair gently patted her back. "Yes," he said.

"But there are no ’what ifs.’ We missed our chance for four years. No matter what, I can’t lose you again." Sarah Lynch sniffled. "So, even if this is the only kind of relationship we can have, I’ll accept it. That’s how much I love you."

Sean Sinclair’s heart melted completely. He pulled her into a tight embrace, repeating Sarah Lynch’s name over and over.

In the end, Sean Sinclair stayed.

Only after Sarah Lynch had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted, did he pull out his phone to ask Leila Jennings how her classes went. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Leila Jennings’s reply was anything but perfunctory. She converted the images of notes from Claire Rhodes into text, quickly organized it into a mind map, and sent it over.

Seeing how seriously she was taking her studies, Sean Sinclair’s eyes curved into a smile. He transferred ten thousand to her as a reward for her obedience.

"Just focus on being a good Mrs. Sinclair and a good mother, and I’ll give you anything you want."

"What did you make for dinner tonight? I got held up late at a work function, so I couldn’t make it back."

"Don’t be mad."

Just as he sent the last message, Sarah snuggled deeper into his arms. He glanced down at her, but then his thoughts drifted to Leila Jennings, home all by herself, and his brow furrowed slightly.

On one hand, there was his responsibility as a man; on the other, the woman he had longed for for years. He felt torn.

If Sarah hadn’t confessed her feelings, and if they hadn’t made that drunken mistake, he would have continued to support and protect her in silence.

But his relationship with Sarah had already gone too far. Was he supposed to let the woman he loved remain a nameless, title-less secret?

’And Leila Jennings? What was he supposed to do about her?’

’Leila Jennings was obedient, sensible, a good wife... and she couldn’t live without him.’

Caught in a dilemma, Sean Sinclair barely slept a wink all night.

When Leila Jennings saw the messages the next morning, she nearly threw up the breakfast she’d just eaten.

’"Held up late at a work function," my ass. More like he couldn’t drag himself out of Sarah Lynch’s bed.’

Before Sarah Lynch returned, Sean Sinclair always came home, no matter how late his "work functions" ran—unless he was away on a business trip.

If he was worried she’d smell alcohol on him, he would sleep in the guest bedroom.

And when she brought him breakfast, the aroma alone was enough to wake him.

For four years, aside from never having consummated their marriage, they were no different from any other husband and wife.

Leila Jennings scoffed inwardly. ’Sean Sinclair really is a phenomenal actor.’

She replied: "Okay."

That afternoon, Sean Sinclair received another update from Leila Jennings about her class, which put his mind completely at ease.

In reality, Leila Jennings was standing in a garden, bent over slightly as her mentor’s wife draped her in jewelry from her personal collection, then instructed her to do a turn to see the full effect.

Her mentor’s wife was a low-key person who rarely wore jewelry, but that didn’t mean she didn’t own any.

"Thorne bought me all this jewelry after we hit middle age. When we were younger, he only bought me gold—starting with little gold nuggets, then graduating to gold bars. One day, he suddenly brought home a whole jewelry set, saying that everyone was wearing gemstones and diamonds now, and that no one really wore plain gold out anymore."

Rhea Warren looked at the quietly standing Leila Jennings and nodded. "Pearls suit you best. They go perfectly with an embroidered lace gown. You should wear this pearl set for the event."

"Okay." Leila Jennings breathed a sigh of relief and bent down to put the other pieces away.

But Rhea pointed to the jewelry in her hands. "Pick a set of each color. Keep them to wear with other outfits in the future."

"There’s red, green, and blue, so you can mix and match however you like. And that set of pink diamonds—so lovely and delicate—is just perfect for a young woman like you."

Rhea lay back in her lounge chair, swaying leisurely.

Leila Jennings stared at the jewelry before her, unable to accept it. "Rhea, this is too much. It’s too valuable."

"I’m not just giving it to you for free," Rhea Warren said, knowing the girl had a stubborn streak and her own set of principles.

"Thorne and I never had children. Think of this as payment in advance—for seeing me off when my time comes, and for visiting me and Thorne every year. To be forgotten by everyone... that is to truly vanish from this world."

"Rhea..." Leila Jennings felt a prickling in her nose. "You’ll live to be a hundred."

Rhea Warren smiled. "Then Thorne will have quite a long wait for me. Let him wait. It’s not like he’d rest easy with you being all alone, anyway."

Leila Jennings wasn’t Thorne’s most talented student, nor was she his most accomplished. But she was the most hardworking, and the one for whom he and Rhea felt the most sympathy.

Rhea Warren reached out, pulled her down to sit, and leaned in close as if sharing a secret. "Do you know what Thorne wrote in the letter he left for me?"

The corners of Leila Jennings’s eyes were already red as she shook her head.

"He said, ’Rhea, I’m leaving you to Leila Jennings, and I’m leaving Leila Jennings to you. You two must take care of each other. The girl is brilliant, but not always good with her words. If she makes you angry, tell her directly. Please don’t yell at her the way you yell at me. That poor girl has walked such a long way all on her own...’"

Leila Jennings’s eyes instantly flooded with tears, which began to roll in large drops down her cheeks.