The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Leila Jennings went to work as usual the next morning. Everyone else was busy with the latest project bid, leaving her relatively free to arrange Nathaniel Cole’s business trip itinerary.

As a new secretary, she had little experience and was unfamiliar with Nathaniel Cole’s preferences, so she packed his schedule tightly, with the only rest time being on the plane.

After she finished, she began the process of requesting leave for the afternoon. The leave request process for secretaries was quite fast; it was submitted directly to the president and then copied to HR.

Half an hour later, seeing no update on her leave request, Leila Jennings got up and knocked on Nathaniel Cole’s office door.

Nathaniel Cole looked up and fell silent for a moment when he saw Leila Jennings standing in the doorway.

He neither beckoned her in nor dismissed her, and Leila Jennings looked at him with a hint of confusion.

’Hmm?’

The slight tilt of her head made her look like a quiet kitten peeking out with wide eyes.

Nathaniel Cole let out a soft sigh and nodded for her to come in.

"President Cole, I have something to do this afternoon. I need to request leave."

"Where are..." Before he could finish, Nathaniel Cole realized he was prying. This was Leila Jennings’s personal business. He immediately changed his tune. "Personal leave. It will be deducted from your salary."

"Alright." The salary from The Cole Group had always just been a front for Leila Jennings, so she didn’t care about the deduction.

Hearing her nonchalant attitude, Nathaniel Cole felt an inexplicable irritation rise within him, which he forcefully suppressed.

Ms. Neville’s words hung over his head like a sharp sword, a constant warning.

’If you aren’t sure of your feelings, don’t rashly interfere in the other person’s life.’

He would endure.

During the lunch break, he happened to overhear Leila Jennings on a call. He didn’t know who was on the other end, but it seemed they mentioned a "backer."

Leila Jennings said, "Are you saying that they’ve asked me to go over this time to give me a hard time, just like before? Because I no longer have a backer."

Nathaniel Cole’s brows furrowed.

After finishing her call, Leila Jennings turned around and saw him standing there, holding a cup of coffee.

Their eyes met.

Leila Jennings gave a slight nod. "President Cole."

Then she slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave.

"Wait." Nathaniel Cole stopped her. His gaze paused, as if he hadn’t expected himself to be so impulsive. "If anyone gives you a hard time, have them call my number and speak with me directly."

Leila Jennings froze.

"You heard me."

Nathaniel Cole gave a slight nod. "Leila Jennings, as long as you are with The Cole Group, we will have your back."

"Don’t overthink it. The Cole Group has always been fiercely loyal to its employees."

Gazing at his chiseled features, Leila Jennings suddenly understood why Caine and Gwen admired him so much. ’He really is good to his employees.’

"Thank you, President Cole."

"Mm-hm." Nathaniel Cole nodded, then asked, "Is my itinerary for tonight’s business trip all set? It needs to be a tight schedule; I want this to be a quick trip."

"It’s all set." Leila Jennings nodded. "The detailed itinerary and flight information have been sent to your email."

The man strode away.

He walked into his office and opened the file. The schedule was indeed packed tight, and it was certainly a quick trip—because she hadn’t scheduled any time for him to sleep at all.

Nathaniel Cole: "..."

’What a headache.’

’Whatever.’

’It’s Leila Jennings’s first time being a secretary.’

’I’ll endure it.’

...

「1:30 PM」

Leila Jennings appeared at the entrance of the research institute.

It was late autumn, and the wind was strong. After passing the iris scan to get inside, she lowered her head, rummaged through her bag for a mask to put on, and tied her hair into a low ponytail with a hair tie.

Professor Cheney seemed to have been waiting for her and raised a hand, beckoning her over.

The two of them walked into the office side by side.

Professor Cheney got straight to the point. "Mr. Jacobs is looking for you, most likely because of Sarah Lynch."

Ever since he’d personally seen and heard what happened between Sarah Lynch and Sean Sinclair at the reception, Professor Cheney couldn’t even be bothered to call her Ms. Lynch, referring to her by her full name instead.

"I’ve already let Sarah Lynch have a piece of the pie. What else could they want from me?" Leila Jennings couldn’t think of anything.

Professor Cheney hit the nail on the head. "The paper. The project paper is supposed to credit the entire team, but I doubt Mr. Jacobs and Sarah Lynch are satisfied with just that."

Leila Jennings stiffened. "She’s already been made a specially-appointed expert, with her name listed ahead of several others. How could she still want to be the first author?"

Professor Cheney fell silent.

Because there was no telling.

"She wouldn’t dare try to steal the first author credit; your information was submitted long ago," Professor Cheney assured her. "Don’t worry, that won’t happen. Besides, I’m here."

"I’m not worried. If Sarah Lynch dares to take the first author credit, I’ll just leave with the core data."

Professor Cheney was startled. This admittedly challenged his principles, but on second thought... it wasn’t entirely out of the question.

After all, Leila Jennings’s raw talent was undeniable.

More than that, Professor Cheney was worried about her personal life.

"Leila Jennings, forgive me for asking, but have you and Sean Sinclair finalized your divorce, or are you still in the process?"

"We’re in the process." Leila Jennings knew he was very concerned about this; he’d probably been holding the question in since the night of the reception. She felt a bit bad for making the old man wait.

"The divorce agreement has been signed. We’re just waiting for the official certificate."

"That’s good." Professor Cheney said, his face cold. "At least he had the decency to sign the papers without a fight. But you two aren’t even divorced yet, and he and Sarah Lynch are already parading themselves around town."

"It’s for the best," Leila Jennings said. She knew Sarah Lynch was using public validation as a means to her end: marrying Sean Sinclair.

And that suited her just fine.

"All these years, you’ve worked yourself ragged, juggling everything—doing his laundry, cooking for him, taking care of his parents and sister—and he was still flying abroad to see Sarah Lynch behind your back every year? That bastard."

Leila Jennings was taken aback. ’Sean Sinclair didn’t just send Sarah Lynch money every year, he also flew to see her?’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’it made sense. If he was already sending her money, flying to see her wasn’t that big of a leap.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’It was just... she had been so completely in the dark.’

Leila Jennings looked up and out the window. From her vantage point, she could see the institute’s main gate perfectly. A black sedan pulled in, and a few minutes later, Sarah Lynch entered, clad in high heels.

The first thing Sarah Lynch did was ask the gate guard, "Has Dr. Jennings arrived?"

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lynch." The guard greeted her but did not answer her question.

Information about Leila Jennings’s arrivals and departures was not to be disclosed to anyone.

Sarah Lynch pouted. Fine, if she couldn’t get an answer, she couldn’t. She would just have to wait outside her grandfather’s office.

Sarah Lynch looked around, found a fairly concealed spot, and positioned herself to the side, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the door.

First, she saw her grandfather’s assistant leave, presumably to fetch Dr. Jennings.

Sarah Lynch’s heart leaped into her throat.

’Today, I am going to see just who this arrogant Dr. Jennings is!’

「Ten minutes later.」

Three people approached from a distance: one was her grandfather’s assistant, and the other was Professor Cheney.

There was clearly another person following Professor Cheney, but no matter what angle she looked from, she couldn’t see their face.

’Maybe they’re just too far away,’ she thought. ’It’ll be fine once they get closer.’

As they drew closer, Sarah Lynch could make out the other person’s shoes and clothes.

The instant the trio turned a corner, Sarah Lynch raised her phone, immediately pressed the shutter, and took a quick burst of photos.

’One of them had to be a good shot.’

After taking the photos, she eagerly tapped on the pictures and zoomed in.