The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Cecilia Sinclair heard a ringtone coming from her bag. She froze for a moment, then fumbled to open it.

Before she could turn it off, a shadow fell over her.

Nathaniel Cole looked down at Cecilia Sinclair, his expression cold. "Why do you have her phone?"

"Wh-who..." Cecilia’s eyes darted around in a panic as she stuttered.

"Speak!" The man’s voice was firm and resonant, his gaze vicious.

Cecilia was so scared she started crying, tears streaming down her face. Nathaniel Cole snatched the phone from her hand.

"She... she was drunk. She put her phone in my bag."

Nathaniel Cole didn’t believe her for a second. In his eyes, the Sinclair family was nothing but a bunch of hypocrites with ulterior motives.

"Where is she?" Nathaniel Cole’s expression was terrifyingly dark.

Cecilia wiped her tears. "Sh-she’s sleeping."

"I’m asking for the room number!"

"I... I don’t remember."

"Still lying." Nathaniel Cole saw right through her.

Ross, the manager, immediately said, "President Cole, I’ll check the security footage right away. I’ll find Secretary Jennings within ten minutes, guaranteed."

"Then get to it." All sleepiness had vanished from Nathaniel Cole. He gestured to Zachary. "Keep a close watch on President Sinclair’s sister."

In less than ten minutes, Ross returned with a key card, saying timidly, "I’ve found her."

However, he had only watched the footage until he saw Cecilia Sinclair helping Leila Jennings into a room before coming to report. He hadn’t seen what happened in the next few minutes.

Nathaniel Cole: "Gwen, with me."

As they went up, they brushed past a man who was muttering curses, the legs of his pants completely soaked.

BEEP.

The hotel room door was opened again.

Cold water covered the floor, and a cardboard box with graffiti on it sat in the middle of the room.

The sound of RUSHING water came from the bathroom.

Nathaniel Cole strode over and knocked on the door. Immediately, something was knocked over inside.

"Leila Jennings." The sound of the water drowned out his voice.

Ross said, "I saw President Sinclair’s sister help Secretary Jennings into this very room on the security footage with my own eyes."

"President Cole, Secretary Jennings must be in there." Gwen pointed at the cardboard box. "This box was sent from an orphanage."

Nathaniel Cole shouted again, "Leila Jennings!"

There was no response from inside.

Gwen grew frantic. "There’s so much water. Could Secretary Jennings have drowned in there?"

Nathaniel Cole said coldly, "Find something to break down the door."

"Yes, right away." Ross went out to find a tool.

Nathaniel Cole couldn’t wait. He started kicking the door, but it was too well-made. Even after two full-force kicks, it didn’t budge.

Gwen ran out into the hallway, grabbed a window breaker hammer, and immediately handed it to President Cole.

Nathaniel Cole swung the hammer, smashing it against the door again and again. By the time Ross returned with someone wielding a sledgehammer, the door was shattered with a single blow.

Water from the bathroom poured out. A chill swept up to everyone’s thighs before the water level slowly settled around their ankles.

Leila Jennings was lying in the bathtub, her cheeks flushed crimson. The water was just touching her lips.

If they had been a moment later, the water would have covered her mouth and nose.

Nathaniel Cole’s pupils constricted. He ducked through the hole in the door, waded through the water to the tub, and quickly lifted Leila Jennings out.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his arm.

Leila Jennings’s fingers were digging fiercely into him.

"Don’t... be... afraid... I..." Her eyes were hazy and her voice was weak, but the strength in her fingers was so great that even Nathaniel Cole felt the pain.

Even though it hurt, he didn’t let go.

"It’s me, Leila Jennings."

"Secretary Jennings, it’s Gwen. Don’t be afraid, President Cole and I are here to help you." Gwen also ducked inside, unlocked the door from within, and more water flooded out.

The water on the floor receded, now only reaching the tops of their shoes.

"Gwen... Gwen..."

"It’s me, it’s me, Secretary Jennings." Gwen reached out and took her hand. The first sensation was cold, but then it was burning hot. She was shocked. "Why is she so hot?"

"Call Caleb Dalton."

Caleb Dalton was Nathaniel Cole’s private doctor.

"Now." Nathaniel Cole felt like he was holding a red-hot branding iron he’d just pulled from the water.

Gwen fumbled for her phone and made the call. "Dr. Dalton, could you please come to The Cole Crest Hotel as soon as possible?"

Nathaniel Cole added, "To my suite."

...

「The hotel lobby.」

Cecilia Sinclair was pacing anxiously. Her sense of dread intensified when, not long after Nathaniel Cole and his group went upstairs, she saw the man Sarah Lynch had hired leaving with a sullen look on his face.

She wanted to message Sarah Lynch to tell her the plan had changed.

But Zachary was watching her too closely.

"Miss Sinclair, you seem nervous. Do you have a guilty conscience?"

"No." Cecilia clutched her phone. Every time she moved, Zachary would fix her with a warning look.

’He’s terrifying.’

’The assistants working for the Cole family are all terrifying. Nothing like their gentle appearances.’

"If not, then why are you glancing around, Miss Sinclair? That’s what people with a guilty conscience do."

Cecilia swallowed and made an excuse. "It’s getting late, I have to go home. My parents will be angry otherwise."

"You’re already at a hotel, Miss Sinclair. Why not stay here?"

"I... It’s none of your business!" Cecilia shot to her feet, her expression arrogant. "Who are you to tell me what to do? What does it have to do with you whether I go home or not?"

"Of course it does. We have reason to suspect you’ve done something to compromise The Cole Crest Hotel, Miss Sinclair. Until we’ve investigated thoroughly, we must ask you to wait here. If the investigation reveals you’ve done nothing wrong, The Cole Group will provide you with appropriate compensation, and I will personally offer you a sincere apology."

Zachary’s words were flawless, leaving no room for argument.

Cecilia was filled with regret.

’I knew I shouldn’t have chosen a Cole Group hotel.

But this is the most luxurious hotel in City A. The cheapest room is four or five thousand a night. Sarah was paying, so it would have been foolish not to take advantage of it.’

Cecilia’s face fell.

Suddenly, she spotted Sean Sinclair and Sarah Lynch walking into the hotel. As if she’d seen her saviors, she called out pitifully, "Brother! Sarah!"

Sean Sinclair and Sarah Lynch looked over and also saw Zachary, Nathaniel Cole’s assistant.

Sarah Lynch froze for a second.

’Did something go wrong?’

Cecilia hurried over, looped her arm through Sarah Lynch’s, and whispered in her ear, "President Cole went to find Leila Jennings. He even chased away the guy you hired. I’m being watched, so I couldn’t message you. What do we do now?"

Sarah Lynch’s eyes darted thoughtfully before she asked in a low voice, "You’re saying Leila Jennings and President Cole are together?"

Cecilia nodded, her expression crestfallen. "Yeah."

But Sarah Lynch’s lips curled into a slight smile. "It’s fine."

’If Leila is "cheating" with Nathaniel Cole instead of some other man, it will be far more believable to Sean. And it will make him even angrier.’

’Catching them in the act this time... he’ll have to divorce her now, right?’

"Cecilia, are you sure you saw Leila Jennings enter this hotel with another man?" Sarah Lynch asked with a frown. "Could you have been mistaken?"

Cecilia immediately understood. "I wasn’t mistaken."

Sean Sinclair’s expression had turned foul the moment he heard the news. Hearing his sister’s confirmation, he asked directly, "Which room?"

"I don’t know. All I know is that as soon as I came downstairs, President Cole’s assistant stopped me." Cecilia glanced over at Zachary, who was standing nearby.

The smile on Zachary’s face gradually vanished.

’I’m screwed.’

’It looks like President Sinclair is here to catch his wife cheating.’

’And President Cole has become the other man.’

President Sinclair was walking toward him now, his voice tight with suppressed fury. "Zachary, where are my wife, Leila Jennings, and President Cole?"

And he had no idea what was happening upstairs. Gwen hadn’t sent him any updates.

「In the presidential suite.」

Leila Jennings lay soaking wet on the bed. No longer submerged in cold water, her body was burning up, and she subconsciously reached to pull at her clothes.

"Don’t move." Nathaniel Cole leaned over and held down her restless hands, his gaze suddenly meeting a pair of passion-filled eyes, shimmering like water.