The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Nathaniel Cole untied the tie from his own hand and used it to bind Leila Jennings’s hands.

He urged Gwen, "Tell Caleb Dalton to hurry."

Gwen got back on the phone to hurry the doctor along.

Seeing that just tying her hands wasn’t enough, Nathaniel Cole tore two strips from the tablecloth. He used one to bind Leila Jennings’s feet.

Her shoes had long since been kicked off to who knows where. Her normally pale feet were now flushed pink.

After her feet, he moved on to her eyes.

If Leila Jennings looked at him like that again, he couldn’t guarantee he had enough self-control.

Nathaniel Cole bent down. Just as he got a little closer, a wave of warm breath washed over his face.

He quickly blindfolded her.

He looked down and saw Leila Jennings’s slightly parted lips. They were dry, very red, and her breathing was rapid.

Her hot breath puffed against his face, and the sound of her panting filled his ears.

A tightness coiled in Nathaniel Cole’s gut.

Realizing he was about to lose control, he recoiled from the bedside, stumbling back several steps.

"President Cole, Dr. Dalton has arrived downst—" Gwen turned around and saw Secretary Jennings tied up on the bed.

It was one thing to be hog-tied.

But she was only bound at the hands and feet, and blindfolded.

And the thing binding her hands was President Cole’s red tie.

The scene was a little... kinky.

Gwen silently pressed her lips together and reported again, "Dr. Dalton is here."

Nathaniel Cole grunted in acknowledgment, his voice a bit hoarse. "You can give Caleb Dalton a hand in a minute."

He walked out of the bedroom, closed the door, and went straight to the balcony. The cold late-autumn wind whipped against his face.

His soaked shoes and pant cuffs were even colder.

’Leila Jennings soaked herself in cold water in this weather.’ He recalled the scene from when he broke the door down: Leila Jennings had looked like a small boat adrift at sea.

Nathaniel Cole’s heart clenched, and a pang of protectiveness washed over him.

The doorbell rang.

He went to open the door. It was Caleb Dalton.

"President Cole, aren’t you perfectly fine?"

"It’s not me." Nathaniel Cole stepped aside to let him in, then closed the door.

Caleb Dalton looked surprised. "Not you? Then who is it?"

"Cut the crap." This was no time for idle talk. Nathaniel Cole led him to the master bedroom and pushed open the door.

Caleb Dalton’s eyes immediately fell on the woman tied to the bed, letting out pained moans from time to time.

His eyes suddenly widened.

’There’s a strange woman in Nathaniel Cole’s room?’

’And she’s tied up?’

"Don’t dawdle," Nathaniel Cole urged from the doorway.

Caleb Dalton walked in carrying his medical bag, saying, "Who was brave enough to send someone to your bed? And they drugged her, too. That’s some nerve. The real question is, why didn’t you just throw her out..."

He looked back at Nathaniel Cole and found him still standing at the door, his gaze glued to the woman on the bed.

"Why aren’t you coming in?"

"I told you to cut the crap and stop dawdling." The man’s anxiety was palpable.

Caleb Dalton was starting to get the picture.

’Looks like a cold heart is starting to thaw.’

He walked over, did a quick check, and said calmly, "I don’t know the composition, so I can’t risk administering any medication. I could give her a sedative, but it’s pointless if the drug in her system doesn’t wear off."

Gwen asked anxiously, "Then what do we do?"

Caleb Dalton lifted his chin slightly, looking at Nathaniel Cole in the doorway. "Isn’t your President Cole a ready-made antidote?"

Gwen had a pained expression. "That’s not an option."

"Why? Are you in love with your President Cole?" The fact that Caleb Dalton could still joke around proved that Leila Jennings wasn’t in any real danger; the drug was just potent.

Gwen’s smile grew even more strained. "No, it’s that Secretary Jennings... she has a family."

"Will cold water work?" Nathaniel Cole cut Gwen off, his expression grave as he looked at Caleb Dalton. "Give me two options that don’t involve using a person as the antidote."

"Cold water can only suppress it, and you’d have to add ice. She’s so slender, and being a woman, it would cause irreversible damage to her body." Caleb Dalton shook his head. "I don’t recommend cold water."

"Besides the human antidote, I only have one other solution: acupuncture." Caleb Dalton already had his phone out. "My grandmother is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, but she has mobility issues. We’ll have to go to her clinic."

Nathaniel Cole decided instantly. "We’re going to the clinic."

He stepped forward, wrapped Leila Jennings tightly in a blanket until only her head was showing, and lifted her into his arms.

"Lead the way."

Caleb Dalton stared, stunned. ’So President Cole isn’t allergic to women after all.’

He quietly asked Gwen, "Who is she?"

"Secretary Jennings." Gwen followed along, simultaneously sending a message to Zachary.

[Zachary, President Cole and Dr. Dalton are taking Secretary Jennings to the TCM clinic.]

Caleb Dalton pressed, "I meant, what’s her relationship with President Cole?"

"For now, it’s just a superior-subordinate relationship." Gwen looked exasperated. "Dr. Dalton, please stop asking. Just hurry and take us to the clinic to find Madam Dalton."

"I’m just curious. Why is President Cole so worked up over a secretary?"

Gwen didn’t answer him.

The group took the private elevator down.

Sean Sinclair and his group were just taking the elevator up, and they missed each other.

Even wrapped up like a cocoon, Leila Jennings was restless. She kept squirming in Nathaniel Cole’s arms, letting out soft moans.

Nathaniel Cole reached out to cover her mouth.

The moment his palm touched Leila Jennings’s lips, his body had a shameful reaction.

He snatched his hand away as if he’d been burned.

He immediately switched to using a handkerchief to muffle her mouth.

Finally, a little quiet.

In all the struggling, the blindfold over Leila Jennings’s eyes came loose.

Nathaniel Cole once again met her misty, unfocused eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed silently.

He raised his hand to cover Leila Jennings’s eyes.

Every time Leila Jennings blinked, her eyelashes brushed against his palm like tiny feathers, a sensation that tickled both his skin and his heart.

Gwen sat beside them. Even though she sensed President Cole’s tension, she silently kept her mouth shut.

Caleb Dalton, sitting in the passenger seat, kept glancing at the rearview mirror. The usually calm and composed man was now sitting ramrod straight, not daring to hold the woman too tight, yet not daring to hold her too loose for fear she would tumble from his arms.

His expression was more tense than ever before.

Caleb Dalton gave a meaningful smile, then suddenly met the man’s icy gaze in the rearview mirror. He shivered, immediately pulled out his phone to call his grandmother, and briefly described Leila Jennings’s condition.

Madam Dalton’s tone was calm. "Come on over. I’ll get things ready."

When they arrived at the clinic, a black-haired old woman with a cane was standing over a steaming wooden tub, sprinkling medicinal herbs into it.

"You’re here? Put her in."

Nathaniel Cole strode over with Leila Jennings in his arms. He first placed her on the ground, unfolded the blanket, then carefully lowered her into the tub.

"Alright, all of you wait outside," Madam Dalton said, turning to look at them.

"Here you go, Grandma." Caleb Dalton handed over the acupuncture kit. "Grandma, don’t you need my help?"

"I do need someone to stay and help, but not you. It should be the little lady’s boyfriend." Madam Dalton looked at Nathaniel Cole. "You stay, young man."

Nathaniel Cole’s brow furrowed. "It wouldn’t be appropriate."

Gwen raised her hand. "Ma’am, how about I stay?"

Madam Dalton shook her head. "You can’t lift her, dear."

"I’ll stay," Nathaniel Cole said.