The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

"I have an answer." Nathaniel Cole hung up the phone, looking up just in time to see Leila Jennings push open the door and walk into the office.

She wore a light linen-colored cowl-neck, long-sleeved top. The neckline draped naturally into folds, perfectly revealing her prominent collarbones.

A matching linen skirt flowed down, its hem swaying gently with her steps. A thin, dark brown belt cinched her waist, accentuating her tall, slender figure.

An olive-green coat was draped over one arm, and she carried two kraft paper bags in her other hand.

Her loose hair was tucked behind her ears, revealing a simple and elegant face. Rimless glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, and she exuded a subtle, classic Eastern charm.

As Leila Jennings bent slightly to place the two paper bags on Gwen’s and Zachary’s desks, her long, black hair cascaded down like silk.

The two-thirty sunlight was still soft, casting a thin layer of golden light on her hair.

Casually, Leila Jennings glanced up at him.

Nathaniel Cole heard his own heartbeat.

It was like a war drum thundering in his ears.

He held his breath.

His gaze on Leila Jennings gradually became tinged with desire.

Leila Jennings gave him a slight nod, then continued speaking to Gwen, "I was afraid you might not like spicy food, so I didn’t bring much. If you like it, I’ll bring more for you when I go back this year."

"Thank you, Jennings!" Gwen smiled sweetly, two small dimples appearing on her cheeks.

Leila Jennings walked to her own workstation, casually draped her coat over the back of her chair, and sat down.

Just as she turned on her computer, a message from Nathaniel Cole immediately popped up.

[Come to my office.]

Leila Jennings replied that she’d be right there. At the same time, she took out the written self-criticism she had finished, knocked, and went in.

"President Cole, here is the self-criticism you asked me to write."

Nathaniel Cole stared at the handwritten report, stunned for a moment.

Her elegant handwriting had its own unique style.

Nathaniel Cole read it carefully. It was a proper, eight-hundred-character self-criticism. He could tell at a glance that Leila Jennings must have been a model student, the type who took everything she did seriously.

"Mm," Nathaniel Cole set the report aside, lightly folded his hands, and looked up at her. "Lyle Cole will give you an explanation for what happened last night."

"What happened last night had nothing to do with Lyle Cole."

"It happened at The Cole Crest Hotel." Nathaniel Cole didn’t know how to tell her that Lyle Cole had let Cecilia Sinclair off the hook. The only thing he could do right now was say, "The compensation from the Sinclair Family, as well as compensation from Lyle Cole, will be transferred to your account before the end of the day."

He placed a pen on a blank sheet of paper and pushed it in front of Leila Jennings.

"Your account and phone number."

"Thank you, President Cole." Leila Jennings didn’t hesitate. Cecilia Sinclair should have been the one to pay compensation, but the Sinclair Family would never give it to her. The Sinclairs had paid The Cole Crest Hotel, and now President Cole was giving that money to her. She should indeed thank him.

But that wasn’t the most important thing to thank him for.

"President Cole, when are you free? I’d like to treat you to a meal." Leila Jennings felt an invitation like this was better extended in person.

Nathaniel Cole took the pen and paper and said calmly, "Anytime. Just let me know when and where."

"Okay." Leila Jennings nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait," Nathaniel Cole called out to her.

Leila Jennings turned back.

Nathaniel Cole’s expression faltered for a second, then he said, "You can go."

A flash of confusion crossed Leila Jennings’ eyes, but she didn’t say anything more.

The office door closed.

Nathaniel Cole picked up the self-criticism report he had set aside and the piece of paper where Leila Jennings had written her account and phone number. He opened a drawer and put them inside.

...

Sure enough, before she got off work, Leila Jennings received a transfer of three million.

At the same time, a message from Nathaniel Cole popped up on her phone.

[Half from the Sinclair Family, half from Lyle Cole.]

[Thank you, President Cole.]

The other party was typing for a while.

Leila Jennings didn’t know what he was hesitating about, so she set her phone aside for the moment.

A minute later, the message came through.

[Lyle Cole only accepted the compensation. He didn’t press the matter further.]

’So that’s what this is about.’

Leila Jennings had more or less expected it. At the end of the day, this was a private grudge between her and the Sinclair Family.

She replied: [Got it.]

Nathaniel Cole stared at the two words. No matter how he looked at them, something felt wrong, and it made him increasingly agitated.

When it was time to leave work, he watched Leila Jennings put on her coat and go.

He felt even more unsettled.

In the end, he screenshotted just that message and sent it to his sister, Cherry Cole, asking what it meant. Was she expressing dissatisfaction?

Cherry Cole thought he was crazy. You needed context even for reading comprehension, yet her brother wanted her to decipher the meaning of those two words based on the phrase alone.

It could mean so many things.

Nathaniel Cole received an eye-rolling emoji from his sister and didn’t press her any further.

Cherry Cole sent a voice message: "Dad wants you to come home for dinner tonight."

"No time," Nathaniel Cole refused curtly.

Cherry Cole continued, "Why do I get the feeling you and Dad are being weird today? Did he do something to piss you off?"

Leila was in a hurry to get home and check on her things. The water-damaged paintings and letters from her suitcase were still drying on her balcony, and she had no idea what condition they were in.

Nathaniel Cole stood up and went downstairs.

As his car was leaving the underground garage, he saw Sean Sinclair grabbing Leila Jennings’s hand and pulling her into a car.

Leila Jennings’s wrist was already red from his grip.

By the time he rolled down his window, Leila Jennings had already been forcibly pulled into Sean Sinclair’s car, and it drove away.

Nathaniel Cole’s face was as dark as storm clouds.

The temperature inside the car seemed to plummet several degrees.

"Follow them."

"Yes, sir." The driver couldn’t help but shiver.

Meanwhile, in the other car, Leila Jennings was interrogating Sean Sinclair. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

"What am *I* doing? What are *you* doing?" Sean Sinclair retorted, his face weary. "The investigation showed that Cecilia had nothing to do with it, and The Cole Crest Hotel has already dropped the matter. Why are you still going after her? As long as you refuse to drop the lawsuit, Cecilia has to live with the accusation of intentional assault."

"If it has nothing to do with Cecilia, then what about the person who drugged the drink?" Leila Jennings shot back. "Even if you won’t find the real culprit to get justice for me, aren’t you even going to find them to prove Cecilia’s innocence?"

"It’s not that I don’t plan on finding the culprit for you, but I can’t just pull the surveillance footage from The Cole Crest Hotel whenever I want."

"Which is why I’m not dropping it. If you won’t investigate, someone else will." Leila Jennings stared straight ahead, not wanting to look at Sean Sinclair’s face.

Sean Sinclair knew she felt wronged. "Can you just think about it from my perspective for a second? The wife of Stellaxis Technologies’ CEO gets drugged at The Cole Crest Hotel and is then taken to the hospital by the President of The Cole Group. If the media gets ahold of this and blows it up, what will people think of me? What will Chairman Forrester think of me?"

"If I lose Chairman Forrester’s trust, what future is there for our family?"

"There is no future." ’Sean, there’s no future for you and me anymore.’

Sean Sinclair’s brow tightened, and he squeezed Leila Jennings’s wrist harshly. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn’t mean anything."

"Leila, don’t say things like that just because you’re angry. I don’t want to hear it." Sean Sinclair lowered his gaze slightly, softening his tone. "I know it feels unfair to just let this go. Let me make it up to you, okay?"

"Last time, when I asked you to quit your job and stay home, you asked for the apartment we live in now. This time, I’ll buy you a car as compensation, how about that?" He raised his hand to pat Leila Jennings’s head.

Leila Jennings turned her head away.

Her evasive action sent another inexplicable wave of panic through Sean Sinclair’s heart.