The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

"Miss," Sean called out to the woman again.

Claire Rhodes took a deep breath, feigning composure as she turned around.

"Calling for me?"

"Yes." Sean walked toward her, speaking in a very gentlemanly and polite manner. "Could I trouble you to give something to my wife? She’s still in the restroom."

As he spoke, he handed over a black plastic bag. The woman could tell at a glance that it contained sanitary napkins.

’Great, he doesn’t suspect a thing.’

Claire Rhodes quickly took the plastic bag from him and turned back to the restroom.

"Um, hello. Your husband asked me to give you something," Claire Rhodes said, intentionally loud enough for Sean to hear outside.

Leila Jennings reached out and took it. "Thank you."

She deliberately tore open the package, used one, and then walked out carrying the black plastic bag.

"Leila." As soon as Sean saw her, a smile bloomed on his face, and he immediately went to greet her. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He handed her the flowers.

The last time Sean had given her flowers was her wedding bouquet.

Leila looked at Sean’s slightly fawning expression and reached out to take the roses.

"You didn’t bring your purse?" Sean glanced at the plastic bag in her hand. After Leila nodded, he took it from her and then reached for her hand.

"Let’s go get some lunch."

"Okay." Leila followed him reluctantly, and they arrived at a restaurant in a nearby mall.

Before the food arrived, Sean took a deep breath, steeling himself to bring up the incident at The Cole Crest Hotel with Leila.

"Leila, can you forgive Cecilia for what she did to you at the hotel?"

Leila paused mid-sip, lifting her gaze to meet his. She stated with certainty, "So you know it was Cecilia."

"Yeah." Sean nodded. "It’s my fault for not keeping a better eye on her. I’ll apologize to you on her behalf. I’m sorry."

"And I’m sorry for insisting you go home and apologize to Cecilia that day."

Sean’s gaze seemed sincere.

But Sean’s "I’m sorry" held no weight with Leila.

When it came down to it, even though Sean knew his own sister was in the wrong, he was still taking her side.

His wife was insignificant, someone who could be brushed off with a couple of apologies.

"You’re not the one who did it, so why are you the one apologizing?" Leila asked him. "Has Cecilia gone mute?"

Sean frowned slightly. "I’m apologizing for Cecilia, and I’m apologizing for myself. Can we just let this go and never bring it up again?"

Bringing it up over and over was like repeatedly sticking a needle into Leila.

She shot back, "Why should I?"

"If you forgive Cecilia, Mom, Dad, and Cecilia will all remember your kindness." Sean trotted out the same old line. "I’m thinking about our future."

Leila’s gaze fell. She finished the warm water in her glass, but a chill spread through her heart.

"So you’re saying that all these years when your dad was sick and hospitalized, me bringing him meals and taking him to his check-ups—he didn’t remember my kindness."

"When your mom got scammed buying health supplements, and I was the one running back and forth between the police station and the courthouse—she didn’t remember my kindness either."

"When Cecilia was in college and led the charge to ostracize her roommate, only to get blasted on the campus forum and become a pariah herself, forcing her to move from one dorm to another, and then another—I was the one who mediated everything. I was the one who helped her move her blankets, her clothes, her computer, make her bed, and wash her socks. And she never remembered my kindness either."

"But because she drugged me and almost got me assaulted, if I forgive her, *then* your family will finally remember my kindness?"

Sean’s pupils contracted. He was rendered speechless.

"No..." He wanted to say no, that wasn’t what he meant, but every single one of Leila’s accusations was true.

Sean fell silent, his heart aching with a sharp pang.

Leila was used to his silence.

Whenever a conflict arose between her and the Sinclair family, Sean would either tell her to be the first to back down, or he would just go silent.

The times he fell silent were almost always when the Sinclairs had gone too far. Sean knew it in his heart, but he never took her side.

In a situation this unjust, staying neutral was the same as siding with the guilty.

Leila stared intently at Sean.

Sean didn’t dare to meet her gaze.

Not until the food was served did Sean break the silence, picking up the first piece of food with his chopsticks and placing it on her plate.

"You must be hungry. Eat up."

In the past, this would have been Leila’s cue to back down.

The old her couldn’t bear to see Sean caught in the middle, couldn’t stand the sight of his downcast, pained expression.

Today, she ignored his discomfort and continued, "Actually, I’m not so sure Cecilia has the guts for something like this."

Sean looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Cecilia bullies the weak and fears the strong. She’s a coward. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kept changing dorms the second people turned on her. Do you know what category the drug she gave me—something akin to a date-rape drug—falls under in this country?"

Sean’s pupils shrank abruptly.

"The substance itself isn’t classified as a controlled drug, but the buying, selling, transporting, or possessing of it can constitute drug trafficking. And it’s not something an ordinary person can get their hands on. How would someone like Cecilia, who only knows how to compete with other girls, know people like that? How would she have access to such a channel?"

Sarah Lynch, on the other hand, who has lived abroad, is a different story.

Leila asked him earnestly, "Sean, have you ever suspected anything? Cecilia walked out of the police station without a scratch because there wasn’t enough evidence. That includes a lack of any record of her buying or selling the drug. With big data being what it is today, if she had searched for it and bought it online, how could there be no digital trail?"

Sean’s body remained rigid.

Because what Leila said made perfect sense.

"The excuse you used most often to defend Cecilia was that she was goaded by someone else into doing stupid things. I’ve always agreed that Cecilia is very easily influenced."

"Sean, you didn’t get to where you are today just by wining and dining clients. You used your brain, too. You’re a smart man. You should think about this carefully."

Leila ate her lunch quietly. For Sean, the food might as well have been wax. The events of the day Leila was drugged began flashing through his mind.

’The only other person involved in this incident, besides Cecilia, was Sarah.’

’Sarah?’

’No, that’s impossible.’

’Sarah has always been so kind. She’s never said a bad word about Leila in front of me.’

’When we went to the hotel to catch the "cheater," Sarah kept reassuring me, saying that maybe Cecilia had seen wrong. She even told me not to get too worked up.’

"I’m done eating."

"Okay." Sean snapped back to reality and asked her gently, "Do you want some more water?"

"I’ll get it myself." Leila took a sip of water and pulled out a napkin to wipe her mouth. "I have to get to my afternoon class. It’s not good to be late."

Sean stood up, thought for a moment, and asked, "Can you forgive us?"

’Forgive them? He’s just asking for his own peace of mind.’

Leila didn’t answer him directly. Instead, she said, "If you want me to drop the charges, that’s fine. But Cecilia needs to come and apologize to me in person. She was able to apologize to the girl she ostracized at school, so she can apologize to me, right?"

"All I want is a face-to-face apology from her."

"Okay," Sean agreed immediately. "I’ll have her go and apologize to you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow’s no good," Leila refused. "As for when... tell Cecilia to wait for my word."

Sean frowned. "Why?"

"When Cecilia took my package, she made me wait, too," Leila stated bluntly.

Sean’s frown deepened. "Leila, can’t you just repay evil with kindness? Do you really have to demand an eye for an eye?"