The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Leila Jennings bent down to help Nathaniel Cole into the car. Just as she let go, her wrist was grabbed.

She looked at Nathaniel Cole, confused.

"President Cole."

Nathaniel Cole partially lifted his eyelids, his deep, boundless eyes fixed on her face.

"You’re divorced?"

Leila Jennings froze, not expecting him to ask about that.

"I saw," Nathaniel Cole said candidly.

Leila Jennings answered just as truthfully, "I got the divorce certificate yesterday."

The evening breeze blew, lifting strands of her hair. The tip of her nose was also a little red.

"Congratulations." The man uttered the single word, released her wrist, and gestured for her to get in quickly.

The driver kindly closed the door for them and, once in the driver’s seat, lowered the partition.

The back seat became a completely private space. The car’s ceiling was filled with glittering stars.

Leila Jennings glanced up.

Nathaniel Cole followed her gaze, then turned his head to ask, "Like it?"

"It reminds me of the night sky back home," Leila Jennings said. "When I was little, we could see a lot of stars just by looking up. But not anymore."

Nathaniel Cole asked, "Why?"

Leila Jennings lowered her gaze. "The county expanded, and now the lights are so bright you can’t see the stars when you look up anymore."

"There’s a stable and campsite in the suburbs with The Astrolabe." Nathaniel Cole leaned back against the seat, crossing his legs with an air of noble languor. "Just let me know if you want to go."

When Leila Jennings was confused, she would just give a questioning look.

Nathaniel Cole answered her unspoken question. "The stable, the campsite, The Astrolabe—they’re mine."

Leila Jennings nodded.

’Got it.’

’A capitalist’s private playground.’

"Has President Cole sobered up?" Leila Jennings realized he didn’t seem drunk anymore.

Nathaniel Cole: "...A little."

"Since you’ve sobered up, President Cole, I’d like to go to your house to get my suitcase. That way you won’t have to make another trip." Leila Jennings had been thinking about her suitcase but hadn’t found a chance to ask Nathaniel Cole about it.

Nathaniel Cole was too busy.

And for the past two days, her mind had been completely preoccupied with the divorce certificate.

Now that she had confirmed the divorce certificate was real, and with Nathaniel Cole conveniently free and sober, she might as well go get it herself.

Nathaniel Cole gazed at Leila Jennings.

He knew that when she said she wanted to go to his house to get her suitcase, that’s exactly what she meant. There wasn’t a trace of the flirtatious ulterior motives of an adult, let alone the social-climbing intentions of other women.

Nathaniel Cole felt not the slightest bit of happiness. He asked her, "Just the suitcase?"

Leila Jennings: "What else?"

Nathaniel Cole: "..."

’What a headache.’

He closed his eyes, feigning sleep.

Once his eyes were closed, his other senses sharpened dramatically.

He could smell the faint, barely-there fragrance on Leila Jennings and could even hear the soft rustle of her movements.

Leila Jennings was opening something; she must be unwrapping presents.

Nathaniel Cole slowly opened his eyes, glancing over from the corner of his vision.

Leila Jennings was focused on unwrapping and didn’t see him open his eyes.

Caine’s gift was a pair of silver filigree earrings with pearls, which glowed with a soft luster.

Gwen had given her ten tubes of hand cream from different brands, each with a unique scent.

Zachary’s gift was both a wooden hairpin and a pen.

They were all very practical, and a small smile touched Leila Jennings’s lips.

’This month wasn’t all bad, actually.’

Her marriage to Sean Sinclair had fallen apart, but she had also received kindness from the people around her.

Leila Jennings took out her phone, snapped a picture, and posted it to her social feed with the caption: "Thanks for the farewell gifts from my colleagues."

Caine and the others liked and commented very quickly.

Gwen commented: "Is that a hairpin from Zachary? I heard that in ancient times, hairpins were tokens of love given to one’s sweetheart."

Zachary replied to Gwen: "It’s a pen! Don’t get me in trouble."

Caine replied to Gwen: "Don’t get him in trouble."

Caine replied to Zachary: "Just kidding, lol."

Nathaniel Cole liked her post.

Zachary: "RIP."

Leila Jennings: "?"

She turned her head. Nathaniel Cole was looking at his phone.

"President Cole, you’re awake."

"Mm." The man’s expression was a little gloomy, so Leila Jennings silently put her things away.

They arrived at Norsen.

She quickened her movements and casually used the hairpin-pen from Zachary to put up her hair.

As she was twisting her hair up, the man beside her grew even more sullen.

"Aren’t you getting out?" Nathaniel Cole’s gaze swept over her head.

The car stopped in the courtyard of No. 1 Norsen, next to a fountain.

"Okay." Leila Jennings had just finished putting her hair up. She quickly grabbed her bag and gifts and got out of the car. Her feet had just touched the ground, and before she could even steady herself, a hand from behind plucked the hairpin from her hair.

Her hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

She turned around, strands of hair lifting in the air, partially obscuring her eyes. Through her hair, her gaze met Nathaniel Cole’s, which was as deep as a tranquil pool.

Ripples disturbed the man’s previously calm gaze.

Leila Jennings didn’t notice.

She reached up to brush her hair out of her face and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"It looks better down." As he spoke, Nathaniel Cole confiscated her hairpin-pen and strode ahead.

Leila Jennings looked at his hand, her lips parting slightly. "My..."

"Hurry up. Don’t you want your suitcase?" Nathaniel Cole’s voice was cold.

The word "pen" died on Leila Jennings’s lips, and she quickly followed him inside.

She stood in the magnificent hall, looking around at the vast collection of calligraphy, paintings, and antiques.

"Miss Leila Jennings, please have some tea." A middle-aged woman walked toward her carrying tea, her face wreathed in smiles. Seeing her still standing, she quickly added, "Please, Miss Leila Jennings, don’t be so formal. Have a seat."

Leila Jennings nodded her thanks, asking in confusion, "Do you know me?"

The woman froze for a moment, then her eyes darted. "I heard the Young Miss mention you at the old residence, and, and I’ve seen your photo."

’Actually, it was the Madam who showed me.’

’So it was Cherry Cole.’ Leila Jennings took the tea and asked politely, "How should I address you?"

"The Young Master and Young Miss call me Miss Moss. You can call me that too, Miss Leila Jennings. I’m the housekeeper in charge of taking care of the Young Master."

Leila Jennings: "Miss Moss."

Miss Moss stood to the side, watching her with a fond expression.

Leila Jennings felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze. Nathaniel Cole, coming downstairs with the suitcase, saw this and immediately said, "Miss Moss."

Miss Moss turned away reluctantly.

’Honestly.’

’The Young Master brings a woman home for the first time, and he won’t even let me ask a few questions, like what she likes to eat or has any dietary restrictions. How am I supposed to prepare for the future?’

Hearing Nathaniel Cole’s voice, Leila Jennings stood up again. As soon as she saw the suitcase, she eagerly walked over.

The suitcase was clearly wrinkled from being soaked.

A flash of panic crossed Leila Jennings’s eyes. She took the suitcase, knelt on the floor, and began to take out the contents one by one, carefully arranging them.

’If the suitcase is wrinkled from water, the things inside must have been soaked too.’

The water-damaged items had dried, but they were still noticeably wrinkled.

’Paper that’s been soaked and then left to dry will probably stick together. If I’m not careful when I open them, they’ll tear.’

’It’s all my fault.’

’I forgot to put the suitcase on the table, otherwise it wouldn’t have gotten soaked.’

Leila Jennings’s face was filled with self-blame.

But when she opened one of the sketchbooks, which was only held together by staples, she found that every page was fine. They turned easily and hadn’t stuck together, though the colors on the drawings had bled a little.

She decided to open a letter to check and found the envelope had already been opened.

She took it out. Aside from the blurred ink, it was still in good condition.

Leila Jennings looked up in surprise.

Nathaniel Cole: "I don’t have a habit of prying into other people’s secrets."

Leila Jennings understood. He had laid out all her things to dry.

"Thank you." Her eyes shimmered.

’Leila Jennings’s eyes are far more beautiful than the stars I’ve seen from The Astrolabe,’ Nathaniel Cole thought.

Nathaniel Cole: "You owe me..."

"Three times," Leila Jennings cut in immediately. She put the items back into the suitcase, hugged it to her chest, stood up, and bowed. "President Cole, I’m truly grateful. For saving my life at the hotel, for stopping Sean Sinclair from taking me, and now for saving my suitcase. Thank you, thank you so, so much."

’She’s even using such formal language.’

Nathaniel Cole’s expression turned cold. ’What kind of misconception does she have about my age?’

"So this suitcase belongs to Miss Leila Jennings?" Miss Moss reappeared. "When the Young Master brought it back, he immediately took everything out and laid it on the balcony to dry. He wouldn’t even let me touch it, he was so afraid of damaging anything. He cherished it."

’The Madam said the Young Master is a natural at infuriating people, but he’s hopeless when it comes to chasing women. She told me if I ever met Miss Leila Jennings, I had to help him.’

’This, I can do.’

’When I’m cooking and cleaning, my favorite thing to listen to is *The Domineering CEO Fell in Love with Me*.’

’Now there are even spin-offs like *The Domineering CEO Fell in Love with Me, the Housekeeper*, and *The Domineering CEO Fell in Love with Me, the Menopausal Nanny*... Anyway, they’re totally my thing.’

"Miss Leila Jennings, you’re the first woman the Young Master has ever brought back."

"I’ve taken care of the Young Master for so many years, and I’ve never seen him bring any other woman home."

"..."

The corner of Nathaniel Cole’s mouth twitched.

Leila Jennings, on the other hand, was a bit dazed. Having spent her whole life buried in her studies and the lab, she had little experience with such things and couldn’t process what was happening.

The thought that Nathaniel Cole might be treating her in a special way never even occurred to her.

Freshly divorced, she was in a stage of actively avoiding anything to do with romance.

"Miss Moss, go back to your work," Nathaniel Cole quickly shooed her away.

Miss Moss was once again forced to leave.

Leila Jennings was also eager to get back and take a closer look at the drawings and letters in her suitcase.

She had just turned to leave.

Her phone began to vibrate, again and again. It wasn’t the vibration of an incoming call, but an alarm.

And it was from the lab.

Leila Jennings immediately pulled out her phone. Red alerts were popping up continuously.

She put the suitcase down—this time on the coffee table in front of the sofa—and hurriedly said to Nathaniel Cole, "I’m sorry, President Cole, but I might have to leave my things here for a bit longer. I’m sorry for the trouble."

With that, she strode out.

She didn’t even take her bag.

Nathaniel Cole had been drinking and couldn’t drive, so he immediately called the driver to take Leila Jennings.

Leila Jennings didn’t have time to worry about such details. After getting in the car, she gave the driver an address not far from the research institute. It wasn’t convenient to make a call in the car, so she quickly sent a message to Professor Cheney and her assistant, Chloe.

Someone had touched her desk.

Professor Cheney and Chloe were so alarmed they rushed to the institute in the middle of the night.

When the car reached the designated spot, Leila Jennings thanked the driver, got out immediately, and ducked into an alley, using it to block the driver’s line of sight.

The driver’s car waited for a moment. When she didn’t reappear, he called Nathaniel Cole back. "President Cole, I’ve dropped Miss Leila Jennings off, but it wasn’t her real destination."

"Understood." Nathaniel Cole told him to come back without asking any further questions.

Leila Jennings had her suspicions about who had touched her desk. Remembering Professor Cheney’s words as she passed a store, she went in, bought a 3D mask that covered half her face, and quickly put it on. She also pulled her hair from behind her ears to cover the sides of her face.

The guard: "Dr. Jennings."

Leila Jennings: "Has Ms. Lynch been here tonight?"