The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 357

"This video's a bit off," the tech guy replied, sliding the progress bar back and forth. He discovered a two-hour gap in the surveillance footage from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM and was so shocked that his hands were shaking as he clutched his phone.

Brandon also sensed something fishy, “What is it?”

“The footage from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM on the 17th is missing, just vanished.”

The tech guy replied with a quiver in his voice, double-checking the video and even the cloud storage, but it was the same story - the footage was wiped clean.

Brandon swallowed the anger bubbling up inside him and asked with a frosty tone, “Has anyone been near the surveillance room lately?”

“No one during my shift.”

The tech guy answered nervously. The surveillance room was connected to the security office, operated with a 24-hour shift system, and he was pretty sure no one had come by during his watch.

“Nobody’s clocking out today until we get to the bottom of this.”

After laying down the law with a chilly voice, Brandon cut the call short.

Theresa, who was busy with her own things, definitely felt the tension in the air and looked up, puzzled, at Brandon.

“Daddy?” She called out to Brandon hesitantly, “What’s wrong?”

Brandon cracked a smile at her, “Nothing.”

Then he told her, “Theresa, you hang out here with Grace for a bit, okay? Daddy needs to step outside to make a phone call.”

He didn’t want Theresa to see him getting emotional with his staff.

Theresa nodded obediently, “Okay.”

Brandon picked up his phone and stepped outside to call Kent.

Just as he made the call, he heard Kent’s baffled voice behind him, “Mr. Crawley?”

And with it, a slightly excited female voice, “Brandon?”

Turning around, Brandon saw Kent coming out of the meeting room, followed by Tia, and his brow instantly furrowed.

Tia, unfazed by his icy look, walked up with her arms full of documents and cheerfully said, “Brandon, we meet again.”

Brandon’s gaze skipped right over Tia and landed on Kent, “What’s she doing here?”

Kent glanced awkwardly at Tia, then back at Brandon, “Your dad brought her in as legal personnel.”

Tia was surprised, “Ah? Mr. Crawley is your actual dad?”

"Mr. Crawley" was what she called Daniel.

Daniel was the head honcho of the current travel and resort subsidiary, and everyone there referred to him as Mr. Crawley.

Brandon didn’t look at her, and just kept his eyes on Kent, “The subsidiary doesn't need legal personnel. Once the work handover is complete, compensate and dismiss as per the labor contract.”

Kent, getting the drift of what Brandon was aiming at and worried Tia might press her luck, quickly smiled at her, “Ms. Temple, why don’t you head back to the office?”

Ignoring him, Tia turned to Brandon, visibly upset, “Brandon, I haven't screwed up my job. On what grounds can you just fire me like that? Is this how Starlight Group treats its employees?”

Brandon looked at her calmly, “The department is dissolving, and there are no suitable positions available for the staff concerned, so we have to terminate the labor contract. Rest assured, Ms. Temple, you'll get every penny of compensation you're due from Starlight Group.”

After that, he said to Kent, “Escort her out. I need to speak with you.”

Kent, realizing he couldn’t persuade her to leave, quickly called another assistant to escort Tia away.

Tia, reluctant and resentful, shot back at Brandon, “Brandon, are you afraid you'll waver?”

Brandon ignored her, already walking towards the meeting room. Kent hurried to follow.

Brandon pushed open the meeting room door and stepped inside but didn’t sit down, instead turning to face Kent as he shut the door.

“Someone has deleted a section from the lobby’s surveillance footage.”

Kent was stunned, “How could that happen?”

Brandon didn’t want to speculate who was behind it. The missing footage exposed the relationship between Sophia and Theresa, and he wasn’t sure if Sophia was involved.

She had a history of this sort of thing.

Back in Skyrim City mall's surveillance, Ivan had done this for her before. She wanted to hide her relationship with Theresa then, and she was capable of such an act. He hoped it wasn’t her.

“Find out who has been near the surveillance room from the 17th until today,” Brandon looked at him with a cold expression.

Kent nodded, “Got it.”

“Also, how's that call log I asked you to get?” Brandon inquired.

“I passed it to Jerry to handle. I told him to send it to my email once he's done. I've been tied up with Tia and work handover, haven’t checked my email yet.” Kent quickly added, “I’ll send it to you in a bit.”

Brandon nodded, “Get on the surveillance issue now.”

“Right away,” Kent nodded eagerly.

Brandon turned to leave, his hand on the meeting room door handle, but then he paused.

“Also, distribute some pastries to the whole company.” He said, “Right now.”

“Huh?” Kent was taken aback, not quite catching on, “Under what pretext?”

Brandon replied, “Mr. Crawley’s just had a baby girl.”

Brandon had already left the meeting room.

Kent hurriedly followed, checking his email on the go to see if Jerry had sent over the call log, while simultaneously arranging the distribution of pastries in the group chat.

They had to get it done now, which was a bit rushed, but thankfully the company was big, with plenty of departments and hands to help. They’d had lots of events before and had a stable supply chain and designated contacts, so there was no lack of experienced folks.

"No way! Mr. Crawley's daughter is that age now?"

"What's going on here?"

Kent didn't respond further, simply typing "Pastries to be distributed by noon" before going offline. He sent Daniel’s call detail records that his assistant Jerry had prepared for him to Brandon, along with photos and surveillance footage from the hotel security cameras showing Daniel and Patricia's chance encounter with Sophia during the ceremony.

The photos were screenshots from the hotel surveillance, capturing only the entrance to the rest area, but Daniel and Patricia, Sophia, and Don were all in the frame.

Kent had carefully selected these photos, choosing shots where Daniel and Patricia showed disdain towards Sophia.

Brandon was busy at his desk when the email came in. He casually clicked it open, paused slightly when he saw the photos, and then looked at Sophia in the picture.

Compared to the aggressive Daniel and Patricia, Sophia looked calm.

He opened the surveillance footage, plugged in his headphones, and didn't want Theresa in the room to hear.

"This is a rest area specially arranged for the lead designer; who allowed you in?"

"Brandon squeezed you into the project designers' list?"

"Is this the attitude you should have towards your elders?"

"I need to talk to you about that child."

When the last sentence was spoken, Brandon's gaze paused slightly, looking at Daniel and Patricia in the video. Their disdain and arrogance towards Sophia were unmistakable, something he had never seen before.

Although Daniel would subtly hint to him that Sophia wasn't a good match for him, it was mostly in the tone of an elder speaking earnestly to a younger one.

As for their interactions in life, in his presence, Daniel and Patricia always maintained a superficial politeness and decency towards Sophia.

Even though he had later heard that they were not kind to Sophia, hearing it was nothing compared to seeing it with his own eyes.

He watched the entire surveillance footage with an expressionless face, then opened the call list and scrolled down to the 17th of this month. Among the string of unfamiliar phone numbers, he saw a familiar one - Sophia's.

The call was made in the afternoon, around two to three o'clock, lasting for over half an hour.

Brandon's eyes turned cold, pressed hard on the mouse, and the printer next to him started whirring into action.

Theresa, still playing, looked confused at the printer, and then at Brandon; noticing his bad mood, she couldn't help but worryingly called out, "Daddy?"

Brandon glanced at her, took off his headphones, and gently said, "Theresa, daddy needs to step out for a bit. Can you stay and play in the office with Grace?"

Theresa nodded, "Okay."

Brandon turned to look at the printer, which had stopped working, pulled out the freshly printed documents from the top, and walked out.

Kent was right outside in the office, busy with work, and stood up instinctively when he saw Brandon's expressionless face.

"You don't have to follow." Brandon stopped him with a calm voice, "My daughter is in the office. Keep an eye on her."

The words "my daughter" instantly made everyone in the office look at him again.