The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 533

Brandon's throat tightened as he gently wrapped his arms around her.

"She..." Brandon started, his voice meant to comfort Theresa, but the words just wouldn't come out; he was choked up pretty badly.

He pulled Theresa in closer, saying nothing. She was held so tight she could barely move.

Lifting her head slightly, she looked towards Susan and Grace with a lost and confused expression, hesitantly calling out, "Godmom?"

Susan fought back a lump in her throat, her voice hoarse as she told her, "She had to go work on something, and it might be a while before she can come back."

It was a simple sentence, but Susan choked up a few times saying it. But Theresa wasn't buying it; her expression remained vacant, tinged with disappointment.

"But Mommy promised she'd hang out with me today, that we'd go out and have fun with Daddy."

Her voice was soft, and the childish timbre couldn't hide the hurt.

The moment she finished talking, she felt her father's arms tighten around her suddenly, squeezing a bit painfully.

Confused, she looked up at Brandon and called out, "Daddy?"

Susan noticed Brandon's tall frame shudder slightly, as if he was fighting to keep his emotions in check, and she too looked his way.

Brandon held Theresa close, his face buried in her back, away from everyone.

His voice was raspy and a bit choked, "she didn't mean to break her promise to Theresa; she's just tied up with something, we just need to eat well, sleep well, and wait patiently for Mommy, okay?"

"But," Theresa hesitated, "how long do we have to wait?"

Brandon didn't answer right away; every word from Theresa was like a knife to the heart.

Theresa's recent fuss of not letting Sophia go alone wasn't about being scared by Daniel at all; no, the strong and sensible little girl wouldn't throw a tantrum over that. All her fuss was just a desperate attempt to keep her mom close.

At her tender age, she might have already sensed that her mom's departure could mean a final goodbye, which was why she was raising hell trying to keep her.

Without the ability to express herself like an adult, she resorted to crying to get the grown-ups' attention.

If only he hadn't misread all her signals. Regret slithered through Brandon like a venomous snake as he held Theresa, overwhelmed with remorse.

Time and again, Theresa had been giving him chances, pleading for his help to rescue Sophia. But time and again, he had overlooked her cries for help.

A sob broke free from his throat, only to be forcefully swallowed back down.

Theresa, puzzled, looked at Brandon.

Susan was also heartbroken, tears streaming down uncontrollably at the thought of Sophia. Not wanting to upset Theresa further, she quietly stepped out.

Grace, gazing at them hugging each other, left the room silently, leaving the father and daughter alone.

"Daddy?" Theresa's sad eyes fixed on Brandon; she could hear her father crying.

A woman valued by Starlight Group’s CEO and the lead architect who risked her life to save an ordinary worker couldn't possibly be sacrificed.

As a result, the one-sided criticism of Starlight Group flipped a full 180 degrees.

Kent also released a statement from Brandon expressing gratitude for the workers' efforts in searching for Sophia the previous night. Not only were they rewarded with a generous cash bonus, but their salaries were also doubled, which turned the public opinion in favor of Starlight Group, praising them for their generosity and empathy for the laborers.

With the shift in public opinion, the entire nation was caught up in the frenzy to find Sophia for the ten-million bounty.

Cindy caught wind of the PR announcement from Starlight Group almost the moment it hit the web, and that was when she first got clued in about Sophia going MIA. She was so shocked that she burst into tears and shakily called Don in a frenzy.

Just last night, Sophia had mentioned she was going to swing by the construction site first, and since Cindy had lined up some other tasks for her, she didn't tag along.

But while Sophia was at the site, Cindy did shoot her a text, and Sophia had texted back telling her not to worry about coming over, to get some rest, and that she was handling things.

Cindy didn't think much of it; after all, they'd been rubbing elbows with the whole management crew for a while now, and Kent was on his way to the scene too. He had even arranged for some muscle to watch over Sophia, and since the hotel was just a stone's throw from the site, nobody thought there was any real danger lurking.

But Cindy could've never guessed that in just one night, something would go wrong with Sophia.

Don was just as blindsided.

When Cindy called him up, he was in the middle of a meeting and hadn't even had a second to check out the news.

"Mr. Dempsey, something's happened to Sophia," her emotions got the better of her upon the call was put through, and she started crying over the phone.