The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 89

The neighbor lady was pretty sharp too. She could clearly tell Brandon wasn't up for a chat and quickly steered the convo elsewhere with a smile, "Look at me, gabbing away non-stop. The kiddo's got a rumbly tummy. I'll take her back and fix her some grub. You go on with your stuff, and we can catch up another time."

Brandon gave a slight nod, "Sure."

His attention had already shifted to the keypad lock on the front door. His long fingers reached out towards it, hesitating just a tad before pressing the fingerprint scanner.

The neighbor lady, who hadn't left yet, threw him a puzzled look, noticing his fingers linger on the lock and his half-closed starry eyes on his calm, handsome face, seemingly lost in thought.

She felt it was odd and had this hunch that there was something up with the young couple next door. But she didn't dare to pry, wondering to herself as she and the nanny took the kid back to her place. She couldn't help but throw a worried glance at Brandon as her door clicked shut.

After a moment of silence, Brandon still pressed his thumb on the scanner. The lock beeped and a voice said, "Door unlocked, please enter," followed by the sound of the lock disengaging.

Brandon looked at the still shut door and yanked it open, pressing the smart lock button inside. The dim house instantly lit up, bright as day.

Brandon scanned the living room. The house was still the same as it was two years ago, when Sophia left.

When she took off, although she had wiped away her traces and restored the house to its original state, it was still a place they had shared. She can erase traces of living, but the scent and memories can't be wiped away so easily.

Standing in the doorway, Brandon looked at everything familiar and didn't budge. Subconsciously, he somewhat resisted stepping closer.

He was not a fan of this 'everything's the same but nothing's the same' vibe.

The house, not lived in for two years, had developed a musty smell. Under the bright lights, a thin layer of dust could be faintly seen on the surfaces.

That was something that would've never happened when Sophia was around.

Neither Sophia nor he liked having strangers in the house, so after a chat, they didn't hire a live-in maid, just a cleaner to come by now and then, though even that was rare.

Sophia was always at home, disciplined with her time, a whiz at managing her schedule, and she loved interior design and decoration. Her biggest hobby while homebound was organizing and decorating, making the cleaner's job almost redundant.

The cooking maid was busier, but that also depended on Sophia's mood.

She had a variety of hobbies, sometimes deep into interior design, other times into cooking up a storm.

When she was on her cooking kick, the cooking maid was pretty much out of the picture.

The study in the living room was the only place Sophia hadn't returned to its original state.

The bookshelf was too big, taking up an entire wall; she couldn't dismantle and move it.

Brandon remembered coming home from work to find Sophia often curled up in the hanging chair by the bookshelf, reading a book, serene and lazy, just like a cat.

Now, looking at the empty, dusty hanging chair, Brandon felt a bit out of sorts.

He didn't step into the living room or the bedroom. Instead, he stood motionless at the door, gazing at all that was familiar yet empty until his phone rang, shattering the silence.

Without looking at the screen, Brandon answered.

At this hour, it could only be Kent calling.

"Mr. Crawley, Mr. Evert would like to meet with you tomorrow afternoon, what do you think?" Kent reported the next day's schedule diligently from the other end of the line, but before he could finish, Brandon cut him off with a flat tone.

"Not meeting him."

"Uh?" He hadn't heard of any recent issues between Brandon and Mr. Evert, so this sudden refusal was unexpected.

"I'll be out of town for a few days, postpone all appointments accordingly," said Brandon.

Kent quickly flipped through Brandon's schedule. "But Mr. Crawley, you don't have any trips planned. Where are you headed?"

"That's none of your business, just make sure it's arranged."

After giving instructions, Brandon hung up.

Kent, still baffled, listened to the "beep beep" on the other end and looked up at his assistant, "Does Mr. Crawley have any trips scheduled?"

The assistant was just as clueless, "Not that I know of."

Kent's frown deepened, and he sent a message to Brandon, [Mr. Crawley, do you need me to book your flight now?[

Brandon's reply came quickly. [No need.]

Kent was puzzled.

A trip even he was kept in the dark about?

Sophia made it to the graduation venue just in the nick of time.

She'd left home a bit late that morning and made a last-minute stop at the studio to discuss some creative ideas for the traditional resort project with Don – the client was pressing hard. She rushed to the venue right after their meeting.

By the time she arrived, the graduation ceremony was about to start. The place was decorated to the nines, most of the students were already there, still scrambling for seats or huddled in groups chatting away.

Sylvia had been waiting for Sophia at the entrance and quickly grabbed her when she saw her hurrying over, "You made it! I was beginning to think you'd skip the graduation."

It wasn't just her concern. Sophia wasn't much for group activities.

Although the graduation ceremony was significant, it wasn't mandatory for getting the degree and diploma, so it wasn't like she had to be there.

Sophia hadn't actually considered missing it – after all, you only graduate once.

"Sorry about that." Sophia gave Sylvia an apologetic look. "Pulled an all-nighter working on a design and overslept, then I dashed to the company."

"No worries, as long as you're here," Sylvia said, leading her to their class section.

The atmosphere at the ceremony was buzzing, most people seated.

Sylvia had scoped out a spot for them already and guided Sophia through the crowd to sit at the back of their class section.

Ivan was already there and gave Sophia a polite nod, sliding over to make room for her.

The two had been busy with their studies and work over the last two years, and aside from necessary academic and professional interactions, they hadn't had much to do with each other, maintaining the same relationship as before.

"Sorry about that," Sophia apologized awkwardly and got into the car.

Brandon hesitated for a moment, his brows knitting together. He turned his head just in time to see the taxi door close and a sea of unfamiliar faces.

He didn't catch a glimpse of the face he was looking for.

Confusion flickered through his eyes, but it was fleeting. His expression cooled, and he continued towards the gate.

The graduation venue wasn't hard to find.

By the time Brandon got there, the ceremony had already started, with college leaders speaking onstage.

Below, the students sat upright in their academic regalia.

Brandon let his gaze wander through the crowd without specifically looking for anyone and then slowly returned to the stage.

The college leader's speech was short and to the point. After reminiscing with the students about the past years of study and looking forward to the future, it was time to congratulate them on their graduation, followed by the degree conferment and tassel-turning ceremonies.

One by one, the grads walked up to the stage, bowed to receive the shift of the tassel from the right to the left of their mortarboards, and accepted their diplomas.

Brandon watched as groups of students went up and then came back down, but all along, he did not see the familiar face.

His brow furrowed with the dwindling crowd, reaching a peak as the last group left the stage.

Even after the MC announced the end of the ceremony, Sophia was nowhere to be seen.

As the students dispersed, Brandon stopped one of Sophia's classmates. "Wasn't Sophia here?"

The classmate vaguely remembered not seeing her and nodded. "Seems like she wasn't."

Brandon's frown deepened. "Did something happen to her?"

"I'm not sure." The classmate was clueless. "She's rarely come to school since her thesis defense."

Brandon's brow knitted even tighter.

"Do you need her for something?" the classmate asked, puzzled.

Brandon shook his head lightly. "No."

"Thanks." He said it softly again, then pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed Susan's number.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service." A polite customer service voice came through.

Frowning, Brandon glanced at his phone and then dialed Kent's number. "Help me get in touch with Susan."

"Why do you need her?" Kent didn't understand. "She's not in the West district anymore, and she changed her number too. It might be hard to reach her."

Brandon's brow twisted. "She's not in the West district anymore?"