The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 9

Brandon glanced at him and reached out to take the phone.

"Hello?"

All he got in response was the busy tone of "beep beep".

Brandon and Kent fell silent.

"Maybe Ms. Yearwood accidentally hit a button," Kent tried to cover for Sophia, "She just told me she was busy, sounded a bit out of breath, like she was rushing somewhere."

Brandon ignored him, simply tossing the phone back at him. "Don't mess around with unrelated stuff during meeting times."

Kent didn't say anything.

Brandon had already turned to Gavin, who looked puzzled, "Sorry for the sideshow, Mr. Evert."

Gavin, over sixty and like Brandon, was also a big shot in the construction world, only with a much longer track record. He admired yet was wary of Brandon, the recent rising star. Today's visit was mainly about seeking collaboration, so he brushed off Brandon's apology with a hearty wave, "No worries, Mr. Crawley, everyone has their emergencies."

Then he couldn't help but glance at Brandon, "Mr. Crawley, if you have urgent matters to attend to, please go ahead. No rush, I just came to have a casual chat anyway."

Brandon said, "It's fine."

His gaze fleetingly glanced at Kent's phone, yet his expression remained cool and detached.

Seeing through it all, Gavin suggested with a smile, "Mr. Crawley, how about we take a break? I didn't sleep well last night either, had a night of grief thanks to my ungrateful son, might as well take the chance to rest up a bit."

Kent jumped at the opportunity. "I'll have someone take you to relax. The restaurant downstairs has afternoon tea ready, why not head down for a bite to tide you over?"

"Sounds good," Gavin chuckled as he stood up, "I'm actually getting a bit peckish."

Kent signaled an assistant to come over and take Mr. Evert and his entourage for a tour, arranging for their afternoon tea.

The assistant quickly herded everyone out.

As the conference room door closed, Kent hesitantly looked at Brandon, who remained seated and motionless, and softly called out, "Mr. Crawley?"

"What did she tell you?" Brandon suddenly asked.

Though he didn't specify, Kent knew Brandon was asking about Sophia.

"Ms. Yearwood said she's returned the money you transferred to her brother back to your card yesterday. She wanted me to thank you on her behalf, and then she said." Kent watched Brandon's expression carefully, choosing his words, "Her family doesn't need the money right now, nor will they in the future. If her relatives come to you again, she said you should ignore them."

Brandon's brow furrowed slightly, he turned his head, pondering as he swept a glance at Kent.

Kent got the shivers. "Mr. Crawley."

Brandon tilted his head to him, "Since when did you and Ms. Yearwood get so chummy?"

Kent was speechless.

Brandon said, "Is there something she can't tell me directly, that she needs you to convey?"

Kent felt wronged.

How was he supposed to know what kind of tiff these two were in? It was something that could be resolved with a simple phone call, but instead, he had to be the go-between, not that he wanted to be the messenger.

But Kent dared not vent his inner complaints openly.

"Mr. Crawley, you've got it wrong. I don't have much contact with Ms. Yearwood. We're not that close," Kent explained cautiously, "Maybe Ms. Yearwood couldn't reach you and it was urgent, so she called my mobile to get to you. After all, everyone knows if they can't find you, they come to me, right?"

He finished and pointedly gestured toward Brandon's office, reminding him, "You forgot your phone when you went out just now."

The man looked decent enough, about their age, with a composed and sharp demeanor, tall and upright—a type that could easily make women swoon.

Brandon was totally in the dark about what the deal was between him and Sophia. Why on earth did they plan to study abroad together when she didn't even bother giving him a heads-up about wanting to take off for school?

Thinking about her sneaky moves, prepping for a divorce and further studies behind his back, Brandon's eyes dimmed once again. He killed his phone's screen, chucked it aside, and made to leave. Halfway to the door, he stopped dead in his tracks. His Adam's apple bobbed with his surging emotions. Spinning around, Brandon snatched up his phone from the table, tapped open Sophia's WhatsApp, and shot her a message. [Heading out today?] To his surprise, a pop-up hit him in the face. [Sophia has enabled friend verification, and you are not yet her contact. Please send a friend request and wait for verification before you can chat.]

Brandon was shocked.

Suddenly, he was thrown back to the end of senior year in high school, the post-exam party where the teacher told everyone before it started that Sophia couldn't make it due to family reasons, and wished everyone else a good time.

Out of fifty-eight classmates, she was the only no-show. After the final exam, she walked out of the exam hall and out of everyone's lives, gone without a trace.

And now, it was the same story. She'd chosen to get a divorce and had scrubbed away any ties to him. Brandon had no doubt she'd even deleted his number, so when it came to even the smallest things, like repaying money, she'd rather use a middleman.

Classic Sophia.

Brandon shook his head with a wry smile. His left index finger gently massaged his forehead, while his right thumb, holding the phone, unhesitatingly opened Sophia's WhatsApp profile. His finger slid down to "Delete Contact" and didn’t hesitate to tap. The prompt "Delete the contact 'Sophia' and the chat history with this contact" popped up, and his finger almost pressed down but paused just before touching the screen, hovering, a moment of hesitation, his grip on the phone tightening slightly.

In the end, the finger that was about to confirm the deletion veered off to "Cancel." Brandon shut the phone off, pocketed it, scooped up his car keys from the table, and walked out the door.

"Take care of Mr. Evert for me. I gotta run an errand."

Brandon instructed Kent in a subdued tone as he passed by.

Confused, Kent stood up. "Huh? Mr. Crawley, are you heading out now? What about your dinner with Mr. Evert tonight?"

"Cancel it!"

Kent was speechless.