The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

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 cout; 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 cback."

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 withtoday, 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 frshudder 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.

Tand again, Theresa had been giving him chances, pleading for his help to rescue Sophia. But tand 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.

But he didn't respond to her. He held her tighter, his palm gently brushing her hair.

"I'm sorry." His voice was a broken whisper near her ear.

"I'm sorry, Theresa," each apology more strained than the last.

"I'm sorry, it's Daddy's fault. | didn't keep Mommy safe. I'm sorry. Daddy lost Mommy."

Theresa didn't fully understand, but seeing her dad cry made her heart ache, making her want to cry too. But her young mind

reasoned that when she cried, her parents would comfort her, so she tried to do the same, struggling to free her arm from

Brandon's tight hold. Then, opening her arms, she tried her best to embrace him, gently patting his back, and said earnestly in a

tiny voice, "It's okay; we'll find Mommy together."

Her childish, tender words only deepened Brandon's pain. For the first time, he realized how powerless he was in the face of life

and death.

Kent quickly took care of the tasks Brandon had assigned, including offering a hefty reward for any information on Sophia.

Considering the current uproar over the "sacrificial piling" rumors, Kent had the PR team draft a statement denouncing the rumors

as baseless before releasing any information on the site of accident: A sudden power outage at the construction site caused chaos

and a stampede, during which the lead architect, Sophia, fell into the river while trying to save a worker who had tripped and is

now missing. Starlight Group's CEO, Brandon, is offering ten million from his own pocket for any clues about Sophia's whereabouts.

Kent sent the statement to Brandon for approval before making it public.

Once released, it set the inteablaze. No one cared about the "sacrificial piling" anymore, nor did they believe the rumors.

The woman Brandon was willing to drop ten million to find couldn't possibly have been used for such a purpose, especially since

she was the lead architect.

Videos showing the hollow foundation pillar had already gone viral, thanks to journalists and social media personalities; there was

nothing inside the pillar.

As for the rumored homeless man, Nell, he appeared alive and well in front of the cameras.

Nell even gave an interview, and despite being skittish and stumbling over his words in front of the camera, he clarified everything.

He was the one who nearly fell, and it was Sophia who had plunged into the river trying to save him, now missing.

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 srest, 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 smuscle 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.

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