The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Marian had just shut down her computer, ready to bounce, when she looked up and caught Brandon eyeballing her. Her steps

faltered, and she hung her head low, not quite daring to meet Brandon's gaze.

Ever since she got grilled by Brandon at the last press conference, where he had her spill the beans on the whole plagiarism fiasco,

she had been scared stiff of him.

But woven into that fear was a tinge of envy for his unconditional defense of Sophia.

She wished she had someone who would have her back like that, no questions asked.

Brandon just glanced her way before shifting his attention to Cindy nearby. "Where's Director Yearwood?"

"She's already called it a day."

Cindy piped up quickly, equally wary of Brandon.

"That early?"

Brandon's brows knitted slightly as he shot a look toward Sophia's office, but he didn't press further and strode out.

Marian followed him out the door, keeping her distance.

While waiting for the elevator together, she couldn't help but murmur a greeting, "Mr. Crawley."

She didn't dare to be as casual as she was when she first walked in.

Brandon gave a noncommittal "hmm" and stepped into the elevator as soon as the doors slid open.

Marian hesitated, then followed him in.

She kept her distance, tucked away in a corner of the elevator, yet couldn't stop herself from stealing glances at Brandon.

All she could see was his profile—sharp, defined, and ridiculously handsome—sending her heart racing for no good reason.

But, by the tthe elevator doors opened in the underground garage, she hadn't mustered the courage to strike up a

conversation with Brandon.

The moment the doors opened, Brandon took long strides out of the elevator.

Marian hesitated, then called out, "Mr. Crawley."

Brandon paused, turning his head to look at her.

"I'm really sorry about using Sophia's designs," Marian said, clutching the strap of her bag, head bowed in a sincere apology.

"You owe your apology to someone else, not me."

Brandon's reply was frosty, and he turned away to leave.

"I know," Marian hurried after him, "but | owe you an apology too."

Brandon didn't acknowledge her, just kept walking without looking back.

Marian bit her lip, feeling dejected but stubborn, and couldn't resist catching up to him. She raised her right hand, adorned with a

beaded bracelet, revealing a vintage-looking Jesus bracelet on her fair wrist as her sleeve slipped down.

Brandon stopped dead in his tracks, his gaze shifting to the bracelet on her wrist, and then back to Marian.

Marian bit her lower lip, her eyes welling up, "Brandon, have you forgotten about our childhood too?"

Not far away, Sophia, who was about to get into her car by Kent's side, instinctively turned around at Marian's plaintive call of

"Brandon." She caught sight of Marian, bracelet raised, looking vulnerable and on the verge of tears. She also noticed the

momentary surprise on Brandon's face as he stared at the bracelet. Sophia's grip on the car door faltered slightly.

Her heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Kent, sitting in the driver's seat, witnessed the whole scene and looked at Sophia with concern.

He hadn't expected to stumble upon this moment.

Sophia had asked to meet him to discuss something serious. The company was too crowded for such a talk, so they decided to

head out. He didn't expect that the slight delay while descending would lead to this encounter.

"Ms. Yearwood?" Kent called out, concerned.

Sophia snapped back to reality, offered him an apologetic smile, and then opened the car door, "Let's go."

Kent didn't start the car immediately but looked worriedly in the direction of Brandon and Marian, hesitating before turning to

Sophia, "Aren't you gonna go over there?"

Sophia shook her head, "I don't think it's a good tto interrupt.”

As she spoke, she looked at Kent, "Let's just go, work is more important.”

Kent hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Sophia's phone pinged with a notification at that moment. The jade carver she had contacted the night before had replicated a

miniature version of the white jade Jesus and sent her a picture of it.

Sophia gazed at the photo of the white jade Jesus, somewhat dazed.

Kent noticed her distraction and glanced at her phone, trying to make conversation to lighten the mood, "That white jade looks

really nice."

Sophia nodded, "It does."

"Where'd you get it?" Kent asked with a smile.

"It wasn't purchased," Sophia replied, "I've had it since | was little."

Kent looked at her, a bit surprised, and chuckled, "I thought all girls liked to wear Jesus figurines."

"Yeah," Sophia responded softly, "I don't know why | wear this one."

As she spoke, her finger swiped away the image and exited the chat with the jade carver.

The latest chat showed a message from the salesgirl at the DIY shop from yesterday, asking when she could drop by.

Sophia had set a tfor seven o'clock that evening.

Staring at the arranged time, Sophia's mind wandered. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, typing out a message, [Hello,

something cup tonight, and | might not be able to make it, so the necklace, | won't...]

She wanted to say "won't need it," but halfway through, she hesitated, deleted the text, and left it unsent.

Kent, catching Sophia's distraction and hesitation from the corner of his eye, could guess that she wasn't feeling great, even

though he didn't know what she was typing.

He wasn't sure how to comfort her.

Marian was clearly using her identity as Yolanda to remind Brandon that Yolanda was back.

He didn't know how things would unfold.

Even though he understood Brandon, he couldn't predict his choice when confronted with the living, breathing Yolanda.

On the matter of Yolanda, Brandon was an enigma.

So he tried to distract Sophia by changing the subject.

"By the way, you mentioned on the phone that you had something important to discuss with me. What's up?" Kent asked with a

smile, steering the conversation away.

Sophia tore her gaze away from her phone, hit the off button, and then looked over at Kent. "| think there's something fishy about

Augus."

Kent's hand, resting on the steering wheel, paused slightly, and his smile faded as he turned to Sophia. "What do you mean?"

"He's way too keen on keeping that construction crew," Sophia said. "He acted all sorts of weird when we were in Zion City for that

business trip. | suggested we switch teams back then, but he kept batting for them, yapping about how they're just honest

farmhands and how tough it is to scrape by, and that we shouldn't be so quick to judge and give them the boot. | thought he was

just a softie with a lot of empathy, so | didn't think much of it. But yesterday, once he got wind of the crew swap, he ctoall

hot under the collar, trying to ropeinto convincing Brandon to keep the crew."

As she spoke, Sophia glanced at Kent. "He was there for the whole Nell debacle, saw all the stakes, but he's way too desperate to

save Jerry's squad. That's not normal."

"That does sound off," Kent agreed, asking her, "Have you talked to Mr. Crawley about it?"

Sophia shook her head. "Nah."

Kent was about to ask why she hadn't brought it up with Brandon, but considering the tension between them lately and the recent

scene with Brandon and Marian, he swallowed his words and said to Sophia. "I'll mention it to Mr. Crawley later. He's sharper and

has a keener eye for detail. Maybe he'll dig something up."

Sophia nodded. "Yeah."

She then asked. "What's the deal with the construction crew now?"

"We're in the midst of swapping them out," Kent said. "But finding the right people takes time, so it won't be a snap to get them on

site."

Sophia nodded again. "No worries, as long as they're replaced."

"Right."

"Dropoff up ahead," Sophia said, feeling they had covered enough ground, and pointed to an upcoming intersection.

Kent didn't dare to ditch Sophia mid-way and turned to her. "Lettake you home."

"No need, I've got sstuff to take care of. Just dropoff up front. You go do your thing."

Kent wasn't about to give in to Sophia's request and, with a smile that said he was easy to talk to, he kept the car rolling, not

showing any signs of stopping to let her out.

Having dealt with Kent for over four years, she knew that despite his Mr. Nice Guy facade, anyone who could stick by Brandon's

side right out of college to this day wouldn't give in that easily.

Without giving him a destination, there was no way Kent would let her out.

"Taketo 'Corner Memories’ DIY shop," Sophia finally caved, "near the children's park."

"Sure thing," Kent quickly agreed, set the navigation, and took Sophia all the way to the "Corner Memories" DIY shop.

When the car pulled up at the DIY shop, Kent couldn't help but cast a curious glance at the entrance, noticing the quaint and

nostalgic decoration that seemed to match Sophia's vibe.

"So you're into these quaint spots, huh?" Kent said with a chuckle, looking at the elegant shop front.

Sophia just smiled. "It's alright."

"I'm here, gonna head in. Drive safe," she said, bidding Kent farewell.

Kent nodded. "Will do."

He watched Sophia get out of the car and head towards the shop before driving off.

Sophia stood quietly at the shop's entrance for a long while, not entering but not leaving either.

She just stood there, lost in thought, staring at the shop's sign glowing with a vintage yellow light, unable to move.

Truth be told, since the moment she had walked into the shop yesterday and started working on that DIY gift, she had been

mentally preparing to patch things up with Brandon.

If there's no escaping it, then she thought they might as well try to get along in a way that's comfortable for both of them. Forget

whether they're in love or not; just focus on raising Theresa together.

She and Brandon would be great parents.

But then Yolanda showed up, and Sophia felt like there was a thorn in her heart, making it hard to breathe.

Beneath this discomfort, there was also a loathing for seizing a spot beside Brandon just because of their child.

The beautiful salesgirl who had served her yesterday noticed Sophia and cout with a smile. "Ms. Yearwood, you've arrived."

Sophia managed a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah."

Her gaze drifted past the assistant's shoulder to the locked cabbehind her. After a moment's hesitation, she finally walked in.

Down in the Starlight Group parking garage

After a brief moment of shock upon seeing the bracelet, Brandon's eyes turned cold and sharp as they landed on Marian.

Marian felt a jolt of fear under his gaze, her raised hand starting to shrink back yet stubbornly hovering in mid-air.

Brandon reached out to her. "Give it back."

Marian glanced at him uneasily, slowly retracting her hand, the other hand clutching the bracelet, her eyes filled with a mixture of

grievance and accusation, "l won't give it back."

Then she choked up and looked at him. "Didn't you say you've been looking for Yolanda for so long? Was that all a lie?"

Brandon gave her a chilly look and walked away.

Marian bit her lower lip, watching his retreating back, and then in a last-ditch effort, her voice trembling with tears, she shouted.

"Brandon, I'm back!"

Brandon's steps cto an abrupt halt, and when he turned back to look at her, his eyes were icy and piercing.

"Shut up!" he snapped coldly at her, "Marian, you're just Marian, nothing to do with anyone else."

With that, Brandon left without looking back.

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