The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate



"Kent, the foundation pillar underwater has cracked," Tomas reported.

Kent's heart tightened, his voice quivering involuntarily, "How bad is it?"

He didn't dare to ask directly, fearing deep down that Tomas' next words would be that Sophia's body had been found. The thought of Sophia's cold body entangled in the steel and concrete was unbearable.

Silence fell over the room. Kent glanced worriedly at Brandon.

Brandon's head was still leaning against the wall, his palm pressed against it, fingers slightly splayed, digging into the white cement so hard that his knuckles and veins were bulging, almost deforming, with white marks from the pressure.

Tomas' voice was loud, and even he had heard Tomas' report. Kent couldn't see Brandon's face, but his fear was betrayed by his fingers, almost embedded into the wall.

Daniel had heard it too, and he stopped all his actions, holding his breath and staring at his phone.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Kent's trembling fingers silently switched the call to speakerphone, Tomas' somewhat restrained voice came through, "We found nothing in the pillar."

Kent suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, only realizing how much his chest had hurt from holding his breath. Daniel, as if he had narrowly escaped disaster, let out a long exhale. Brandon's twisted fingers, still pressed into the wall, relaxed slightly, but not by much. His palm still trembled as he gripped the wall, trying to calm his raging emotions.

"Did you search thoroughly?" Kent had to double-check.

"Yeah, we've searched every nook and cranny, sure there's no." Tomas trailed off, unable to utter the word "body", but then added with concern, "But today, for some reason, a bunch of reporters swarmed in and we couldn't keep them out."

"Let them shoot!" Kent cut him off, "Let them have at it."

Daniel frowned unwittingly, not understanding Kent's approach. Kent was still focused on the call, "Any news from the police?"

"Not yet." Tomas replied, "They're expanding the search area."

"Alright, got it. You go on with your work," Kent said, hanging up the call.

Daniel couldn't hold back his urgency, "Why let reporters in at a time like this? After last night's huge incident, think about the impact on the company if it gets out."

"It doesn't need to get out." Kent said, turning the phone towards him, "Last night's incident is already all over the platforms. The whole inte is buzzing about how Starlight Group sacrificed a living person as a foundation pillar."

Daniel grabbed the phone, swiping through a few pages of the interface in a flurry.

The public outcry was still brewing, Starlight Group had yet to respond, and the inte was filled with speculation and vitriol.

Daniel's eyes reddened with urgency, "Is the PR department asleep at the wheel? How can they not squash this massive wave of public opinion?" Kent glanced at him, "Chairman Crawley, have you noticed the timing of this uproar? The incident happened at one in the morning, what time is it now? Some people might not even be awake yet. Who could've anticipated such a huge incident blowing up online so fast? Don't you see someone's deliberately playing the time difference to get ahead in the court of public opinion?"

Daniel was at a loss for words, suddenly recalling Sophia's urgent plea in the stormy night, "Someone's trying to cause trouble; you can't let them start work." He turned pale, looking worriedly at Kent, "So what do we do now?"

Kent didn't answer him, but instead let his gaze drift past Daniel to Brandon, whose palm was still clenched against the wall, but he had turned around, his red eyes dead and uninterested in their discussion.

Without a word, he turned and walked out the door. Daniel called out to him in a hurry, "Brandon!"novelbin

Brandon stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" His voice was hoarse as if it had been ground by rough stones, yet eerily flat.

Daniel got terrified by his words.

"Why did you come here?" Brandon asked, "Who asked you to come last night?"

Daniel was confused, "No one, I came on my own. I heard you wouldn't let the construction team start work at the auspicious time, worried it would affect the project and the company's fortunes, so I had to come and oversee it myself. I thought it wouldn't take long, just an hour or so to complete, but who knew."

"Who told you that?" Brandon interrupted him with a cold tone.