The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate



Daniel was taken aback, and then quickly replied.

"Yoli mentioned it when she came to see me and your mom the other day. She brought up the Zenitha-style resort project, said she heard from colleagues that for some reason, they can't get this one column to set right. They've brought in two different survey teams and still can't figure it out. Everyone's getting the heebie-jeebies, thinking it might be some sort of supernatural jinx. To tackle the issue, they put together this crack team of experienced builders and even roped in a professional to pick an auspicious date for the pour. But outta the blue, the higher-ups swapped out the crew, so it looks like the pour is gonna hit a snag, not going down as planned. I later hit up Tomas for the lowdown, heard that it was you putting the brakes on the construction. Worried it might jinx the company's mojo, I told Tomas to stick with the plan, I'd take the heat. But who knew."

Daniel trailed off, not daring to continue. Brandon's lips curled into a chilly half-smile, and without a word, he left. He was still a bit wobbly on his feet, probably not yet back to his old self.

Daniel, concerned, called out to him, "You're still on the mend, where are you off to? Rest up in the hospital a bit longer."

But no one paid him any mind. Brandon's towering figure quickly vanished at the end of the corridor.

Daniel turned to Kent, seeking guidance. Kent just silently shook his head.

"Chairman Crawley, what were you thinking?" Kent sighed, and then without another word, hurried out the door after Brandon.

Daniel stood still, his mind in a fog, a feeling of regret creeping and spreading in his heart like never before. He couldn't fathom why things had gone south, especially with Sophia.

He'd always been indifferent to her, even repelled.

But now that she was gone, he felt an echoing hollowness, his mind replaying over and over the calm look on her face as she steadied him from falling last night, the urgency in her pull when that frail man was nearly sent flying, and back to the mess hall, her steady hand on his trembling one at the controls, not even looking at him.

These fragmented, tranquil moments, hanging like droplets in his mind, each containing the quiet, peaceful Sophia since she married into their family. In every droplet, she was vivid, her smiles gentle and unassuming. But all these vivid Sophias slowly merged into the harrowing image of her being pushed over the railing by gravity last night.

Daniel felt an emptiness, a bewildering void, not knowing which way to turn.

Kent caught up with Brandon outside the hospital. Brandon flung open the door to a cab and got in. Kent managed to catch the door before it closed, softly saying to Brandon, "Mr. Crawley, where to? I'll join you."

Brandon didn't look at him or respond, and just told the cab driver, "To the Zenitha-style resort project site."

His handsome face was still lifeless, so void of emotion it was just a shell. Kent couldn't help but think of zombies, like in those flicks with the undead stumbling about without a shred of human feeling.

"Mr. Crawley!" Kent also got into the cab, calling him softly again.novelbin

Brandon still didn't react to his voice but gave an order, "Gather everyone who was at the site last night at the same spot where the construction was taking place."

"Alright," Kent answered gently.

"Release a reward searching to all media." Brandon kept on, still unperturbed lifeless, "Whoever finds any news about Sophia gets 10 million dollars." Even the driver couldn't help but turn around and flick a glance at Brandon, whose attractive face was all the same deathly pale without any emotional fluctuation.

"Will do," Kent whispered his acknowledgment and quickly whipped out his phone to make arrangements.

The cab soon stopped at the entrance to the Zenitha-style resort project site. All those present the previous night had already been rounded up on the overpass where the construction had happened.

They had all been interrogated by the cops that morning and after a sleepless night, were visibly exhausted.

Brandon stepped onto the overpass, scanning the crowd with an expressionless face.

"What exactly happened last night?" His voice was as hoarse as if it had been ground by sand, still chillingly cold.

Tomas and Jerry, standing in the front, hesitated and exchanged glances. As the head honcho of the project, Tomas had to bite the bullet and speak up, "Last night, due to the rain, water leaked into the power room, and the main switch for the lighting circuit accidentally got wet, causing a short circuit and a blackout. The site went dark, causing some minor chaos and some bumping into each other. Probably someone got jostled accidentally." "Who did the jostling?" asked Brandon.

Everyone looked at each other; it was pitch dark, no one saw clearly.

Plus, the construction crew last night was assembled on the fly, specifically for pouring the beams and columns. They weren't familiar with one another, and with the rain and everyone in the same bulky black raincoats, it was impossible to tell who was who from their build.

Brandon's eyes swept coldly over the crowd, "So you all don't know each other?"

They hesitated, nodding uncertainly.

Jerry stepped forward, his face slick with a servile smile, "The crew for last night was picked out days ago. They're all old hands with loads of experience. The thinking was, since we couldn't get the column set, and the previous workers were all skittish and not quite up to snuff, we decided to give it another go after discussing with Director Yearwood. That's when we recruited this crew, all volunteers, so they might not know each other that well."

Brandon gave him a cold glance, and then turned to Tomas, "Weren't they supposed to be switched out?"

Tomas had never dealt directly with Brandon, and being swept with such a gaze from him, his legs turned to jelly and he couldn't muster the courage to meet Brandon's eyes.

"So, if we had kicked off the construction this morning, we would've been working with a brand-spankin' new crew. But Chairman Crawley was adamant about getting the ball rolling last night, and the newbies weren't down for a midnight shift. So, we had no choice but to call in the old crew to save our bacon."

His response came out all jittery, voice shaking like a leaf.

Brandon glanced at him before turning to the crowd, "Who was standing next to Director Yearwood last night?"

Everyone hesitated, exchanged looks, and almost like they had a mind-meld, their gazes drifted toward the tail end of the group where a skinny, tall figure hung his head low, looking extremely ill at ease.

Brandon's eyes followed the collective gaze to him, who was tall and skinny, looked to be in his fifties, with a frail frame and an honest, simple face that was almost unnaturally blank.

"That's Nell," Kent whispered to Brandon.

A flicker of emotion finally crossed Brandon's face. Daniel had said that Sophia had ended up in the river trying to save Nell.

Just thinking of her name made his heart ache like it had been gouged out, each breath a stab of pain. He couldn't help but raise a hand to press against his chest before stepping forward to stand in front of Nell.

Nell probably wasn't used to being around people; he was shivering and didn't dare to look up.

Kent also took his place by Brandon's side, murmuring in his ear, "Aside from the timing of the media frenzy this morning being too coincidental, there's another weird thing. The rumors they're spreading about the pouring work seem to hint at using Nell for some kind of human sacrifice."