The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"Whoever starts this mess has got it coming." Brandon said, eyeing him, "Three times, 15% - not a penny short. It's all squared

away. From now on, watch your own back."

"As for the branch office," Brandon glanced at the somewhat messy pile of documents on his desk, then back at him, "You two are

getting on in years, not fit enough to shoulder the heavy workload anymore. As of today, you're stepping down from the company,

and Kent will be taking full charge of the branch office."

"What gives you the right to do this?" Daniel was fuming, "I built that branch from scratch, and the Zenitha-style resort project was

my brainchild, my push. How can you just strip that away?"

"Sure, you set up the company, but the Zenitha-style resort project was my blueprint from the get-go. It was just shelved at the

head office waiting for the right tto launch. You just conveniently took it to the branch, a little wedding present for your wife;

that's all." Brandon remained unfazed by his anger, looking straight at him, "But the project design was my team's work, and the

final call was mine. Don't overestimate your role."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Daniel glanced toward the entrance and saw it was the HR manager; his face turned grim, "What's up?"

The HR manager felt a bit jittery under Daniel's glare, but with Brandon present, he couldn't afford to dilly-dally. He braced himself

and handed over a document, "Chairman Crawley, here's your HR transfer order. Considering your health issues, the HR

department has revoked your and Mrs. Crawley's positions as general managers of the branch. Please proceed to HR to complete

your retirement procedures and head to finance for your salary settlement before the end of the day."

Daniel took one look at the document and ripped it up on the spot, "Get lost!"

The HR manager didn't dare scoot, instead, under pressure, he placed another notice on Daniel's desk, "This is a notice about the

board of directors’ reshuffle."

Daniel skimmed it and got the gist - he was booted off the board.

"Furthermore," The HR manager nervously placed another document on his desk, "this is a pre-notification of changes to the

company's shareholders. The formal notice will be issued after the equity change is completed; please review it."

Daniel didn't need to look to know what it was; he was so angry he grabbed the paper to hurl at the HR manager, accompanied by

a roar, "Get out!"

But the paper ball didn't hit the HR manager as Brandon caught it with an outstretched hand. He looked at Daniel calmly and said

to the trembling HR manager behind him, "You can leave now."

"Okay."

After a meek response, the HR manager quickly exited the battleground. As he reached the door, Brandon nonchalantly instructed,

"Email the entire company and notify all work groups about the HR dismissals and board reshuffle."

"Will do."

The HR manager acknowledged and hurried out, not forgetting to close the office door behind him.

Daniel was livid, pointing his finger at Brandon's nose and cursing, "You traitor, you'd go this far over sdame? Have you lost

your mind?"

"I've given you chances." Brandon remained composed, extending his hand, "Hand over the phone."

Daniel instinctively guarded his phone, puzzled, "For what?"

"Feeling defiant, huh?" Brandon's voice was emotionless, "I'll make you accept it willingly."

Suddenly, he leaned in, swiftly snatching the phone from Daniel's palm.

Daniel reflexively reached out to grab it back, but Brandon blocked him, and with a swipe of the phone screen in front of his face,

and the phone unlocked in an instant.

Brandon went straight to the phone's recording app, casually mentioning, "Forgot to tell you, | set up your phone to record all

calls."

As he spoke, his fingers scrolled to a recording from the 17th this month - the call Daniel had made to Sophia.

Brandon tapped to play the recording.

"Hello?" Sophia's voice, gentle yet composed, flowed out of the phone.

Daniel's face changed, and he lunged to snatch the phone back. Brandon simply lifted his hand holding the phone, and Daniel's

fingertips missed their target.

"This is Daniel," Daniel's arrogant voice also cthrough from the other end.

Daniel's expression darkened further, unable to snatch back the phone, he just glowered at Brandon.

Brandon watched him expressionlessly as the recording played out. There was Daniel's line, "Is that little girl yours and Brandon's

child?". When hearing it, his demeanor flickered; his gaze at Daniel now had an edge.

Daniel's face showed signs of guilt, but he held his ground, locking eyes with Brandon, no longer struggling, letting the recording

continue.

"Regardless of whether that child is Brandon's or not, our family won't recognize it. The Crawley family does not allow the

existence of illegitimate children. Don't even dream of riding on your child's coattails. Since you're divorced, you should be

irrelevant to each other. Brandon will marry, have his own family, his own children.

As long as | live, | won't let you or your daughter set foot in our house. Unless I'm dead, nobody can even think about it."

"Mr. Crawley. May | ask, why do you hateso much?"

"You and Brandon cfrom different worlds. He shouldn't be a stepping-stone for your family's ambitions."

"Don't worry, my child has nothing to do with your family. You don't have to fret about any mother-son privileges, nor about any

illegitimate daughters popping up in your son's future; it's not going to happen, never."

Sophia's voice, calm yet weary, cout of the phone, followed by the “beep-beep” of a busy signal, signaling the end of the

recording.

Brandon's gaze turned icy cold as he looked at Daniel.

After a brief moment of unease, Daniel seemed to regain his composure, returning Brandon's icy stare.

"Did | say something wrong?"

He shot back with a frosty tone in his voice, "You two are from different planets. | mean, it's one thing that she's from a decent

family, but take a good look at her folks - greedy, vulgar, lazy, selfish. They don't do a lick of real work, just scheming to milk you

for all you're worth. Marrying her is like marrying her whole dang circus of a family. Even if you're rolling in dough, you can't fend

off their kind of money-burning. One wrong step and they'll land you behind bars. Am | wrong to worry about my son?"

"And did you ever stop to think that she's a victim too?" Brandon shot back with a callous stare.

"That's just her lot in life," Daniel barked back, his words stopping Marian in her tracks just as she reached the door.

She was simply running an errand for her granddad to see Daniel and hadn't expected to walk into a father-son brawl. She felt

awkward as hell, torn between staying or leaving, just standing there clutching her phone.

Daniel's assistant didn't dare ask her to leave. She was the one person Daniel had said could see him anytime, no appointment

necessary.

"If she can't rein in her family, then she can deal with the fallout. Why should my son have to clean up her mess?" Daniel's voice,

thick with anger, carried from inside, "If not for her, you'd have married Yolanda on schedule, lived a normal life, had your own

family, your own peaceful and simple life - not this freak show you're living now. You think | haven't seen how you've struggled

these past couple of years?"

"It was my choice! It's got nothing to do with anyone else." Brandon glared at him, enunciating each word, "I need her, and that's

that. If you really want what's best for me, please leave her alone."

With that, Brandon turned and stormed off.

"Just because she had your kid, she's suddenly the one?" Daniel called out in desperation, "What about Yolanda? The one you've

pined for over twenty years? Have you forgotten who was there for you when your mother passed?"

Brandon paused mid-step but didn't turn around; just lifted his head slightly.

The door had been cracked open, and through the sliver of light, Marian could see Brandon's face, tense and stern.

"lI won't marry Yolanda!"

With those cold words, Brandon swung the door wide open and left without looking back.

Daniel was too choked up with anger to finish his sentence, soon cradling his head in his hands in agony.

Marian's face changed suddenly, "Mr. Daniel Crawley!"

Sophia slept in until almost noon, finally waking up feeling like she'd regained sof her spent energy. After freshening up, she

walked into the living room to find it empty.

"Theresa?"

Sophia frowned, called out for Theresa, and then turned back to her room to grab her phone. She found a voice message Theresa

had sent using Grace's phone.

"Mummy, daddy and | went out to play. Don’t worry."

Her little voice sounded soft, almost soothing.

Sophia couldn't help but smile slightly and sent a message back, "Okay. Have fun."

She then checked the security cameras, noticing they had left around nine. Guessing there was no lunch prepared at hand

planning to head to the office that afternoon, she decided against cooking and prepared to eat at work. She changed clothes and

left the house.

Arriving at the office, Sophia saw everyone huddled in groups, chattering away like a flock of birds.

There were beautifully wrapped boxes of pastries on everyone's desks. Sophia frowned and asked Cindy, who was craning her neck

to look at someone else's phone, "What's going on?"

Cindy looked up and was surprised to see Sophia, "Director Yearwood, why are you here?"

The word "director" made Ivan, who was working intently, pause and look up. When he saw Sophia at the door, his handsome

brows were knitted together.

Don, just walking in, was also surprised to see Sophia, "Sophia? Why are you here?"

It had only been a day and a half, but everyone acted as if they hadn't seen her in ages.

Sophia wasn't sure if everyone was in the loop about something or not, but she politely smiled, "Nothing much to do today, so |

cby."

"It's good that you're here," Don said with a smile, and then noticed the boxes of pastries on everyone's desks. Raising an

eyebrow, he asked the squestion lingering in Sophia's mind, "Who's handing out the pastries? Who's celebrating good news in

the company?"

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