The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Cindy stuttered for ages, spooked by Brandon's gaze, unable to string a full sentence together. Her eyes reddened first, on the

verge of bursting into tears any second.

Don, standing nearby, was also taken aback by her reaction and quickly tried to calm Brandon down, "Brandon, you're gonna scare

this poor girl out of her wits."

He moved to separate Brandon and Cindy, but before he even got close, Brandon blocked him with an arm.

This time, Brandon wasn't gonna let her off the hook like before.

His eyes, unwavering, kept Cindy in their grip, "Who spilled the beans?"

"l was at the police station across the street last time, handling my residence registration, and | bumped into Director Yearwood

registering a kid."

Perhaps Don's presence gave Cindy a sense of security, but she still caved under Brandon's intense scrutiny, spilling everything

involuntarily.

Brandon pressed, "When did this happen?"

"End of June."

Cindy trembled out her answer, only to see Brandon's handsface turn icy. She was filled with fear and guilt, deeply regretting

her loose lips that blabbed without thinking.

"Mr. Crawley." Despite her fear, Cindy couldn't help but plead softly, "It's my fault. | wasn't discreet, | let it slip. It's Director

Yearwood's private matter, it's got nothing to do with work, please don't hold it against Director Yearwood."

Brandon didn't respond and just walked away.

"Mr. Crawley." Cindy, desperate, burst into tears on the spot, wanting to follow but too scared to move, wishing she could make

amends even if it meant dying.

Unable to watch this unfold, Don comforted her, "Don't worry, Mr. Crawley won't make things difficult for Director Yearwood."

Cindy kept crying, overwhelmed with guilt, and suddenly slapped herself, "It's all because | can't keep my mouth shut, it's all my

fault."

"Have you lost your mind?" Don grabbed her hand, trying to reassure her, "Trust me, Director Yearwood isn't petty. She wasn't

counting on anyone keeping her secrets."

But his words didn't soothe Cindy.

Still feeling guilty, she returned to her office, intending to explain herself and apologize to Sophia, but after looking around, she

couldn't find her anywhere.

The lunch she had brought was still untouched on her desk.

"Has Director Yearwood not cback yet?" Not seeing her, Cindy asked Ivan, who was still working, feeling anxious.

"She had sbusiness to take care of and stepped out," Ivan explained, glancing up at her, "You looking for Director Yearwood for

something?"

Cindy, her eyes still red, couldn't bring herself to tell lvan and simply shook her head, "It's nothing."

While speaking, she sat down at her desk, picked up her phone to text an apology to Sophia, but couldn't figure out how to word it.

She put the phone down and just stared at the office door, waiting for Sophia to return so she could apologize in person.

Brandon headed straight for the police station across the street to check.

Sophia's registration was still at the small apartment she sold two years ago, which, coincidentally, he now owned.

He brought his ID and property deed to request information on the household registered to his property.

After a short wait, the staff quickly pulled up Sophia's registration.

Sophia was listed as the head of the household. On the next page of the registration card, Brandon spotted "Theresa Yearwood"

clearly written as "Theresa," not Theresa Cooper. The birthplace was Wye City, the birth date was February of the previous year,

not December of the year before as Grace had mentioned. The relationship to the head of the household: mother and daughter.

Brandon's eyes fixated on the words "mother and daughter," his Adam's apple bobbing with emotion, his handsface

tightened.

A passerby waiting to be served noticed his lack of response and worriedly called out, "Sir?"

Brandon snapped back to reality, gathered the information, thanked the staff, and left.

He took the private elevator straight up to the seventeenth floor.

Cindy, who was waiting for Sophia, saw him as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. Startled, she instinctively stood up from her

seat and stammered out his nas he approached, "Mr. Crawley."

Brandon, with a stern face, didn't look at her or anyone else, heading straight for Sophia's office.

Everyone was frightened by the icy aura surrounding him, falling silent as if frozen, yet they couldn't help but curiously glance at

Brandon, wondering what had happened.

Brandon pushed open the door to Sophia's office, glanced around inside, his gaze pausing briefly on the unopened lunch on the

desk, then turned and asked Cindy, "Where's Director Yearwood?"

Cindy, flustered, shook her head, "lvan said she stepped out and hasn't returned."

Brandon's gaze shifted to Ivan, who was still busy at work.

Ivan looked up, glanced confusedly towards Sophia's office, then out into the hallway, and calmly shook his head, "She left after

dealing with a client at noon, said she had sbusiness. | guess she'll be back soon."

Don also heard the commotion and hurried out of his office, seeing Brandon looking for Sophia, he quickly explained, "She probably

went out for lunch."

But Brandon just gave Ivan a cold look and then turned to Don, "Get in touch with security, check the surveillance to see exactly

when she left the company."

"Huh?" Don was a bit slow to catch on.

Brandon was already on his way out, pulling out his phone to call Kent, "Go to the airport, train stations, bus stations in the West

district, and all highway exits right now. If you see Sophia or Susan's car, stop them immediately."

"Huh?" Kent was just as bewildered as Don, "What's going on?"

"Also," Brandon continued, "find out where Susan's car is right now. ASAP!"

With a cool, grave tone, Kent immediately realized the gravity of the situation and nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll get on it right

away."

Don, who was also in the room, caught on to the issue and quickly rang up the security department to check the surveillance

footage.

Brandon had already made his way to the elevator. With a swift press of the button, the elevator doors slid open, and he hitched a

ride down to the first floor, straight to the security surveillance room.

Through the company's cameras, Brandon saw Sophia take off just minutes after he went to the cafeteria. She left the building

without her bag, just her phone in hand - looked like she was just stepping out for a quick bite.

But the footage didn't show her coming back.

"Maybe she's out grabbing lunch with friends and hasn't returned yet."

Don, who was watching the surveillance with him, couldn't quite grasp why Brandon was on edge. Technically, it was still lunch

break, so it wasn't odd that she hadn't returned, especially since Sophia had left without her bag.

"That'd be for the best."

With those chilly words, Brandon spun on his heel and left, fishing out his phone as he walked and dialing Sophia's number.

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