The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 70

He saw Sophia turn to Marian with a blank look, shaking her head cluelessly. “I don’t know, I was just curious to take a peek.”

Her eyes were filled with pure bewilderment and confusion. Her slender fingers, which were resting on the bracelet, unconsciously stroked it back and forth, carrying a hint of inexplicable longing and nostalgia.

Brandon’s gaze slowly fell on her fair fingers lingering over the initials “SY,” his starry eyes partially closed, not moving for a long time. Marian was already smiling at Sophia. “Could this be what they call fate? Sophia, your name initials are also SY. No wonder you spotted the engraving so quickly.”

Sophia hesitated for a second before giving Marian a forced smile. “Yeah, what a coincidence.”

Her fingers paused slightly over the “SY” letters, unconsciously tracing the lines, and she sank back into a familiar daze. It was like something flickered through her mind, but it was obscured by layers of fog. She was lost in that dense mist, unable to see or touch anything clearly.

Brandon stood at the back door of the classroom, silently watching her, frozen in place.

Eventually, Marian noticed something off about Sophia and looked at her worriedly. “What’s going on?”

Her eyes already filled with concern for the bracelet in Sophia’s hand, her hand twitched as if she feared Sophia would take it, reaching out halfway then hesitating, worried that it might be improper to do so.

Sophia caught the hesitant gesture, snapping back to reality. She awkwardly looked down at the bracelet in her hand and handed it

back.

“Sorry about that, this bracelet is just so unique, it kinda zoned me out.”

She apologized awkwardly, her movement halting briefly as she placed the bracelet in Marian’s palm, her eyes involuntarily drawn to it again, revealing an unfamiliar sense of reluctance.

the slight pause in her motion as she set down the bracelet, nor the reluctance that

gave her and assumed she had given it away on her own accord. When he gestured to take back the bracelet he’d given her, she pouted, teary-eyed, slowly removing the bracelet and placing it in his hand with the same careful reluctance. The hesitation of her fingers in that moment and the

head, his Adam’s apple

made a phone call to Kent in the

situation with Marian and Dennis, the ones I asked you to check on

to turn off the lights and sleep, suddenly lost all sleepiness upon hearing the question. “Why the sudden interest?”

“How many days has it

looking into several people and matters-Ivan, Sophia, Dennis, and Marian-on top of handling work,

haven’t been at the company lately, and there’s been quite a

stuff, I thought it wasn’t

hassle, just spill what you’ve got.”

owns, but something about it doesn’t seem right. He made his fortune in the hotel industry when he was young, cultivated it for over twenty years, and more than a decade ago he successfully launched the Barlow Hotel chain, quickly establishing it as a top international hotel and swiftly taking over the domestic luxury hotel market. Although its momentum was disrupted by the

the business report,” Brandon cut

was taken aback by the question. As a business rival, he

moves.

Brandon

admitted honestly, “but I did probe a little, nothing special so

“Go on.”

good marriage, no issues heard of. Dennis didn’t ditch his wife for a younger model

“What about kids?”

and a daughter, both quite accomplished. The son, Eric Barlow, 30, single, has a degree from a prestigious foreign university. He came back to help Dennis with the company after graduation, clean-living just like his dad, with good reviews from friends. The daughter, Marian, 24,

Brandon asked, “Is she their biological