Chapter 163

Marian looked up and flashed Daniel a grin, “My name’s Marian. Please don’t call me anything else, not my cup of tea.”

With that, her smile quickly vanished as she dove back into her phone.

Daniel’s smile froze a tad.

Louis jumped in to smooth things over, “She’s got no memory of her childhood, man. The chick had it rough growing up outside, took us two years of sweet-talking to get her to even peek back home.”

Hearing this, Daniel felt even more for her and didn’t mind Marian’s lack of manners, keeping up his smile he asked, “Got a boyfriend yet, Marian?”

“Nah,” Marian glanced up briefly, “Swamped with studies, dude. No time for boy trouble.”

“This girl’s a bookworm, just graduated from Apex Engineering University, nailed a master’s in architecture.”

Louis couldn’t help puffing up with pride as he rattled off the university name, boasting, “Called it when she was a tot, said she was brainy material. Quiet, diligent, focused, and smart as a whip, knew she’d land in a top school and she did!”

Daniel had been to that uni with Louis back in the day but still couldn’t help marveling, “That’s seriously badass.”

He was genuinely stoked for Yolanda.

He’d been rooting for Yolanda since she was a kid.

Finally, Marian looked up again, “Thanks.”

Her smile this time held a genuine spark.

That bit of sincerity touched Daniel, and he couldn’t help but steer the convo back to matters of the heart, “Got anyone you fancy, Marian?”

“Nope,” Marian answered straight-up, without a trace of shyness or discomfort.

Louis seized the moment to bring up Brandon, “Brandon still flying solo?”

Patricia jumped in, “Yup, still on the market, Heard from Kent he’s thinking about trying his luck at matchmaking events.”

“Why bother with matchmaking?” Louis looked at Marian, “Both unattached, childhood friends, families know each other inside out, same age range, might as well play Cupid, right?”

“Wha?” Marian looked at Louis, surprised, “Is that really cool?”

Thinking she was just playing hard to get, Louis reassured her, “Just hang out, see if it clicks. No matchmaking, no wedding bells, no pressure.”

Daniel was all for Louis’ idea.

decades, matched well, and despite the distance after Yolanda’s disappearance, they were keen on tying the

out of vogue, but with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in both clans, match-making by the elders was still

on how

always been headstrong, not the type to follow through on a dinner setup

back, Daniel couldn’t help

the dismissal thing, clueless about what went down, so she wasn’t really in the mood to debate with Daniel. When he asked her what to do, she shot back, “How should I know?

she quickly softened, “We should probably chat with Brandon first,

territory for

know?” Daniel lamented, “Used to be he’d fend off the girlfriend talk with Yolanda. Now that she’s back,

about what charms Sophia used to get Brandon to

of which,” Patricia remembered her encounter with Sophia at Star-Dempsey Architects, “Sophia’s over at Star-Dempsey

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09:49

Design Director. You knew

frowned, “She’s back?”

you didn’t know?”

shot her a look, his face

and instructed the driver, “Nell, back to

responded, taking the

was wrapping up for the day, close to quitting

real estate agent to see some places and was ready to dash as soon as the clock struck the

6 PM,

they were birds of a feather-women who’d rather hit up a sperm bank than deal with men she felt a kinship with Sophia. No sense of hierarchy between them, she peeked into Sophia’s office as the end of work neared, “Hey, dinner

bind, “Got an appointment to see some apartments, let’s rain check?”

tag along, extra pair of eyes can’t hurt. I know this

it over and nodded, “Sure,

what’s this ‘trouble’ talk between us? Got nothing better to do after work anyway. My biggest joy is house hunting, even if I can’t afford it,” Cindy

I’ll hit you up in a

the motion-activated glass doors of the office area swinging open, and in walked Daniel. But instead of moving further in, he just stood at the entrance, his face a blank slate as he swept his gaze across the room. His piercing look instantly turned the once noisy space into

this tall, imposing guy

him, “Hey there, can I help you

locked onto her.

again, and the quiet turned into a low buzz of whispers and hushed chatter.

thought she heard her name being called but couldn’t be

where she paused at the sight of

too, sizing her up from head to toe before

still had that authoritative air of the head of the family. Without waiting for Sophia’s response, he turned to leave, but out of the corner of his eye, he

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