The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 319

Sophia and Brandon found a afternoon tea place near their office and snagged a private booth.

It was Sophia who had found the place and insisted on the private room.

"Is it something important you wanted to discuss?" Eyeing the super private eatery, Brandon asked as he pulled out a chair, smoothly helping Sophia with the one next to it.

Sophia nodded lightly. "Yeah."

She settled into her chair, reached for the teapot intending to pour some tea, but Brandon beat her to it, taking over and filling cups for them both before handing her the menu.

Sophia picked out something small and handed the menu back to Brandon. Brandon randomly selected a few items and closed the menu.

Neither of them were there for the food.

"So, what's up?" Dropping the menu, Brandon looked at her, his voice steady.

Sophia hesitated, catching his gaze.

Brandon's eyes were deep and calm, a look that sent an inexplicable shiver through Sophia.

She lowered her lashes, took a small sip of tea, and began softly, "When I first came back to Wye City, I was on the fence about taking on the Zenitha-style resort project. Just so happened, our mentor, Mr. Gardner-you know him—was in town for a conference and we grabbed a bite. He advised me not to ditch the Zenitha project."

Looking up at Brandon, she continued, "We were at a restaurant near the school when a guy bumped into me. I turned and recognized him as the short, chubby dude we ran into in the Starlight Hotel's underground parking lot-named Darcy. The one we tried to dodge that time."

Brandon seemed surprised by the topic, and after a moment, he nodded. "Hmm."

"While he was dining, the skinny tall guy from the parking lot was with him," Sophia whispered, her eyes on Brandon, "I heard him call the other guy Ms. Barlow. Over dinner, Ms. Barlow asked Darcy how things were going, and Darcy said it was all cool, that the guy was all set up in the company, totally solid, and to not worry."

Brandon glanced at her but didn't chime in.

Sophia continued, "Darcy mentioned how hard it is to get into Starlight Group, that the turnover is low and they hardly ever recruit externally. He said they were lucky Starlight Group was launching a subsidiary, Star Dempsey Architects, needing new blood; otherwise, who knows how long they'd have to wait. So, I'm suspecting there might be a mole among the folks who joined the company with me."

"You came back because of this?" Brandon's voice was measured as he looked at her.

Sophia pursed her lips, silent for a beat.

"Half and half," she murmured.

"Why wait till now to spill the beans?" Brandon's tone remained cool, almost like he was interrogating, seemingly unfazed by the idea of a mole in his company. "The guy's last name is Barlow, and it just so happens that Marian was staying at Starlight Hotel when we bumped into him and Darcy," Sophia hesitated, "I did some digging and found Marian's school records. She listed a Dennis Barlow as her father. I looked the guy up online and saw his picture, turns out he's that tall, skinny dude."

things between us are complicated. Without solid proof, I didn't want to come off like I was trying to smear her or spread rumors." "And since I started, I made it a point to get everyone's resumes, keep an eye on their every move. But so far, everyone's normal, just clocking

moving, "So

shook her head.

why bring it up

her lip, seeming

to her hand resting on the teacup, her slender fingers

that pale

press will be there. I was worried they might try

shindigs, not to mention a top-notch security team. No one's pulling anything on our watch,

a weak smile, "I haven't been here long, I didn't

overthinking it," she said

slightly, but he

the waiter brought in the food carefully and seriously laying them out on the table, briefly

with the rest of the

food with his fork, and served it into her bowl,

were you

heart skipped a beat, and she glanced at Brandon almost

her, just gently and slowly placing the

at the steak in her

she didn't reach for her fork, just nodded slightly, and then spoke up softly, "I

movements and looked at

a little girl, you two seemed pretty close,

as clear and clean as always, and her

candid that it almost made Brandon second-guess himself, stirring up a bit

honesty had caught him

if there was only a 0.1% chance that Theresa wasn't his daughter, every question he asked now

a gamble

no direct proof right now, or

the same time, and the strange sense of affection and

got nothing to do with you?" Brandon's eyes were cold and deep as he looked

was eerily calm, with a hint of chill and resolve in

gave her a hard look, suddenly pushed back his chair, stood up, walked over to her, bent down to grab her wrist, and yanked her to her feet, "Then let's

the paternity test. But if the result proves nothing, we go our separate ways. After the

to look at her coldly,

cooperate with the paternity test, but if it turns out I'm bot related

splitting with fury as he looked at