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."

it a point to get everyone's resumes, keep an eye on their every move. But so far, everyone's normal, just clocking in and

studied her, not moving,

shook her

why bring it

lip,

on the teacup, her slender fingers slightly

lingered on that pale crease, then

calm. "The ground-breaking ceremony for the Zenitha-style resort is tomorrow. Big event, press will be there. I was

a top-notch security team. No one's pulling anything

smile, "I haven't been here long,

was overthinking

lips twitched slightly, but he stayed

just then, and the waiter brought in the food carefully and

then, along with

his fork, and served it into her bowl, his calm voice flowing

you

beat, and she glanced at

gently and slowly placing the cut steak

her plate and murmured a

nodded slightly, and then spoke up

in his movements

saw you holding a little girl, you two seemed pretty close, so I

as always, and her gaze was candid and

made Brandon second-guess himself, stirring

honesty had caught him off

0.1% chance that Theresa wasn't his daughter, every question he asked now could plunge their relationship into a

gamble he couldn't

didn't know if Sophia was banking on the fact he had no direct proof right now, or

the coincidence of Sophia and Theresa appearing at the same time, and the strange sense of affection and pain he felt when facing Theresa, there was

Brandon's eyes were cold and deep

was eerily calm, with a hint of chill and resolve in the gaze she held

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

agree to the paternity test. But if the result proves nothing,

turning to look at her coldly, "You still

be dancing to your tune. I'll cooperate with the paternity test, but if it turns out I'm bot related to that

of splitting with fury as he looked at her, "You dare walk