The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Marian looked at Sophia, who seemed clueless about what she had said. She couldn't help but said with surprise. “You can't

possibly be unaware? Brandon's father's stroke was caused by the anger Brandon elicited.”

“Yoli!” Louis barked at her, cutting her off from saying more.

Off to the side, Renata, who had been somewhat dazed, also stepped in and give her a nudge, “Don’t speak.”

Marian, however, was already too incensed to care, shaking off Renata with a twist of her body and confronting Sophia directly:

"Lettell you. | was there the day Brandon enraged his father enough to cause him cerebral hemorrhage—in his father's office.

Brandon was fiercely defending you, forcibly taking back his father's shares and stripping him of his position. They had a blowout

that day. It was a full-on screaming match, the kind that could split the heavens and shatter the earth, and it was all about you.

Brandon stormed out, and the instant he slammed that door, his father hit the deck. | was the one who rushed him to the hospital;

had we been even slightly later, his life would've been forfeit at his son's hands. Even now, he's lying in the hospital, teetering

between life and death. Do you have any idea the pressure Brandon is under because of you? How can you have the gall to dump

everything on him?"

Marian's roar woke Theresa, who was still sleeping in the room.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around. Not seeing her mother, Theresa quickly rolled over to sit up, then slid out of bed with a

‘whoosh’, pulled open the door, and walked out. As soon as she entered the living room, she saw Marian, red-faced and berating

Sophia, flanked by two others, seemingly ganging up on her mom.

Theresa's lip quivered. She couldn't see Sophia's face and had no idea how she was faring. With urgency, she spotted her mother's

phone on a nearby table, snatched it up, unlocked it nimbly, then ran back to her room and dialed Brandon's number.

The phone was picked up after just one “beep”.

“Hello?”

Brandon's familiar voice on the other end prompted Theresa to burst into tears, “Daddy, the woman who took Mommy's drawing is

here picking on Mommy.”

Brandon had just reached the hospital and was pushing open the ward door, paused mid-action, then softly comforted her, “Don't

be scared, Theresa. Daddy's coming right back.”

Choking up, Theresa managed a “Mhm.”

“Then, Daddy, you need to hurry back,” she urged again.

“Okay.”

After Brandon responded, he flipped on the Sophia's door surveillance feed and instantly saw Marian, Louis, and Renata.

Marian looked aggressive on the screen.

Brandon's face turned stone-cold.

“What happened?” Daniel's concerned voice cfrom the ward. Though weak, it differed notably from the unstable condition

Patricia had tearfully described over the phone.

He turned to look at Daniel, who had woken up and was sitting up in bed, spooning porridge that Patricia was feeding him,

appearing quite spirited.

“Feeling any better?”

Brandon asked.

“Much better. Woke up feeling refreshed today,” Daniel said with a puzzled smile.

Brandon's piercing gaze fixed on Patricia.

Patricia avoided his probing eyes guiltily and murmured, “Your father just woke up.”

She hadn't expected Daniel to caround just after she'd hung up the phone, when she had immersed herself in the relief of his

recovery. She was busy checking on his condition, calling for doctors, arranging meals—so overwhelmed that she forgot to align

her story with Daniel.

Daniel noticed Patricia's guilty complexion and frowned, “What's the matter?”

“Nothing,” Brandon replied tersely, his eyes scanning the ward. He picked up Patricia's phone from the bedside table, directed it at

her face for a facial recognition unlock with a "beep."

Patricia's expression shifted subtly, and she instinctively dropped her spoon and stood to snatch the phone back, but her hand

froze mid-air upon seeing Brandon's frosty countenance.

Without a hint of emotion, Brandon scrolled through her call logs and, unsurprisingly, found Marian's call from earlier at the top of

the recent calls.

“Did Marian ask you to sendaway?” he inquired, placing the phone back on the bedside table.

Patricia, head hung low, was afraid to admit it, though her expression said it all.

Brandon didn’t press further. He simply told Daniel, “You rest up; I've got something to deal with, but I'll ccheck on you later.”

After the instructions, he left.

Outside Sophia's place

Sophia watched calmly as Marian was filled with righteous indignation, but her defenses didn’t crumble as Marian had hoped. After

letting Marian finish her accusations, Sophia responded with composure:

“I will leave it to Brandon, because he handles things more gently and with the bigger picture in mind.”

She then steered the conversation back on track: “You want to hear my plan of action? Fine. Number one, you issue a public

apology; number two, the project is to be halted completely. | won't allow anyone use my design plans for construction.”

Marian’s face suddenly changed.

Louis's expression also shifted subtly; he was quite fond of the project and privately hoped it could continue.

“Ms. Yearwood,” Louis tried to soothe her anger, “We admit we were wrong, and we sincerely apologize. We are also willing to pay

you for the copyright of the design plans. | hope you might reconsider.”

“I'm sorry, but I'm not short on money,” Sophia said, her tone cool, “I was willing to design it out of goodwill, but now I've cto

realize it isn’t worth it. | don’t want these plans or this project anymore. You can all leave now.”

With that, Sophia courteously nodded and restrained herself from looking at Renata.

She didn’t want to see any signs of disappointment or sadness on Renata’s face.

After nodding, she pulled the door to close it, but the door was stopped. Renata's worried words cthrough, "Don't be upset,

Yoli. Granny's here for you."

It was she who held the door.

Sophia forced herself not to look back. With her eyes cast down, she whispered to Grace standing behind her, "Grace, could you

please show our guests out?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned to leave, only for her clothing to be suddenly tugged.

"Yoli," cRenata's voice, thick with the onset of tears, echoed from behind.

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