The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

After a short pause, Kent gave Brandon a puzzled look, "Why the switch? This construction crew has been working with the

company on several projects; they've always been on the ball, and the folks are as reliable as a Swiss watch, Mr. Crawley, got any

cold feet?"

Brandon shook his head, "Can't quite put my finger on it. I'm flying blind with the info I've got, wouldn't want to jump to

conclusions. But if there's smoke, there's probably a fire. Instead of wasting tbeating around the bush, | might as well nip it in

the bud and swap them out."

"But we're supposed to pour the bridge piers in a couple of days. I'm afraid we won't make the cut if swapping crews now." Kent

frowned with concern.

Brandon glanced at him, "Nobody's holding a gun to your head to get it done in two days, why the rush to pour the bridge piers

then?"

"The psychic said it's the perfect time." Kent hesitated; he'd been a bit superstitious about these big construction deals, "I'm

worried missing the auspicious hour might jinx the project or even the company's fate or something."

Brandon eyed him, "With that logic, are we supposed to consult the almanac before breaking ground on every building?"

Kent said nothing.

Brandon stood up, and patted Kent's shoulder, "The groundbreaking ceremony was already set for a lucky day, just keep your shirt

on. If you're really spooked, I'm not against sticking to the schedule, but the crew's got to go. That's set in stone."

"Roger that," Kent acknowledged, "I'm on it."

"And another thing," Brandon added after a thought, "sendthe details on the failed bridge pier pouring, including the survey

results from the scouting team."

"Will do."

With that, Kent turned on his heel and left.

He forwarded all the project related documents to Brandon.

Brandon went through the info with a fine-tooth comb and didn't spot any red flags; the hydrological and geological conditions

were all thumbs up.

No issues with the building materials either.

The crew's skills were up to snuff too.

Just like Kent said, they had teamed up with Starlight Group on a few gigs, which was a top-notch construction crew by all

accounts.

Looked like there was no scientific explanation, barring any hocus-pocus.

Brandon furrowed his brow.

"Shootthe profiles of the,construction team." Brandon hit Kent's intebutton.

"Got it."

Kent sent over the crew's details in a jiffy.

The profiles included a rundown of each member's work history.

Jerry, the foreman, was a Zion City local, country boy, not much for books, who'd been working the sites since he could remember,

and over thirty years under his belt, had climbed the ladder from grunt to foreman; he was stable gigs with Starlight Group in

recent years, solid work, good rep.

His crew, judging by their resumes, were seasoned pros as well, all from Jerry's neck of the woods, and it seemed there wasn’t

anything fishy.

Brandon frowned again.

Everything seemed on the up and up, except for their shady vibe about Nell's whereabouts.

"Check out what the word on the street is about Jerry, any bad habits, how he knows Nell and all that jazz," Brandon buzzed Kent

again to give orders.

"Will do."

Brandon hung up and closed the files in hand, his expression still heavy with thought.

He checked the time; it was past six.

Brandon shut down his computer, stood up, and headed down to the seventeenth floor.

Sophia was in her office, equally stern-faced.

Ever since she found out that Jerry had duped her, and that Nell hadn't been handed over to the cops, her expression had been

somber.

She had given Kent and Brandon a heads-up, but the exact outcwas still up in the air until Kent's call cthrough just before

quitting time.

"After | briefed Mr. Crawley on the situation, he suggested going straight to the police, so | did it. But when the cops showed up at

the site, Nell was there, and Jerry claimed that he hadn't handed Nell over to the cops from Zion City because Nell wanted to stay,

and after weighing it up, they're sorting out his ID now and letting him stay," Kent relayed the gist to Sophia.

Sophia furrowed her brow, "Is it so coincidental ? What did Brandon say?"

"Mr. Crawley demanded to replace the construction crew," Kent replied.

Sophia couldn't quite make heads or tails of it all, so she nodded, "Alright, whatever he arranges, just go with it."

"Yep," Kent on the other end nodded, "I'll get back to it then."

"Sure thing."

Sophia nodded and hanged up the phone.

She had this nagging feeling that something was off, but she couldn't pinpoint it for now.

The only silver lining was that Nell had finally been registered officially, in which case he would no longer live in this world as if he

didn't exist.

She was a tad worried that the construction crew might be up to sdark arts.

But logically, it seemed a long shot.

After all, the construction crew and the project team were just collaborators; if the bridge piers didn't pan out, and the project

stalled, just switch gears, no need to risk their necks over it.

At that moment, there ca "tap-tap" knock at the door.

Sophia gathered herself and looked up, "Cin."

Augus walked in, looking quite serious.

"What's up?" Sophia inquired.

"Just got word from Tomas that Kent's crew might have to pull out last minute, and the bridge pier pouring could be delayed. Are

we still booking that high-speed train ticket?" Augus asked.

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