The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 145 At the airport.

Sophia was hustling out of the jet bridge while whipping out her phone to power it up, striding towards baggage claim. Before she even reached the carousel, her phone, now booted up, was flooding with notifications one after another.

Glancing at her screen, she saw that it was mostly Susan, peppered with a barrage of missed call alerts.

Texts morphed from [Have you reached West district yet?] to the more urgent [Why's your phone still off? Sophia, callback ASAP when you see this.] Sophia skimmed the messages and quickly video-called Susan back.

The moment the call connected, Susan looked like she was about to burst into tears. “Finally, you call back. What took you so long? Did something happen to the flight? You hadscared to death.” “It’s all good, just sweather delays,” Sophia reassured softly, “We got held up due to a local thunderstorm at the layover, and the plane kept circling without clearance to land. It's caused a bit of a delay. I'm at West district now, so don’t fret.” Susan sighed in relief, “As long as you're safe. Remember to callonce you're settled in, and watch out for yourself.” “Will do,” Sophia nodded, inquired about the kid for a bit, and then hung up.

After the call, Sophia checked the ton her phone - past ten in the morning. She paused for a second.

The flight was hours behind schedule, and it was already past the nine o'clock work rush.

Sophia had no clue whether Brandon's “by Friday” meant business hours or the opening ceremony.

If it was the former, she had essentially given up by now.

If it was the latter, making it on twas still touch and go.

Brandon was always a man of his word.

Letting go of the Zenithan-style project was something Sophia knew he would follow through on.

Suddenly, she wasn't sure if there was any point in rushing over.

Her decision to return wasn’t solid to begin with. It was more Zachary’s plea, the suspicions from overhearing Darcy and others’ conversation, and several other factors that had rushed her.

The conveyor belt started moving, and luggage began to appear one by one.

Sophia spotted her bag among the sea of suitcases.

She bent over to lift her luggage as it approached.

Pushing her suitcase out, she glanced at the clock again - thirty minutes to spare. If she caught a cab now, it would be a race against the clock to make it or not.

Her original plan had enough buffer to get to the Starlight Group in time, but this flight just had to get caught in a freak storm. delay.

Sophia suddenly wondered if this was scosmic sign holding her back.

She decided to leave it up to fate.

If she made it, it meant she was destined to be part of this project and she'd give it her all.

If not, maybe it was destiny’s way of telling her it was tto cut her losses.

Stepping out to hail a cab, Sophia was surprisingly calm.

At the Starlight Group's lobby.

The emcee was delivering a speech for the grand opening, and the celebratory mood peaked.

Brandon sat in the guest of honor seat with an expressionless face, sneak-peeks at his phone from tto time, his demeanor cool and detached.

Don managed to keep a festive smile, though his eyes betrayed his anxiety.

Soon, it would be Brandon's turn to speak, introducing the new company’s leaders and design team, including the head designer.

Although there was no rule saying the head designer couldn't be replaced, once announced, it would mean Brandon's definitive 1/3 08:40 drop of Sophia's Zenithan-style resort design, leaving no room for negotiation.

He knew Brandon well.

Amidst this anxiety, Don also kept glancing at his phone, even reaching to call Sophia directly when there were no updates. But as his fingertip touched the phone, Brandon pushed it away.

“No need,” he said, his voice faint, his face still expressionless.

“What if she ran into strouble on the way?” Don whispered, “Got held up?” “Does she lack a phone? Or internet?” Brandon's tone remained flat, not even looking at him, “If it was something serious, wouldn't she have called ahead?” Don had no comeback.

The emcee had finished the opening speech and turned the attention to Brandon. “Please welcome, with a round of applause, the President of the Starlight Group, Mr. Crawley, to deliver his speech.” Applause filled the room.

Don frowned at Brandon, noticing a brief flicker of something on his face before he rose emotionlessly and headed for the stage.

Brandon stood on stage, composed, speaking at an even pace, exuding stability.

His speech was succinct, first expressing gratitude to the guests, then briefly explaining the reasons behind Star Dempsey Architects’ inception and future aspirations, before segueing to introducing the new leadership and design team.

First up was Don, with a quick verbal intro and a display of his résumé and portfoon the big screen behind Brandon, eliciting awe and applause from the audience.

Don went up to express his thanks amid the claps.

“Our design team is comprised of equally young and talented designers,” Brandon continued in a calm voice as the applause subsided, “Next, I'd like to invite our head designer.” Brandon's voice suddenly halted.

The audience, puzzled, looked at him.

Don, standing right next to him, also turned his gaze to Brandon.

Brandon was facing the podium, looking at the embedded computer screen, his eyelids slightly drooping, his face calm, a chilling sort of calm.

Out of sight from the audience, Don saw Brandon's long finger reaching towards the multimedia keyboard's Enter key, pausing just above it.

Don turned to look at the slide frozen on the big screen behind them.

He knew that once that button was pressed, it would herald the arrival of the new head honcho of design, a dude named Barret whose reswas still chilling on Brandon's desk.

Brandon didn’t immediately go for it, though. He just stared blankly at the LCD screen embedded in his desk, not making a move.

The crowd was getting restless, and the whispers started to grow louder.

Everyone was wondering what was up with Brandon.

Don couldn't help but throw a worried glance at him and nudged, “Brandon?” Brandon looked up, his face still a blank slate, and took a cold, sweeping glance at the audience below. As his gaze icily swept from the entrance, Don caught a glimpse of resolve in his eyes and saw his long finger poised over the Enter key, ready to slam it down, but then it stopped abruptly, just shy of hitting the key.

The crowd was puzzled once again, all eyes on Brandon.

Brandon scanned the room and announced, “Head of Design will remain open for now!” Don looked at Brandon, taken aback.

Kent down in the audience was also shocked.

But Brandon had already coolly shifted his gaze. “Now, please welcthe CEO of Star Dempsey Architects, Don.” His steady voice paused when he caught sight of a slender figure against the play of light and shadow at the door.

Sophia stood outside, hesitating as she took in the room full of guests, and then slowly turned her gaze towards Brandon on the stage.

Brandon's eyes had already cut through the crowd, locking onto her with an intense stare.