Chapter 33
Sophia was taken aback by Brandon’s response.
He never gave an answer if he wasn’t sure.
“There’s always a chance, right?” Sophia puzzled, “People don’t just randomly link one person to another without
reason.”
Brandon glanced at her. “Gut feeling.”
“But, we’ve known each other for more than a day, right?” she said, still not getting his sudden hunch.
Brandon pursed his lips slightly, seeming reluctant to answer that question.
The confusion in Sophia’s eyes deepened. The Brandon she knew was always decisive, even when it came to divorce, he only pondered for a few seconds before nodding firmly. Even when bringing up Yolanda, he remained silent for a while before telling her the whole story. She couldn’t think of anything that would make him hesitate.
Brandon didn’t miss the confusion in her eyes, but he didn’t want her to probe into this, didn’t want her to know that from the very first moment he saw her years ago, he had already associated her with Yolanda.
“Maybe it’s just a stroke of serendipity, he stood up, “You haven’t given me your answer yet.”
As he stood, his towering height loomed over her in an instant.
Sophia had to look up at him. “I think you’re changing the subject.”
“You’re the one beating around the bush.”
Sophia was left speechless, squinting at him suspiciously, “You’re playing the blame game here. Getting a late-night visit asking if I’m someone else, I have to clear it up, Sophia added, “What if you actually had some evidence or leads?”
Brandon frowned. Evidence and leads?”
He looked at her thoughtfully, “Why do you care about this? Normal people would just deny being someone else straight away unless they’re unsure about their own background and looking for answers themselves.”
As he spoke, his eyes settled on Sophia’s face. “You’re not your parents’ biological child?”
His gaze was too probing and sharp, as if he could see right through someone.
Sophia had never felt inferior in front of Brandon, but for some reason, when he delved into this issue, she suddenly felt a twinge of embarrassment. This stemmed from the insatiable greed with which Laura and her brother had treated her like a cash cow, constantly demanding from Brandon and his family. She wasn’t Laura’s biological child, but to the Crawley family and even to Brandon’s eyes, she was indulging her unrelated family in limitless demands, a realization that made her feel awkward.
She chuckled lightly. “How could that be? If I wasn’t their own daughter, could my mom ask you for things so brazenly?”
Brandon frowned and didn’t respond, although logically it made sense.
Sophia looked at him, softening her voice. “Brandon, I can’t be Yolanda. Don’t see me as her, or as anyone else. I’m just me. You said before, Yolanda is a few years younger than me, so she couldn’t possibly be in the same grade as me, but we were classmates.”
She added softly, thinking back to when he mentioned his intuition, her puzzled question “We’ve known each other for more than a day, right?” and his reluctance to answer. She suddenly recalled senior year of high school when every time she accidentally looked back and locked eyes with him, his thoughtful gaze, and the subtle care and protection he had for her that year. Sophia suddenly felt like she understood something, she looked up at him. “Back in school, you didn’t happen to see me as Yolanda, did you?”
Brandon wasn’t surprised she could guess; he had seen Sophia’s intelligence when he first met her. She was always calme and low-key, not showy, but sharp-witted and observant
i did have that suspicion at the beginning, he admitted, not avoiding the issue.
Sophia smiled, the expected answer, yet still the Brandon she knew.
She always liked Brandon’s honesty She just suddenly felt a bit upset. The Brandon she met at seventeen was a ray of light in her not so glorious life. The care and favor he showed her that year made her fall, step by step, and even through the divorce, she never denied the beauty of that year.
She thought the Brandon of that year was different towards her, that at least, like her, he had the stirrings of youth and unforgettable memories, hence the accidental night of passion at the class reunion years later.
It turned out that wasn’t the case.
Sophia feit & twinge in her nose and a stinging in her eyes, as if liquid was welling up.
She forced it down, and when she looked up at him again with a smile on her face. “Thanks for letting me know all this. Anyway, thanks for taking such good care of me back then.” She smiled gently, still quietly looking up at him, “I’m not Yolanda, so please don’t come over anymore. We’re done, let’s not disturb each other anymore.”
Brandon watched her, silent.
