Chapter 9
Brandon glanced at him and reached out to take the phone.
“Hello?”
All he got in response was the busy tone of “beep beep”.
Brandon and Kent fell silent
“Maybe Ms. Yearwood accidentally hit a button, Kent tried to cover for Sophia, “She just told me she was busy, sounded a bit out of breath, like she was rushing somewhere.”
Brandon ignored him, simply tossing the phone back at him “Don’t mess around with unrelated stuff during meeting
times.
Kent didn’t say anything.
Brandon had already turned to Gavin, who looked puzzled, “Sorry for the sideshow, Mr. Evert.”
Gavin, over sixty and like Brandon, was also a big shot in the construction world, only with a much longer track record. He admired yet was wary of Brandon, the recent rising star. Today’s visit was mainly about seeking collaboration, so he brushed off Brandon’s apology with a hearty wave, “No worries, Mr. Crawley, everyone has their emergencies.”
Then he couldn’t help but glance at Brandon, “Mr. Crawley, if you have urgent matters to attend to, please go ahead. No rush, I just came to have a casual chat anyway”
Brandon said, “It’s fine.”
His gaze fleetingly glanced at Kent’s phone, yet his expression remained cool and detached.
Seeing through it all, Gavin suggested with a smile, “Mr. Crawley, how about we take a break? I didn’t sleep well last night either, had a night of grief thanks to my ungrateful son, might as well take the chance to rest up a bit.”
Kent jumped at the opportunity. “I’ll have someone take you to relax. The restaurant downstairs has afternoon teal ready, why not head down for a bite to tide you over?”
“Sounds good, Gavin chuckled as he stood up, “I’m actually getting a bit peckish.”
Kent signaled an assistant to come over and take Mr. Evert and his entourage for a tour, arranging for their afternoon tea.
The assistant quickly herded everyone out.
As the conference room door closed, Kent hesitantly looked at Brandon, who remained seated and motionless, and softly called out, “Mr. Crawley?”
“What did she tell you?” Brandon suddenly asked.
Though he didn’t specify, Kent knew Brandon was asking about Sophia.
“Ms. Yearwood said she’s returned the money you transferred to her brother back to your card yesterday. She wanted me to thank you on her behalf, and then she said. Kent watched Brandon’s expression carefully, choosing his words, “Her family doesn’t need the money right now, nor will they in the future. If her relatives come to you again, she said you should ignore them.”
Brandon’s brow furrowed slightly, he turned his head, pondering as he swept a glance at Kent.
Kent got the shivers, “Mr. Crawley
Brandon tilted his head to him. “Since when did you and Ms. Yearwood get so chummy?”
Kent was speechless.
Brandon said, is there something she caret-tell me directly, that she needs you to convey?”
Kens felt wronged
How was be supposed to know what kind of tiff these two were in? It was something that could be resolved with a
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simple phone call, but instead, he had to be the go between, not that he wanted to be the messenger
But Kent dared not vent his inner complaints openly
“Mr Crawley, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t have much contact with Ms. Yearwood We’re not that close, Kent explained cautiously. “Maybe Ms. Yearwood couldn’t reach you and it was urgent, so she called my mobile to get to you. After all, everyone knows if they can’t find you, they come to me, right?”
He finished and pointedly gestured toward Brandon’s office, reminding him, “You forgot your phone when you went out Just now.”
Brandon’s gaze lifted, passing through the conference room’s glass walls and settling on the phone casually left on his desk. After a brief pause, he stood and walked to his office
Kent followed, eager as a beaver
He watched as Brandon picked up the phone, lit up the screen, unlocked it, and then, he saw Brandon’s expression suddenly become impassive.
Kent’s heart skipped a beat as he involuntarily looked at Brandon’s phone screen, struggling to maintain his composure. There were no missed calls on Brandon’s phone!
Sophia never intended to contact Brandon in the first place!
Kent wished he could slap himself on the spot. Why assume things before verifying the facts, giving Brandon false hope? Now, looking at Brandon’s face.
He couldn’t help but sneak a glance, Brandon’s handsome face showed no major emotional fluctuations, only his eyes slightly narrowed, expressionlessly staring at the phone.
Kent tentatively called out, “Mr. Crawley?”
Brandon tossed the phone back on the table. “You can go out first.”
“Yes.” Kent didn’t dare linger, quickly closing the door behind him as he left.
Brandon’s mood had darkened; he glanced at the discarded phone, then turned his gaze out the window. After a moment of silence, he still picked up the phone and opened WhatsApp. As soon as he did, he saw a message from Patricia [If it’s someone you arranged, what’s his name?]
Brandon scrolled emotionlessly, coming across a voice message, and played it directly
“Brandon, don’t cover for Sophia in everything. You might be busy with work, but you’ve got to keep an eye on your wife. Sophia is a married woman, after all. While I trust she wouldn’t do anything improper, it doesn’t look good for acquaintances to see and gossip.”
Patricia’s voice, tinged with anger, came through the phone’s speaker Brandon paid it no mind, about to exit the chat when his eyes inevitably fell on a photo Patricia had sent.
The man’s entranced gaze at Sophia only worsened Brandon’s sour mood, which he forcibly suppressed.
The man looked decent enough, about their age, with a composed and sharp demeanor, tall and upright-a type that could easily make women swoon.
Brandon was totally in the dark about what the deal was between him and Sophia. Why on earth did they plan to study abroad together when she didn’t even bother giving him a heads up about wanting to take off for school?
Thinking about her sneaky moves, prepping for a divorce and further studies behind his back, Brandon’s eyes dimmed once again. He killed his phone’s screen, chucked it aside, and made to leave. Halfway to the door he stopped dead in his tracks His Adam’s apple bobbed with his surging emotions. Spinning around, Brandon snatched up his phone from the table, tapped open Sophia’s WhatsApp, and shot her a message. [Heading out today?] To his surprise, a pop-up hit him in the face. [Sophia has enabled friend verification, and you are not yet her contact. Please send a friend request and wait for verification before you can chat.]
Brandon was shocked.
Suddenly, he was thrown back to the end of senior year in high school, the post-exam party where the teacher to
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everyone before it started that Sophia couldn’t make it due to family reasons, and wished everyone else a good time.
Out of fifty-eight classmates, she was the only no-show. After the final exam, she walked out of the exam hall and out of everyone’s lives, gone without a trace.
And now, it was the same story She’d chosen to get a divorce and had scrubbed away any ties to him. Brandon had no doubt she’d even deleted his number, so when it came to even the smallest things, like repaying money, she’d rather use a middleman.
Classic Sophia.
Brandon shook his head with a wry smile. His left index finger gently massaged his forehead, while his right thumb, holding the phone, unhesitatingly opened Sophia’s WhatsApp profile His finger slid down to “Delete Contact” and didn’t hesitate to tap. The prompt “Delete the contact Sophia’ and the chat history with this contact popped up, and his finger almost pressed down but paused just before touching the screen, hovering, a moment of hesitation, his grip on the phone tightening slightly.
In the end, the finger that was about to confirm the deletion veered off to “Cancel” Brandon shut the phone off, pocketed it, scooped up his car keys from the table, and walked out the door.
Take care of Mr. Evert for me. I gotta run an errand.”
Brandon instructed Kent in a subdued tone as he passed by.
Confused, Kent stood up. “Huh? Mr. Crawley, are you heading out now? What about your dinner with Mr. Evert tonight?”
“Cancel it!”
Kent was speechless
