The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 163

Marian looked up and flashed Daniel a grin, "My name's Marian. Please don't call me anything else, not my cup of tea."

With that, her smile quickly vanished as she dove back into her phone.

Daniel's smile froze a tad.

Louis jumped in to smooth things over, "She's got no memory of her childhood, man. The chick had it rough growing up outside, took us two years of sweet-talking to get her to even peek back home."

Hearing this, Daniel felt even more for her and didn't mind Marian's lack of manners, keeping up his smile he asked, "Got a boyfriend yet, Marian?"

"Nah," Marian glanced up briefly, "Swamped with studies, dude. No time for boy trouble."

"This girl's a bookworm, just graduated from Apex Engineering University, nailed a master's in architecture."

Louis couldn't help puffing up with pride as he rattled off the university name, boasting, "Called it when she was a tot, said she was brainy material. Quiet, diligent, focused, and smart as a whip, knew she'd land in a top school and she did!"

Daniel had been to that uni with Louis back in the day but still couldn't help marveling, "That's seriously badass."

He was genuinely stoked for Yolanda.

He'd been rooting for Yolanda since she was a kid.

Finally, Marian looked up again, "Thanks."

Her smile this time held a genuine spark.

That bit of sincerity touched Daniel, and he couldn't help but steer the convo back to matters of the heart, "Got anyone you fancy, Marian?"

"Nope," Marian answered straight-up, without a trace of shyness or discomfort.

Louis seized the moment to bring up Brandon, "Brandon still flying solo?"

Patricia jumped in, "Yup, still on the market. Heard from Kent he's thinking about trying his luck at matchmaking events."

"Why bother with matchmaking?" Louis looked at Marian, "Both unattached, childhood friends, families know each other inside out, same age range, might as well play Cupid, right?"

"Wha?" Marian looked at Louis, surprised, "Is that really cool?"

Thinking she was just playing hard to get, Louis reassured her, "Just hang out, see if it clicks. No matchmaking, no wedding bells, no pressure."

Daniel was all for Louis' idea.

The families had been tight for decades, matched well, and despite the distance after Yolanda's disappearance, they were keen on tying the knot between their kids.

Sure, arranged childhood engagements were out of vogue, but with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in both clans, match-making by the elders was still on the cards.

But Daniel was stumped on how to play Cupid.

Brandon had always been headstrong, not the type to follow through on a dinner setup just because his dad said so.

On the drive back, Daniel couldn't help but strategize with Patricia.

Patricia was still hung up on the dismissal thing, clueless about what went down, so she wasn't really in the mood to debate with Daniel. When he asked her what to do, she shot back, "How should I know? If you can't handle your own son, what makes you think I can?"

Realizing her tone, she quickly softened, "We should probably chat with Brandon first, see his take on Marian. Ever mentioned her?"

This was new territory for Daniel.

"What do I know?" Daniel lamented, "Used to be he'd fend off the girlfriend talk with Yolanda. Now that she's back, not a peep about it. It's all on him, really. Why the heck did he rush into marriage outta nowhere?"

The mere thought fired Daniel up, clueless about what charms Sophia used to get Brandon to tie the knot on the fly.

"Speaking of which," Patricia remembered her encounter with Sophia at Star·Dempsey Architects, "Sophia's over at Star·Dempsey Architects, landed a gig as a Design Director. You knew about this?"

Daniel frowned, "She's back?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

Daniel shot her a look, his face clouding over.

He checked his watch, still before quitting time, and instructed the driver, "Nell, back to the office."

"Right away, Mr. Crawley," Nell responded, taking the next turn.

Sophia was wrapping up for the day, close to quitting time.