The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 319

Sophia and Brandon found a afternoon tea place near their office and snagged a private booth.

It was Sophia who had found the place and insisted on the private room.

"Is it something important you wanted to discuss?" Eyeing the super private eatery, Brandon asked as he pulled out a chair, smoothly helping Sophia with the one next to it.

Sophia nodded lightly. "Yeah."

She settled into her chair, reached for the teapot intending to pour some tea, but Brandon beat her to it, taking over and filling cups for them both before handing her the menu.

Sophia picked out something small and handed the menu back to Brandon.

Brandon randomly selected a few items and closed the menu.

Neither of them were there for the food.

"So, what's up?" Dropping the menu, Brandon looked at her, his voice steady.

Sophia hesitated, catching his gaze.

Brandon's eyes were deep and calm, a look that sent an inexplicable shiver through Sophia.

She lowered her lashes, took a small sip of tea, and began softly, "When I first came back to Wye City, I was on the fence about taking on the Zenitha-style resort project. Just so happened, our mentor, Mr. Gardner—you know him—was in town for a conference and we grabbed a bite. He advised me not to ditch the Zenitha project."

Looking up at Brandon, she continued, "We were at a restaurant near the school when a guy bumped into me. I turned and recognized him as the short, chubby dude we ran into in the Starlight Hotel's underground parking lot—named Darcy. The one we tried to dodge that time."

Brandon seemed surprised by the topic, and after a moment, he nodded. "Hmm."

"While he was dining, the skinny tall guy from the parking lot was with him," Sophia whispered, her eyes on Brandon, "I heard him call the other guy Ms. Barlow. Over dinner, Ms. Barlow asked Darcy how things were going, and Darcy said it was all cool, that the guy was all set up in the company, totally solid, and to not worry."

Brandon glanced at her but didn't chime in.

Sophia continued, "Darcy mentioned how hard it is to get into Starlight Group, that the turnover is low and they hardly ever recruit externally. He said they were lucky Starlight Group was launching a subsidiary, Star·Dempsey Architects, needing new blood; otherwise, who knows how long they'd have to wait. So, I'm suspecting there might be a mole among the folks who joined the company with me."

"You came back because of this?" Brandon's voice was measured as he looked at her.

Sophia pursed her lips, silent for a beat.

"Half and half," she murmured.

"Why wait till now to spill the beans?" Brandon's tone remained cool, almost like he was interrogating, seemingly unfazed by the idea of a mole in his company.

"The guy's last name is Barlow, and it just so happens that Marian was staying at Starlight Hotel when we bumped into him and Darcy," Sophia hesitated, "I did some digging and found Marian's school records. She listed a Dennis Barlow as her father. I looked the guy up online and saw his picture, turns out he’s that tall, skinny dude."

Sophia paused, then looked at Brandon, "Given that this involves Marian, and she's, well... This Yolanda, things between us are complicated. Without solid proof, I didn't want to come off like I was trying to smear her or spread rumors."

"And since I started, I made it a point to get everyone's resumes, keep an eye on their every move. But so far, everyone's normal, just clocking in and out, doing their jobs," Sophia added quietly, "The work Mr. Dempsey and I assign is pretty standard, nothing top secret. Plus, our computers have tight firewall security, no outside devices can infiltrate or access sensitive info. So, I figured, just keep watching for a while."

Brandon studied her, not moving, "So you've got evidence now?"

Sophia shook her head. "Nope."

"Then why bring it up now?"

Sophia bit her lip, seeming to hesitate.

Brandon's gaze drifted to her hand resting on the teacup, her slender fingers slightly tense, pressing a pale crease into the back of her hand.

His eyes lingered on that pale crease, then lifted to her face.

Sophia met his gaze, her eyes calm. "The ground-breaking ceremony for the Zenitha-style resort is tomorrow. Big event, press will be there. I was worried they might try something, thought it was better to give you a heads-up, just to be safe."

"The company's got solid contingency plans for these kinds of shindigs, not to mention a top-notch security team. No one's pulling anything on our watch, you didn't know that?" Brandon countered.

Sophia managed a weak smile, "I haven't been here long, I didn't know."

"Sorry, guess I was overthinking it," she said softly.

Brandon's lips twitched slightly, but he stayed silent.

The knock at the door came just then, and the waiter brought in the food carefully and seriously laying them out on the table, briefly interrupting the chat between the two.

"Enjoy your meal," the waiter said politely after setting everything up, and then, along with the rest of the crew, headed out, closing the private room door behind them.

Brandon grabbed the table wares, casually picked up a morsel of food with his fork, and served it into her bowl, his calm voice flowing out as leisurely as his movements:

"Sophia, were you downstairs earlier?"