The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 90

"Yeah, totally. After she signed the deal with the Starlight Hotel, she quit her job and, from what I heard through the grapevine, took off to another city to carve out her own path. But nobody seems to know exactly where she went," Kent said.

Brandon furrowed his brow even deeper. So she quit right after sealing the deal with the Starlight Group, which meant she'd left two years ago. And she changed her phone number and WhatsApp too.

"Did her coworkers mention why she did it?" Brandon asked.

"They said she had a falling out with her family, decided to cut ties and start fresh," Kent couldn't help but dish out the dirt, "Apparently, her parents always favored boys over girls, and they were always on her case to cough up cash for her brother's house and his mortgage."

"And then there was the whole marriage pressure cooker. They didn't give a hoot about what she wanted, just kept on setting her up on blind dates. If the guy's family was loaded and the wedding gift was fat, they'd try to strong-arm her into getting hitched. They wanted to use the gift to prop up her brother, and that's why she flipped her lid."

"Her parents even made a scene at her workplace, airing their dirty laundry for all to see. That's why she quit her job, ghosted her family, and changed her digits before heading out of town on her own."

Kent sighed, "But no one at work knows where she's gone off to. It's kinda sad, a girl all alone out there."

After his moment of reflection, Kent remembered that Brandon had contacted him to track someone down, so he quickly got back on track, "Mr. Crawley, what do you need Susan for? How about I give it a shot and try to reach her?"

Brandon just grunted a "Hmm" before hanging up.

But this was no small feat for Kent.

Susan had left in a huff because of the drama her parents stirred up at her company – her family's petty drama became the talk of the town, making her feel she couldn't stay a day longer, so she handed in her resignation on the spot.

She ignored the company's pleas to stay, left all the corporate chat groups, posted a Facebook farewell, and ditched her WhatsApp and phone number. No one knew where she'd gone.

Kent went out of his way to ask Susan's close friends and classmates, but none of them had a clue about her whereabouts, although they were all aware of her parents leeching off her and causing a ruckus at her company.

Kent figured that was why Susan cut ties with everyone else too, not wanting her family to track her down.

He even went to Susan's parents for answers.

But the moment he mentioned Susan's name, her parents started cursing up a storm, calling her ungrateful, accusing her of not giving a damn about them, off who knows where living the high life.

Their language was so foul and lowbrow that Kent, an outsider, couldn't stand it and gave them a piece of his mind before leaving.

Kent had exhausted all his options with no luck, and finally, he had no choice but to hire a professional detective agency, which would take some time.

Kent didn't dare drag his feet, so he promptly updated Brandon on the lack of progress.

"So she's just disappeared off the face of the earth, huh?"

Brandon's tone and expression were calm on the video call, but Kent broke out in a cold sweat.

"Not exactly, it's just going to take some time," Kent cautiously replied, "But her friends say that maybe Sophia could get in touch with Susan; they were besties."

"Why do you think I'm looking for Susan?" Brandon asked, looking at him.

Kent, quick on the uptake, got the hint but didn't dare to make another peep, sneaking a glance at the background behind Brandon on his phone screen – the interior of the Starlight Hotel.

With the Starlight Hotel branches all over the world, all decked out in the same style, Kent couldn't be sure if Brandon had actually jetted off to Wye City.

"Are you in Wye City now?" Kent couldn't help but blurt out, even though he was usually on eggshells around Brandon, "Didn't you say you and Sophia were done?"

Brandon just gave him a cold look, his eyes unfazed by Kent's words.

"If you can't find her, you're out."

Kent immediately clammed up. "Got it."