The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

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

09:49

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. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

She had a date with a real estate agent to see some places and was ready to dash as soon as the clock struck the hour.

So, spotting it was nearly 6 PM, she started packing up.

Cindy was almost done too. Around the same age as Sophia and feeling they were birds of a feather- women who’d rather hit up a sperm bank than deal with men she felt a kinship with Sophia. No sense of hierarchy between them, she peeked into Sophia’s office as the end of work neared, “Hey, dinner tonight?”

Sophia was in a bind, “Got an appointment to see some apartments, let’s rain check?”

“You’re house hunting?” Cindy picked up the thread, “I’ll tag along, extra pair of eyes can’t hurt. I know this area like the back of my hand.”

Sophia thought it over and nodded, “Sure, that’d be great.”

“”Come on, what’s this ‘trouble’ talk between us? Got nothing better to do after work anyway. My biggest joy is house hunting, even if I can’t afford it,” Cindy confessed with an embarrassed chuckle, “But who says I can’t enjoy the view?”

Sophia cracked a smile, “Alright, I’ll hit you up in a bit.”

Cindy flashed an “OK” sign and bounced out of Sophia’s office. Just as she looked up, she caught the motion-activated glass doors of the office area swinging open, and in walked Daniel. But instead of moving further in, he just stood at the entrance, his face a blank slate as he swept his gaze across the room. His piercing look instantly turned the once noisy space into a dead silence.

Everyone exchanged puzzled looks, not recognizing Daniel. They had no clue who this tall, imposing guy with a mean mug was looking for or what he was after.

Gathering her courage, Cindy stood up and politely asked him, “Hey there, can I help you find someone?”

Daniel’s eyes locked onto her. “Is Sophia Yearwood around?”

The others shot each other that look again, and the quiet turned into a low buzz of whispers and hushed chatter.

Sophia thought she heard her name being called but couldn’t be sure.

Frowning slightly, she got up and walked toward the door, where she paused at the sight of Daniel standing at the entrance.

Daniel spotted her too, sizing her up from head to toe before speaking. “Come here for a sec.”

He still had that authoritative air of the head of the family. Without waiting for Sophia’s response, he turned to leave, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed she hadn’t moved. He looked back at her.

“I need a moment with you,” he said, his tone a bit softer. “Just a few minutes.”

“I’ll be in the conference room,” he added, his eyes still on Sophia, waiting for her nod of acknowledgment.

The onlookers couldn’t help but shoot curious glances at Sophia.

Not wanting to be the center of attention, Sophia gave a slight nod and followed him out.

As the glass doors shut behind them, the murmurs inside the office exploded into a full-blown marketplace buzz. People spun around, gossiping with their neighbors about what was going down and who this guy could be.

No one had forgotten the loaded comment Patricia had dropped that morning, “The compensation my son gave you?”

Don walked back into the office to find everyone chattering like it was a farmers’ market.

“What’s the deal here? Are we not busy anymore?” he asked, causing the noise to abruptly halt. Everyone quickly straightened up and swiveled back to their desks, not daring to make a peep.

Only then did Don turn to Cindy, “What happened?”

“Some guy came looking for Sophia, Cindy whispered.

09:49

“A guy?” Don frowned, puzzled.

Cindy realized he’d gotten the wrong impression and quickly clarified, “An older guy, well, not old-old, but this tall, handsome fella in his fifties or sixties, all suited up. He looked a bit stern, came straight in asking for the director, said he needed to talk to her. Now they’re,” she gestured towards the conference room, “in the meeting room next door.”

Don’s frown deepened. He glanced at the conference room and headed out the door towards it. Before he even got close, he could see through the glass wall that Daniel was sitting across from Sophia.

“Damn it.”

Don couldn’t help but let out a curse and whipped out his phone, dialing Brandon as he turned around.

“Your dad’s here for Sophia, in the conference room,”

Brandon was busy at his computer when he heard the news. He stopped dead in his tracks, got up from his chair, and bolted out the door.

Kent was on his way to talk to Brandon when he nearly collided with him rushing out.

“Mr. Crawley?”

He called out to Brandon, confused, but Brandon didn’t even glance his way. Stone-faced, he brushed past Kent blocking his path and strode quickly towards the elevator.

In the conference room