The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"Got a problem?" Patricia shot a look at Don. "Can't the client meet the designer for a sec?"

"Of course not," Don chuckled in response, though he didn't dare speak for Sophia since she might not be keen on seeing Patricia.

"How about you take a seat here, and I'll go check?" Don suggested.

"Sure, I'm not swamped today anyway," Patricia agreed swiftly, arms already crossed in front of her. "Off you go."

Don flashed an "OK" sign, threw a glance at Marian to keep Patricia company, and headed out.

He made a beeline for Sophia's office.

Sophia was deep in work, seemingly unaffected by Patricia's presence and didn't notice Don approaching.

As Don passed the door, he tapped lightly twice.

Sophia looked up, puzzled, spotting Don at the doorway.

"Hey Sophia, Mrs. Crawley's hoping to meet the designer. Wanna swing by?" Don asked, totally in a let's-talk-it-out tone.

"Nope," Sophia flat-out refused.

Don was taken aback by her blunt denial. He knew Sophia for a while now. She was always gentle and considerate, even for

unwanted social calls, she'd ask in a negotiating tone, "Can | skip it?" This kind of straightforward refusal was a first.

Thinking Don might be in a bind over her refusal, Sophia softened her voice, "Mr. Dempsey, Mrs. Crawley seeingmight skew

her basic judgment, which could then cloud her assessment of our company's capabilities. Better not letadd to the confusion."

Don snapped out of it, flashed a smile, "No worries. If you don't wanna go, don't. Just thought I'd ask. You get back to it."

With that, Don left Sophia's office and returned to the conference room.

He didn't really think Sophia needed to see Patricia. It was just polite to ask, making it easier to explain to Patricia.

"Mrs. Crawley, I'm so sorry."

As soon as he reentered the conference room, Don slapped his forehead in feigned annoyance. "You called yesterday about dining

with the designer, and | remembered she was on leave, totally slipped my mind today."

Patricia frowned, "She's still on leave?"

Don nodded, "Yeah, she's been wiped from the design work, finally gets a breather, had to take toff."

"That makes sense."

Patricia found this reasonable, remembering Don did mention the designer was on leave the day before. She didn't press further

and steered the conversation back to the new project.

Marian didn't give a hoot about their chit-chat about the Zenithan-style project, clueless and not planning to dig deeper.

Her coming to work was mainly due to Louis asking Don for a favor.

The old timer was scheming to set Marian up with Brandon, thinking the sworkplace would give them a chance to get to know

each other.

Louis initially aimed for the president's office, but since Brandon despised nepotism, it couldn't be too obvious. Kent couldn't make

the call, Daniel and Patricia had just been ousted by Brandon, so they had no say. The only option left was to sneak into

Star-Dempsey Architects, which was still hiring and aligned with Marian's field, not seeming too deliberate.

Don valued talent. With Marian from a top-notch university and an old playmate, he was naturally willing to bring her on board.

Although Marian wasn't into finalized projects, she was eager to make her mark on new ones, so she was all set to compete.

When Patricia laid out the project's demands, Marian chimed in with a giggle, "Mrs. Crawley, lethave a crack at this project. |

promise you'll be chuffed."

Her voice was coquettish, almost whiny, leaving Patricia somewhat in a bind.

Don jumped in with a laugh, "Let's give Marian a shot. She's from a fancy college after all, she's got the chops."

It was just a small landscape design, and Don figured they didn't need Sophia for that.

Patricia, cornered by their persistence, managed a reluctant smile, "Alright then."

Looking at Marian, she said, "Marian, I'm counting on you."

"No prob, Mrs. Crawley, leave it to me," Marian assured, patting her chest confidently.

Back in her office, she hit the ground running.

Her desk was right next to Cindy's.

Cindy wasn't a fan of Marian's saccharine talk or how chummy she seemed with Don and the clients.

Seeing Marian snag a new project right off the bat left Cindy feeling sour.

Being straightforward and unable to keep things bottled up, she couldn't help but text Sophia on WhatsApp, [Hey boss, what's the

deal with the new girl Marian? Seems like whatever project she wants, Mr. Dempsey just hands it over, right?]

Sophia knew Marian was from a rich family.

But that wasn't something she could just tell her subordinate, so she simply reassured, [Maybe Mr. Dempsey sees everyone's busy,

doesn't want to overwork you all, so he's handing the new project to her. Don't overthink it.]

Cindy sent back a "silly grin" emoji and dropped the subject until lunchtwhen she messaged Sophia, [Tto grab some

grub?]

Sophia glanced at her phone, it was past noon, and replied, [Sure.]

Stretching as she stood up, she noticed Ivan still busy, seemingly unaware lunchthad rolled around. Thinking he was new and

unfamiliar with the company's routine, she called out to him, "Hey Ivan, wanna grab lunch?"

Ivan looked back in her direction.

Sophia gestured downstairs, "There's a staff cafeteria on the lower ground floor. You can just Whatto scan and pay. Everyone

usually eats there. Joining us?"

Ivan nodded, "Sounds good."

CEQ’s Office

After wrapping up his work, Kent glanced at the clock and couldn't resist looking over at Brandon, who was still busy in the office.

“Mr. Crawley, tto grab sgrub.”

Brandon lifted his head, gave the computer screen a quick look, then pushed back his keyboard and stood up. “Let's roll.”

He headed towards the elevator.

Kent sneakily took a peek at Brandon's profile - cool as a cucumber.

He'd been that calm all morning.

He didn’t go out of his way to mention that Sophia hadn't left, and Brandon wasn’t spacing out like he used to. He seemed to have

totally gotten over Sophia.

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