Chapter 7


    Brandon was in the middle of a meeting with his phone lying next to him. When he heard the ping of a


    notification, he nced over and caught a glimpse of a text from Patricia, pausing for a beat.


    Kent, who was presenting at the time, was pretty sharp at reading the room. He paused mid-sentence,


    his eyes couldn’t help but sneak a peek at Brandon’s phone, only catching the name “Sophia” before


    Brandon smoothly flipped the phone face down on the table and looked up at him.


    Kent got the jitters, thinking Brandon was about to chew him out, but all he got was a cool, detached


    nce, “Carry on!”


    Kent hesitated, then nodded and tried to wrap up the design presentation, but as soon as he finished,


    Brandon’s face scrunched up in displeasure.


    “Who greenlit this trashy proposal?” he asked, his voice was calm but it cranked up the tension in the


    already tight meeting room to eleven.


    Kent was caught like a deer in headlights, ncing at Brandon and biting back his words.


    Brandon’s gaze swept over the others in the room.


    One by one, they all bowed their heads, feigning deep thought, scared stiff of locking eyes with


    Brandon and getting called out.


    “Nobody has an answer? Brandon probed.


    Silence Everyone mmed up.


    Help-me looks were sneakily cast towards Kent.


    Kent, Brandon’s right-hand man and thepany’s VP, was always the one to take the heat, especially


    lately.


    Even the slowest folks had picked up on Brandon’s off vibes. He wasn’t snappy or nitpicky, just


    inexplicably brought a chill to the room, with aser focus on work that could freeze them.


    And the kicker? He seemed to be on another half the time, like he was hit with a bout of


    amnesia.


    With all eyes on him, Kent felt the heat. He could normally handle the blowback, but this time, could he


    really?


    Kent tried to make himself small, hoping to slide under Brandon’s radar, but no dice. Brandon’s gaze


    followed the crowd’s andnded on him.


    “Since everyone’s looking at you, why don’t you speak for the team, Kent? Brandon said, ncing at


    the Ephemoran architecture design on the big screen behind him, Who greenlit this trash?”


    Kent was speechless.


    Man, they were all throwing him under the bus


    Brandon’s gaze held on Kent. “Kent?”


    Kent, taking a deep breath, looked back at Brandon I, I don’t know.”


    He just didn’t have the guts to spill it.


    Brandon nced at him, then back at the others.


    Everyone kept their heads down, pretending to be deep in thought.


    Mr. Darcy, what’s your thoughts? Brandon called out randomly.


    Mr. Darcy, scared out of his wits, nced at Kent and lobbed the question back at him. “Kent’s in


    charge of this project Brandon’s eyes shifted back to Kent “Kent.”


    Kent looked at his colleagues who were all busy pretending to take notes, then hesitantly met


    Brandon’s eyes, on the verge of speaking.


    Spit it on Brandon urged.


    Kent bit the bullet. “Mr. Crawley, It was you who approved the proposal


    “Andst night,” he added, barely above a whisper.


    The room went dead silent


    Kent sneaked a look at Brandon and caught a rare glimpse of bewilderment on that handsome face.


    Brandon turned to look at the design on the screen behind him.


    Kent, watching him closely, ventured. “Mr. Crawley, you’ve seemed a bit off these past few days.


    Everything alright?”


    “I’m fine,” Brandon’s expression was back to neutral, “Sorry, my oversight. Redo the design proposal.


    Meeting adjourned.


    With that, Brandon grabbed his phone from the table and headed out.


    When the meeting room door closed, the tension evaporated.


    The others gave Kent a thumbs-up


    “Warrior.”


    Kent counted them on his fingers. After all the times I’ve had your backs, you just toss me to the wolves


    when it counts. Not a single one of you has a heart.”


    “We only have you who can handle Mr. Crawley’s firepower.”


    “Kent, you’ve worked hard. We’ll treat you to dinner sometime.”


    They all chuckled and responded, easing back intofort, but still puzzled “Is something up with Mr.


    Crawley? He’s been off


    “Right, right, I noticed that too. He’s been zoning out.”


    “I feel the same. He’s never been like this. Did something happen at home?”


    The gossip-hungry gazes once again unanimously shifted to Kent.


    “It’s nothing. What could be up with Mr. Crawley? Kent smoothly diverted the topic, “With his passion


    for work, it’s


    normal for him to have off days and zone out once in a while.”


    After wrapping up the meeting and bantering with the team, Kent retreated to his office


    His office was right outside Brandon’s, shared with a few other assistants. They were all casually


    discussing work until Brandon walked by, prompting everyone to straighten up, sit stiffly, and not make


    a peep, but they rxed as soon as Kent came in, each covertly exhaling in relief.


    Kent chuckled and yfully tapped a few heads with the documents in his hand.


    Everyone was a bit afraid of Brandon, Kent knew, including himself.


    Not that Brandon had a bad temper. On the contrary, he was known for keeping his cool. He was a


    workaholic but didn’t expect the same from his employees. He was considerate, offered better


    compensation thanpetitors, and never lost it with his staff. He was a top-notch bass, but his


    presence alone, serious and no-nonsense, meant no one dared to cut loose around him.


    That’s the aura of authority, Kent thought, his eyes drifting through the office space to Brandon.


    Brandon had flopped into his office chair, tossing his phone onto the desk corner, clearly in a foul


    mood.


    Kent figured it had something to do with that “Sophia” he had identally glimpsed on Brandon’s


    phone.


    He’s only bumped into Sophia a few times, but man, she left a good impression on him. She was easy


    on the eyes, with sweet and innocent vibe, all quiet and no-fuss. She talked in this soft, slow voice that


    was just soothing to the ears no rush, no drama queen antics. She was polite and courteous with


    everyone, not pulling any of that high and mighty actake Patricia, who strutted around like she owned


    the ce.


    Thewyer handing mandori’s divorce was hooked up by him, so yeah, he was clued in about the split


    between Sophia and anton


    11 42


    But as to why they’re calling it quits, that’s still a mystery to him.


    Kent’s only sure about one thing. Lately, Brandon’s been off his game, and it got way worse after Kent


    broke the news that Sophia was putting their house on the market. Suddenly, Brandon’s forgetting stuff


    he’s signed off on, like proposals that have passed muster.


    Kent was not just Brandon’s employee. They’re pretty tight off the clock too. But when it came to


    Brandon’s love life, Kent was in the dark and Brandon’s lips were sealed.


    He was not tight with Sophia, but from what he’s seen, they seemed solid enough. They weren’t all


    over each other like some lovey-dovey newlyweds, but they weren’t at each other’s throats either,


    definitely not at the ‘bitter enemies’ stage of needing a divorce.


    Kent still remembered the day Sophia dropped by the office and Brandon had him escort her to the


    bookstore. They looked just fine, no signs of trouble.


    But then, out of the blue, this couple that seemed to have zero issues and were a perfect match were


    hitting him up to


    help sort out their divorce the very next day.


    Back in the room, after a moment of silence, Brandon’s gaze shifted back to his phone tossed aside in


    the corner. He hesitated, then picked it up, checked out the WhatsApp message from Patricia, and


    opened the photo she sent a shot. of Sophia lost in thought at the bar and Ivan, who’s equally


    captivated by her.


    Brandon froze for a sec, eyeing the two in the photo.


    The portrait mode under the dim light captured every look, every detail, spot on.


    Being a guy, Brandon got what that enamored stare Ivan’s giving Sophia meant. It was not just being


    struck by her beauty or a fleeting interest. It was deep, thick, sticky love.


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    Brandon didn’t know who this Ivan dude was. He had never met him, and he had never seen him in


    any of Sophia’s photos.


    Sophia’s phone,


    Brandon’s fingers paused on his own phone as he suddenly remembered-he had never even scrolled


    through Sophia’s phone


    Kent couldn’t make out what’s on Brandon’s phone screen, but he noticed Brandon’s eyes growing


    colder by the second, frosty enough to shatter ice, his handsome face almost expressionless yet eerily


    calm, like the sea before a storm.


    Just when Kent thought Brandon was about to stir up some trouble, he saw him dismiss the photo and


    text back. [That guy’s on me. Don’t worry your head about it.]


    Then he killed the phone screen, chucked it aside again, and hollered, “Kent!”


    “Right here, Kent hustled over, all professional-like, “Mr. Crawley, what can I do for you?”


    Brandon looked up. “What time’s my meeting with Mr. Evert? Has he arrived?”


    Kent nodded like a bobblehead, “In ten minutes, and yeah, he’s already in the conference room.”


    “Good, Brandon nodded, grabbed the meeting docs off the desk, and stood up, “Come with me.”


    Kent nodded, “Sure thing.”


    But he couldn’t help but sneak another nce at the abandoned phone and cautiously reminded him,


    “Mr. Crawley, if there’s an emergency, I can handle it for you.”


    “No need” Brandon cut him off with a cool tone and was already out the door.


    Kent hesitated, looked at the lonely phone, and had no choice but to follow suit.