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 workce, airing their dirtyundry 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 herpany – 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 thepany’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 ssmates, 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
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, using her of not giving a damn about them, off who knows where living the high life.
Theirnguage 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 theck of progress.
So she’s just dicappeared off the face of the earth, huh?”
Brandoria tone and expression were calm on the video call, but Kerit broke out in a cold sweat,
rectly to just going to take some time, Kent cautiously replied, But her manda say that maybe
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
he hint but didn’t dare to make another peep, sneaking a nce 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
Brandon had actually jetted off to Wye City.
be sure if
“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 mmed up. “Got it.”
Brandon nced at him and abruptly ended the video call, then looked at the resume on his desk and
picked it
1. up.
It was Sophia’s resume, which he’d had someone investigate. It showed her excellent grades over the
past two years, graduating with honors.
But there wasn’t any work or internship experience listed.
It had a home address which might be outdated or intentionally false; when Brandon checked, she
wasn’t living there.
The phone number was disconnected too
She had vanished from everyone’s life right after high school graduation, just as cleanly and without a
backward nce.
She hadn’t shown up for the graduation ceremony, nor had she been present for the subsequent
farewells.
Just like the year she finished her test.
Brandon exhaled softly, set down the resume, and stood up.
He stood before the window, gazing at the faintly lit cityscape outside.
Somewhere in this city, there might be a light on for Sophia, or maybe not.
She could be here, or she might have left long ago.
Maybe, just like she said, as long as she didn’t return, their paths will never cross again.
Not crossing paths again.
Brandon’s gaze shifted from the dark of the night back to the resume on the table, stared at it for a
while, then tossed it aside, his expression returning to its usual icy calm.
He leaned over to grab his phone and called Don, forcing his focus back to work.
If they were never to meet again, then so be it. He and Sophia had already ended thingspletely
two years
ago.
He had been in town for a while now, and he couldn’t stay much longer.
Don was surprised to receive his call. “You’re in Wye City? Why did you suddenlye over?”
Brandon had arrived and left abruptly years ago: Don hadn’t even had the chance to catch up.
e got some business.” Brandon replied, just as sinct as before. “Are you at thepany? I need to
see
bout something
“Yeah, I’m here. Come on over Don leaned back in his chair, “I’d be hard–pressed to make time if you
wanted to meet up outside, but since you’reing to the office, it’s perfect. We can chat and grab a
bite together. I haven’t had dinner after work yet.”
Brandon nodded. “Im on my way.”
The hotel’s just a stone’s throw from Don’spany – a quick spin by car, maybe 15 minutes tops.
By the time Brandon rolled up to Don’s ce, some of the crew were still burning the midnight oil. He
made a beeline for Don’s office.
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
Don was in the middle of dishing out tasks to one of his team members, but when he caught sight of
the tall figure looming in the doorway, he shifted gears on the spot and said to his subordinate, “You
can take off now, just tweak the n like we chewed over before.”
Once the underling had left, Don stood up and beamed a grin at Brandon, “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Rare
Appearance himself! What brings you to my neck of the woods today?”
Brandon shot him a lock, “Obviously, I’m here on business.”
As his voice trailed off, the documents in his hand made a softnding on the desk, and he cut to the
chase, “Did Patricia and my dad hand over the traditional resort project to yourpany or what?”
‘Chapter 91