Chapter 145
At the airport.
Sophia was hustling out of the jet bridge while whipping out her phone to power it up, striding towards
baggage im. Before she even reached the carousel, her phone, now booted up, was flooding with
notifications one after another.
ncing at her screen, she saw that it was mostly Susan, peppered with a barrage of missed call
alerts.
Texts morphed from [Have you reached West district yet?] to the more urgent [Why’s your phone still
off? Sophia, call me back ASAP when you see this.]
Sophia skimmed the messages and quickly video-called Susan back.
The moment the call connected, Susan looked like she was about to burst into tears. “Finally, you call
back. What took you so long? Did something happen to the flight? You had me scared to death.”
“It’s all good, just some weather dys,” Sophia reassured softly, “We got held up due to a local
thunderstorm at theyover, and the ne kept circling without clearance tond. It’s caused a bit of a
dy. I’m at West district now, so don’t fret.”
Susan sighed in relief, “As long as you’re safe. Remember to call me once you’re settled in, and watch
out for yourself.”
“Will do,” Sophia nodded, inquired about the kid for a bit, and then hung up.
After the call, Sophia checked the time on her phone – past ten in the morning. She paused for a
second.
The flight was hours behind schedule, and it was already past the nine o’clock work rush.
Sophia had no clue whether Brandon’s “by Friday” meant business hours or the opening ceremony.
If it was the former, she had essentially given up by now.
If it was thetter, making it on time was still touch and go.
Brandon was always a man of his word.
Letting go of the Zenithan-style project was something Sophia knew he would follow through on.
Suddenly, she wasn’t sure if there was any point in rushing over.
Her decision to return wasn’t solid to begin with. It was more Zachary’s plea, the suspicions from
overhearing Darcy and others’ conversation, and several other factors that had rushed her.
The conveyor belt started moving, and luggage began to appear one by one.
Sophia spotted her bag among the sea of suitcases.
She bent over to lift her luggage as it approached.
Pushing her suitcase out, she nced at the clock again – thirty minutes to spare. If she caught a cab
now, it would be a race against the clock to make it or not.
Her original n had enough buffer to get to the Starlight Group in time, but this flight just had to get
caught in a freak storm. dy.
Sophia suddenly wondered if this was some cosmic sign holding her back.
She decided to leave it up to fate.
If she made it, it meant she was destined to be part of this project and she’d give it her all.
If not, maybe it was destiny’s way of telling her it was time to cut her losses.
Stepping out to hail a cab, Sophia was surprisingly calm.
At the Starlight Group’s lobby.
The emcee was delivering a speech for the grand opening, and the celebratory mood peaked.
Brandon sat in the guest of honor seat with an expressionless face, sneak-peeks at his phone from
time to time, his demeanor cool and detached.
Don managed to keep a festive smile, though his eyes betrayed his anxiety.
Soon, it would be Brandon’s turn to speak, introducing the newpany’s leaders and design team,
including the head designer.
Although there was no rule saying the head designer couldn’t be reced, once announced, it would
mean Brandon’s definitive
08:40
drop of Sophia’s Zenithan-style resort design, leaving no room for negotiation.
He knew Brandon well.
Amidst this anxiety, Don also kept ncing at his phone, even reaching to call Sophia directly when
there were no updates. But as his fingertip touched the phone, Brandon pushed it away.
“No need,” he said, his voice faint, his face still expressionless.
“What if she ran into some trouble on the way?” Don whispered, “Got held up?”
“Does sheck a phone? Or inte?” Brandon’s tone remained t, not even looking at him, “If it was
something serious, wouldn’t she have called ahead?”
Don had noeback.
The emcee had finished the opening speech and turned the attention to Brandon. “Please wee,
with a round of apuse, the President of the Starlight Group, Mr. Crawley, to deliver his speech.”
Apuse filled the room.
Don frowned at Brandon, noticing a brief flicker of something on his face before he rose emotionlessly
and headed for the stage.
Brandon stood on stage,posed, speaking at an even pace, exuding stability.
His speech was sinct, first expressing gratitude to the guests, then briefly exining the reasons
behind Star Dempsey Architects’ inception and future aspirations, before segueing to introducing the
new leadership and design team.
First up was Don, with a quick verbal intro and a disy of his résumé and portfolio on the big screen
behind Brandon, eliciting awe and apuse from the audience.
Don went up to express his thanks amid the ps.
“Our design team isprised of equally young and talented designers,” Brandon continued in a calm
voice as the apuse subsided, “Next, I’d like to invite our head designer.”
Brandon’s voice suddenly halted.
The audience, puzzled, looked at him.
Don, standing right next to him, also turned his gaze to Brandon.
Brandon was facing the podium, looking at the embeddedputer screen, his eyelids slightly
drooping, his face calm, a chilling
sort of calm.
Out of sight from the audience, Don saw Brandon’s long finger reaching towards the multimedia
keyboard’s Enter key, pausing just above it.
Don turned to look at the slide frozen on the big screen behind them.
He knew that once that button was pressed, it would herald the arrival of the new head honcho of
design, a dude named Barret whose resume was still chilling on Brandon’s desk.
Brandon didn’t immediately go for it, though. He just stared nkly at the LCD screen embedded in his
desk, not making a move.
The crowd was getting restless, and the whispers started to grow louder.
Everyone was wondering what was up with Brandon.
Don couldn’t help but throw a worried nce at him and nudged, “Brandon?”
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Brandon looked up, his face still a nk te, and took a cold, sweeping nce at the audience below.
As his gaze icily swept from the entrance, Don caught a glimpse of resolve in his eyes and saw his long
finger poised over the Enter key, ready to m it down, but then it stopped abruptly, just shy of hitting
the key.
The crowd was puzzled once again, all eyes on Brandon.
Brandon scanned the room and announced, “Head of Design will remain open for now!”
Don looked at Brandon, taken aback.
Kent down in the audience was also shocked.
But Brandon had already coolly shifted his gaze. “Now, please wee the CEO of Star Dempsey
Architects, Don.”
His steady voice paused when he caught sight of a slender figure against the y of light and shadow
at the door.
Sophia stood outside, hesitating as she took in the room full of guests, and then slowly turned her gaze
towards Brandon on the
stage.
Brandon’s eyes had already cut through the crowd, locking onto her with an intense stare.