The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate (Brandon and Sophia) novel Chapter 776

“Don’t you get it? It’s exactly what I said.” Patricia couldn’t help but curl her lips, her expression still cold and touched with a hint of contempt. “She’s your daughter, isn’t she? If she really came back and didn’t bother to contact you—do you honestly think that’s normal?”

She turned her gaze to Haley, who looked pale as a sheet. “Especially you. Wasn’t your daughter always the most devoted, the one who cared about you the most? If it really were her, how could she not come home to see you?”

Haley’s face drained of color, but he had no rebuttal. He knew Sophia’s character—she’d never turn her back on family, especially not him.

When he’d had his car accident, she’d flown across the ocean just to be by his side and take care of him. Now she was supposedly back in the West End, the same city, barely an hour’s drive away. If it was really her, why wouldn’t she reach out?

“Maybe…” Laura, standing off to the side, tried to grasp at straws. “Maybe she just hasn’t found the time?”

Patricia let out a short, derisive laugh. “Not enough time? For what? She doesn’t work, she doesn’t have a job, even the kid has a nanny looking after him. You really think she’s too busy to pick up the phone and call her parents? And it’s the holidays, for heaven’s sake! Maybe you could believe she’s busy on a regular day, but not even so much as a call on Christmas? She hasn’t even called, has she?”

Laura’s face went stiff, but she couldn’t argue with that.

Sophia truly hadn’t called home. In the past, even if she couldn’t make it back for Christmas, she’d always call her dad to wish him well, check on his health, send him care packages. Even after she’d been thrown out for returning the house money Brandon had compensated to her family—told never to come home again—Sophia had still called now and then to ask about her father. When he’d had his accident, she’d dropped everything and flown home.

Now, with something this big happening, she had to know her father would be worried, and yet there wasn’t a word from her. It made no sense.

But Aaron latched onto something else Patricia had said. “So, you’re saying there really is a woman with my sister’s face showing up around my—uh, around Brandon?”

“What do you mean, ‘your brother-in-law’? They’ve been divorced for ages.” Patricia frowned, correcting him.

Aaron ignored the correction, pressing, “Just tell me, is it true? Has someone who looks exactly like my sister been seen with him?”

“Yes.” Patricia nodded crisply. “But she’s not your daughter. I’ve seen her myself.”

Her certainty made Aaron and Laura exchange uneasy glances. The hope they’d felt earlier had now twisted into dread.

They didn’t doubt for a second that Brandon could find a woman with a similar look—stranger things had happened. With his wealth and connections, it wasn’t impossible.

Only Haley, eyes rimmed red, looked at Patricia desperately. “Whether it’s her or not, I want to see her.”

Patricia didn’t object, but glanced toward the Crawley family’s front door, frowning. “Isn’t anyone home?”

“We’ve been ringing the bell, but no one’s answered,” Aaron replied.

Patricia’s frown deepened, but instead of calling Brandon directly, she dialed Yvonne, who had first told her about all this.

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