Brandon glanced at him and reached out to take the phone.
"Hello?"
All he got in response was the busy tone of "beep beep".
Brandon and Kent fell silent.
"Maybe Ms. Yearwood accidentally hit a button," Kent tried to cover for Sophia, "She just told me she was busy, sounded a bit out of breath, like she was rushing somewhere."
Brandon ignored him, simply tossing the phone back at him. "Don't mess around with unrelated stuff during meeting times."
Kent didn't say anything.
Brandon had already turned to Gavin, who looked puzzled, "Sorry for the sideshow, Mr. Evert."
Gavin, over sixty and like Brandon, was also a big shot in the construction world, only with a much longer track record. He admired yet was wary of Brandon, the recent rising star. Today's visit was mainly about seeking collaboration, so he brushed off Brandon's apology with a hearty wave, "No worries, Mr. Crawley, everyone has their emergencies."
Then he couldn't help but glance at Brandon, "Mr. Crawley, if you have urgent matters to attend to, please go ahead. No rush, I just came to have a casual chat anyway."
Brandon said, "It's fine."
His gaze fleetingly glanced at Kent's phone, yet his expression remained cool and detached.
Seeing through it all, Gavin suggested with a smile, "Mr. Crawley, how about we take a break? I didn't sleep well last night either, had a night of grief thanks to my ungrateful son, might as well take the chance to rest up a bit."
Kent jumped at the opportunity. "I'll have someone take you to relax. The restaurant downstairs has afternoon tea ready, why not head down for a bite to tide you over?"
"Sounds good," Gavin chuckled as he stood up, "I'm actually getting a bit peckish."
Kent signaled an assistant to come over and take Mr. Evert and his entourage for a tour, arranging for their afternoon tea.
The assistant quickly herded everyone out.
As the conference room door closed, Kent hesitantly looked at Brandon, who remained seated and motionless, and softly called out, "Mr. Crawley?"
"What did she tell you?" Brandon suddenly asked.
Though he didn't specify, Kent knew Brandon was asking about Sophia.
"Ms. Yearwood said she's returned the money you transferred to her brother back to your card yesterday. She wanted me to thank you on her behalf, and then she said." Kent watched Brandon's expression carefully, choosing his words, "Her family doesn't need the money right now, nor will they in the future. If her relatives come to you again, she said you should ignore them."
Brandon's brow furrowed slightly, he turned his head, pondering as he swept a glance at Kent.
Kent got the shivers. "Mr. Crawley."
Brandon tilted his head to him, "Since when did you and Ms. Yearwood get so chummy?"
Kent was speechless.
Brandon said, "Is there something she can't tell me directly, that she needs you to convey?"
Kent felt wronged.
How was he supposed to know what kind of tiff these two were in? It was something that could be resolved with a simple phone call, but instead, he had to be the go-between, not that he wanted to be the messenger.
But Kent dared not vent his inner complaints openly.
"Mr. Crawley, you've got it wrong. I don't have much contact with Ms. Yearwood. We're not that close," Kent explained cautiously, "Maybe Ms. Yearwood couldn't reach you and it was urgent, so she called my mobile to get to you. After all, everyone knows if they can't find you, they come to me, right?"
He finished and pointedly gestured toward Brandon's office, reminding him, "You forgot your phone when you went out just now."
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