The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Renata's face, which had been lit up with child-like anticipation and joy, was suddenly replaced by a wave of disappointment.

"Oh." She responded, deflated, and her steps cto a halt, "My Yoli is still so busy, huh? | haven't seen her in quite a while."

Brandon's throat tightened even more.

Marian, however, acted like she had caught a lifeline, crying and struggling to rush towards Renata, calling out "Grandma,

Grandma" as she went.

Her sudden charge almost knocked Renata over, but thankfully, Brandon reached out to steady her.

Marian tried to break free, but to her dismay, she couldn't shake off his grip.

The rest of the Frost family quickly cover to check if the old lady was okay. Brandon didn't bother with the fuss anymore and

just shoved Marian into the car with force.

Don and Kent happened to arrive right at that moment, and as soon as they got out of their car, they saw Marian crying and

struggling and Brandon with a stone-cold face stuffing her into the car.

Both remembered Brandon's ferocity when he had been after Marian's life the other day. Not sure what was going on now, they

hurried over. Before they could even open their mouths, Brandon had already spotted them.

"Perfect timing, Kent, you drive! Don, you bring Martin."

After giving his orders, Brandon mercilessly pushed Marian's head back into the car and followed her in, pinning down the

struggling Marian with his palm.

Don and Kent exchanged a puzzled glance, instinctively looking towards Martin, who had already cdown and silently walked

towards Don's car, opened the door, and got in.

"Let's go," he said.

Don and Kent exchanged another look, not bothering to ask questions, and each opened the driver's side door and got into their

cars.

The vehicles sped off. More than ten minutes later, both cars stopped at the hospital Brandon had designated.

Brandon, expressionless, yanked Marian out of the car and dragged her to the blood draw station.

Marian really did have a phobia of blood.

She was already scared, and once she was pressed down at the blood draw station and saw the blood being drawn from Martin's

vein into the syringe, her face turned pale in an instant. She began to struggle frantically, "No, | don't want to get blood drawn. I'm

scared of blood."

She looked like she was about to pass out.

Martin had finished his blood draw, pressing a cotton swab to his arm while casting a glance at the nearly fainting Marian, a tinge

of pity crossing his face, "Maybe we should skip the blood draw, and just pluck a few hairs on the spot."

She had opted for a hair test last tas well because of her fainting at the sight of blood. But Brandon was unmoved, "No way,

she has to get it done!"

He firmly pressed Marian down into the blood draw chair.

Marian's lips started to turn white, and she looked like she was on the verge of passing out at any moment.

He looked at Brandon, concerned, "Don't let it cto a dead end. Marian doesn't look too good."

"The hospital's full of resuscitation measures; a bit of blood won't take her down."

Brandon's face didn't change as he pressed down on Marian's arm, holding it still until he saw the needle slide into her vein and

the blood slowly fill the tube. It wasn't until the doctor pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton swab to her arm that he finally

let go.

Marian slumped in the chair as if all her strength had left her, gasping for air with tears streaking down her face; it was unclear if it

was from the desperate struggle.

The pallor on her face had faded slightly. She stopped struggling, with only a dead silence left on her face.

Brandon turned to leave, and on his way out, he instructed Kent, "Take her back to the Frost family. Nobody leaves until the test

results are in."

Kent nodded, "Sure thing, Mr. Crawley." Then he looked at Marian, "Ms. Barlow."

Marian glanced at him but didn't say a word, steadying herself on the chair before she walked out.

Her steps were slow; she looked exhausted. Martin looked at her, and eventually went to her and asked, "You okay?"

Marian's eyes were still wet with tears. She didn't speak, and just gave Martin a look that seemed to be full of silent accusation, her

eyes welling up again, as if blaming him for not helping her earlier.

Martin looked away.

"If you can walk, let's head back," after saying that, he got into the car.

Marian had no choice but to follow. Having personally experienced Brandon's forcefulness, she knew she had no other option.

The Frost family hadn't gone to bed yet; they were all anxiously waiting until they saw the group return and quickly rushed to meet

them.

"What the heck is going on? What couldn't wait until tomorrow? Why rush to the hospital in the middle of the night?"

Louis, seeing Marian's defeated look and the tear streaks on her face, couldn't help but anxiously ask.

Brandon looked at him, "Paternity test."

Gerald and Rachel also couldn't help but exchange a glance, "Didn't we just do that last time? Why another paternity test?"

Brandon didn't explain, "Wait for the results."

The results would cout the next day. Brandon personally stayed at the Frost family's place, not allowing anyone to leave or

even touch their phones. This time, he wouldn't allow any mishaps with the test results.

The results finally arrived the next afternoon.

Because of Brandon's unprecedented toughness, the entire Frost family felt a certain unease and nervousness about this test

result.

The wait felt agonizingly long because of this unease and impatience. To ease the anxiety, Louis turned on the TV again to continue

following the news about Sophia's search and rescue.

Brandon stepped out to take a video call halfway through, reassuring Theresa, who couldn't find him.

When he returned to the living room, he glanced up at the TV and saw the news broadcast on Sophia's search progress, and his

gaze paused for a moment.

The news was just the sold stuff, no progress. They were still having experts yakking about where Sophia's body might have

sunk in the ocean and how tough it would be to fish her out.

The screen was plastered with "Sophia's body" this and "Sophia's body hard to recover" that, "Sophia's body might stay in the deep

blue sea forever" - all these headlines and talking heads, making Brandon's eyes sting. He turned to switch off the TV when Kent

bust in all huffing and puffing with a printout, "Mr. Crawley, the test results are in!"

Brandon froze and pivoted to look at him. Everyone else, as if on cue, stood up and craned their necks towards the report in Kent's

hands.

"What's the verdict?" Louis asked, almost out of breath as he rushed over to Kent.

Kent glanced at him, then spun the report around for everyone to see.

"No blood relation!" Kent announced.

Louis stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glued to the big red "NO BLOOD RELATION" stamp. Martin was also staring at those bold

letters, unable to move. Gerald and Rachel exchanged a look of astonishment.

Only Marian watched on, expressionless, as if this had nothing to do with her.

Louis was the first to snap out of it; he snatched the report, scanning it frantically, "What's going on? How cthey were sure

there was a blood relation last time?" As he was talking, his eyes darted to Brandon.

Brandon gave him a cool glance, "What do you think?"

His gaze moved past Louis' shoulder to Marian, who curled up on the couch, silent as a mouse.

Louis, following Brandon's eyes, got it in a flash, "Did you use Yoli's hair to fake it?"

Marian didn't nod or shake her head, and just pressed her lips, not saying a peep. But Louis was freaking out now, stumbling

towards her, "Where's Yoli?"

Martin also looked at Marian, face blank as a sheet.

Marian kept her head down, lips sealed tight, still not uttering a single word. Louis totally lost it and yelled at her, "Where the heck

is the real Yoli?"

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