The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 2

Brandon bee-lined home.

It was his first time ducking out of work to head back

His pad, spick and span, no longer had any traces of Sophia, except for that divorce agreement on the coffee table, all mussed up by the breeze.

Brandon reached for it

The agreement was straightforward. Sophia didn’t want a thing. What was hers before the marriage stayed hers after

Her signature was already on the dotted line

Her handwriting was gorgeous, all flowy and elegant.

Brandon zoned out staring at the signature on the divorce papers.

No clue how much time had passed when the rustling sound of the door opening snapped him back to reality

Brandon whipped his head toward the entrance.

Patricia had just stepped in, and his sudden glance startled her big time

“What’s up?” she asked, puzzled, clearly noticing the flicker of hope on Brandon’s face slowly fade into dead calm.

“Nothing much, he replied coolly. “What brings you here?”

“I was worried Sophia might be bored stiff at home alone, just dropped by to keep her company, Patricia said with a smile, moving towards him, “What’s with the sudden home run today? Something up with Sophia?”

As she spoke, her brows furrowed with concern, her head turning towards the room.

“She’s fine, Brandon said, looking at her, “Do you drop by often?”

“Not really, just now and then.”

Patricia’s face was painted with awkward embarrassment, and upon finishing her sentence, she saw Brandon’s brow furrow

She quickly changed the subject to the papers in Brandon’s hand “What’s that?”

Reaching to grab them, but before her fingertips could touch the documents, Brandon pressed them down first.

“It’s nothing. Brandon said, looking at Patricia, “No need for you to come over if there’s no issue. Sophia’s got her work. cut out for her. We’ll come visit you when we get the chance.”

“She, Patricia began, almost blurting out “What work could she possibly have?” but quickly bit her tongue, “Alright then.

She couldn’t help but remind Brandon, Sophia’s been recuperating for over a year and still no baby bump. I hope she hasn’t got some lingering issues. Have her get checked at the hospital when she can. I wouldn’t want troubles with having kids later.

Brandon said. “It’s the kid I didn’t want.”

Patricia looked at him, baffled

Brandon issued the boot. “You better head back, and don’t come around unless it’s necessary.”

Patricia’s mouth hung open, wanting to protest, but ultimately, she shut it under Brandon’s icy stare, and turned to leave.

Brandon watched the door close, glanced around the house now devoid of Suphia’s presence, heaved a long sigh, picked up his phone, and dialed his assistant Kent. “Kent, set up a meeting with the lawyer, gotta sort out this divorce

Huh? Kent was taken aback. Wasn’t it just yesterday he’d sent Sophia over? They didn’t seem to be at odds.

Brandon hall aiready hung up, tossing the divorce papers on the coffee table and stepping out the door

Sophia moved back to her smell suburban house.

Chapter

She’d bought it before getting hitched, just the right size for her solo living.

in this tiny place where she and Brandon had their one-night stand,

buddy Susan Cooper’s begging and tagged

thought Brandon, the guy who never showed up to

chats or reunions. They were like ships passing in the night, briefly crossing paths before vanishing into their

had vanished

Whenever Sophia casually prodded her high school friends, there

Brandon after all these years, Sophia was a mix of thrilled and nervous. The crush she never dared to voice was swirling in her chest, but she never found the courage to spill it, even talking to him

show, she hid behind eating

out of neighborly duty, volunteered to take

over shoes left by the door as soon as she entered. Brandon, quick on the uptake, caught her and in the inertia of the moment, she ended up in his arms. The lights were off, Brandon had had a few himself, and whether it was the booze or the night’s spell, when their gazes met, the chemistry was undeniable. Alone, tipsy, and with the man she’d

never even had a boyfriend, but that night, she got lost in Brandon’s

the gaze and the man she’d fantasized

they indulged to the

green as her

was impossible

Sophia understood why Brandon had been single a man wholly devoted to his work didn’t have the spare effort or time

upbringing also made him

the only slip-up in his

And for Sophia, too.

her life all mapped

had a decent amount of talent and skills. She was looking to get some advanced training and was already getting her ducks

saw it coming.

it safe that night, and because they let loose a little too much, they both overslept the next

to rush to, she didn’t have time to swing by the pharmacy for the morning-after pill. She was also kind of ng her fingers, hoping that she was in the clear since it was supposedly her safe period. But as fate would have

was pregnant, she was at sixes and

marriage, having the kid and all

planned on telling Brandon in the first place, but as luck would have it, she bumped into him at the hospital where he was visiting

bit red-faced and wanted to keep the test results under wraps,

the HCG report she was hiding behind her

“Let me see

simple, calm sentence, but it was laced with an aura that brooked no

Sophia handed over the

report for a bit, Brandon asked her, “What’s your

head, clueless. She hadn’t anticipated this baby, and its arrival had totally

us getting married and having the baby, Brandon said. “But the ball’s in your

“Getting married?”

thought Brandon was pulling her leg, but then she saw him nod

a couple of days

been sweet on Brandon for years, but she never imagined that one day he’d

she took two days to think it over and then told Brandon,

the third day, they picked up their marriage

absurd, yet somehow it all fell into

she and the kid

she expect her marriage to Brandon to

a whirlwind start and a

two years

house, Sophia felt an

night she almost tripped over a shoe and he caught her, the intense look in his

emotional turmoil in his

had thought

he, like her, had harbored feelings for

wasn’t the case. He was just a bit too tipsy,

ached with this

tiff between Brandon and his father in the

see you married before he passed. You didn’t want him to leave with regrets, so you rushed things with Sophia. It just so happened that she was pregnant with. your child, so I didn’t say much. It

reasons. Mind

leads to trouble, and look at you. Because of Yolanda Frost, you wouldn’t date anyone, and then you go to some damn reunion,

off his father Daniel Crawley, his tone icy. This is

to her defense I’m just asking, what if Yolanda comes back? Don’t

“She’s never coming back”

one of the rare moments she could detect a different emotion in

had heard the name Yolanda, and