The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 81

Brandon didn’t respond. He lingered at the door for a moment, then strode away.

Sophia watched his retreating figure, sitting on the bed motionless, not even realizing when her fingers had hit the answer button on the phone until Susan’s voice, laced with concem, broke through, “Sophia? What’s up?”

Sophia snapped back to reality, peering at her phone screen through a blurry gaze, she saw Susan’s worried face.

“What’s wrong? Susan’s voice softened, tinged with caution.

Sophia shook her head slightly. “It’s nothing.”

Susan asked, “Did Brandon come over?”

Sophia nodded gently, “Yeah.”

“So, did you guys?” She hesitated, glancing at Sophia, wanting to ask if Brandon had managed to stop her, but seeing Sophia clad in the hospital gown with puffy eyes, the words got stuck in her throat. Instead, she shifted to a gentle reassurance, “It’s alright, there’s no hurdle we can’t get over”

Sophia managed a weak smile, “Yeah.”

deliver it himself. He paid for the delivery service and got a waiter to take it

Sophia’s HCG report was still vivid in his mind, the words “Clinical Diagnosis. Early Pregnancy that moved him so much at the moment they caught his eye. He had imagined countless times what their child might look like, whether like him or Sophia, or a mix of both. He had fantasized

spasms as his emotions rolled, filled with the scene of Sophia with tear–filled eyes begging him to let her go. The stomach cramps worsened, but then his thoughts drifted back to that summer years ago when she stood on the stage with her teacher and introduced herself in a calm and graceful manner, “Hi everyone, I’m Sophia,” her slightly naive face

he tutored her, the obedient and tranquil look in her eyes, which were so clearly the eyes of a young

the DNA report from his pocket, crisply tore it in two with a swift exchange of

the two halves into a ball, ready to throw it away, but then his hands paused mid–air, frozen. After a long silence, he withdrew his hands, pocketing

into the

away,

few bites before setting it aside, her appetite

she lay down and drifted into a shallow sleep.

eyes met silently, then

tucking her in, “Take a rest”

uttered a soft “Mhm, and closed her

a while, then

stepped out to take the call, and when he returned, the room was empty, the hospital gown and blanket neatly folded on the bed. Brandon chuckled and shook his head, not bothering to investigate where Sophia had gone, and went back

third day, Brandon didn’t seek out Sophia, just busied himself with work at the hotel, unable to

the fourth day, Brandon waited Sophia’s school,