The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 177

Sophia played it cool, pretending not to catch the hint of sarcasm in his tone, and kept mum.

"Sorry."

Peeping her silence, Brandon murmured an apology, his voice soft.

He didn't mean to piss Sophia off, but her deliberate aloofness and calm somehow managed to poke at the beast inside him, stirring up a hidden rage.

Sophia cracked a small smile, not really sweating his snark from before.

The place was buzzing, and Marian couldn't quite make out their convo, but she wasn't one for sitting on the sidelines feeling out of the loop.

Grabbing some skewers that someone had passed over, she handed one to Sophia. "Have a kebab."

Then she tossed one over to Brandon. "Hey, grab a skewer, will ya?"

That kind of upfront vibe wasn't something Sophia ever brought to the table with Brandon.

Even back in high school, when she could let her hair down around him, the most she could muster was to sidle up to him with a skewer, cheeks puffed, asking shyly, "Want a kebab? There's some left."

No way she could match Marian's no-frills straightforwardness.

Sophia even had this sneaking suspicion that someone as straight-shooting as Marian was more Brandon's type.

The childhood sweetheart thing, the matching family backgrounds,—it all seemed like a match made in heaven.

No wonder both families were going nuts trying to play Cupid.

a bit towards the fire, ducking down so as not to

look, and the calm in his eyes

"Thanks, but no thanks."

off Marian's offer with a quiet thanks,

quipped, "You're

down on her skewer, not caring if it

stared into the bonfire,

steal a glance at

wasn't looking her way, just kept

despite ribbing Brandon for being dull, still grabbed a drink someone handed her and called out to him.

it, the bottle sailed towards

catch the bottle one-handed as it flew past, tossing

help but look over at

at him. "If he's giving it to you, just drink

left it at that, and

notice, her gaze shifting from the

into the background, clearing the space for Marian

and couldn't help but wonder if Brandon

kept his poker face, eyes locked on the

buzzed

Don's eye, and

to Sophia's phone, pausing at the

offered them an apologetic smile. "I gotta

this time, it was for