The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 198

Brandon chuckled and shook his head, deftly changing the subject, "Do you plan on settling down in the West district for good?"

Zachary responded with a smile and a finger point, "There you go dodging the bullet again. Don't tell me you plan on staying a bachelor for life?"

Still smiling, Brandon simply shook his head and glanced at the chessboard with a game still in play. He picked up a black piece and placed it firmly on the board.

"Mr. Gardner, let me keep you company with a game of chess."

Clearly, he wasn't keen on dwelling on the topic.

Mr. Gardner shook his head with a smile, knowing it was best not to pry further and picked up a white chess piece, "Let's go for it. It's been a while since we've had a good spar."

Sophia also knocked off work early today, not really in the mood for her job, and bolted as soon as the clock struck quitting time.

Seeing her pack up, Ivan started to shut down his computer and got ready to leave too.

"Let's grab dinner together tonight," he suggested.

Sophia wasn't really feeling it. With a smile, she declined, "Some other time. I've got stuff to handle today."

Ivan just smiled back, "Sure thing." He didn't push it.

Sophia headed home alone, and couldn't tell if it was the sweltering heat making her sluggish, but she didn't feel like cooking and casually ordered some takeout online.

young face lit up with wonder as she stumbled over her words excitedly explaining what

with joy and excitement, but never fussed or clamored to see her mom, a well-behaved sight that was

help but think back to running into Brandon at the company park earlier that day,

feelings for nearly a decade. There was bound to be a sense of times gone by and a

are truly the best

Sophia wonder, did she make a mistake returning

definitely caught Sophia zoning

she asked, "You seem

you guys and then I can't help but wonder if

opportunity, and you might not have gotten another chance like it. And if you're feeling guilty about Theresa, you shouldn't. It's not like you're away

mom. When she grows up, she won't thank you for it. She'll just see her mom as someone who didn't do anything with her life, someone who can't give her

playful look, "Your mind's running

her might not guarantee you can provide her with a comfortable life. If you opt for the latter, naturally you'll have to cut back on quality time. Whenever you're working, something's bound to eat into your time, and you can't be with your kid every second of the day. So, no need to feel guilty about Theresa. You're just on a business trip, okay? This happens with any job you take unless you

"I get it; no need to worry about

but smile back, knowing Sophia was smart enough to figure

that. You've got more experience with this than I do." Susan said, steering the conversation elsewhere, "Speaking of which, have you visited your

in

been aware of this, as they hadn't been in touch much since their last get-together in Wye City

know?" Susan brought it up, realizing she hadn't mentioned it to Sophia, "He retired a couple of years ago and settled down in the West district. I

Sophia didn't know; she'd

him a visit soon,"

been convenient to visit when they were in different cities, but