The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 216

The girl barely reached up to Brandon's shoulders, looking up at him with an expression that was a mix of feeling wronged and pitifully adorable. But the slight bite on her lower lip and the tears whirling in her youthful, vibrant eyes couldn't hide her spunk and vitality.

Clearly, she was a lively, gutsy beauty who had no qualms about chasing love.

Sophia suddenly found herself green with envy over the girl's fearless audacity. She had dreamed of such scenes countless times in her youth but never had the guts to act on them.

Back then, Sophia was acutely aware of the gulf between her and Brandon. He was the golden boy, and she, just a nondescript transfer student. The stark reality of their differences kept her from uttering even a word of her affection for him.

She clung to the warmth he brought her, afraid that if she punctured that delicate bubble, Brandon might recoil, leaving her without even that last bit of comfort. So, she tiptoed around her feelings, too scared to let Brandon catch even a hint.

When Brandon started to pull away, it broke her heart for the longest time. She even spent ages reflecting if she had accidentally let her feelings slip, causing him to keep his distance.

She was racked with guilt over such thoughts. He didn't seek her out, and she dared even less to disturb him.

So, after the tests, she chose to completely leave the class she had joined halfway through.

Even if she could turn back time to the year she met Brandon, Sophia knew she still wouldn't have the guts to pursue love as fiercely and boldly as the girl before her.

She was different from the girl in front of her. For the girl, Brandon might just be a passing fancy, her crush perhaps just a result of his good looks or a fleeting moment that made her heart race. If she managed to win him over, she'd hit the jackpot, but if not, she wouldn't lose anything.

But for Sophia, it was different.

Her feelings for Brandon had grown from spending days together, a slow-burning affection kindled by every little bit of warmth he offered.

Her fondness was a tapestry woven from over two hundred days and nights spent together, each moment precious to her.

well as the friendship they shared. Winning the gamble meant everything, but losing meant losing the

she couldn't gamble, the stakes were

as she saw Brandon frowning, eyes reddened and teary, she

okay if you don't feel the same right

sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd - some

a graduate from a prestigious school, decisive in action, and the big boss of

few girls at the company secretly crushing on him, but most were sober enough

had ever dared to stop him in public to confess their feelings - until

were filled with a mix of emotions, their eyes inevitably drawn to Brandon as he stood there, his handsome face expressionless, unflinching in

but as he looked up, he caught sight of Sophia, who had been pushed

in a daze. In her eyes, Brandon saw envy and a thick, almost tangible nostalgia. It was a deep longing and envy that made

birthday that winter night, she sat alone at the deserted bus stop, lost in thought. When she looked up and saw him standing before her, her

red, but she was fighting back tears, her gaze filled

Brandon saw the tears swirling in her eyes, the only difference being that those eyes no longer held the sheer

no bitterness, just envy,

head away, trying not to care, but his mind was filled with the memory of that night on her seventeenth birthday, the surprised delight in her eyes when she looked up at him, and just now, the daze and envy in her gaze. This envy even contained a faint sense

pain flickered through his

still lost in thought, looking at Tia, although the nostalgia in her

toward her. As

stopped in front of Sophia. When the shadow loomed over her, Sophia instinctively looked

"Have you eaten?"

- a stark

Sophia, still caught