The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 272

Susan chuckled and gave her shoulder a pat, "Chill out, don't overthink it. Trust that everything happens for a reason."

Sophia cracked a smile and nodded gently, "Yeah."

She carried Theresa back upstairs, tucked her in, took a shower, and then hit the sack.

When lights out came, Sophia habitually glanced at her phone and noticed a message from Brandon.

Puzzled, she picked it up.

His message was short and sweet. [Got home.]

Sophia stared at that message, kinda lost in thought.

Back when she and Brandon weren't divorced, their exchanges were pretty much limited to this sorta stuff.

[Working late, hit the hay without me.]

[Got a client dinner, don't wait up.]

And it would always end with her replying, [Okay.]

Seeing a message like that now, Sophia still felt a twinge of that old resistance.

But she replied anyway with one word. [Okay.]

She was about to set the phone down when it buzzed again with a new message. [Still up?] It was Brandon again.

That kind of small talk was something he would never have wasted time on in the past.

Their interactions were all about keeping each other posted.

Sophia's gaze lingered on the phone, slightly torn, but she eventually responded. [About to sleep.]

She thought about texting back, [How come you're not asleep yet?] After typing it out, Sophia deleted the message, not really wanting to drag out the conversation.

In the past, she tried following up with messages, cautiously asking things like, [Working late again?] But she'd just get his cool, reasoned explanations in return, making her queries seem a bit childish by comparison.

Back then, she was still head over heels for Brandon, easily fretting over every little thing. A simple inquiry could make her anxious, afraid of coming off as too inconsiderate, worried that it might turn him off. So eventually, she stopped asking.

Now, there wasn't that same sense of anxiety, just a feeling that there was no need to prolong the discussion.

She muted her phone and put it down without giving it another thought.

That night she didn't sleep well - her dreams were full of the polite distance of those two years of marriage and Daniel and Patricia's sharp tongues.

In the wee hours, she woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, startling Theresa, who was sleeping next to her.

Theresa peered at her with bleary eyes, uncertain, "Mommy?"

Sophia held her tight and whispered soothingly, "It's okay."

Theresa quickly fell back asleep with her mom's reassurance.

But Sophia couldn't catch any more Z's.

It had been almost two years since she last had a nightmare, especially one about that marriage.

just before dawn and was rudely

alarm and decided to snooze for a bit,

bolted upright, skipped breakfast, rushed through her morning routine, threw on some clothes, grabbed her phone and bag, and dashed out the door, making sure to hail a cab. Standing at the entrance of her complex, waiting for the ride that hadn't arrived yet, she was about to make a call when a

over and caught sight of Brandon's car parked

She was taken aback.

already stepped out of the car and was looking at her,

at him, "What are

by," he said, already opening the passenger door, "Get

hesitated, eyeing

cleanly. You said before, let's be friends, so let's be friends," he continued, "Giving friends a lift is the most normal

know what

want to force you. Or we can just stand here and wait, I'm fine with

Sophia looked at him.

calm, but there was an

her lips and finally gave

the passenger

she buckled up and the car pulled away, a warm

to

His voice was steady.

him; he was focused

the assertiveness from moments ago had

"Thanks."

her thanks

glanced at her tired

shook her head slightly, "No,

in acknowledgment and

anything more, just opened

skipped breakfast, she

finally had a

saw Brandon's reply from the night

[Okay, sleep early.]

pick you up in the

message, she felt a

and went to bed after

it."

at her

and nodded, "Yeah,

but look at him again, hesitated, but finally asked,

Brandon said, "Just got

window, catching sight of a breakfast spot near a mall, and

head slightly, "No need, there's

showed him the bag, "I

in her hand, nodded, and didn't press the

glass of milk, and a sandwich

breakfast was mostly taken care of by Sophia. Nothing fancy, but it was tasty

office on my own. No need

such a short distance," Sophia softly said as she closed the lunch bag.

a waste of your

at her, not a yes, not

talk about it tomorrow," he said

Sophia nodded gently. "Mhm."

the