The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 488

Daniel only thought of Marian halfway through his walk, so he turned back

apologetically and flashed her a grin, "I'm gonna pop over there for a sec; you dig in, okay?"

Marian managed a weak smile, "Sure."

Daniel, with his plate in hand, sat down across from Sophia as if he was worried she hadn't noticed his arrival. He even cleared his throat on purpose and started somewhat irritably, "Why are you eating alone?"

Sophia looked up in surprise, finding Daniel's behavior today totally off the wall.

She didn't respond, and just kept eating her meal in silence.

Daniel felt instantly miffed, "I'm talking to you, didn't you hear?"

Sophia had no choice but to look up, "What's up?"

Daniel was stumped.

He had no clue what he wanted, nor why he was even looking for Sophia.

It was his curiosity about all the odd stuff going on with Brandon that had led him on this impromptu mission to follow her.

Seeing that he didn't have a comeback, Sophia didn't waste her time with more chit-chat and went back to her meal.

Daniel had to say something, "So, what's the deal with you and Brandon now?"

Sophia couldn't tell if he was beating around the bush about why she hadn't taken off yet. She was totally in the dark.

She stopped eating and looked at him, "Spill it, no need to beat around the bush." Daniel was speechless.

He was just making conversation for the sake of it, really.

a puzzled look, "You don't have to tiptoe

save face, but his mind was a blank, and he was clueless about what to chat

bring himself to ask her

wanted her to go, but was scared that if she really did, Brandon might

he couldn't bring himself to ask her

would be like slapping his

Sophia, having dealt with him for so long, had never seen him so twisted

wasn't being pushy or acting all high and mighty,

Sophia decided to ignore him and continued with

racked his brain and finally landed on what he thought was a safe topic, "That girl, no matter what,

abruptly stopped, and

defensiveness rise in her eyes; she obviously

mean," Daniel tried to clarify, "no matter what, she's a Crawley, and should be recognized

need

him off sharply, and her

Gotta

was just throwing it out there; I'm not insisting the kid comes back or anything. It's up to you, really; don't read too much into

a look of bewilderment and

walked

of this. He could pretend not to care about her leaving, but he couldn't ignore what

whole exchange and reaction

attitude toward Sophia had changed. It wasn't love, but it was no longer the rejection like before; instead, it had a hint of awkward

Daniel had suddenly changed his tune, especially since

It was

she headed back

that afternoon, especially when she saw others

for

even though Sophia wasn't the showy type, her demure and gentle charm was exactly what the guys adored, making