The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 664

The moment Sophia's hand was grasped, her body stiffened involuntarily, her palm twitched slightly, unused to the contact and itching to pull away. But when she caught the look of delighted surprise in Theresa's eyes, she hesitated and stayed still.

It seemed like Theresa thought Brandon holding her hand was a rare and exciting treat. Even as she lay on Brandon's shoulder, she propped herself up on her little elbows, craning her neck like a curious meerkat, her round eyes glued to the sight of Brandon holding her hand, a look of amazement mixed with a healthy dose of nosiness.

Sophia thought back to this morning when Theresa heard Brandon say, "Daddy is kissing Mommy," and the sudden sparkle that filled her eyes, followed by her careful, almost fearful question, "So... does that mean my mommy and daddy are like... other mommies and daddies now?" Her moving hand gradually came to a rest.

The memory of Theresa's tear-streaked face, gasping for air in distress that day, kept replaying in Sophia's mind, and the guilt and sympathy she felt deep inside made it hard to let her down again.

She mustered a smile for Theresa, fighting the urge to pull her hand away, and let Brandon lead them toward the elevator.

Brandon hadn't missed her subtle shift.

He knew that everything she had yielded to him, both now and before the incident, was all for Theresa's sake.

Often, she was just suppressing her own true desires to make Theresa happy.

In the past, he might have thought this was just another way to keep her around.

As long as she stayed, it didn't matter to him why she did.

But after the scare of nearly losing her these past months, and having read that long letter she wrote and then deleted, Brandon realized he wanted her to be happy and content, to live as she truly wished.

As he held her hand, there was a fleeting moment when he thought of letting go, of not forcing her to stay. But it was just a fleeting thought before he tightened his grip once more.

He told himself that Sophia, without her past memories, couldn't fully represent her true feelings.

She was like a newborn baby, still reconstructing her understanding of their little trio's world, and he couldn't just go by her wishes at this time.

If one day, the old Sophia came back, and if she still wanted a life without him, then he'd respect her wishes, let her go, as she wanted.

His grip on her hand unconsciously tightened with his thoughts.

Sophia and Theresa inside, pressing the button for the penthouse

Sophia and share, "Mommy, Daddy's office is on the

though her gaze

could feel the tension in his hand at that particular

could also see the slight tightness in Brandon's profile, a tension that synchronized

the more taut the lines

on her hand, and tried to move it

back to reality, turning to look at Sophia

her eyes, she gave him a

a gentle, slightly apologetic one, the stiffness in his profile softening with

polite smile, but asked no

I was just pondering some stuff, got a

chuckled, "It's okay, I do that all the time, just drift off into thoughts. Sometimes when I snap out of it, I can't

too, his eyes still on

on Sophia's lips froze for a moment, a bit awkwardly, and she didn't press him on what it

just thinking, since you're not used to me holding your hand, maybe I should let

didn't want any

slightly off guard, unsure how

glanced at their still-interlocked hands,

Why not let go?

her unasked question, "We're too alike, you and I. Between us, someone has to take the initiative, to be a

were firmly on her as he

had always struggled to withstand Brandon's gaze, especially when he looked at her with such deep focus and spoke so

was because

other was still at an early stage, and

unclear. She couldn't easily

with him or,

or joke to smoothly transition out of

deny what he