NovelEnglish"Who's that?" Susan blurted out.
She never thought she'd see the day when Brandon would be humming and hawing over whether to delete a Whatmessage
or not. It just didn't seem like his style.
She figured only lovebirds caught up in romance had those kinds of dilemmas, but Brandon...
She couldn't help but sneak a peek at Brandon, then back at the Whathe was brooding over, though she couldn't make heads
or tails of it from the message itself.
Brandon had already pocketed his phone and turned to her, "Sorry for the hassle tonight."
Susan chuckled, "No sweat, I'm just babysitting Theresa for Sophia."
She'd been tiptoeing around mentioning Sophia in front of Brandon, knowing full well that it was a torture to him. Every time
someone dropped Sophia's naround him, it was like a stab in the chest.
But seeing Brandon's indecision over the WhatsApp, a tinge of difort had sprouted within her - feeling it wasn't fair to Sophia.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBack when Sophia and he were getting a divorce, he had cut ties so cleanly, so decisively. Now, she didn't have a clue who was on
the other end, but there he was, hesitating.
Susan figured whoever could make a guy waffle like that had to be a girl. Even though Sophia was gone and Brandon had every
right to start fresh, it felt too soon for Susan's liking.
What's more, Brandon had never shown this kind of hesitation with another woman, not even with Sophia. He hadn't hesitated for
a second when Sophia brought up divorce.
But now, all because of a Whatcontact, Brandon waffled. A wave of sympathy for Sophia surged, and Susan nearly choked up
at the mention of her name.
"Sorry, | lost my cool." Susan quickly apologized, but her straight-shooting nature added, "I can't recall you ever showing any
hesitation with Sophia. You always dealt with her matters so swiftly and decisively. If only you had shown a sliver of reluctance, her
life might not have ended with such regret."
Brandon pressed his lips, silent. He turned and pushed open the door to his study, stepping inside.
As the study door closed, Susan stood still, unmoved. She knew her words had hit a nerve with Brandon.
People were funny creatures; kept their feelings bottled up and they stewed in difort; let them out and they regretted
speaking out of turn.
Grace, who was nearby and had overheard their exchange, whispered to Susan, "Mr. Crawley's having a rough ttoo, plagued
with insomnia. Maybe ease up on the Sophia talk."
Susan pressed her lips, said nothing, and couldn't bring herself to apologize either.
"I should head back. Please take care of Theresa."
All her held-back words ended up just as a soft reminder. Grace nodded and saw her out.
In the study, Brandon tossed his phone on the desk and slumped into his office chair, hands clasped together against his forehead,
eyes shut tight.
His breathing grew tight, too, from the sudden clench of his heart, forcing him to gulp in deep breaths.
Susan's words had once again reminded him of his debt to Sophia. Her lack of blame, her quiet departure, and even her last effort
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmto reconcile with him through a letter before her accident, all her gentleness and tolerance magnified the pain of his debt.
This pain and regret grew like a venomous snake in his heart, a touch would make it spread wildly, suffocating him.
There was nothing more painful in the world than waking up too late with no chance to make amends.
In the hotel, Sophia looked at her phone, her face tinged with awkwardness. Brandon's message, "Kent will inform you when
there's an update," made her feel like she was imposing.
She thought that since he had added her on Whatand called her, maybe he appreciated her work and wanted to discuss it
further. Turned out she was reading too much into it.
That moment she saw Brandon's message, she felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head, extinguishing the
earlier eagerness and enthusiasm for her design work.
She cooled down suddenly, feeling that whether her design was accepted for the science museum or not wasn't so important after
all.
Her original intention was just for kicks, and getting President Poe's attention was already a huge honor and surprise.
As for the oue, it didn't seem all that important anymore. Sophia put down her phone and got up to pack her bags.
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