The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Two peeps agreed to meet up in the underground parking lot; then they both hit up Brandon's phone, but got ghosted with zero

pick-ups.

Kent and Don were worried sick. They had no choice but to comb through Brandon's Facebook, ringing up everyone to see if there

was any way to get a hold of him; they even buzzed Martin.

Martin was slammed with work at home, just chilling on the living room couch with his laptop perched on his thigh, fingers flying

over the keyboard. But he couldn't help pausing and then to glance at the TV that was on.

The tube was still spinning the news about the cash reward for tips on Sophia, plus all the pundits weighing in on where Sophia's

body might have been swept off to by the ocean.

Martin couldn’t focus on his work; he was feeling heavy-hearted, like something was weighing on him, and it was kinda sickening.

He wasn't tight with Sophia, but it was tough to picture that quiet, gentle, and talented girl leaving the world so suddenly. She was

just fine a few days ago.

Louis was tuned in too; he was the one who turned on the set. Ever since the day Sophia's incident hit the news, he'd been glued

to the coverage, heaving sighs all day long.

He was just like Martin, didn't know Sophia that well, but thought the world of her. Her sudden exit from this world hit him hard.

The snuffing out of such a young life so abruptly, he just couldn't wrap his head around it emotionally.

He was also fretting over how Renata would take it, hadn't had the guts to let her in on it, nor let her watch the news.

He'd coax her off to bed before daring to flick on the tube to sneak a peek at the latest search and rescue. But each the did, it

left him with a heavy heart.

Martin's folks were watching the news too. When the experts started saying that there was no hope for Sophia's survival and began

mapping out where her body might be carried off by the currents, pondering the odds of retrieval, Martin's mom, Rachel, let out a

sigh, "You never know what'll hit you first, tomorrow or an accident. | mean, such a young, kind-hearted pretty girl, how could she

just..."

She choked up, unable to go on.

"It's all fate." Martin's dad, Gerald, was more pragmatic, glancing at the TV, "There's this fortune-telling thing. Sfolks got a

light fate; can't handle too much good luck or fortune, so they have to offload it somehow. Marrying Brandon might be what those

fortune-tellers say, too much good fortune to bear, so."

Louis couldn't help but shoot him a look, "Sometimes, the old folks' objections ain't without reason. Such a shame, snuffed out so

young."

Rachel looked at both of them, not chiming in.

Marian just walked in; sensing a heavy vibe in the living room, couldn't help but ask, "What's up? What happened?"

Martin threw her a cold glance; didn't reply. Ever since the last plagiarism fiasco, he just couldn't warm up to Marian.

The others were a bit better. Rachel nodded her chin towards the TV, "We're watching the news about Sophia, such a young loss.

Heard she left behind a kid too; wonder what's gonna happen to the little one."

"Ain't there still the kid's dad?"

Marian blurted out without thinking, and after realizing it sounded too flippant, everyone turned to look at her.

She forced a smile, "The guy can't dwell in sorrow forever, right? Life's gotta move on."

Louis thought about it and nodded, "True that. Speaking of which, haven't seen Brandon in a while, no clue how he's holding up."

"Not great." Marian chimed in, "Probably can't cto terms with it just yet."

She leaned in to glance at the TV, seeing the experts pointing at the map discussing the possible location of Sophia's body, and

she couldn't help but freeze for a second; then stared transfixed at the screen.

Rachel couldn't help but tug at her, "Why you hunching over the TV like that? Wanna hurt your eyes?"

"It's nothing. Just feeling a bit down." Marian muttered, "I'll head to my room."

Louis nodded, "Go ahead."

Just as Marian was about to leave, Martin's phone started buzzing. Seeing it was a call from Don, Martin hit the speakerphone,

"Hello?"

"Martin, did Brandon swing by your place?" Don's anxious voice cthrough the phone, with the sound of wind in the

background.

Marian's steps screeched to a halt; she instinctively turned to look at Martin.

Martin frowned, "Why would he chere? You know what's up betweenand Brandon."

Before he could finish, the front door was suddenly shoved open from the outside. Martin instinctively turned to the door.

Brandon had been standing there since who knew when, his handsface dark and cold, expressionless.

Louis instinctively called out, "Brandon?"

Surprised, he called out to him and stood up. Hearing Louis' voice on the other end, Don frowned, "Brandon's there with you?"

"Yeah." Martin gave a short reply, "We'll talk later."

He hung up, stood up, and so did everyone else, puzzled, looking at Brandon.

Marian too looked puzzled. Then remembering how he had viciously tried to do her in that day, she couldn't help but take a fearful

step back.

"Brandon, what's going on?" Louis was the first to speak.

Brandon didn't say a word, just strode over to Marian and Martin, suddenly bent down, grabbed their arms, and hoisted them up.

"Cwith me!"

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