The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

“So.” Sophia glanced at his fridge, “Got anything to eat in there? | can whip something up for you.”

“Fridge is bare.” Brandon said, “There's a grocery store downstairs. I'll go with you.”

Brandon had already bent over to pick up the keys from the table, “Let's roll.”

Sophia hesitated, looking at him, “Last t| was sick in the hospital, | just lived off takeout.”

So it was not like she was too precious to eat anything that wasn’t freshly made.

Brandon gave her a look, “You never said you were against takeout.”

Seeing that she wasn’t keen on going, Brandon didn’t push her.

“You hang tight here; I'll head down and buy sstuff,” he said and turned to leave.

Sophia saw that both of his hands were injured, and in the end, she couldn't bear to let him, an injured man, go shopping and carry

stuff.

“I should go; you just rest at home,” she said, following him and reaching for the keys in his hand.

Brandon didn’t hand them over, “Let's go together.”

He had already pushed the door open. Sophia had no choice but to follow.

The supermarket was just downstairs. It wasn't big, but being in a high-end neighborhood, the selection was fresh and plentiful.

“What do you feel like eating?”

Surveying the array of ingredients, Brandon turned to ask Sophia.

“Don't worry about me; what do you want to eat?” Sophia replied, “I have to head back soon, got a project to rush tonight.”

Brandon took a look at her, “Your boss is right here; no need to bust your gut.”

Sophia pressed her lips, “I don’t like to procrastinate.”

Brandon nodded, acknowledging that was indeed Sophia’s style. She always got things done today, never putting them off.

“What you been up to lately?” He asked, strolling through the seafood section with her, grabbing suitable ingredients and tossing

them into the cart.

“Just busy with a property design,” Sophia said, ambling along with him.

Brandon was pushing the cart, using his one good elbow.

Despite both hands being injured, he seemed not used to letting a woman exert herself, quickly taking over the cart-pushing as

soon as they hit the supermarket.

Hearing that she was still working on the property design, Brandon furrowed his brows and looked at her, “That city center

project?”

Sophia was surprised he knew about it and nodded, “Yeah.”

Brandon uttered, “Didn't Don tell you to back off? That project isn't really going to boost your career much.”

“He did mention it, but | was already halfway through; didn’t want to bail,” Sophia said softly.

Brandon glanced at her, “I remember Ivan is in charge of that project.”

“Yeah, I'm working on it with him.”

Sophia trailed off as she caught sight of the bandage on his left palm, recalling the glass he crushed yesterday, and her voice

faltered to a stop, not continuing the topic.

Brandon didn’t say anything either, and just focused his attention back on the groceries.

Sophia could feel the tension that had just eased between them starting to tighten up again. She shifted her gaze to the seafood

section they were passing by, pointing at a lively Northern snakehead, “Let's get one of these. | heard the soup is good for healing

wounds.”

Brandon turned to glance at her, “You've researched this?”

“| heard it from someone,” Sophia gave an awkward laugh.

Right after she had her baby, Grace made her the soup, claiming it was good for wound recovery.

Brandon nodded, not probing further, and asked the staff toone. The rest of the groceries were relatively simple, all easy-to-

cook, nutritious stuff.

When they got back, Sophia naturally took the groceries into the kitchen, turning back to Brandon, “You rest up. I'll be done in a

jiffy.”

But Brandon didn’t go to rest as told; instead, he followed her into the kitchen.

“Lethelp.”

As he spoke, his right hand already took out the snakehead from the bag and started rinsing it under the tap with one hand. With

his hands not being fully functional, Brandon could only help with the simpler tasks.

Sophia whipped up a simple meal of three dishes and a soup. Serving the last dish, she untied her apron and turned to Brandon.

“You start eating. I'll head back now.”

Brandon was dishing up rice, with two bowls filled already.

“Eat before you go.”

He said, sliding one bowl towards her; maybe he pushed too hard or because he couldn't bend his arm properly, Sophia saw him

slightly wince.

She recalled how he could only handle things stiffly while helping out, with just minor bends, unable to make large movements. His

arms weren't broken, but they were badly bruised from a hard fall on concrete.

Brandon didn’t look at her, after pushing the bowl towards her, he sat down at the table and picked up the tableware.

Sophia noticed him frown as he picked up sfood with his fork, and then he let go of the food and gently set the tableware

down on the table.

“| could feed you, if you want.”

In the end, Sophia hesitatingly offered, finding herself roped into a way of repaying her debt she couldn't have predicted.

The last tBrandon saved her, she had injured her right arm, and it was Brandon who fed her in the hospital.

Brandon glanced at her and nodded slightly, “That'd be great, thanks.”

Sophia let out an embarrassed laugh, “No problem.”

She took his tableware, picked up a piece of food, and hesitantly held it to his mouth.

Their proximity closed in due to the act of feeding, with warm breath mingling between them. Sophia's hand trembled as she held

the tableware, shaking more the closer she got to Brandon.

In contrast, Brandon was rather composed. He looked at her, “Letdo it.”

He then took the tableware from her hand, still experiencing pain when bending his elbow.

Sophia, seeing him frown again, tried to take back the tableware, “I should do it.”

Brandon stopped her, “You eat first.”

In the end, Sophia couldn't win against Brandon, but couldn’t bring herself to just leave either, and had to eat first.

After a short adjustment, Brandon managed to tolerate the discomfort in his elbow while eating, but it was still clumsy and slow.

Sophia kept thinking about pitching in to help him with the tableware, but every tBrandon would throw up his hand and stop

her.

Halfway through the meal, Sophia's phone buzzed. She glanced at it and saw it was a call from Ivan.

Brandon caught a glimpse of the n"Ivan" flashing on the screen and his eyes flickered as he looked at Sophia.

Sophia turned slightly to answer, "I'm at a friend's place, tied up at the moment. I'll hit you up later."

After she hung up, Brandon's eyes lingered on the phone resting on the table, silent for a bit before finally turning to Sophia and

asking, "So, what's the deal with you and him now?"

The subject was a bit awkward for Sophia. That day on the plane when Brandon had asked if she was with Ivan, she hadn't denied

it.

"Just, it's complicated," Sophia murmured, ducking her head a bit to avoid Brandon's intense gaze.

"What does 'complicated' mean?" Brandon pressed, his voice steady, "Are you two an item?"

It was the squestion from the plane ride.

Sophia pressed her lips slightly, and when she looked at him again, she shook her head, "No."

"Why did you lie tothat day?" Brandon asked.

Sophia's hand tightened around the tableware, clearly torn.

She wanted to bring up Theresa but couldn't quite make up her mind, her thoughts a mess, not knowing what to say.

Brandon had already put down his tableware and was watching her quietly. His composed look only added to the turmoil inside

Sophia.

She was getting ptd - pretty damn terrified of this calm version of Brandon. She'd seen him like this too many times.

She couldn't help but think that if she mentioned Theresa, his next words might be, "Let's get back together."

His sense of responsibility wouldn't let him just ignore Theresa. It was like four years ago, when he found out she was pregnant and

he proposed right away.

Back then, it was just a pregnancy, and he was ready to step up. Now, with Theresa right there in front of him, he wouldn't just

walk away.

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