The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Brandon was also staring at her retreating figure, silent, waiting for her answer.

"I don't know."

Finally, after a long silence, Sophia spoke up softly.

She didn't turn around, just gazed at the closed door in front of her.

"Brandon, did you ever truly love me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Brandon seemed caught off guard by her sudden question and was momentarily stunned.

"Do you say you can't let go of me, but is it possible that what you call possessiveness is just a sense of property creeping in?"

Sophia's voice was still soft, "We were married, we've been intimate, so do you subconsciously seeas something you own?"

"I have loved before, so | know what it feels like to love someone. To truly love someone is to be willing to lay your pride in the

dust, unable to bear the thought of them feeling even a hint of sadness or difficulty." Sophia's voice paused for a moment, then

continued after a break, "You've been good to me, | know, and I'm touched. But this kindness comes with a price tag. If | accept

your kindness, my child and | will have to endlessly endure the disdain and contempt of your family, as well as the impurity in your

affections.

"I'm someone with a strong desire for emotional purity. | care about love, but I'm not desperate for it. Even if | love that man, no

matter how good he is to me, if I'm not the only one for him, I'd rather walk away. | won't settle for being anyone's plan B."

Sophia had thought she would lose control of her emotions and cry when she said these words, but she didn't.

Her heart was heavy, but her voice was dead calm, without a ripple.

Such dead silence in the middle of the night made even the night feel colder.

Brandon remained silent.

Her words had hit him hard.

He couldn't let go of her, her presence constantly threw his thoughts into disarray, he couldn't bear the thought of her with another

man.

All these things, he thought, were love.

But now, Sophia presented him with another possibility and had shown him with her actions what her love looked like.

Sophia didn't wait for his answer.

"I'm going to rest now." She said softly, then opened the door and went inside.

Brandon didn't go in.

He sat in the living room all night.

Sophia also stayed awake in her room until dawn.

In the morning, Brandon was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

Sophia didn't disturb him; she went to wash up first.

Brandon knew she had been there but didn't call out to her.

It wasn't until they were both sitting at the table for breakfast that Brandon finally spoke softly, "I thought about it all night, and |

don't know what love is. I've never loved anyone, never even pondered the question. | thought that after going through a divorce

and your continuous departures, still not being able to let you go meant | loved you. That day at the hospital, | heard everything

you said to my father. Your decisiveness and lack of hesitation madeangry; it seemed like no matter how hard | tried, | was just

disposable trash to you, and that hurts."

"I'm sorry."

Sophia apologized earnestly.

"You haven't clarified your apology," Brandon looked at her seriously, "Are you sorry because you didn't realize | would overhear

those things outside, or are you sorry because that's what you really think?"

Sophia looked down, unable to answer the question.

It was a bit of both.

Between an undisturbed life and Brandon, she chose the former.

Between not wanting to trouble Brandon and her own sadness, she still chose the former.

Brandon guessed as much from her silence. He was still unimportant to her, and probing further would only dissect a rawer truth.

That's what he had been reluctant to face these days.

So "let's sit down and talk" had lost its meaning for them.

"I've thought a lot these days too," Brandon's lips tightened slightly as he looked at her, "About whether to part ways, and what to

do with Theresa after separating, I've considered it all."

Sophia glanced at him.

"Honestly, | can't give you an answer right now. It's not just about the two of us anymore; it involves Theresa too," Brandon looked

at her calmly, "You've thought about this earlier than | have, and planned ahead. What do you intend to do?"

Sophia's lips pursed slightly. "My plan is simple, to take Theresa and move to another city."

"And if she wants to find her father?" Brandon asked, "Before, she didn't know she had a father, so she didn't crave that, but what

about now?"

Sophia held her spoon in silence for a while, then looked up at him. "I won't stop you from seeing her. If you're free, you can even

take her to stay with you for a while. When she needs both of us together, | can arrange the time."

Brandon's lips curled slightly, a faint sneer, brief and quickly suppressed.

He didn't speak again, just silently sipped his porridge.

As the bowl neared empty, he finally stopped moving but didn't look up.

"Sophia," he called her nsoftly, "About your second question last night, we've discussed it many times. Whether you believe it

or not, | need to reaffirm to you once again, | won't deny that initially | noticed you because of your resemblance to Yolanda, nor

will I deny that | reflexively seek out news about Yolanda when | hear it, but from the beginning to the end, you were never my

second choice."

After finishing, he looked up at her. "I know what I'm doing."

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