The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

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 cto 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 cback, 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.

As the elevator doors opened, he led Sophia and Theresa inside, pressing the button for the penthouse suite.

Theresa couldn't help but happily turn to Sophia and share, "Mommy, Daddy's office is on the very top floor, it's so beautiful." Sophia smiled back, "Is that so?" though her gaze had already shifted to Brandon.

Standing just behind and to the side of him, she could feel the tension in his hand at that particular moment.

From her angle, she could also see the slight tightness in Brandon's profile, a tension that synchronized with his grip on her hand.

The tighter the hand, the more taut the lines of his deep profile.

Sophia pursed her lips, feeling the grip on her hand, and tried to move it slightly.

Brandon snapped back to reality, turning to look at Sophia and realizing she was watching him.

As he met her eyes, she gave him a polite, restrained smile.

He returned it with a gentle, slightly apologetic one, the stiffness in his profile softening with his grin.

Sophia reciprocated with another polite smile, but asked no questions.

"Sorry, I was just pondering sstuff, got a bit distracted," Brandon said softly.

Sophia 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 even remember what I was thinking about." Brandon smiled too, his eyes still on her, "I know what I was thinking." The smile on Sophia's lips froze for a moment, a bit awkwardly, and she didn't press him on what it was.

But Brandon was already speaking again, "I was just thinking, since you're not used toholding your hand, maybe I should let go." He didn't want any doubts lingering between them.

His frankness caught Sophia slightly off guard, unsure how to respond.

She glanced at their still-interlocked hands, "Then..." Why not let go? "I don't want to," Brandon answered her unasked question, "We're too alike, you and I. Between us, someone has to take the initiative, to be a bit more assertive." His eyes were firmly on her as he said this.

Sophia had always struggled to withstand Brandon's gaze, especially when he looked at her with such deep focus and spoke so earnestly and slowly, she felt utterly defenseless.

Maybe it was because their understanding of each other was still at an early stage, and the future was unclear. She couldn't easily agree with him or, like other girls might, playfully tease or joke to smoothly transition out of the topic. Yet she couldn't outright deny what he said either.

Since they were husband and wife, and his actions didn't seem bad, in fact, they might even help nurture their relationship. She was a bit passive by nature, and if he was willing to take the lead, she could try to go along with it. It didn't seem too bad. So, caught in this indecision, Sophia could only offer a somewhat bewildered and ufortable smile, not continuing the conversation, yet not pulling her hand away either.

Her smile even harbored a faint blush of tacit approval.

Brandon just smiled back, not speaking further.

Susan's words about how easy it was to deceive the current Sophia were vividly demonstrated in this moment.

The elevator soon stopped at the penthouse.

As the doors slid open, Theresa was already eagerly peeking out, excitedly informing Sophia, "Mommy, we're here at Daddy's office." She remembered this was her first tvisiting Daddy's office with Mommy.

To her recollection, her mommy had never been to Daddy'spany before.

Chapter 664 2 Mom would always be off to her own office, getting down to business.

Chapter 664 3 Sadly, that wish never ctrue.

But now, her mom's finally on board to visit Dad's office with her, and Theresa's over the moon about it.