The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"Sorry, let's rain check, not a great tforright now.”

Brandon apologetically turned her down.

Sophia figured he must be trying to clear his schedule to hang out with her and Theresa. She wasn't used to this kind of attention

and was worried about holding up Brandon's work. After flashing an apologetic smile at Mrs. Bishop, she had already pivoted

towards Brandon and whispered, “You get on with your work. Theresa and | will just wander around for a bit.”

“No worries.”

Brandon gave her a reassuring smile, just about to apologize to Mrs. Bishop when Sophia quietly tugged at his sleeve and

murmured, “You're gonna givea guilt trip doing this. Can you please focus on your work? I'd actually like to explore around with

Theresa.”

Brandon looked at her.

Sophia had that pleading look in her eyes. She genuinely wasn't used to him putting work aside for her. In her mind, they weren't

at the stage where she warranted him ditching work, and honestly, she felt pressured being glued to Brandon all the time.

Reading the trouble in her eyes, Brandon stayed silent for a moment, then nodded and looked up to the girl called "Lynn" and

instructed, “Lynn, could you keep Sophia and Theresapany for a bit?”

The n“Sophia” made Lynn's heart skip a beat - a whole billion-dollar shockwave.

Sophia, mistaking Lynn's reaction for distress and mindful of her workmitments, quickly interjected, “No need, Theresa and

lL."

“Sophia, | can't let you out of my sight.”

Brandon cut her off with a tenderness that was tinged with firmness.

Sophia remembered the instant he had caught sight of her on the boat, his suddenly clenched hand, and the tempest that had

swirled in his eyes. Her heart softened, and she nodded gently, “Alright, Theresa and | will stick with Lynn for now. You do your

thing.”

After a pause, she added, “We'll wait for you. No need to rush.”

Warmth flickered in Brandon's eyes.

“Okay.”

His voice was low and slightly hoarse.

Mrs. Bishop, standing by,mented with a smile, “Mr. Crawley and Mrs. Crawley seem to be quite the loving couple.”

Brandon just smiled and didn't respond, his attention already back on Sophia. He said softly, “Just hang around the office with

Theresa and Lynn until I'm done, and I'lle find you.”

Sophia nodded, “Sure thing.”

“Just stay in the office, don't wander off too far.”

Brandon gave another concerned reminder.

Sophia nodded gently again, “Mhm.”

Brandon also smiled and tenderly stroked her hair, “Off you go.”

Lynn, watching all this, was secretly astonished. She had never expected the usually aloof and distant Brandon to have such a

gentle side.

Brandon then turned to her, “Please look after Theresa and Sophia.”

Lynn hardly got to interact with Brandon at work; usually, she only dealt with Kent.

Brandon's polite request left her flustered, and she quickly assured, “No trouble at all, it's what | should do.”

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

Then she hurriedly turned to Sophia and Theresa to call them over.

After exchanging polite goodbyes with Mrs. Bishop, Sophia and Theresa followed Lynn out.

Lynn wasn’t sure where to take Sophia and Theresa and didn’t dare assume, so as soon as they stepped out of the lounge, she

turned to Sophia and politely asked, “First Lady CEO, got any places in mind you'd like to check out?”

Sophia found the title “First Lady CEO” super awkward.

“Just callSophia, that’s fine.”

She couldn't help but gently correct Lynn.

Where would Lynn get the guts to call her Sophia directly? “How about | call you Mrs. Crawley?”

“Maybe just go with Ms. Yearwood.”

Sophiapromised, not quite used to the “Mrs. Crawley” moniker either.

“This...”

Lynn hesitated, not out of reluctance but fearing Brandon's reaction and possibly jeopardizing her job.

“It's okay. Mr. Crawley won't sweat the small stuff.”

Sophia seemed to sense her concern and reassured her with a smile.

“Well... okay then.”

Lynn hesitated a bit more but eventually agreed, then asked again where Sophia and Theresa would like to go.

>Opnia wasnt tamiiiar witn tne

Starlight Groth especially during

vork hogs ond hadn't anywhere in’

nind. Herreason for leaving the

oungéwas purely to avoid Re

“tefrlipting Brandon's work But

Iiesa had been to the office

Jlenty of times with Braridon, and

vhen he was busy, she'd have Grace

show her around. She already had a

st of fun spots in the non-office

reas and didn’t wait for Sophia to

espond before she took Sophia's

1and and declared, ‘Mom, I'll show

‘ou around.”

w

“Sounds great.”

Sophia smiled and nodded, letting Theresa lead the way around the office tower.

Lynn hurried after them, keeping a respectful distance, watching over them.

Honestly, to a long-toffice drone, there's not much that's fun about apany, but Lynn didn’t dare shirk a task given by

Brandon. Her escort duty lasted until nearly lunchtime.

Her usual lunch buddy hadn't seen her all morning and couldn't help but shoot her a message to check in. Meeting a client

wouldn't normally take this long, especially since she was just filling in for Kent, who had already returned from his meeting. It

made no sense for Lynn to still be missing.

“Mr. Crawley assigneda different task, on a mission right now.”

Lynn quickly messaged her buddy back, barely able to contain her gossiping spirit as she burst out, “Guess what | saw? Some

seriously juicy news.”

“Mr. Crawley got a girlfriend?”

Her lunch buddy's message cback almost instantly, the only explosive news she could think of.

“Way bigger than that!!!

Lynn hit her back lightning fast with just two words and a string of exclamation points, not even waiting for a reply before firing off

another message, "The CEO's wife has entered the building!!!

Her buddy sent back a string of dots, "...."

"Do you know who the CEO's wife is?"

Lynn couldn't wait and shot another message over.

Her pal replied with a clueless emoji.

The term "CEO's wife" was a rare bird in thepany, and even though Brandon had publicly announced the birth of his daughter

months ago, for sstrange reason, people still couldn't link him to any women.

Brandon was a+all, handsguy

with killer hs ane an impressive

presence but maybe because he ¢)

was so frdsty, he had zero chenfstry

with g@ny woman, not even the ©

slightest bit of close contact-which

rpade it tough for folks to picture

him with a lady. So wherrword got

out from the top floor that the CEQ's

wife was looking for him, everyone

was gobsmacked. But then, when

rumors of his divorce started

swirling, everyone seemed to nod

along, like that was more on-brand.

Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm

This was the Brandon they knew, a dude who was hard to imagine with a woman.

Facing her pal's confusion, Lynn cut to the chase with three characters: "One billion."

Her buddy: "......"

Lynn: "The girl Mr. Crawley spent a billion to find, she's back."

Her buddy: "...."

Sophia, led Dp heresa, had just

reached hes trance of the

cafeteria, right where Tia Temple ¢,

had onc Stopped Brandon to S

confess her feelings. A fleeting

image of a young girl boldly ooking

I like you," flashed through Sophia's

mind. It was gone in a flash, too

quick to even catch what the girl

looked like.

english

She tried to recall it but couldn't, only grasping that feeling of envy and subtle regret from a distance, watching from the outside.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Caught in that sudden memory, she paused, but Theresa had already spotted the cafeteria and excitedly tugged on Sophia's hand,

introducing her, "Mommy, mommy, let's eat, Daddy's cafeteria has the yummiest food."

Sophia snapped out of it and nodded with a smile but didn't et to beckon Lynn, who had been trailing them. Turning around,

she saw Lynn glued to her phone, eyes sparkling with gossip, fingers tapping away like a storm,pletely lost in the chat and

oblivious to her surroundings.

Sophia had no clue what was so engrossing but figured it was lunchtand decided not to interrupt, opting to send Lynn a

message on Whatinstead: "Lynn, Theresa and | are in the cafeteria. You do your thing."

Message sent, she followed Theresa into the restaurant.

It was close to lunchtime, but not quite there yet, and the cafeteria staff were still bustling about serving food, so there were just a

few scattered people around.

Theresa, knowing her way around, dragged Sophia to the tray section, panting as she ran, "Mommy, let's get Daddy's meal too. |

know what he likes to eat. Once he's done with work, he cane straight over and eat with us."

The cafeteria floor was a bit slippery, and Sophia, worried Theresa might fall, agreed, "Okay," and bent down to hold the collar of

her shirt, focusing entirely on the little one in front of her with no tto notice anything else.

Theresa, being small and short, was oblivious to others, fixated on getting to the tray section. Once there, she stood on tiptoes,

reaching for a tray.

The trays, freshly sanitized, were stacked high, and Theresa, not realizing her own strength, wobbled the unstable stack. Sophia

swiftly stepped forward, pressing a hand against the nearly toppling trays.

At almost the smoment, another gnarled, thin hand also pressed down on the shaking stack of trays.