The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Sophia just happened to look up at Brandon when, out of the blue, his gaze caught hers and locked it in. The depth in his eyes made her feel a bit awkward.

Especially since she had just been an earful of Susan's overly explicit trip down memory lane about her and Brandon's not-so-PG- rated past. It was almost as if Susan's words painted a vivid picture in Sophia's mind of the hot and heavy times she and Brandon had rolled around together, and the moment Brandon looked her way, the embarrassment hit her like a tidal wave, her cheeks flaming up.

When Brandon noticed her blushing, he couldn't help but frown, "What's up? Why's your face all red?" While he was talking, he had already moved past Susan and was heading her way.

"No... It's nothing." Sophia, her symptoms pointed out, was even more afraid to look Brandon in the eye, her words getting a bit jumbled, "It's just a bit stuffy in here..." Susan glanced back at her with a smirk that was clearly teasing.

Brandon also gave her a thoughtful look.

Pretending not to notice, Sophia straightened her back a bit, lifted her chin, and looked straight at Brandon, asking him, "What brings you up here?" "Just checking on you guys since you've been gone for a while." Brandon said, not prying any further, but noticing her hair was a bit disheveled, he naturally reached out to smooth the strands away from her forehead.

At the touch of his fingertips, Sophia couldn't help but stiffen up, holding her breath and staying still, not daring to accidentally brush against his hand.

Susan couldn't help but tease Brandon, "Wow, you're worried after such a short time? And with all this running up and down the stairs, you think I'd kidnap Sophia or something?" Unexpectedly, Brandon nodded frankly, "Yeah, I am." || "Susan was left speechless.

Brandon had already turned his attention back to Sophia and, after carefully fixing her hair, he softly asked her, "Ready to go back down?" Sophia instinctively looked at Susan first, seeking her opinion.

The affection Susan showed her made Sophia somewhat depend on her instinctively after her memory loss.

Brandon noticed her unconditional trust and reliance on Susan, even though Susan entered the picture later than he did.

This realization left him feeling a bit choked up.

But he kept a calm facade, simply telling Sophia, "Everyone's waiting for you guys downstairs." Sophia didn't like to trouble others, so upon hearing this, she quickly said, "Then let's head down." Looking at Susan, she asked, "Susan, shall we?" "Let's go, let's go. If we hang around any longer, I bet your Mr. Crawley upstairs is ready to blow his top." Susan said with a laugh, grabbing the stuff they needed to take downstairs and heading for the door.

Sophia pretended not to catch the teasing undertone of "your Mr. Crawley" and conscientiously stepped forward to help, but before she could touch anything, Brandon had already taken it all.

"I got it." In the midst of speaking, he was holding the stuff in one hand and lightly placing the other on Sophia's shoulder, nudging her forward.

Susan couldn't resist rolling her eyes at Brandon.

Sophia was clearly not used to this kind of affection from him, but she didn't resist, just trying her best to keep in step with him. The fact that "they were husband and wife," according to him, made her work hard to adapt to this relationship.

Susan realized that Sophia, with her lost memory, was easy to fool.

She almost unconditionally accepted and trusted every word they said.

This fact left Susan feeling torn and conflicted. On one hand, she was relieved that Sophia didn't have to be held back by a troubled past, but on the other hand, she worried that not being clear with her could lead to Sophia getting hurt all over again.

When Sophia first married Brandon, she had the ssimple and naive mindset.

With theseplex feelings, Susan couldn't help but glance at Brandon, who gave her a brief, dismissive look that seemed to silently tell her to hold her tongue.

Susan didn't dare to bring up the topic in front of Sophia.

Under this mix of emotions, she went downstairs with Sophia and Brandon.

(ent was busy arranging the living oom. Seeing Susane in with stuff, he naturally put down what he vas doing and walked over to her aking the items out of her hands vith a smile, "Where have you two een whispering secrets, gone for ges?" >w "Do we need to hide from you guys to have a sisterly chat?" Susan snickered, unapologetically handing everything over to Kent, with a sense of familiarity between them, like a couple.

Don didn't hesitate to ask, "What's the deal with you two?" "What's what?" Susan shot him a look, "Bros for life, best buds, you got an issue?" Don's suspicious gaze turned to Kent.

Kent just coolly replied, "Yeah, best buds." Brandon, who was changing his shoes, glanced over at them but didn't join the conversation.

Sophia, on the other hand, looked puzzled as she furrowed her brow, glancing between Kent and Susan. They both seemed at ease with no hint of awkwardness.

She thought they were a couple; they weren't? And now they were suddenly "bros"? Her questioning gaze shifted back to Kent and Susan.

They had alreadyfortably and affectionately started working together.

Instinctively, Sophia looked to Brandon.

Brandon gave one glance at their backs before turning to her, "Don't mind them." "Okay." Sophia nodded lightly, though still somewhat confused.

Theresa had woken up and, not finding Sophia, had scrambled to her feet and dashed barefoot toward the door, only stopping once she saw Sophia. With a pitiful "Mommy," she threw herself into Sophia's arms. Sophia squatted down to catch her, not giving a hoot about whatever was going on with Susan and Kent.

Theresa was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, yawning non-stop. Probably got a rude awakening to find no one by her bed and scampered out.

"How about we hit the sack for a bit longer, huh?" Seeing that Theresa was still zonked, Sophia cooed the suggestion to her.

Theresa nodded like her head was on a spring.

Sophia looked back at Brandon, "I'm gonna tuck Theresa back in." Brandon gave a nod, "Go for it." He watched them head back to the room before making a beeline for the kitchen to whip up sgrub.

Susan had been keeping an eye on themotion and saw her chance when Brandon was flying solo. She made her move.

The moment Brandon clocked her expression, he knew she had something brewing. "Spit it out," he said in a flat tone.

"Sophia just went do grilledabout what between you two back in the day, Susan whispered, "I didn't know what to say. Figured it's more your place to fill her in."