The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 172

Brandon shot her a glance, his lips twitching slightly, but in the end, he said zilch, just strolled past her without missing a beat.

Sophia kept her cool as she stepped into the elevator.

Their shoulders brushed only for a split second.

Each with a poker face, they caught glimpses of each other in the corner of their eyes—no hellos, no pauses in their strides.

As soon as Sophia was in the elevator, her hand darted to the buttons.

Fresh off the clock, Augus was hustling out of the office with his black messenger bag, spotted Sophia in the elevator, and lit up, giving her a wave.

"Sophia!"

He was making a beeline towards Sophia.

Brandon paused his step for a heartbeat, then calmly headed back to the office.

In the fleeting moment he turned towards Don's office, Brandon caught sight of Sophia pressing the elevator's hold button, looking at the guy striding towards her, her face set with that polite, mild smile she always wore.

It dawned on Brandon that it had been ages since Sophia had flashed that smile his way.

When he got back to Don's office, Don picked up on Brandon's sour face right away.

"Everything cool with you?" he asked, a touch concerned.

He'd dropped by to see Brandon last night, and the guy had the same distracted air about him then.

Don was clueless about what had gone down between him and Sophia—couldn't get a peep out of either of them.

But he definitely got vibes that Brandon was off his game, couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it felt like there was less pep in his step—not that he ever had much to begin with.

Brandon met his gaze. "I'm good."

Don nodded. If Brandon was playing the "I'm good" card, he wasn't going to pry—digging deeper never got him anywhere.

He let out a sigh, gave Brandon a solid pat on the shoulder, and handed over the revised proposal Sophia had just submitted. "Here's the updated plan."

He was even steering clear of dropping Sophia's name.

Brandon nodded, casually taking the design proposal.

As the familiar style hit his eyes, he zoned out, staring at the design drawings.

Don didn't miss the flicker of emotion on Brandon's face.

With another sigh, Don clapped Brandon on the shoulder. "Look, you two gotta figure this out—either cut ties for good, stop hanging onto each other; or go all in, stick it out to the bitter end. This limbo thing, it's torture, you know?"

Brandon shot him a look, said nothing, flipping through the proposal, noting the adjustments made exactly to his liking.

Sophia got him, got his taste, so her take on the changes he, as the client, had suggested were spot on.

Brandon closed the proposal. "This'll do. Pass it on to my dad and Patricia."