The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 300

Susan shot back a text pretty quickly: "Yeah, I know, caught it on the front door cam."

Perhaps it's the rub-off from living together with Sophia for so long, Susan, who used to be a bit of a scatterbrain, has gotten just as cautious.

Theresa didn't wait for Sophia to return and thought about heading downstairs to look for her, but she's sensible and didn't want to intrude on Sophia's work, so she hit up Susan for her phone to give Sophia a ring.

Susan got Sophia. She’s all about punctuality and always kept her words. If she said she'll be back at a certain time, she will. If not, something must be up. So, this whole thing didn't really seem like Sophia's style, which was why Susan turned on the door cam app to check.

The cam at Sophia's place can catch the view across to the other house's front door, and through the app, Susan spotted Brandon stepping out.

She also saw him escorting Sophia back to the 15th floor earlier.

Their high-sensitivity cam worked well, even a cat sneaking by would trigger a notification.

Sophia already guessed Susan was spying through the cam and replied with a "Gotcha," put down her phone, and was about to rest when Susan's text popped up, full of curiosity, "Why's Brandon here all of a sudden?"

"He bought the condo across the hall."

Susan was surprised at this.

Sophia was dead beat and not up for a chat: "Gonna catch some Z's, let Theresa know, okay?"

Susan sent an "OK" gesture: "Sleep tight."

Sophia killed her phone's screen, put it on the nightstand, and hit the sack.

She was out like a light the moment her eyes shut.

Brandon didn't barge in to disturb her. He still had stuff to sort out, fingers flying over the keyboard as the sleeping computer came back to life.

The screen was locked. Sophia hadn't shared her password, but Brandon remembered she used to set it to something as pointless as "1234."

He gave those digits a shot, and bingo, the computer unlocked, revealing the desktop.

Brandon spotted the design proposal she hadn't closed, it was still rough around the edges.

He minimized the app, pulled up his email, and dove into work.

By the time he wrapped up around 11, he turned off the computer, glanced towards Sophia's room, saw it was quiet, but felt a bit uneasy, so he nudged the door open.

His touch was feather-light, didn't wake Sophia.

She was deep asleep, hands neatly placed in front of her belly as if afraid of squashing something. Brandon remembered Sophia's sleep posture used to be all over the place.

When alone, she'd hug a pillow, half her body squished on it, clinging to the sense of security it gave her.

After they got married, she ditched the pillow but would unconsciously use him as one, often ending up snuggled against him mid-sleep, one arm and leg thrown over him without a clue.

Once she realized, maybe out of embarrassment, she tried to change, but still favored curling up on her side, body instinctively bent like a shrimp, the fetal position's self-defence.

Brandon had never seen her sleep so still before. He glanced at Sophia's resting face, then his eyes shifted, landing on the phone by her bed, pausing.

He remembered the number Theresa had painstakingly punched in last night, his fingers hovering over the phone.

Brandon looked back at Sophia on the bed.

She was sleeping soundly, oblivious to him at the door.

After a silent moment, his fingers twitched slightly, dialing the number Theresa had left.

He lifted the phone to his ear, eyes fixed on the nightstand, as a polite voice from customer service floated in: "Hello, the number you have dialed is switched off."

The phone on the nightstand didn't stir.

A small smile curled Brandon's lips, he shook his head with a chuckle, then looked back at Sophia, sound asleep.

He didn't disturb her. Instead, he quietly closed the door, hit the supermarket downstairs to grab some fresh ingredients, and whipped up lunch himself.

Come noon, Sophia was still out. Brandon didn't wake her, let her sleep on.

Sophia's nap was deep and long, and when she woke up at four in the afternoon, her brain was foggy, not quite sure if it was day or night. She freshened up, wandered into the living room, only to freeze at the sight of Brandon busy at the computer. She blinked, still a bit groggy.

Brandon stopped typing and turned to her: "You're up?"