The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 335

The line was open, but no one was picking up.

Tried calling a few times, same thing.

Don was glued to Brandon's side, even tried dialing with his own cell.

Same deal - call goes through, but no one's on the line.

"Maybe she's tied up with something and missed her phone," Don couldn't help but make an excuse for Sophia. "She's usually swamped with meetings at work, phone's on silent most of the time. Missing a call or two's nothing weird."

"Smart cookie, that one," Brandon said as he turned and headed for the underground garage.

Don was a bit slow on the uptake. "What do you mean?"

"It's no rocket science. If it happens all the time, you don't start thinking it's out of the ordinary."

Brandon's voice was faint, his stride unbroken.

It was all in Don's head – she'd already flown the coop.

Don's brows knitted slightly, but he caught on quick.

What Brandon meant was that Sophia was intentionally throwing them off the scent.

Turning off her phone or canceling her number would've been a dead giveaway that something was up.

But getting through and not being able to reach her? Happens to everyone. It's a dime a dozen. At most, you'd think the other person's just tied up, not convenient to talk, didn't notice their phone, or maybe doesn't want to chat and so on. Loads of possibilities, but you wouldn't jump to the conclusion they've gone AWOL.

Don got the picture, but his forehead was still furrowed.

"I don't know what's gone down between you and Sophia these past couple days, but aren't you being a bit jumpy?"

He couldn't fathom why Sophia would take off. With her personality, even if she planned to leave, she'd surely get all her ducks in a row and hand in her notice properly.

Even if what Cindy said was true, that she'd secretly had a kid, there was no way she could've foreseen Cindy spilling the beans, especially since Cindy hadn't let it slip when Sophia was heading downstairs.

But Brandon just curled his lips into a cool, detached smile.

"That's 'cause you never really got the measure of her."

Sophia was the type to make big moves in silence.

She always played her cards close to her chest, never making a peep until the dust settled and then – bam – hitting you with a bolt from the blue.

Divorce was like that, applying for study abroad too, and even having a kid - she pulled it off without anyone being the wiser, let alone leaving.

For her, it was like second nature.

Don fell silent.