The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 341

Sophia had to tilt her head back to look at him, her eyes rimming red, not saying a word, just silently enduring his rage.

"Speak up!" Brandon's long fingers tightened on her chin, his eyes blazing, "From the get-go, you never planned on letting me know about our daughter. You had no intention of including me in your lives."

Her throat constricted even more, but she nodded faintly. "Yes."

Her nod brought a twinge of pain to her chin, but he quickly let go.

His eyes, still red, bore into her, a tempest of fury swirling in their depths, a storm of anger so intense it was as if he wanted to strangle her yet was holding back with all his might.

"Don't you feel even a shred of guilt towards me?" His eyes, bloodshot, locked onto hers, his voice eerily calm amid the maelstrom of rage, each word dropping like shards of ice, "Never cared, not even a little bit?"

Sophia bit her lower lip, staying silent.

Brandon's fingers pressed slightly harder. "Sophia, don't make me duke it out with you in a custody battle over our kid."

Tears started welling up uncontrollably in her eyes once more.

She looked at Brandon. "That's the reason."

"Brandon, you ask me how I dare, this is why!" Her voice was defiant, though it choked with sobs, "Back then, I hid away in Wye City, but your family, one by one, they cornered me, even your parents came to warn me off, stopping just short of telling me to stop bugging you and Ms. Frost. Yolanda came back too. In that situation, I was carrying your child, what was I supposed to do? I really didn't want her then, I just wanted to be as far from you and your family as possible, to never see you again in my life, so I went to the hospital, I was determined to terminate the pregnancy, I was already on the operating table, but she's my child too, why should I give her up for your family's sake? So I kept her. From the moment I decided to keep her, I never planned on telling anyone.

"I just wanted to raise her on my own. I never thought about finding you again, you were never part of my plan. I just wanted to work at Dempsey Architects for two more years after graduating, and once I had some achievements, I'd take her back home, find a city far, far away from you and your family, and settle down there with her.

"But why did you have to come looking for me, why did Don have to be an old pal of yours, why did my workplace have to become your subsidiary, even the project I cherished and had high hopes for belonged to your family."

By this point, Sophia's voice was breaking, and she had to pause several times before continuing. "I even thought about giving up, taking Theresa and running far away, but this was my career that was finally looking up, something I achieved through sleepless nights of study and work while pregnant, it's the capital I rely on to survive and raise my child, I need this project, so I had to come back.”

"When I decided to come back, I did think about whether to tell you or not. That's why I asked you, when you were taking me to the airport, if you'd thought about remarrying, and you said you would. I'd rather my daughter believe she has no father than to see her dad start a new happy family.”

"Why do I have to keep lying to you? You think I feel good about deceiving? You think it doesn't break my heart when I see my daughter clueless about what a father is? You think I don't wish she could have a dad's love like any other kid? But every time I wonder whether I should tell you or not, you or your parents always seem to remind me, in one way or another, that my daughter and I don't deserve it.”

"People keep warning me not to dream of climbing the social ladder through my daughter, as if I kept her just to get back into your family. I don't want my daughter to have that misunderstanding, nor do I want her to think her existence is just a tool for her mom to marry into wealth. I just want her to grow up healthy and happy, I don't want her to be exposed to the dirty side of your family, is that too much to ask for?"

By the end, Sophia was almost screaming through her tears.