The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 463

Brandon ducked out of the office before quitting time.

The moment the door swung open, there was Theresa, playing solo on the play mat.

The setting sun streamed through the balcony, casting a pale yellow light in the chilly living room, somehow carrying a tinge of lonely desolation.

Brandon couldn't help but gaze at Theresa, lost in thought, while the image of Sophia leaving with her suitcase haunted his mind.

He slightly turned his head, his Adam's apple bobbing intensely in the dying light of the sun.

Grace, busy with her tasks, looked up to see him and greeted him, "Mr. Crawley, you're back."

Hearing the voice, Theresa, engrossed in her toys, looked up and, spotting Brandon home from work, was over the moon. She dropped her toys and scampered over to him with a pitter-patter of little feet.

Brandon squatted down and opened his arms to catch the little tornado that was Theresa.

"Did Mommy come home today?" he asked, smoothing her tousled hair with a soft voice.

"Mhm," Theresa nodded, "She said she had to go on a business trip."

"And did she mention when she would be back?" Brandon inquired.

Theresa pouted and shook her head, looking a bit downcast but soon perked up again, "But Mommy said she'll call me whenever she gets a chance."

"Hmm," Brandon hummed in response, gently stroking her hair, falling silent.

That evening, Brandon, as usual, took Theresa for dinner, went for a walk with her, but perhaps because Sophia wasn't there, these simple, cozy routines felt oddly hollow and tasteless.

Theresa, still young, didn't grasp the sting of parting too deeply and threw herself wholeheartedly into the fun at the playground.

But Brandon was somewhat distracted.

He even felt time dragging on unbearably.

Brandon didn't know how Sophia felt during the two years she spent alone with the child, but since she had chosen to go solo, it must have been a happy choice for her.

The unhappy one was him.

The only one affected by this marriage was him.

Confusion and restlessness raged within him like a caged beast on a rampage.

The turmoil was so intense it nearly turned his love into hate.

He hated her cold heart, and he hated that they had ever met.

He could vaguely understand what Sophia had once said. how good it would have been if they had never met.

When they got home that night, Brandon bathed Theresa and coaxed her into bed.

Sophia hadn't called at all.

Theresa, who usually fell asleep early, was reluctant to do so, insisting on waiting for her mom's call.

"Your mommy might be busy with work and hasn't had a chance to call you yet," Brandon coaxed softly, "How about you go to sleep first, and when she is done, she'll call you, okay?"

Theresa, always a well-behaved child, nodded obediently at her dad's explanation, closed her eyes, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Brandon watched Theresa's peaceful sleeping face for a while before his gaze shifted to the silent phone beside him.

The phone lay still, without a peep.