The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 600

Sophia zoned out and couldn't figure out why. She remembered that name. She had seen it before on the honor roll at West District High School, right next to the name "Sophia."

That familiar pang of nostalgia mixed with a touch of sadness washed over her again. It was a strange feeling, heartwarming yet heart-wrenching, making her nose tingle and eyes moisten without her control.

Sophia couldn't put her finger on why she felt this way. Her mind was a blank canvas, and she had no clue why this person wanted to add her. But just the sight of that name brought on an inexplicable sense of "hope you're doing well" that was both comforting and heartbreaking.

Right then, Amanda walked up and caught Sophia with teary eyes, staring blankly at her phone. Freaking out, she quickly put down the ginger tea she was holding and asked with concern, “What’s up? What happened?”

Sophia looked up at her, bewildered, which freaked Amanda out even more. She quickly crouched down to comfort her: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Did someone give you a hard time? Spill the beans to your godmom, I’ll sort it out for you.”

Sophia just shook her head blankly, trying to speak, but her throat felt choked up. She was just really sad. A kind of helpless sadness.

“It’s okay, godmom’s here.” Without getting to the bottom of it, Amanda could only pick up the ginger soup she had prepared and hand it to her, “Let’s have some ginger soup to ward off the chill. You’ve just been discharged; your immune system is still weak. Don’t catch a cold again.”

As she said this, she scooped up a spoonful of ginger soup, trying to feed it to Sophia. When the spoon reached her lips, Sophia finally snapped back to reality and took the ginger soup from her, “I got it.”

Her voice was a bit hoarse, whether from the cold or from being emotional, she wasn't sure. Amanda didn’t argue, just softly reminded her, “Careful, it’s hot. Take it slow.”

Sophia nodded slightly and began to sip the ginger soup. Amanda watched her drink and couldn’t help but nag about her getting a chill from going out alone, “You see, I told you not to go out by yourself. I knew your body couldn’t take the cold, and lo and behold... Just don’t get sick again, it’s rough on you.”

Sophia didn’t respond. In fact, she hardly heard what Amanda was saying. She was too spaced out, her mind fixated on that WhatsApp message from “Brandon.” Her mind was still empty, but that sour, bitter emotion lingered.

Seeing Sophia zone out again, Amanda didn’t make a peep, knowing Sophia often did this. As long as she wasn’t suddenly in tears and distracted, it wasn’t a big deal to her. She silently picked up the foot bath that Sophia hadn’t gotten around to pouring out and took it to the washroom.

Sophia was oblivious, mechanically sipping her ginger soup until it was gone and the bowl was taken from her hands. Then she came to her senses and looked up at Amanda instinctively.

“Hit the hay, you can’t afford to stay up with your health,” Amanda advised. Sophia quietly nodded, thanked her, exchanged goodnights, put down her phone, and went to bed.

Though she lay down, she felt anything but sleepy, just a hollow feeling inside.

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Kent noticed Brandon staring at his phone, lost in thought, but the notification for the WhatsApp friend request wasn’t coming through. He couldn’t help but say to Brandon, “Maybe the designer’s turned in for the night. Plus, it’s Sunday, and that’s a work number; might not be online.”