The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Ivan chuckled and gave her head a gentle pat, "What a good girl."

After saying goodbye to her and a quick farewell to Grace, he finally took off.

Grace escorted Theresa home, and as soon as they pushed open the door, they spotted Sophia, lost in thought with her chin

propped on her hand, a pen still in her grasp, sitting at the living room's large desk.

Theresa beamed and called out to her, "Mommy!" With that, she excitedly threw herself into Sophia's arms.

Sophia scooped her up onto her lap and looked down at her, "Where did you go today?"

"To grab toys with HandsUnkie," she said cheerfully.

Sophia remembered the tduring the party the company threw at the villa when she video called Theresa, and Theresa had

excitedly referred to Brandon as "HandsUnkie" on the video.

"Do you still remember him, Theresa?" Sophia inquired.

Theresa nodded vigorously, "Yeah."

"And did you have fun with him?" Sophia continued.

"Yes." Theresa said, nodding her head emphatically as if to ensure Sophia believed her. She then stretched her arms wide to

illustrate, "Grabbed so many, so many toys."

As she spoke, she slid off Sophia's lap, eager to show her the pile of stuffed animals that Grace had brought to the sofa.

"You're amazing." Sophia praised, then turned to Theresa, "He is pretty amazing too, right?"

Again, Theresa nodded strongly, "Yep, amazing."

"Do you like him?" Sophia crouched in front of her to ask.

Theresa responded with another enthusiastic nod, "Yes."

"She's over the moon." Grace chimed in, "lI rarely see her this happy, and she was really taking to him."

As she spoke, Grace fished out the video she had just taken and handed it to Sophia, "Take a look, these two are as cozy as father

and daughter; you wouldn't guess they've just met."

Sophia's smile tensed ever so slightly.

Grace, oblivious to this, kept scrolling through the video, "This guy seems kind of cold, but who knew he'd be so patient with kids."

"Right."

Sophia gave a soft acknowledgment and started the video, immediately spotting Brandon affectionately crouched behind Theresa.

His hands firmly grasped Theresa's hand, patiently guiding her as she manipulated the claw to grab toys, his handsprofile

radiating tenderness.

Theresa's face was also lit with a joy and excitement that hadn't been seen in a long time.

Sophia watched with a pang of heartache and couldn't help but look down at Theresa. Theresa, with her neck stretched out to see

the video in Sophia's hand, was visibly excited when she spotted Brandon.

"The HandsUnkie," she pointed out to Sophia eagerly.

Sophia nodded slightly, her gaze complex as she looked at her.

Theresa kept trying to watch more of Brandon, her little body leaning over Sophia's arm, her tiny finger curiously dragging the

progress bar backward, then releasing it.

The video continued to play, and Sophia's eyes caught a glimpse of Anna in the video, causing her to frown in confusion.

In the footage, Anna excitedly ran over to hug Brandon's leg. Theresa subconsciously shifted to the side, staring blankly at Anna,

and then looked up at Brandon in a daze.

In Theresa's puzzled gaze, Sophia saw sadness and bewilderment, as well as nervousness, like a little lamb left behind.

Suddenly overwhelmed with compassion, Sophia felt a sudden sting at her nose.

Without a word, she leaned in and hugged Theresa tightly. Theresa, a bit bewildered by the tight embrace, looked up at her with

wide, perplexed eyes, "Mommy?"

Sophia gently let her go, straightening her slightly disheveled hair, and softly asked, "Does Theresa want daddy?"

Theresa shook her head in confusion, not really understanding what a daddy was. Sophia struggled to explain, just pressed her

lips, then leaned in and hugged her once more.

This was the first tGrace heard the word "daddy" from Sophia and she couldn't help but glance at Sophia, wanting to ask who

Theresa's dad was, but feeling it wasn't the right time, she held back and turned to tidy up the pile of toys instead.

Theresa, seeing Grace sorting the dress-up princess doll, remembered it was also a gift for her, quickly wriggled out of Sophia's

embrace, ran over, and proudly showed Sophia the doll, "Mommy, look, the doll."

Sophia glanced at the little princess in her hands, and asked, "Did HandsUnkie buy it for you?"

Theresa shook her head, "No, Mr. Evert gave it to me."

Sophia frowned slightly and looked at Grace.

Grace explained, "Oh, we ran into the gentleman who was looking for you this morning at the entrance of the community; he gave

it to Theresa."

Sophia's frown deepened, but when she turned to Theresa, she let it relax and softly asked her, "Theresa, what did mommy tell

you?"

"Not to just accept gifts from strangers," Theresa whispered back hesitantly.

Grace quickly interjected, "I let her take it; it didn't seem like anything pricey, and Theresa liked it, so | thought why not."

"Grace, thank you." Sophia looked up at her, "But from now on, if any man other than the one who took Theresa out today tries to

give her a gift, just decline."

"Huh?" Grace was puzzled but nodded anyway, "Alright."

Sophia turned to Theresa, "We can only accept a gift once, Theresa. If Mr. Evert tries to give you another gift, we won't accept it,

okay?"

Theresa didn't quite grasp why, but still nodded, "Okay."

"You're such a good girl."

Sophia stroke her head playfully and looked up, the smile on her face gradually fading as she glanced at her phone on the coffee

table.

Her phone had a bunch of missed calls - all from Brandon earlier in the morning.

She habitually kept her phone on silent, and it just so happened that when Brandon's calls cin, Ivan was dropping by and she

was busy playing host, totally oblivious to her phone ringing.

Later on, since they bumped into each other in the community, when Sophia finally noticed the missed calls on her phone, she

didn't bother to ring back.

Sophia stared at her phone for a good while, grabbed it, swiped to unlock, and there they were -the series of missed calls still

staring back at her.

Hesitating for a moment, she tapped to view them - all from that familiar string of digits. Sophia gazed at those numbers, zoning

out a bit.

Theresa noticed Sophia spacing out with her phone and, being curious, leaned in for a closer look.

She couldn't read yet, so she only saw a string of red numbers on the screen, contrasting with the rest in black.

Wondering what was up, she couldn't help but turn to Sophia and ask, "Mommy, what's this?"

As she spoke, her little finger was already poised, tapping on that string of red missed calls.

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMwWLHIOfiflO&1

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMyWL11I01F1081

mMMwWLIIOfiflO&1