The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

A few heads turned at the sound and caught sight of Sophia and Ivan stepping out together.

Sophia happened to look up too and saw Brandon standing opposite Zachary. She hesitated for a split second and her smile

stiffened slightly.

Brandon gave her a glance, then shifted his gaze to Ivan by her side, his expression cooling off. He looked away without a word.

Kent couldn't help but sneak a peek at Ivan and Sophia, feeling a hint of worry creeping in. Don's attention was all on Ivan, calling

out with uncertainty, "lvan?" He hadn't expected to bump into Ivan here.

"lvan's one of my students too." Zachary explained with a chuckle, "He graduated three years ahead of Sophia."

Before Don made any response, Ivan and Sophia had already walked up close to them.

Don slapped Ivan on the shoulder with a chuckle, "Man, how cyou never mentioned you were Mr. Gardner's student?"

Ivan replied, "You never asked, did you?"

Don was at a loss for words. They weren't from the suniversity, the sdepartment, or the sfield of study; who would

go out of their way to ask, "Hey, who was your college mentor?"

"So, you all know each other already."

Zachary said with a smile, "That's great, savesthe trouble of introductions."

But he didn't miss the awkwardness between Ivan and Brandon and went ahead with the introductions, "This is the President of the

Starlight Group, Mr. Brandon Crawley."

"And this is Sophia's senior, lvan Evert."

Brandon looked at Ivan and greeted him politely, "Hello."

Ivan returned the greeting with a simple "Hello," not adding much more.

Zachary and Jolin had other guests to attend to and couldn't stick around to chat, so he turned to Sophia, "Sophia, could you

entertain Mr. Crawley and Mr. Dempsey for a bit? Jolin and | need to go over there."

Sophia nodded, "Sure."

She looked towards Brandon, whose handsface was a bit cold, "Why don't you guys have a seat over there?"

Brandon didn't respond and walked straight to the guest area. Don, slow on the uptake, sensed something off with Brandon,

probably related to Sophia, but couldn't pin down the exact reason.

He remembered the love confession video circulated by others where Brandon had walked past Tia towards Sophia.

In the video, Brandon had stood before Sophia, his gaze soft and tender as if he could melt into her eyes, although he never

mentioned it afterward and decided to go on blind dates. From the video, Don thought Brandon and Sophia had broken the ice, but

now it seemed to have frozen over again.

He pondered as he glanced at Sophia, whose face held a hint of awkward embarrassment.

This stirred an inexplicable pang of sympathy in Don. He tried to lighten the mood with a chuckle, "Guess we'll head over first."

Then he asked with a smile, "When did you guys get here?"

"I've been here since this morning."

Sophia explained that she feared they'd be swamped with guests, so she cearly to help out.

Ivan had just arrived, walked into the house, saw her leading the kid, and cover. It was only because the kid wanted to find

her grandparents that they both ended up coming out together.

Don laughed, "I thought you arrived together."

Sophia shook her head with a smile and remained silent, her gaze drifting towards Brandon in the crowd, who had already taken a

seat at a table.

Alex had chosen a banquet for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, with the banquet and ceremony held together. Each table had the

guests' names placed on it.

Brandon, being a special guest invited by Zachary, was seated at the main table, where it was still empty except for Brandon

sitting there alone.

He watched the hustle and bustle onstage, his expression calm, creating a stark contrast to the lively atmosphere around him, a

quiet coldness that somehow carried an unspoken loneliness.

Sophia felt an inexplicable sadness. She turned to Don and managed a faint smile, "Go keep Mr. Crawley company; I'll help them

for a bit."

Don nodded and walked over to Brandon.

Sophia went off to greet other guests; lvan pitched in as well.

Don couldn't help but look back at the two of them, then at Brandon. Brandon's face remained calm as he watched the stage, but

beneath that calm, Don could see the tension in his jawline.

"You still care about her," Don stated.

Brandon glanced at him but stayed silent.

Don looked back at Sophia and Ivan's figures, "They seem pretty well-matched."

Finally, Brandon turned to him, "If you've got nothing to say, you could choose to shut it."

Don faced him, "You're jealous."

"No." Brandon said coolly, "A match of equals, indeed well-suited."

He turned his head towards Don, "All thanks to you playing matchmaker."

Don was puzzled, "Matchmaker? What are you talking about?"

He glanced back at Sophia and Ivan, "Are you saying they're together now?"

Brandon's gaze suddenly turned icy, his handsface tensing up. Don, oblivious, kept looking back at Sophia and Ivan. The two

were each busy with guests, not standing too close together.

"That's impossible," Don was adamant.

Brandon's tea-sipping paused, and he looked at Don.

Don countered, "I was with Ivan last weekend pulling all-nighters for a design project; we ate and drank together, and those two

didn't even call or text. No way a couple would be like that."

Brandon looked at him, "Husbands and wives are like that; is it so odd for a boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Especially with the swoman, and that guy didn't look much better than him.

"Don't tellthat's how it was with you and Sophia."

Brandon pressed his lips together, saying nothing. Indeed, that was how it was with him and Sophia.

Normally, they wouldn't even call or even text. Sophia never disturbed him, and he didn't waste ton pointless chit-chat.

Reading between the lines in his expression, Don smiled, "No wonder you're getting a divorce."

Brandon turned his head away, not biting.

"But if you're both that kind of person, there's really no need to force anything." Don said, eyeing him, "Breaking up is a good

thing."

Brandon's handsface tensed up even more, clearly not keen on hashing out this topic anymore.

Don couldn't help but pat his shoulder and glanced over at Sophia and Ivan not far off, "But | still stand by my gut feeling - there's

no way Sophia and Ivan are an item. They didn't ctogether."

Brandon paused for a moment.

Don rambled on, "I mean, if they were a couple, they'd visit the mentor together - why would they go separately? Plus, even if they

don't call or text each other normally, they wouldn't be totally without interaction when they do meet. | see them at work, and

aside from that, they barely talk. They head their separate ways when punching in and out, never seen them together. Even if

there's ssecret romance and they're keeping it under wraps real tight, you can't hide that spark in their eyes - but Sophia,

other than for work, she doesn't give Ivan the tof day. What kind of couple is like that?" Don concluded, unable to help himself,

"And Ivan has never toldhe's got a girlfriend. We're like brothers; he couldn't possibly..."

He was about to say Ivan couldn't possibly keep a girlfriend a secret from him but then, he remembered that he only recently

found out Sophia was Brandon's wife, despite being as close as brothers, and he quickly shut his trap, not wanting to eat his words

later.

Ivan was basically another version of Brandon, with a similar disposition and way of handling things. And probably because of that,

he and Ivan hit it off and becquite chummy.

Brandon, noticing Don suddenly clamping up, didn't say a word, and just held his teacup, idly tapping the glass with his fingertips,

his eyes growing colder.

After Sophia and Ivan finished greeting guests, Zachary and Jolin had them join the main table, seating them with Brandon, Don,

and the rest of Zachary and Jolin's family.

Sophia casually pulled out a chair and sat down. Ivan followed suit, pulling out a chair next to her and sitting down.

As he sat, Sophia instinctively moved her chair a bit toward Jolin, creating sdistance from Ivan - a natural reaction that she

herself didn't notice, but Brandon did.

He shot her a look, his gaze turning even icier.

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