The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 131

"You can't be alone here at night," Brandon said. "Who's gonna look after you if I take off?"

They were back to square one with that question.

Sophia felt she wasn't so frail that she needed babysitting. Even if she did, hiring a nurse would do the trick, no need to keep someone on standby.

"Are you planning to stick around tonight?" Sophia asked, hesitating.

Brandon didn't nod or shake his head. "Got someone better in mind?"

He glanced at her phone. "Or maybe you want him to take care of you? That's cool too, your call."

"Well." Sophia pondered for a moment, "then let's have him come over, you go ahead with your stuff."

Brandon was speechless.

He gave her a calm look. "Alright, once he's here to take over, I'll head out."

Sophia fell silent.

She didn't actually dare to have Ivan stay and look after her; she just wanted to persuade Brandon to head out first.

But Brandon was never one to be easily sent away.

Sophia wasn't sure if he saw through her bluff about not daring to have Ivan substitute or if he really wanted to wait for someone to come before he could leave with peace of mind. He stayed put, so she didn't press any further.

Once she finished taking her meds, Brandon pulled up a chair in front of the hospital bed and settled down to continue with his work.

He had rushed out at noon and hadn't brought his laptop, so he was working from his phone.

Sophia occasionally heard him answering calls, calmly organizing work.

She didn't sleep, and Brandon didn't deliberately avoid her.

It felt a bit like going back to their two years of married life.

Under the same roof, busy with their own things, not bothering each other.

Sophia was accustomed to this non-interference mode too. It made her feel more comfortable.

Ivan arrived over an hour later.

He didn't barge in but politely knocked on the door.

The knock broke the focus of the two inside.

Brandon glanced at Sophia and then told the staff member on the phone, "You carry on with the current plan, I gotta hang up," before cutting the call. He then got up to open the door.

When the door opened, Brandon saw Ivan standing at the entrance with a fruit basket.

Ivan hadn't expected someone else to be in the room. He paused, subtly sizing up Brandon, vaguely remembering him as the man he saw at Sophia's apartment two years ago.

While Ivan was taking him in, Brandon politely greeted, "Hello."

"Hello," Ivan responded with equal courtesy, his gaze shifting past Brandon's shoulder to Sophia inside the room.

Sophia had sat up and greeted him with the same politeness, "Ivan."

Brandon stepped aside to let Ivan in. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Ivan murmured his thanks as he entered. "Everything okay?"

"All good. Just a bit of damage to the arm," Sophia replied lightly, then turned to Brandon, "Well, Ivan is here now, and with him around, it's all good. You can go and rest."

Brandon gave her a look and then turned to Ivan with a calm and cool gaze that made Sophia's heart skip a beat and her breath catch.

Ivan glanced at Sophia thoughtfully, then back to Brandon.

"Alright," Brandon said evenly, his voice as detached as his expression, "I won't intrude any further then. Get some rest."

After a polite nod to Ivan as a farewell, he left without looking back.

Sophia watched silently as the door to the hospital room closed. She didn't utter a word.

Ivan, with a contemplative glance at Sophia, didn't pry further but asked calmly, "I heard you turned down a resort project recently."

"They're already downstairs, will be up in a jiffy. No need to worry about me," Sophia spoke softly. "You go on ahead, they'll be here any minute."

Ivan nodded, "Alright, make sure you hit the hay early too."

"Yep, you too, get some rest."

Sophia smiled her goodbye, watching Ivan head out before her smile faded and she shut the door to the hospital room.

The place went quiet in an instant, eerily so.

This was Sophia's first time being in the hospital alone.

She wasn't exactly used to it, especially feeling under the weather as she was.

The pain in her arm was one thing, but the head-spinning dizziness was the real kicker.

Even something as simple as drinking water, taking meds, or using the bathroom felt like a Herculean task.

Having Ivan around was a bit of a distraction from the discomfort, but now that she was solo, it hit her full force.

Sophia didn’t play the martyr – she hit the nurse call button by the bed without hesitation.

A nurse arrived promptly.

"Do you guys have any caregivers available?" Sophia asked.

"Not at this hour," the nurse replied. "You usually have to book them in advance or during the day, they're all gone by now. You could try asking again tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks."

Sophia murmured her thanks, not too bummed out as she'd expected this. Just meant tonight might be a bit rough, that's all.

Over at the Starlight Group, in Brandon's office, he's all propped up by one hand, staring off into space at his computer screen.

Having eyed Brandon for a good while, Don tugged gently at Kent's sleeve and whispered, "What's up with your boss again?"

He'd been there for quite some time and Brandon had been zoning out just as long.