The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 230

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 Handsome Unkie," she said cheerfully.

Sophia remembered the time during the party the company threw at the villa when she video called Theresa, and Theresa had excitedly referred to Brandon as "Handsome Unkie" 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, "I 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 handsome profile 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 Handsome Unkie," 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.

"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 came in, 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.