The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 398

"Look at you! I'm just trying to give the kid a gift, and you're acting like it's a big deal."

Aaron complained, but he didn't push the card any further. He grabbed the teapot instead, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a big gulp before turning to Sophia, "I heard your hubby's out of town on a business trip?"

Sophia shot him a surprised look, wondering how he knew about Brandon's trip.

Haley was even more surprised.

"You and Brandon are back together?" Haley's astonishment was tinged with elation.

His voice had risen in his excitement, and Patricia, who happened to be coming their way to pack up some food for Daniel, paused when she heard the name "Brandon." Her gaze followed the sound to where Haley was sitting with Sophia and Theresa, which made her frown.

The restaurant was near the hospital, and Daniel had lost his appetite due to his illness, sick of sipping on bland hospital meals every day. Today, he asked for some takeout, and Patricia, eager for an excuse to break away from the monotony of the hospital ward, didn’t expect to stumble upon Sophia's family having a meal together.

Remembering the commotion Aaron had caused outside the hospital room a few days ago, Patricia felt a surge of revulsion. She surreptitiously captured a photo of the family eating on her phone.

After taking the picture, she couldn't help but give Theresa a second glance, her eyes filled with confusion. But before she could ponder further, a waiter brought over Daniel's boxed meal.

"Thank you," Patricia muttered, sparing another glance at Sophia's way without betraying her emotions before turning to leave.

Sophia, with her back to Patricia, hadn’t noticed her. Her attention remained on Haley. To his shock and joy, she simply responded, "No."

Her answer doused Haley's excitement like a bucket of cold water, and the joy on his face faded instantly.

He glanced hesitantly at Theresa, "Then the child?"

"Let's not talk about this in front of her," Sophia interrupted softly, looking at him. "How have you been feeling lately?"

"Much better," Haley's smile returned to his face, "I've been taking walks every day and even join in the square dances occasionally. I’ve been feeling a lot better now."

Sophia nodded, "That’s good to hear."

Aaron, feeling he was being ignored, quickly steered the conversation back, "When's your husband getting back?"

Sophia looked at him, "You need him for something?"

"Of course, there's something I need from him," Aaron replied straightforwardly, looking at Sophia, " I've recently taken an interest in a construction project by the Frost family and I want to bid on it. I've heard your husband's family has good ties with the Frost family—they were all old money and all. Could you maybe mention it to your husband and see if he could give the Frost family a nudge to leave the project to me?"

"There was a daughter born, how can you say there’s no relationship? I'm the uncle of this child. Aren’t we family? What's wrong with helping each other out? It's not like I've never helped them," Aaron rose to his feet too, "I understand much better than you whether the job is doable. I’ve seen the design plans; I know I am capable of handling the construction, which is why I decided to bid for it."

As he spoke, Aaron pulled out his phone and showed the design plans, "Look at these plans. You studied architectural design; you should know better than me the difficulty of constructing this. If I can't build from such simple plans, I might as well just give up and wait to die."

Sophia ignored him.

"If you’re so capable, then go and bid on your own. Don't expect Brandon to do you any favors—he doesn't owe you or me anything."

Sophia spoke as she bent down to pick up Theresa, saying her farewells to Haley, “Dad, Theresa and I will head back first.”

Having said this, she signaled to the waiter for the check and turned to leave.

Theresa, noticing Aaron still holding up his phone to show her mom, curiously glanced at the screen. Curiosity led Theresa to look at the Aaron’s phone as he tried to show the plans to Sophia. The familiar color scheme and structure in the plans made her blurt out in confusion while looking at Aaron, "Huh? This looks like Mommy's drawing."

Sophia's steps faltered as she instinctively glanced at Aaron's phone. What she saw was the full landscape view of the design plans that Aaron had pulled up, a panoramic on full-screen—it was the same design she had saved on her computer, the one she had planned to give to Renata.

She abruptly turned to Aaron, "Where did you get this design plan?"