The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 413

Theresa was a bit bummed but still nodded, letting out an unenthusiastic "Oh" before she bowed her head silently and slipped off her shoes, looking all obedient and kinda pitiful.

Brandon's heart softened, and he turned around to pat her head.

"I'll will take you out with me."

"Really?"

Theresa's little face lit up with joy, her eyes shining with surprise.

Brandon chuckled and stroked her head again, "Of course, when have I ever fibbed to you?"

Theresa, reassured, was over the moon and quickly sat down to slip her shoes back on.

Sophia followed Ivan into the inner venue.

The bidding meeting hadn't officially kicked off yet, so the guests were all chill, munching on buffet treats and shooting the breeze with each other.

They were all real estate industry insiders, pretty much all familiar faces.

Ivan, as the Evert Group's big cheese, wasn't a regular on the scene, but there were still folks who recognized him.

Seeing him come in, a short, portly middle-aged man near the door stretched out his hand with a grin and headed toward Ivan, eagerly shaking his hand, "Long time no see, where've you been hiding these past few years?"

"Hit the books for a couple of years," Ivan replied with a smile, shaking his hand, "How's the health, Mr. Porter? Doing good?"

"All good," the chubby man replied with a laugh, "How's your dad? Haven't seen him around today."

"He's been wiped out lately, resting up at home," Ivan responded with a smile.

"Got to take it easy, can't run yourself ragged," the man said, laughing, before he noticed Sophia standing next to Ivan and asked, surprised, "When did you tie the knot? You didn’t even give me a heads-up."

Just then, Marian, who had just walked in through a side door, instinctively looked over upon hearing the conversation and her expression subtly changed when she saw Sophia and Ivan in the hall.

Sophia's attention was all on the portly man in front of her.

She awkwardly explained, "Ivan and I are just colleagues."

Ivan also smiled and smoothly changed the subject, "If I were really getting hitched, I definitely wouldn't miss out on your gift."

She quickly sidestepped, pressing against the table to avoid the oncoming trolley, but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an elderly man next to her and quickly reached out to grab the trolley to prevent it from hitting him.

Sophia managed to hold the trolley steady, but the sudden stop caused the drinks to splash all over the place, dousing her light-colored chiffon work outfit with a rainbow of juice stains.

Ivan was already at her side, and without thinking, he took off his jacket and draped it over Sophia.

The shaken server immediately came over to apologize.

Ivan asked him, "Where can we change?"

"Right this way."

The server promptly responded, directing another female server to lead them to the changing room.

Just as they followed the female server out the side door, Brandon walked in through the front entrance with Theresa in tow, scanning the hall and not spotting Sophia, his brows knitting together slightly.

Martin, who happened to be testing the equipment on stage, looked up and saw Brandon at the door. His brows also furrowed with confusion.