The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 8

At the restaurant, Patricia frowned upon seeing Brandon's response and couldn't help but glance at Ivan and Sophia, obviously skeptical. She shot back a message to Brandon. [If he's your guy, what's his name?]

But there was no reply on WhatsApp.

Patricia's face started to cloud over as she waited without a response, and she couldn't help but look at Sophia again.

The gal sitting across from her was just as puzzled and looked at Sophia before turning to Patricia. "What's up?"

She didn't know Sophia or recognize her.

Patricia shook her head. "It's nothing."

But her eyes were still fixed on Sophia, with a touch of petulance and a not-so-quiet voice, not to mention her strong presence. Sophia couldn't help but furrow her brows and instinctively turned around, locking eyes with Patricia.

Patricia was still holding her phone, showing no signs of embarrassment at being caught in the act. She just calmly glanced at Sophia without saying hi.

Sophia didn't make a move to say hi either, just calmly returned her gaze after a brief eye contact.

Ivan looked at her thoughtfully. "An acquaintance?"

Sophia nodded with a smile. "Yeah." She didn't elaborate.

Seeing she wasn't getting a greeting from Sophia, Patricia's face sunk, but she was still perched on her elder's high horse, not quite ready to cross that line. Probably trying to give Sophia a nudge, she picked up her phone again and sent Brandon a voice message. "Brandon, don't cover for Sophia all the time. Busy as you are with work, you still gotta keep an eye on your wife. Sophia's a married woman, after all. I trust she wouldn't do anything untoward, but it would look bad if acquaintances started gossiping."

She didn't bother to lower her voice.

Sophia could hear her, but didn't respond, just sipped her tea as if nothing was amiss.

Still no peep from Brandon on WhatsApp.

Patricia, used to carrying her elder's authority, couldn't stand being ignored by the younger generation and lost her temper. She got up and walked over to Sophia, standing between her and Ivan. She glanced at Ivan as if by accident, then turned to Sophia. "Sophia, who's this?"

She was polite and composed, so Sophia politely introduced him. "This is my senior."

Patricia sized up Ivan from her lofty position and reached out to him. "Hello, I'm Sophia's mother-in-law."

Ivan nodded politely. "Hello."

Patricia didn't get the deference or the panic she expected. She gave Ivan another look, then couldn't help but turn to Sophia. "Sophia, you're a married woman. You should be mindful of how it looks when you're with other men.”

Then she added with an affable smile. "Also, if you need money or anything, just talk to the family. Don't always have your folks come over. Doesn't sound good if it gets out."

Sophia paused with her cup, turned to her. "What money?"

Patricia kept up her dignified gentleness. "The money for buying the villa. It was our oversight, now that you've married into our family."

"Sorry." Sophia stood up, interrupting her, "I'm not aware of this situation. I apologize for any inconvenience caused, and I'll make sure to return every penny once I've sorted it out."

She nodded apologetically to Patricia, then turned to Ivan. "Ivan, I'm sorry, but I have some things to take care of and might have to leave first. Make yourself comfortable."

Ivan stood up. "Do you need help with anything?"

Sophia smiled and declined. "No, thank you, Ivan."

But Ivan had already signaled the waiter. "Where are you headed? Let me drop you off."

"Really, no need, but thank you." Sophia still refused.

Patricia, watching coldly from the sidelines, was visibly upset but tried to keep her temper in check.

Susan, noticing the commotion, hurriedly wrapped up her phone call and came over worriedly. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, I just have to run home for a bit." Sophia looked apologetic at Susan, "Susan, I might have to catch up with you next time I'm in the country."

"That's fine, you do what you need to." Susan pulled her, "When I'm free, I'll fly over to see you."

She pointed at her watch. "Just keep an eye on the time and don't miss your flight."

Sophia nodded. "I know."

Her place was just a few minutes away from the airport by taxi.

When Sophia got home, Aaron and Laura were there, debating over which apartment layout to choose, with most of the plans sprawled across the coffee table.

Seeing Sophia walk in, both were startled, and Laura even looked up at the clock in confusion. "Weren't you supposed to be on a flight this afternoon? Why are you still here?"

Without saying a word, Sophia walked over with an expressionless face, bent down to grab the layout from the table, and ripped it to shreds.

Aaron and Laura were startled by her sudden action and stared at her in shock.

After she started making her own money in college, Sophia thought of regularly sending some to her dad, who wasn't literate enough to handle banking. She gave him a card in her name, but Laura, who held the purse strings at home, turned it into a dedicated card for borrowing money from the Crawley family, all under the pretense that Sophia needed the funds.

When Sophia found out, she paid back the Crawleys with her own money, but because Laura kept promising not to borrow again, the card wasn't immediately canceled. Little did she expect Laura and Aaron to bite off more than they could chew this time.

Laura's face turned stormy on the spot. "After all we've done to bring you up, this is how you repay us?"

Sophia ignored her and whipped out her phone to call the bank to report the card lost.

Laura pulled the card out of her pocket and slammed it onto the table. "If you dare cancel this house, don't bother coming back home."

Sophia glanced at the card on the table, pursed her lips, and reached for it.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Sophia looked up at her. "I'll return the down payment to you, but we can't accept this money."

Laura turned her face away, cold and silent.

Sophia didn't say more. She grabbed the card and was about to leave when Laura lost her temper. "Sophia, if you walk out with that card, don't ever set foot in this house again."

Sophia paused in her tracks.

Haley, who had rushed back upon hearing the news, looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Sophia shook her head slightly, her eyes reddening as she looked at Haley.

"Dad, please take care of yourself."

With that, she left without looking back.

On the way back to the airport, Sophia transferred the money back to Brandon's card intact. After hesitating, she dialed Kent.

"Kent, could you please let Mr. Crawley know that I've transferred the money he sent my brother back to his card? Tell him to check his account."

Kent, who was in a meeting with Brandon and Mr. Evert, hesitated and glanced at Brandon before responding to Sophia on the phone. "Ms. Yearwood, I think it would be better for you to tell Mr. Crawley yourself."

"No need, I'm a bit busy driving right now," Sophia declined. "Just pass my thanks to Mr. Crawley, and let him know that our family won't be needing that money for now, or in the future. If my folks go asking him for money again, tell him not to bother with them."

"Um." Kent chuckled awkwardly, "Mr. Crawley is right here. It's best if you tell him yourself."

Without waiting for Sophia to respond, he quickly handed the phone to Brandon. "Mr. Crawley, Sophia's on the line."