The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate



"Stop your waterworks." He whispered softly. After a quick glance outside the door, he took a moment before turning back to her, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier. This whole mess is my fault, and you're totally caught in the crossfire."

Marian bawled even louder, looking utterly wronged. Martin handed her some tissues, "Dry those tears, will ya?"

Pausing briefly, Marian silently took the tissues and blew her nose with a vengeance.

"You know how much Yolanda meant to us." Martin continued, "And to end up like this is really hitting us hard."

He trailed off, voice faltering.

Sniffling again, Marian finally spoke up hoarsely, "I get it. It's just hard to swallow this turn of events, plus Sophia's my classmate and colleague. It's just a lot."

Her voice choked up, and she couldn't finish.

Martin fell silent for a while, and then asked, "What's your game plan now?"

Marian hesitated, her eyes fleeting towards Louis with a look of reluctance, and then in a low voice she began, "I guess I'll move out."

Martin nodded, "Might be for the best; give us all some space to process this."

Marian seemed taken aback by his quick agreement, giving him a subconscious glance.

Martin met her gaze, "I'll find you a place nearby. You can crash there for a while. Until everyone settles down a bit, you can..."

He didn't finish his thought.

Marian just nodded quietly, "Okay."

She didn't push back on it. Most of the time, she was all about being sweet and understanding the bigger picture.

Martin turned to Gerald, Rachel and Louis, "Dad, Mom, Grandpa, I'm gonna have Marian stay somewhere else for a bit."

Louis looked up briefly, offering neither a nod nor a word. He was a bundle of raw emotions, feeling under the weather, and without a word, he got up and retreated to his room.

Marian's face was etched with disappointment. Martin gave her a reassuring look. She received it with her eyes, managing a weak smile in response. Martin returned a half-hearted smile, but as his eyelids drooped again, the smile in his eyes faded, replaced by a cold emptiness.novelbin

Brandon was driving aimlessly, foot heavy on the gas, his handsome face taut with tension.

The past few days, he'd been running on the fierce determination to clear Sophia's name, his brain too busy to face reality.

Now that it was over, the adrenaline crashed, leaving him feeling empty again, lost, clueless about where to go, and what to do next.

After numbingly speeding, he slammed the brakes and pulled over by the riverbank, his gaze shifting towards the vast expanse of water, feeling an ever-growing void in his chest.

He took out the white jade necklace, dangling it from his fingertips, staring at it motionless.

Sophia's face seemed to materialize on the necklace: her at 5 years old with wide, curious eyes, at 17 looking up to see him at the bus station with a slow spreading joy, at 22 shocked during an unexpected encounter at class reunion, nervous when their eyes met in her small apartment that night, astonished when he proposed, the countless quiet moments watching him during their marriage, tearfully whispering, "Brandon, let's get a divorce," and the aloof, distant her of the past two years.

Each memory formed a chain of her lonely, unloved existence.

Brandon remembered after a long period of polite estrangement, she had asked him softly, "Brandon, did you ever really love me?" Before that, during an argument upon learning she was Don's recommended designer, she had asked if he ever loved her.

Not once had he told her. He loved her, deeply, ceaselessly. Otherwise, he wouldn't still be entangled with her.

The affection he felt for her since high school had been like a drizzle, silently seeping into his marrow, but he realized too late, understood too late. Their story wasn't supposed to end like this. He hadn't even had the chance to tell her he loved her.

Familiar warmth flooded his eyes again. Brandon's throat tightened; he carefully put away the necklace, and looked back out at the endless river. His other hand released the handbrake, about to start the car when his phone rang.

Almost without thinking, Brandon snatched the phone and hit the answer button. "Hello?"

It had become a reflex for him lately.

"Hi, am I speaking with a relative of Ms. Sophia Yearwood?" A young woman's voice came through.

"Yeah, I am." Brandon's voice tightened, his grip on the phone involuntary, "Who's this?"

"Hi there, I work at the DIY craft store. Ms. Yearwood made something last week and hasn't come to pick it up. We couldn't reach her by phone, so we're trying to contact you. Could you come to pick it up, please?" She spoke politely.

Brandon's flicker of hope burst like a bubble.

"Sure, I'll be right there," he said softly, hanging up.