The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"Probably by giving a lump sum of money to the kid's mom, asking her to take the child and vanish, pretending the kid doesn't

exist. But my brother would never agree to that; he might not care for the child's mother, but he would never give up on his kid -

after all, it's his own child, so | guess in the end they might pay off the kid's mom and take the child back."

Yvonne then gave an awkward chuckle to Sophia, "But hey, I'm just shooting the breeze here. It's not like it's for sure my brother's

kid. How could he cheat, right?"

Sophia forced a smile but replied seriously to Yvonne, "Your brother's not like that. He wouldn't cheat."

Sophia's confidence took Yvonne by surprise. "Wow, you really believe in my brother, huh?"

"Your brother's a stand-up guy. He wouldn't do anything to hurt the family. Don't jump to conclusions."

Sophia's words made sense to Yvonne, and she tilted her head in thought. "True. My brother's the type who didn't even bother

dating before. How could he have an affair? Besides, that woman isn't exactly a knockout, and she looks older than him too."

But then Yvonne thought about the unusual tenderness Brandon showed towards the child and couldn't shake the feeling

something was off. A shocking possibility popped into her head, and her mouth dropped open.

Sophia watched Yvonne's expressions and couldn't quite figure out what was going through her mind, but she was sure it wasn't

any clever deduction.

Sophia hadn't spent much twith Yvonne, but remembered her as a bit of a ‘beautiful airhead'—a nicknlovingly used by

those around her. Yvonne never took offense; instead, she embraced her persona.

Sure, she had a bit of a princess attitude, but she was pretty straightforward, a total romantic, always speaking and acting on

impulse, without much thought to others’ feelings or reading the room.

It wasn't on purpose. She was just a bit clueless.

So, Sophia didn't take Yvonne's blunt words too seriously.

But now, seeing the changing expressions on her face, Sophia figured Yvonne was probably jumping to conclusions again. Just as

she was about to speak up, Yvonne turned around, her face full of shock, and blurted out, "Sophia, do you think my brother hooked

up with someone while drunk?"

Sophia didn't say anything.

Seeing Sophia's silence, Yvonne beceven more convinced she was right.

That would explain why her brother and Sophia split so suddenly, why he doted on a little girl he barely knew, and why the child's

mother seemed like an odd match.

Sophia cleared her throat and said, "Um, | think you might have the wrong idea about your brother."

"He's not like that," Sophia continued, "He's always been fond of kids. Maybe he just clicked with that little girl. She likes him, and

he didn't want to let her down—it's just about making a kid happy."

This made sense to Yvonne again. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"You know your brother best. He's always been on the straight and narrow. How could he have a love child on the side? And he's

always been able to hold his liquor. When have you ever seen him passed out drunk?"

Sophia added this to reinforce her perspective, hoping to prevent Yvonne from impulsively probing into Brandon and Theresa's

relationship.

Yvonne, easily swayed, nodded in agreement. "True. There's no way my brother would do something like that."

Sophia stayed silent.

Her stop was coming up.

Yvonne dropped her off at the entrance to her apartment complex, said goodbye, and left.

Though Yvonne was nosy, she didn't have much else to talk about with Sophia, nor did she feel that familial warmth.

Sophia was used to it, politely thanked her, and went on her way.

Inside the Crawley family home, Daniel watched the elevator doors close and turned to Brandon with a less-than-pleased

expression. "Why were you with that..."

He instinctively wanted to say "that woman" but caught himself as he saw Brandon's icy stare and clammed up, changing his

question. "What's Sophia doing here?"

"It's none of your business."

Brandon's chilly response cas he looked at Daniel and Patricia, "Is there something you want?"

He didn't seem to invite either of them in.

Daniel's temper flared. "What's with your attitude? We call this way, and you won't even let us in?"

"No." The refusal was calm and direct.

Daniel was speechless.

Seeing her son and husband on the verge of another clash, Patricia quickly stepped in to mediate. "Alright, alright, let's talk this

out. You two always have to go at each other."

She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the injury on Brandon's hand, her expression changing. "What happened to your

hand?"

She moved to grab his hand to inspect it but was brushed off by Brandon before she could touch him.

Patricia was beside herself with worry. "Letsee it. How can you not take care of such a big wound?"

She tried to go inside to find smedicine to treat him, her concern looking genuine.

Brandon gave her a complex look.

Although not very close to Patricia, she had taken good care of him since he was young.

When he was sick and in the hospital as a child, she was always hands-on, treating him and Yvonne without favoritism.

From a mother's standpoint, Patricia was a responsible parent.

But when it cto how she treated Sophia.

Brandon pursed his lips, extended his arm to block the doorway, and stopped Patricia from entering.

"I'll take care of it later," he said, looking at Patricia and Daniel, "Whatever you have to say, just say it. I'm busy."

Patricia could tolerate his attitude, but Daniel couldn't, and his temper erupted.

"Are you going to be at odds with us forever because of that woman?"

"I'm not at odds with anyone," Brandon replied calmly to Daniel, "Dad, | just want to ask you one thing. If Sophia and | were to get

back together."

"No way." Daniel cut him off right there, "There's no way I'm letting you two tie the knot again. Her family is nothing but a hot

mess."

"What if I'm dead set on marrying her?"

"Over my dead body. There's no way I'm letting her back into the Crawley family."

"Why do you have such a big beef with her?"

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