The Returning Ex

“What are you talking about?” John found himself a spot by the table.

“We’re talking about what happened at the banquet.” There was a pause in the conversation between Sophia and Zack before Sophia smiled.

Her answer reminded John of when he left Sophia alone for a long while back then, which didn’t sit well with him. When he saw her, her head was lifted while her back was leaned against the back of a chair under a tree. The fact that her eyes were closed made her seem like she was sleeping, but it looked pitiful no matter how he thought about it.

A smile bloomed across her face when she saw him, while the resignation and relief in it happened to prick his heart. John gave a noncommittal hum as he withdrew from his memories. “What of it?”

While Zack cast a glance at Sophia, the latter chattered away, “What else could it be other than the promotional video for the schools in the mountains? While a lot of them claimed to feel bad after watching it, we doubt any of it was heartfelt or was it a ruse.”

“While their feelings were sincere, it probably lasted only for a second and would fade from memory as soon as the video ended,” John said while picking up his chopsticks.

she called for Zack to sit down with them while moving the food she liked

upcoming session for donations, which I will still have to put some money in despite having left, so I needed to

anything despite having attended the event would reflect badly

in an alleyway while having to put up with it

of it.” A smile

and would pick on the dishes from time to time. In a low voice, Zack asked as he cast a glance at John, “I bet the Baileys were there as well? They must’ve received an invitation too since they own a company of

Baileys were there too, with Miss Bailey and her

his nose, Zack said half-jokingly, “Miss Bailey sure has been showing herself frequently. Didn’t she used to present herself as a lady? So why would she switch to presenting

before speaking up in a