The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 175

Marian really showed up right on the dot, half an hour later.

Don himself went to greet her.

As the two of them made their way over, Sophia was zoning out by the fire, chin in hand.

Marian spotted Sophia by the fire from a mile away. Out of all the people around, she only knew Sophia, so she was super stoked and called out, "Sophia?"

Sophia looked up at the sound of her name and saw Marian standing in the crowd.

She hadn’t dressed up or anything, just rocking a simple burgundy tee with navy blue denim shorts and her hair tossed up in a casual bun. She looked youthful and chill.

Sophia gave her a polite smile in return, just to acknowledge her.

Marian turned to whisper something to Don and then headed towards Sophia with a spring in her step, clearly loving life.

You could tell she was having a good run lately.

Sophia had lost touch with Marian after grad school and didn’t really know what was up with her these days, only heard from Don that she had headed back to the Frost family.

"When did you get back home?"

Marian sat down next to Sophia and hit her with the question, "It’s been ages since I heard from you, had no clue you were back in town."

"Just got back not too long ago," Sophia replied, then turned the question back, "What about you? When did you make it back?"

"Right after graduation," Marian said, pouting a bit, "Martin told me grandpa wasn’t doing too well and kept pestering me to come back, so I had to jet as soon as I finished school."

Sophia thought back to the scene two years ago at the entrance of the academic building, where everyone was fawning over Marian, and of the old man with white hair. Maybe subconsciously craving that kind of family recognition and not getting it made her a bit resistant to the topic, so she just offered a polite smile and didn’t bite.

Marian didn’t seem to mind and, thrilled to have a familiar ear, spilled her guts.

"I was actually hoping to find a job and stay there a while longer. But they kept pushing me, throwing around guilt trips about Grandpa’s regrets and all that jazz. I felt bad, you know? I hadn’t visited in two years, but they were pretty good to me, sent me loads of stuff, helped me out a bunch. I felt like not going back would be biting the hand that fed me."

Marian sighed and pouted again, "And now look at me, back home and bored out of my mind every day. I’m seriously thinking about getting a job."

Then, curious, she asked Sophia, "So, what about you? What are you up to these days? Where are you working?"

"Just architectural design," Sophia said, sidestepping the whole Frost family topic.

She'd thought about finding her own family as a kid but didn't know where to start and had no means to do it, so she had to press that desire down.

In college, she was too busy studying and making ends meet to even think about it.

After college, she married Brandon, spent the first half of the year pregnant and recuperating, with no time for anything else.

Even when she finally had some time in the next year and a half, without any memories or leads in the vast sea of faces, she got nowhere, even after several fruitless trips to the police station.