The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 490

Marian couldn't for the life of her remember where she had seen the phone number before, and reality didn't give her the luxury to dwell on it. She quickly whipped out her phone and snapped a pic of the number on Dennis' phone before she ducked out as if nothing happened, and left everything just as it was.

Dennis didn't notice anything amiss when he came out of the room.

"Let's hit the road."

He gave a shout and bent down to grab his phone.

Marian saw that he was none the wiser and finally, she could breathe easy.

She took Dennis to a nearby mall and just picked a restaurant at random to go into.

While they were eating, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. After borrowing a phone from a waiter, she dialed the number she had photographed.

The call went through.

As she waited for the call to connect, her heart was in her throat; she felt so nervous that she was half-tempted to hang up from the nerves, but her curiosity kept her on the line.

The phone rang for ages, and just as she thought no one would pick up and was about to give up, a crisp and familiar "Hello?" came from the other end, and Marian clapped her hand over her mouth in shock.

Hearing no response, the person on the other end repeated a puzzled "Hello? Who's this?" a couple of times before Marian cut the call short. She handed the phone back to the waiter, and rushed off to the restroom.

All night, Marian was on edge.

The next day at work, she was distracted, especially during the meeting. Her mind kept wandering.

Sophia was running the department meeting, and from the moment she stepped into the room, she noticed Marian zoning out.

Marian had ditched her usual fear of making eye contact with Sophia and was instead staring at her, but she was seemingly lost in thought and often drifting away. Even when Sophia was asking questions, she was slow to snap back to reality.

Sophia had to tap her fingers lightly on the table to get Marian's attention before she finally looked up, and Sophia asked in a gentle voice, "Are you feeling alright? If you're not well, go ahead and take a rest."

Marian just hesitated and shook her head, "I'm fine, just didn't get much rest last night."

That's when Don walked in, asking how long the meeting would be because Martin was looking for her.

The name "Martin" made Marian glance reflexively toward the door.

Martin had appeared at some point, standing outside the glass wall of the meeting room, with his gaze fixed on Sophia, and his expression was unreadable.

Marian's heart raced again. Every look from the Frost family towards Sophia sent waves of panic through her, even more intense than the time she plagiarized Sophia's work.

Back then, she still had some hope of getting lucky, trying to convince herself that she was innocent, and that the plagiarism wasn't intentional. She told herself that it was just a mix-up that led the Frost family patriarch to think the designs were hers, and she reluctantly took the blame because she was cornered. But this time was different; she had done it on purpose.

As long as Sophia was around, there was no room for luck.

It was only a matter of time before she got busted.

The fear swelled when she found that Martin was to see Sophia alone.

She couldn't help but watch Sophia nervously, feeling thankful that Sophia seemed just as disinterested in mingling with the Frost family as always.

"I'm not available right now. Whatever it is, he can discuss it with you," Sophia said softly to Don. Her rejection was gentle and not at all forceful.

Don understood Sophia and nodded, "Alright, you carry on then."

Marian's heart, which had been suspended in mid-air, settled slightly with Don's departure, but not by much.

Sophia was practically her nightmare.

She ended the meeting under this nightmarish anxiety.

In the dead of winter, she felt as though she was soaked in cold water, with a chill sweat down her back.

Marian practically bolted for the bathroom as soon as the meeting was over.

At the sink, she unexpectedly ran into Augus, who was there washing his hands.

She looked around - the place was deserted except for him.

Taking a deep breath, she approached under the pretense of washing her hands.

Augus turned and gave her a smile as a greeting when he saw her approach.

Marian returned the smile and slowly turned on the faucet, pondering what to say.