The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"l just can't stop worrying about her," Amanda grumbled.

"Then find a way to calm yourself down. No one is obligated to shoulder your anxieties," said Harvey Ferber. "Don't et how you

pushed your own daughter to the brink."

Amanda's face turned ghostly pale.

"Love isn't wrong, but excessive love is suffocating. Trying to make up for your guilt about your daughter through her is your

business, but you'd better know when to stop, or you'll end up scaring her away."

With that, Harvey Ferber fell silent and turned back to his room.

Sophia took a cab straight to the mall.

Her contact had already booked a private room at the restaurant.

When Sophia walked into the room, President Poe was already waiting.

Seeing Sophia enter, he stood up enthusiastically, smiled, and extended both hands to greet her: "Hello, are you Ms. Arlene

Bright?"

"Hello," Sophia replied, extending her hand for a polite shake.

President Poe studied Sophia, smiling, "I didn't expect Ms. Bright to be so young."

Sophia offered a courteous smile but didn't engage further. Perhaps due to her lack of past memories, she didn't feel a strong

connection to the identity of "Ms. Bright."

Arlene was the temporary identity Harvey Ferber had given her.

She had been rescued and brought on board the ship without any identification.

At the time, she had a cerebral contusion that couldn't be cleared, and faced the risks associated with a craniotomy. Harvey Ferber

had already arranged for the next port of call, along with hospital and surgical preparations.

But without any identification or visa, she couldn't enter another country.

So, to get her off the ship for surgery smoothly, Harvey Ferber lent her Arlene's passport and visa, allowing her to enter the foreign

country under Arlene's identity.

She had seen Arlene in the passport photo—similar in demeanor, face shape, and features, and close in age, which made the

transfer to the local hospital smooth. Although the surgery was later deemed unnecessary, the identity of Arlene remained with

her.

Harvey Ferber had managed all this while Sophia spent most of the tunconscious, so she was unaware of these arrangements.

Later, when she had finally recovered enough energy and strength to face the world, Harvey Ferber filled her in.

He told her she had no identification and that he had to use Arlene's identity for the tbeing. From now on, she could only

temporarily be Arlene.

"Who's Arlene?"

Sophia remembered weakly asking Harvey Ferber.

His face momentarily flashed an indifferent chill.

"A woman who tossed her own nand identity aside," he had said.

"So, you can do whatever it takes. It'll make it easier for you to navigate the world. The photo's been temporarily swapped for

yours," Harvey Ferber explained. "From now on, you're Arlene, and Arlene is you. | don't mind letting the whole world know Arlene's

still around, but one thing's for sure, you can't let this identity get tainted."

So, up to this point, she was still just Arlene, and only temporarily so.

The existence of this identity allowed her to live like a normal person.

But correspondingly, Harvey Ferber wouldn't let her walk away from his sphere of influence with this identity, as without his

control, he couldn't ensure the identity remained unblemished.

Sophia was well aware that as her health returned, she would have to gradually shed Arlene's identity.

So now, faced with President Poe's warm greeting as "Ms. Bright," Sophia could only respond with polite smiles, unable to feel a

strong sense of belonging.

President Poe didn't catch on to this. Once seated and having ordered, he warmly voiced his and the school leadership's approval

of the design proposal, as well as their admiration for her talent.

Whether the other party was just schmoozing for business or genuinely appreciated her work, Sophia was pleased. It was like

finding her own little place in this strange new world.

"However," President Poe wrinkled his brow with concern after the warm praise, "it's like this: because the school has limited funds,

the science museum is actually fully funded by a generous alumni donation. This alumnus is quite young and successful, with

strong opinions, and hispany also does architectural design, with a professional eye. So, he attached a condition to his

donation, wanting to review the design plans for the science museum. We really like your design, but we'll need to run it by him."

"That's fine," Sophia nodded, not seeing any issue with that condition.

"Great, then would it be okay if | shared your Whatwith them, so they can directly discuss any necessary tweaks to the design

with you?" President Poe asked, a bit sheepishly. "I'm just a teacher; | don't have a professional eye for architectural design, so |

think it's best to let the pros handle it and have them liaise directly with you."

Sophia nodded again: "That's fine."

She liked the idea of working directly with the decision-makers, which could cut out a lot of pointless middleman chatter.

"That's settled, then. I'll hook you two up after | touch base with them," said President Poe, relieved by Sophia's easygoing

response, and they firmed up the arrangement.

Sophia nodded in agreement: "Alright."

After dinner, President Poe couldn't wait to hit up Kent, spilling the beans that they had snagged a killer proposal for the science

museum. They'd already had a face-to-face with the designer, who was cool with letting the plans go for a song. The bigwigs at the

school were all jazzed about rolling with this blueprint, and as for the nitty-gritty tweaks, they figured they could hash that out with

the designer later.

Kent was blindsided by President Poe's sudden score on the design front, and he wasn't about to give the green light just like that.

Since the science museum was being donated in Sophia's honor, Brandon would have to vet every aspect of its design and

reputation, making sure it wouldn't catch even a whiff of bad press.

"Lethuddle with Mr. Crawley first and circle back to you, okay?" Kent said with a smile.

"Sure thing, sure thing," President Poe chuckled. "If it's cool with you, maybe you could also loop in Mr. Crawley for a meal?"

"No sweat," Kent grinned. "I'll sync up with Mr. Crawley and we'll let you know."

After wrapping up the call, Kent rang Brandon to give him the lowdown.

Brandon was en route to West District High with Theresa when he got the news, his brow furrowing instantly: "They've settled on a

design?"