The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

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 cout 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?"

cfrom 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 n"Martin" made Marian glance reflexively toward the door.

Martin had appeared at spoint, 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 tshe plagiarized Sophia's work.

Back then, she still had shope 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 blbecause she was cornered. But this twas 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 tbefore 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.

Noticing her pale face, Augus couldn't help but frown, and asked out of colleague concern, "You don't look like yourself. Everything

okay?"

Marian smiled and shook her head, "I'm fine."

Augus smiled back, "Glad to hear it."

Turning off the tap and grabbing spaper towels to dry his hands, he said with that ssmile, "Well, | should get back to it."

Marian nodded, still smiling, "Sure."

She continued washing her hands, only lifting her head to watch Augus in the mirror as he tossed the towel and turned to leave.

"Augus," Marian suddenly blurted out, calling after him with a rush of urgency, as if she was afraid she'd back out.

Augus looked back at her in surprise.

Without turning around, Marian just met his gaze in the mirror.

"About that call last night, it was me."

There was a momentary freeze on Augus' face, but it was quickly replaced by a sunny smile, "What are you talking about?"

Marian turned off the faucet and faced him, "I'm a Barlow too."

Augus' smile wavered. His eyes were taking on a calculating and cautious look, yet he remained on alert and quickly flashed his

trademark grin, "I know that."

Marian walked towards him, her voice low enough for just the two of them, "Then do you know my dad's nis Dennis Barlow?"

That wiped the smile off Augus' face.

But he said nothing, and just stared intently at Marian.

He couldn't gauge her stance, and had no clue what she was up to.

Marian smiled at him, keeping her voice down, "Don't freak out, I'm not here to cause trouble."

Augus remained silent, watching her intently.

Casually, Marian asked, "So, how do you know my dad?"

"lI don't know your dad."

Augus finally responded by politely denying it, but without the easygoing demeanor from before.

Without sweating it one bit, Marian just flashed him a sweet smile and said, "I've got proof, you know."

Augus eyed her for a hot minute before finally spilling the beans, "What's your gplan here?"

Marian glanced around with a hint of suspicion and didn't lay her cards on the table.

"I'm feeling a bit woozy, gonna head downstairs for sfresh air."

No sooner had she finished talking than she was already making tracks to the elevator.

Watching her disappear down the hallway, Augus fell silent for a spell, and then pivoted and made a beeline for the stairs.

On her way, Marian shot him a message, telling him she'd be waiting in a deserted alley not far from the office.

By the tAugus got there, Marian had already been on pins and needles waiting.

Once out of the company's watchful eye, Augus dropped the act.

He approached her and said, "What are you really after?"

The smile she had earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Marian pursed her lips slightly and gazed at him, "Can we swap out the fall guy you've got lined up?"

Augus snapped his attention to her, with his gaze turning wary again.

He hadn't expected her to be clued in on that, which threw him for a loop.

But Marian just looked at him fearlessly, and slowly broke into a grin, "After all, you guys just wanna stir the pot, so as to take down

the company and Brandon, right? You've already got a scapegoat, so whoever it is won't stop you from getting off scot-free. Why

not do a good deed while you're at it?"

"So, who do you want to switch in?" Augus finally asked.

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