The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 432

Marian had completely forgotten about the bracelet she was clutching tightly in her palm. It wasn't until her current “mother” cautiously attempted to remove it that she remembered the her little sister who was still waiting for her in the snowy wilderness.

Her current “mother” asked if she could take a look at the bracelet, but she shook her head in terror, fearing the woman might return to find her sister and abandon her.

She still remembered when she and her sister were snatched up by the “scar-faced uncle” and brought to a couple dressed in slightly shabby clothes. The lady had initially wanted to take her away, but when she saw the other girl who arrived later, she changed her mind and wanted to take her sister instead. If it wasn't for scar-face demanding more cash, her sister would have been taken away.

In her eyes, being taken away by the couple had to be better than sticking with scar-face and getting beaten and starved.

So, when faced with the auntie's concerned and curious questions, she hesitated and clutched the bracelet even tighter, too scared to show it or to tell her that the girl was still out there waiting for her.

Her current mother didn't press to see it; she just told her that if it was so important to her, she should take good care of it and not lose it.

She nodded uneasily, agreeing, and gripped the bracelet even tighter in her hand, afraid to let go.

The beads dug into her palm, getting tighter and tighter. Suddenly, they seemed to morph into a snake, slithering out from between her fingers as if they had a mind of their own, hissing ominously at her, its face slowly shifting into that of that girl.

With a scream, Marian awoke: "Ah."

She sat up in a cold sweat, her voice echoing through the night.

Frantically, she glanced at the bracelet on her wrist, as if they were some sort of monster, and in a panic, she tore them off and flung them aside.

Urgent knocking sounded from outside her door.

"Yoli, what happened?"

It was Gerald and Rachel's voices.

Marian, somewhat regaining her composure, looked toward the door, still shaken, but told them, "Nothing, I just had a nightmare."

"Are you sure you are okay?"

Martin, who had also come, watched Marian with a complex look but remained silent.

Without a word, Rachel stepped forward and gently hugged her, whispering in her ear, "It's all in the past now."

Marian didn't respond, letting herself be held, her eyes wide with shock, still caught in the lingering horror of her nightmare.

Her heart raced, cold sweat broke out on her back in waves, and her mind was filled with the sister she'd deliberately forgotten from her snowy childhood.

The memory, vague and distant, was unclear—whether it was real or just a part of her dreams, she couldn't discern. Perhaps because that memory held a life, she always subconsciously avoided revisiting it.

She had almost forgotten why she had treasured the bracelet since childhood. It turned out it wasn't because they were precious to her, but because she was afraid of people seeing it. She had always clutched the bracelet, afraid to show them to anyone, not realizing that her current parents mistook them as being very important to her and had always encouraged her to wear it.

Time and intentional forgetfulness had eroded its meaning, leaving her to only remember it as something she had worn since childhood.