The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 435

After taking a bow, Marian grabbed the microphone. Her eyes were already moist before she could even speak, as if she was holding back tears.

The rustling from the audience ceased at her gesture.

Everyone looked at her with concern.

"I’m sorry," Marian sniffled, remorsefully addressing the assembly. It took her a moment to steady her emotions before she slowly started, " Standing here today, I want to formally apologize to Miss Sophia. Due to my cowardice, when my family mistakenly believed her work was mine, I failed to correct them immediately, leading to a whole series of misunderstandings."

Brandon's brows furrowed slightly as his gaze bore into Marian.

Marian didn't dare meet Brandon’s eyes and shifted her gaze away, continuing softly, " The company decided to launch this project three months ago, and as I’m an architect and the granddaughter, my brother wanted me..."

Brandon motioned for the microphone from a reporter next to him.

The reporter hesitated but quickly complied, handing the microphone to Brandon.

Testing the microphone with a tap, Brandon raised it to his lips and looked at Marian without a trace of emotion, "Excuse me for the interruption, but please mention your words, Ms. Barlow. Yolanda is Yolanda, and Ms. Barlow is Ms. Barlow. Please don't conflate yourself with Yolanda."

Sophia glanced at Brandon.

He didn't return her back, just calmly stated to Marian on stage, "Additionally, we hope Miss Barlow can give an objective account of the events without making excuses for herself."

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Marian's face, but she bit her lip and continued, "When the company decided to launch this project, Mr. Frost gave me a chance to try. But because my personal style is quite postmodern, I couldn't design something that satisfied Mr. Frost and Louis, and I blamed myself for that. One day, when I was at the office, I went downstairs to meet a friend and saw..."

Marian wanted to say she saw the unclaimed blueprint on the seat but, catching Brandon's intense gaze with the microphone in his hand, she swallowed her words and hesitated before revealing the day's events: "There was an adorable little girl sitting there playing. I thought she was cute, so I went over to make her laugh. She happened to be holding a bottle bag with a blueprint inside. Curious about why such a young child would have it, I wanted to take a look but was interrupted by a manager coming downstairs. I laid the blueprint down to greet them and then left.”

"Later, when I returned, I found the blueprints still on the seat, but the little girl was nowhere to be seen. Thinking it was discarded, I picked it up to throw it away. But when I unfolded it, I was blown away by the design. I guessed it might be important, and worried that the little girl would come back looking for it, so I stuffed it into my bag, planning to return it to her later."

Brandon glanced at the big screen. It was hard to tell if the design was a last-minute effort or something from before. Though it looked quite ordinary, it was indeed tailored to the Frost family's needs.

This revelation tempered the audience's doubt about her having stolen the design purposefully.

Martin, standing aside, looked at her but said nothing.

Seizing the opportunity, Marian apologized, "I'm truly sorry for my timidity at that time, which made me miss the best chance to confess. Later, as the project went ahead, I lost the opportunity to make changes, and my cowardice kept me from admitting my wrongdoing to my family. I inadvertently caused a huge misunderstanding that the Frost family estate’s design was my creation. For the harm and loss this caused Miss Sophia, I profoundly apologize."

Marian bowed deeply to Sophia once more.

Brandon's face darkened, and he picked up the microphone again, turning his gaze to Marian on stage, "Ms. Barlow, since you think this whole thing was just a mix-up, then please allow me to ask, what reason allowed you to neglect addressing this blunder for two months from the moment you got the design until yesterday? Furthermore, even at yesterday's bidding meeting, when all those reporters thought you were the lead designer, what was going through your mind that made you so comfortable accepting the praise? Moreover, you stumbled upon the design draft, not a digital file, but in the presentation Mr. Frost showed yesterday and today, all the images were all digital renderings. So, Ms. Barlow, where did you get those digital versions?"