The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 617

"Are you blind or something? There's plenty of room to move over..."

The man's grumbling voice cut through the air but stopped abruptly mid-complaint.

Sophia just happened to look up, catching the man staring at her with a mix of shock and confusion.

This wasn't the same kind of surprised and unsure look that the guy who called himself "Ivan" had that day. Ivan was a cocktail of delight and doubt. But this dude was looking at her like he'd seen a ghost, with a layer of bewilderment over his shock, as if he wasn't quite sure who she was.

Sophia was kinda taken aback by his stare.

The guy was a total stranger to her too, but something about the way he was eyeing her sent chills down her spine.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but her hand subconsciously tightened inside her sleeve. The man didn't say anything, just kept sizing her up with those slightly creepy callous eyes, his gaze murky and mixed with a touch of confusion, as if he couldn't fathom why she was there.

His look only deepened Sophia's puzzlement, but she wisely kept her mouth shut, not wanting to spill the beans about her amnesia.

She didn't bother with the stranger anymore and, seeing that the elevator doors had closed again, she stepped forward to press the button once more.

The stranger stopped eyeing her and turned to walk down the corridor.

Sophia frowned slightly, his reaction didn't seem like he recognized her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Clark stepping out of a room, phone in hand, chatting away as he walked. He looked up and seemed to spot the stranger across the way. Sophia saw him pause for a second, but his expression hardly changed, just a fleeting glance over the stranger before his eyes landed on her.

The stranger turned to look at her again, still sporting that puzzled and thoughtful look.

"Ms. Bright." Clark suddenly greeted her with a smile, "Heading out?"

Sophia gave him a surprised look. She hadn't interacted much with Clark, but he always called her "Ms. Yearwood".

She sneaked another glance at the stranger from the corner of her eye and replied with a smile, "Yeah, just going down for breakfast."

Clark also smiled, "Just came back from eating myself. Ran into Mrs. Ferber; she was fussing about not disturbing you; told you to sleep in. Didn't expect you to be up this early too."

"Couldn't sleep, so I got up," Sophia said, noting the elevator doors reopening. She politely bid Clark farewell and stepped into the elevator.

Using the moment of turning around, Sophia stole another glance at the stranger, nonchalantly. He was still looking at her, the confusion in his eyes growing more evident.

Sophia furrowed her brow in wonder. From the stranger's reaction upon seeing Clark, it seemed like he knew Clark, even though Clark's response didn't suggest he recognized the stranger.

"Alright, don't you catch a cold either," Amanda said, after giving a few more words of caution, she left first.

Sophia turned to Harvey, "Mr. Ferber, I'd like to have a word with you."

Harvey glanced at his watch, a slight frown creasing his brow, "Some other time, I'm tied up right now."

With an apologetic nod to her, he hurried off.

Sophia's phone rang just then. It was President Poe calling; Sophia answered.

"Ms. Bright, how's the coordination going with Brandon for the design draft?" President Poe's voice came through the line, cheerful with faint celebratory music in the background.

Sophia vaguely remembered, today was the school centennial event for West District High.

"Still working on it," Sophia said diplomatically, thinking of Brandon's unanswered messages.

"No worries, no rush either." President Poe said cheerfully, assuming she and Brandon were still exchanging revision ideas, "I didn't call to rush you today. It's the school's centennial, and I was hoping you could swing by, sit down with the other teachers and leaders while they're all here, chat about the science museum project. You don't have to come as a guest. We've got performances; think of it as just watching a show. Can you make it?"