The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 623

Marian and her male companion didn't even notice Brandon trailing behind them. They had already hit the deserted escalator and were making their way upstairs.

The guy shadowed Marian like a bodyguard, nodding slightly, "Yeah, I just got wind of it too."

Although the man's face was unfamiliar, Brandon recognized him. It was Kris Barlow, Marian's brother—the very guy Brandon had been keeping tabs on, pulling out all the stops to strong-arm him back into the country.

But at that moment, Brandon couldn't care less about Kris and Marian. His mind was racing, fixated on the fact that "the night Sophia had her incident, The Royal Marine yacht had docked at Zion City." The news made his heart, which had just settled down, thump wildly again.

He remembered The Royal Marine was Harvey Ferber's yacht, and he had been aboard a few months back.

As the image of stepping out of the elevator and seeing the hospital sign came to mind, Brandon spun on his heel and bolted out of the mall, dialing Kent as he went: "Check up on Harvey Ferber for me, will ya? Where's he hanging out these days? Who's he with? And where's The Royal Marine yacht now?"

Kent, who was en route to school with Don, was taken aback, not getting why Brandon was suddenly on about Harvey Ferber and The Royal Marine yacht again. But it was work-related, and with the Ferber Group and Starlight Group still duking it out over the docks, he didn't dare delay, even though he was worried about Brandon. "Got it, on it now," he said before hanging up. He split ways with Don—Kent to take care of the task at hand, and Don to track down Brandon.

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In the cramped car, Sophia eyed Ivan warily.

She recognized him—the guy who had helped her pick up her hat by the roadside, claiming his name was "Ivan," when she was heading to school that day.

She was about to head into the mall to pick up a suitcase for Amanda when Ivan, out of nowhere, grabbed her arm from behind and, with a curt "I need to talk to you," yanked her away from the mall and into his car.

The car doors were locked in a blink.

Sophia, phone in hand, told him in a calm yet firm tone, "If you don't unlock this door right now, I'm calling the cops."

Perhaps sensing that Ivan was indeed someone from her past, and seeing that his actions, though forceful, didn't seem malicious, Sophia felt no fear or panic, just confusion.

Ivan didn't so much as flinch at her threat, his gaze just as calm, "Sophia, be straight with me, did you lose your memory?"

Sophia met his gaze, silent and guarded.

Ivan pulled out his phone, found a photo of them together in Wye City, and turned the screen towards her, "You really don't remember me?"

She glanced at the phone screen. It showed her and Ivan in graduation robes, standing at the school entrance. They weren't posed side by side, facing the camera in a conventional manner. Instead, they were turned towards each other—she looking up at him, he looking down at her—an intimate snapshot captured in a fleeting moment. It looked candid, yet possibly staged.

Sophia couldn't tell. Her mind drew a blank on any memory related to that photo.

Yet, the two of them exuded a serene, couple-like vibe of college days gone by.

Suddenly, Sophia's heart raced, her face turning pale.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, hesitantly.

"I'm your boyfriend, don't you remember?" Ivan's voice was soft as he looked at her.

"That's impossible!"

"Please, I'm begging you, unlock the door!" She was so weak with her plea that it was almost a cry for help.

Frightened by her reaction, Ivan instinctively hit the central lock.

The moment the door unlocked, Sophia shoved it open and stumbled out, gasping for air. She didn't wait for Ivan to react; instead, she bolted into the nearby West district's Sky Street Shopping Center, not knowing where she was headed, just driven by a pure instinct to escape.

Her instinct to bolt had her panicking and running like a headless chicken, blind to the path and the people around her. She had just dashed towards the entrance of the mall when BAM! She slammed right into someone coming from the opposite direction.

The other person's fancy handbag went flying to the ground.

"Sorry!"

"In a rush to reincarnate, are ya? Charging through a crowd like a bull in a china shop, don't you know you could knock someone over?"

Sophia's apology and the middle-aged woman's irate scolding erupted at the same time.

Although it was the first time Sophia had heard that voice, it instantly gave her a chill to the bone, freezing her in place as if her blood had turned to ice.

She looked up dazedly at the middle-aged woman she had bumped into. Despite being a total stranger, a suffocating feeling seized her heart with a vice-like grip, turning her already pale and frantic face even more ghostly. She instinctively wanted to bolt, but her feet might as well have been frozen solid; she couldn't move an inch.

Patricia Crawley also happened to look up just then, catching sight of Sophia's pale face and disheveled hair. Her own face drained of color in an instant, looking like she had just seen a ghost. She stumbled backwards several steps, turned on her heel to run, but then seemed to remember her pricey bag still lying on the ground. She quickly scooped it up and bolted without looking back, her steps hurried and chaotic, completely forgetting about her lunch plans with Marian.