The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"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 midplaint.

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

This wasn't the skind of surprised and unsure look that the guy who called himself "lvan" 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 cback 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 | 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.

Harvey and Amanda didn't know her before they rescued her, so how could someone who knew Clark recognize her?

With this question in mind, Sophia headed to the second-floor restaurant, only to bump into Amanda who had just finished her

meal.

"Why do you wake up so early?" Amanda sounded surprised to see Sophia, her hand instinctively reaching for Sophia's forehead,

"Still have fever?"

"I'm much better now," Sophia quickly assured her.

"I was thinking you should rest more since you've been under the weather; didn't dare call you for breakfast. Didn't expect you to

be up already." Amanda said, "But it's good you're up. You can get ready; we're heading back to the ship this afternoon.”

Sophia looked at her in surprise, "So soon?"

"Didn't we agree to head back today?" Amanda said with a laugh, "Not too soon, we've already delayed a few days."

Just then, Harvey stepped out of the restaurant and caught their conversation. He looked at Sophia, "You should head back to the

ship with my mom today; if all goes well, we're set to leave port in the next couple of days."

"Yeah, you're still not in the best shape; better get back on the ship and rest." Amanda chimed in with a smile, "Once you're back,

I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

Sophia managed a smile but neither nodded nor shook her head; just softly urged her, "Godmom, it's chilly here; might catch a

cold. You go back to your room and rest; I'll have a quick bite ande find you later."

"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, "Sother 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 cthrough 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 | 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 toe as a guest. We've got performances;

think of it as just watching a show. Can you make it?"