The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

She remembered that name.

Just a couple of days ago, while on a call in the cafeteria, Kent had mentioned the n— who seemed to be sdrifter.

Marian couldn't for the life of her figure out what a drifter had to do with her dad.

Driven by curiosity, she sneaked closer to the door and pressed her ear tight against it.

She had no clue what was being said on the other end, but she heard Dennis instruct, “No matter what, we've gotta keep on with

the 'live staking" as planned for Jerry's thing.”

Marian’s face went stone-cold.

Being in the biz, she knew all too well what 'live staking’ meant—burying someone alive in the bridge piers, a human sacrifice.

The nJerry rang a bell; he was the foreman for the Star-Dempsey Architects’ Zenitha-style resort project.

She wasn’t hands-on with this project, but Don would spill the beans on the progress every fortnight at the meetings, and the

company bulletin board had all the details on the project leads, so she was no stranger to the name.

But what she couldn't wrap her head around was how her dad got mixed up in this gig.

She was in the know about shiccups the project faced a while back; it was hitting snags, so probably Jerry was banking on ‘live

staking' to break the deadlock and get the ball rolling again.

Since her dad and Starlight Group were at loggerheads, the fact that Starlight Group hit a wall should be music to his ears, so why

on earth would he lend a hand?

A sinister hunch started taking shape in Marian’s head.

Dennis was aiming to fan the flames to take down both Starlight Group and Brandon.

Her heart hammered at the thought.

The room was now quiet. It seemed that Dennis was done with his call, and his footsteps denoted he was heading towards the

door.

Almost in sync, Marian spun around and bolted for the sofa, grabbing her bag and dashing out. As she reached the door, the sound

of it opening echoed behind her. Hastily slipping on her shoes and putting on a composed face, she yanked the door open,

pretending to have just cin from outside.

As she turned back towards the living room, Dennis emerged from the hallway, and they bumped into each other.

Dennis' brows furrowed slightly.

With a calm and surprised look, Marian blurted out, “Dad? Not heading out today?”

“Day off,” Dennis replied, eyeing her, “Why'd you cback so early today?”

“I was just worried you'd be bored to tears all alone at the hotel, and wanted to cback and keep you company,” Marian cooed,

kicking off her heels and padding into the living room barefoot.

Dennis seemed tickled by her charm, and his stern face softened into a smile. “And here | thought you'd forgotten all about us after

landing a new home.”

As he spoke, he made himself comfortable on the sofa.

Marian chuckled, “How could I? Sure, the Frost family was where | was born, but you and mom are the ones who raised me. |

couldn’t forget my roots.”

She hugged Dennis’ shoulder, still playing the sweet daughter, “You and mom are the ones who lovemost in this world.”

“You remember that, huh?”

Dennis feigned annoyance, with one hand grabbing the hand of Marian that was draped over his shoulder, and the other absent-

mindedly striking her thigh.

Marian stiffened slightly; her smile was freezing as she glanced at Dennis.

He still had that fatherly look; his hand on her thigh was perhaps just a subconscious gesture, but the way it caressed her thigh.

Marian felt queasy.

She didn’t want to think ill of Dennis.

He had always been so loving and caring, but his actions over the past couple of years had started to seem off-kilter.

Aside from these untimely touches, everything else seemed normal.

Marian wasn’t sure if she was overthinking, but these missteps made her recoil from and dread contact with Dennis, which made

her situation within the Barlow family rather delicate.

On one hand, they were her loving family; on the other, these pure familial bonds seemed tainted with something revolting.

She feared that staying in that house would shatter the image of Dennis as a father in her heart, which she couldn't cope with.

So when Martin approached her to partner up and enter the Frost family as Yolanda, she didn’t hesitate. When asked to return to

her country, she readily agreed.

For her, maintaining physical distance from Dennis and having fewer interactions with him would help preserve the fatherly image

in her heart forever.

They still stayed in touch often and video calls, and their familial bond hadn't changed.

This was their first face-to-face meeting since she had cback.

Things had been fine the past few days, so much so that she'd forgotten Dennis’ possibly intentional, or possibly unintentional

actions.

But now, as his hand once again moved back and forth on her thigh like it used to, Marian felt her stomach turn.

Yet, she was afraid of overreacting, and worried that it might make things awkward for Dennis too.

Forcing a smile, she continued to playfully address Dennis, “I've always known that you and mom are the world's best parents.”

She made a point of stressing the words "dad and mom."

Dennis glanced at her with feigned irritation, “You're all talk, aren't you. | haven't seen you around to check on your mom and me

for ages.”

“I've been swamped with work,” Marian protested, “Look, even with my crazy schedule, | made tto be with you.”

She straightened up and nudged Dennis, “Go get changed, and I'll treat you to sgrub from the West district.”

Dennis looked at her with indulgent eyes.

“All you think about is eating.”

Though he complained, he obligingly got up to change.

He casually tossed his phone on the coffee table.

Marian watched Dennis close his door before she tentatively tapped his phone to life.

She knew his password - Dennis was totally smitten with her, and never put up any walls around her.

She breezed through the lock with zero hassle.

Daring not dawdle, Marian quickly flipped to Dennis’ most recent calls. The latest one was just a string of digits, no nsaved,

but it kinda rang a bell.

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMwWLHIOfiflO&1

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMyWL11I01F1081

mMMwWLIIOfiflO&1