The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Augus watched Marian's figure fade into the distance before turning on his heel and heading out in another direction. He casually

popped into a drugstore along the way to pick up sstomach medicine.

By the the got back to the office, everyone was already up to their eyeballs in work.

Cindy was standing by her desk, involved in a discussion with Sophia about sdesign plans. As she caught sight of Augus

strolling by, she couldn't help but look up and flash a smile, "Thought you'd clocked out for the day. You've been MIA for a hot

minute."

"Just went to grab smeds," Augus replied, giving a little shake of the stomach medicine in his hand. "Not sure if | ate

something funky at lunch, but I've been running to the loo non-stop. My legs have gone numb from squatting too much, so |

dashed out to grab this bad boy."

Sophia, amidst her busy schedule, spared him a glance, "If you're feeling rough, you might wanna hit up a doc, don't put it off too

long."

"I'm good," Augus reassured, giving the medicine another shake for emphasis, "Got the cure right here, I'll be right as rain once it

kicks in."

Sophia nodded and went back to her business.

Just then, Marian burst in, arms loaded with two hefty bags of coffee. Thunking them down on the desk, she said, "Treat time, folks.

coffee's on me!"

As she spoke, she began passing out the drinks to everyone nearby.

Grateful colleagues took their cups with thanks; one chimed in, chuckling, "You went all the way downstairs just for coffee?"

"Yep. Made a special trip to the cafe downstairs. Aren't | the best?" Marian said with a laugh, continuing to hand out the drinks.

Sophia shot her a look but said nothing more; after finishing up her conversation with Cindy, she headed back to her office.

As soon as she walked in, her phone rang. It was Kent.

The reminder of asking him to look into Nell hit her. She closed her office door behind her and moved toward the window before

answering, "Hello?"

"Ms. Yearwood, I've checked with everyone | know in Zion City and the local police stations, and there's no news about any

homeless person named Nell; haven't seen a trace of him," Kent reported with a weighty tone.

Sophia paused, her movements halting slightly.

"Checked everywhere?" she asked, frowning, "Any chance something slipped through the cracks?"

"No, | even made a personal visit to the station to double-check," Kent assured, "No record of any assistance for a homeless man,

no sign of this guy."

"Have you reached out to Jerry and Tomas yet?" Sophia inquired.

"Not yet."

"Hold off on that, something smells fishy here."

"Alright."

"Does Brandon know about this?" Sophia asked.

"Haven't filled in Mr. Crawley yet."

Sophia thought for a moment, "Maybe give him a heads-up, my gut says something's off with this whole situation."

"Okay."

Kent nodded and, after hanging up, he rose and headed toward Brandon's office before he knocked on the door.

"Cin."

A familiar deep voice called from inside.

Kent pushed the door open.

Brandon was swamped with work at his desk.

"What's up?" he asked without looking up.

"There's something that | feel you should be briefed on."

Kent approached Brandon and laid out the whole situation with Nell; Brandon's brow visibly furrowed.

"How'd this cto light?" Brandon looked up and asked after hearing the rundown.

"Sophia stumbled upon it a few days ago while on a business trip to Zion City," Kent explained, "She initially suggested that Tomas

and Jerry should get Nell an ID card, to get him officially registered. But by the end of her trip, Jerry hadn't done it, and Nell had

vanished. Sophia got antsy and poked around a bit more. Jerry said he'd handed Nell over to the police, who were supposedly

contacting his hometown to take him back. Sophia askedto use my contacts to check, but it turned out he never made it to

any station."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Report it to the police."

Brandon declared.

Kent nodded, "Will do."

He left Brandon's office.

As Brandon watched the door close, his brows were still knit together, and his expression was grave.

Star-Dempsey Architects

Marian's expression was equally serious, her eyes anxiously flicking over to Augus.

Augus seemed to be lost in his work, not showing any immediate concern about the urgency of getting Nell back.

But Marian was freaking out.

After wrestling with her thoughts, she grabbed her phone and headed for the restroom.

On her way, she glanced at the company's bulletin board on purpose. With her gaze lingering on the words "Construction Manager:

Jerry," she memorized the number listed.

She hurried downstairs, switched to a different phone, and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

A stranger's voice cthrough from the other end.

"Is this Jerry?" Marian asked.

"Yes, who's this?" the voice on the other end responded cautiously, laced with confusion.

Marian skipped the pleasantries and dived right into business, "Jerry, didn't you say that you left Nell at the station, and that the

cops were in touch with his hometown to get him back? I've looked into it, and there's no record of any homeless guy named Nell

being taken in."

Jerry's composure cracked at the other end, but he tried to regain his cool, and hesitantly ventured, "Director Yearwood?"

It was the only connection he could make since he'd only discussed this with Sophia.

"lI work under her," Marian clarified, "She's tied up in a meeting and askedto call. What's the real scoop with Nell? Spit it out, or

we're going straight to the cops."

Jerry forced a laugh, "No need to trouble Director Yearwood or the police. We did hand Nell over to the authorities, but not the ones

in Zion City. The thing is, Nell didn't want to go back, and he's now in the process of getting his ID sorted out."

"Is Nell at the construction site right now?"

Not quite able to grasp her angle, Jerry asked nervously, "Is there a problem?"

Marian replied, "Send him back to the construction site now. Director Yearwood's got eyes there too. If no one spots Nell before

quitting time, we'll have no choice but to call the cops."

After hanging up, Marian clutched her phone tightly to her chest and kept taking deep breaths to calm the racing of her heart

caused by the guilt of her misdeeds.

As quitting tapproached, Kent also got a call from the construction site, which reported an update on Nell.

After hearing the report, Kent's brows furrowed in surprise.

Not wanting to waste a second, he got up to find Brandon as soon as the call ended.

Brandon was still swamped with work. Hearing Kent enter, he spoke in a cool and collected tone, "What's up?"

"The site just called. The cops have been there to snoop around, and they found Nell," Kent explained. "He's now tagging along

with the police to sort out his ID."

Brandon paused momentarily before he looked up at him, "So Nell's been at the site all this time?"

Kent nodded, "According to Tomas, on those days when Sophia asked about it, Jerry did hand Nell over to the police, just not the

Zion City ones. Since Nell didn't want to go back and he can fend for himself, Jerry let him return to the site. They're also prepping

his paperwork for an ID, as per the police's request."

Brandon's frown deepened as he mulled it over; everything seemed to make sense.

"Step out for a minute," he said.

Kent nodded and turned to leave.

"Hold up," Brandon called out to him.

Kent looked back, puzzled.

Brandon demanded, "Change the construction crew."

Kent fell into silence.

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