The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 145

At the airport.

Sophia was hustling out of the jet bridge while whipping out her phone to power it up, striding towards baggage claim.

Before she even reached the carousel, her phone, now booted up, was flooding with notifications one after another.

Glancing at her screen, she saw that it was mostly Susan, peppered with a barrage of missed call alerts.

Texts morphed from [Have you reached West district yet?] to the more urgent [Why's your phone still off? Sophia, call me back ASAP when you see this.]

Sophia skimmed the messages and quickly video-called Susan back.

The moment the call connected, Susan looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Finally, you call back. What took you so long? Did something happen to the flight? You had me scared to death."

"It's all good, just some weather delays," Sophia reassured softly, "We got held up due to a local thunderstorm at the layover, and the plane kept circling without clearance to land. It's caused a bit of a delay. I'm at West district now, so don't fret."

Susan sighed in relief, "As long as you're safe. Remember to call me once you're settled in, and watch out for yourself."

"Will do," Sophia nodded, inquired about the kid for a bit, and then hung up.

After the call, Sophia checked the time on her phone – past ten in the morning. She paused for a second.

The flight was hours behind schedule, and it was already past the nine o'clock work rush.

Sophia had no clue whether Brandon's "by Friday" meant business hours or the opening ceremony.

If it was the former, she had essentially given up by now.

If it was the latter, making it on time was still touch and go.

Brandon was always a man of his word.

Letting go of the Zenithan-style project was something Sophia knew he would follow through on.

Suddenly, she wasn't sure if there was any point in rushing over.

Her decision to return wasn't solid to begin with. It was more Zachary's plea, the suspicions from overhearing Darcy and others' conversation, and several other factors that had rushed her.

The conveyor belt started moving, and luggage began to appear one by one.

Sophia spotted her bag among the sea of suitcases.

She bent over to lift her luggage as it approached.

Pushing her suitcase out, she glanced at the clock again – thirty minutes to spare. If she caught a cab now, it would be a race against the clock to make it or not.

Her original plan had enough buffer to get to the Starlight Group in time, but this flight just had to get caught in a freak storm delay.

Sophia suddenly wondered if this was some cosmic sign holding her back.

She decided to leave it up to fate.

If she made it, it meant she was destined to be part of this project and she'd give it her all.

If not, maybe it was destiny's way of telling her it was time to cut her losses.

Stepping out to hail a cab, Sophia was surprisingly calm.

At the Starlight Group's lobby.

The emcee was delivering a speech for the grand opening, and the celebratory mood peaked.

Brandon sat in the guest of honor seat with an expressionless face, sneak-peeks at his phone from time to time, his demeanor cool and detached.

Don managed to keep a festive smile, though his eyes betrayed his anxiety.

Soon, it would be Brandon's turn to speak, introducing the new company's leaders and design team, including the head designer.