The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 525

"Brandon! Brandon!" Daniel was freaking out, yelling his lungs out by the river's edge, but the roaring rapids swallowed Brandon's voice whole.

Daniel couldn't hear squat, couldn't see a thing, and the pitch-black river got his heart pounding like a drum solo.

Throwing caution to the wind, he spun around and yelled at the stunned crowd like a madman, "What are you gawking at? Get moving and rescue her!"

Snapped out of their daze, everyone was all over the place, reminding each other to stop work and start the rescue.

The concrete mixer which was in operation, amidst the chaos, ground to a halt too in everyone’s panic.

Some people were jumping into the river, some calling 911, others trying to dismantle the foundation pillars; it was a total mess.

The moment Brandon plunged into the water, he was shouting Sophia's name, diving over and over, but despite his frantic searching, there was no sign of her, no response.

All around him, just the sound of the rushing water, fast and furious.

"Sophia!"

Brandon's voice started to shake, his blood running cold, a kind of terror he'd never known coursing through his veins. He couldn't even bear to think about it, surfacing for air before diving back into the depths once more.

But the undercurrent was wild, the darkness impenetrable, nothing in sight. Sophia had vanished into thin air, nowhere to be found.

His eyes red and raw, Brandon kept moving downstream, shouting Sophia's name, each dive longer than the last, becoming more frantic by the second.

The cold winter river water and the prolonged soaking and diving were taking their toll on his strength, but Brandon wouldn't give up, his calls for Sophia growing more desperate, his voice more hoarse and shaky, until at last, he was so spent he could barely make a sound.

The workers who'd joined the search were just as frantic, but like Brandon, they found nothing. Sophia had disappeared without a trace, except for that unusual "plop" when she fell. No cries for help, no splashing sounds.

It defied logic. Even someone who couldn't swim would thrash around in survival instinct for a bit, and have the energy to last a while.

But not Sophia. Unless...