The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Chapter 86

Two Years Later

At the end of June, Wye City was all sunshine and the perfect kind of warm, with a hint of early summer humidity in the air

Sophia had just stepped into the office when her buddy Sylvia slid a design proposal across the desk to her, and didn’t miss a beat to remind her, “Hey Sophia, don’t forget we’ve got graduation coming up in a couple of days.”

Sophia paused momentarily, then remembered indeed there was such an event and nodded, “Yeah, got it.”

She shot Sylvia a grateful smile, Thanks a bunch.”

With a chuckle, Sylvia clapped her on the shoulder, “No need to be formal with me.”

Sylvia and Sophia were classmates. She was a local. They’d entered Dempsey Architects as interns together, worked as a team on studies and now on the job too. Sylvia was one of the few good friends Sophia had in Wye City.

Sophia had joined Dempsey Architects a little over a year ago.

Initially, she hadn’t planned on joining, and despite a year of persuasion from Don and Ivan, she hadn’t budged.

But as it turned out, she couldn’t find a better fit for her internship. As a student and newbie, no other firm would dare to let her dive right into project design. Usually, she’d start as a glorified errand–runner, with limited chances to really cut her teeth, plus the cultural differences and fixed office hours. After scouting around, Sophia eventually went with Dempsey Architects.

and responsibility at work. Right off the bat, she was the lead designer, and they seriously respected her ideas and inspiration. She didn’t have to clock in and out every

six months, with work and studies, Sophia hardly had to stick to

start to settle into a more regular routine. But Don didn’t really enforce the

few months when her coursework eased up. She had less experience, having gone straight from undergrad to grad school, and didn’t have any big

freshman year, she’d been itching to push her skills further at Apex Engineering University, knowing full well her family couldn’t provide that support, whether financially or emotionally. So, she was mentally gearing up for her future early

moment she set foot in college, she kept an eye out for any potential money–making gigs.

drawing and designing. Initially, she started with cover designs and original character drawings for books through a

appealing style made her a hit with a broad audience, and soon she had a steady Tow of publishers, with authors specifically requesting her for their character designs and cover art. Conasquently, her Income started

boom, she leveraged her network from previous original artwork and cover

pot of gold.

and his crowd spent on a vacation, for Sophia, it meant she could fund her studies abroad

was just

designer. So, throughout her four years at university, aside from side hustles, she poured her time into honing her skills

game plan

chance against seasoned pros, so she figured she’d beef up her resume with competition experience, complete with projects

contests.

else was still basking in the post–test glow, Sophia’s life revolved around classes and the library.

inspiration, sketching, and revising designs over and over. Maybe it was a case of fortune favoring the bold, or perhaps she had a genuine flair for it, but Sophia snagged a second–place prize at a major architectural design competition in