My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 147

Chapter 147 Tangled Recollections

Chapter 147 Tangled Recollections.

After concluding a tense discussion with Emperor Aldric on transporting Broadmoor provisions, Zephyr remained behind to address further matters of state.

Soren, dismissed, allowed his thoughts–and his feet–to drift back toward Fiona.

W

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He found her crouched among the flowerbeds, so absorbed by some hidden marvel that she didn’t notice when an ivory tulip hairpin slipped from her coiffure and fell onto the mossy path.

For a breath he only watched, masklike calm hiding the riot of feeling inside him. Then, with measured steps, he closed the distance, shadows of leaves quivering across his cloak.

Fiona halted mid–step, a silent jolt racing the length of her spine the instant another shadow bled into the lantern–lit path.

Before she could turn, Soren crouched with unhurried grace, lifted the fallen trinket from the dew–soaked grass, and rolled it between long fingers–a quartz–inlaid orchid hairpin that shattered the light into ghost–pale shards.

“Thank you, Lord Soren.”

She rose in a flutter of silk and glanced around the winding garden walkways, acutely aware of how one stray witness could ignite scandal.

“Would you return it, please? Someone might pass by.”

He did not lift his hand. The hairpin remained imprisoned in his palm, his silence sharper than refusal.

Her lashes swept down. “Give it back,” she whispered, the softness in her voice laced with unmistakable command.

Instead, Soren stepped into her breath, gathered a raven lock, and slid the orchid pin above her ear–a gesture so sure it felt branded with possession.

“Your coming–of–age draws near. Tell me, Fiona–what gift would please you?” His gaze mapped the delicate planes of her face, then lingered on the earlobe he had tasted again and again that forbidden afternoon, memory pulsing between them.

A faint flush climbed the rims of his ears, a betrayal his steady voice did not permit.

Fiona felt the garden tilt, her heart sinking as though stones had been tied to it.

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12:08 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 147 Tangled Recollections

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Tradition allowed only a father, a brother, or a husband to present auspicious tokens at a girl’s coming–of–age ceremony.

Within Duflana, no unfamiliar man would dare cross that inviolate line.

The implication was stark–Soren meant to claim the husband’s place.

The realization spun inside her mind, bright and perilous as the pin itself.

A man as cautious–and calculating–as Soren never overlooked etiquette; every word had been chosen precisely to unbalance her.

So this, she knew, was no accident.

“Every sentence you speak is a probe,” Fiona said, gaze lowered. “Whatever the outcome, you keep the upper hand.”

Such effortless control made him dangerous; no bargain with him ever favored the other

party.

Anyone with the faintest instinct for self–preservation would have fled his orbit.

“I am not testing you, and I have been painfully direct,” Soren replied. “Do you truly believe I would lavish such thought on any other woman?”

“I am no different from any other, Lord Soren,” she managed, the weight in her chest doubling. “Your consideration is enough. A gift would only invite trouble.”

“My actions tell you otherwise,” he murmured. “In my eyes you are anything but ordinary.”

His words dragged the memory of that illicit afternoon into the open. She had almost convinced herself it had never happened, yet embarrassment now warmed her cheeks.

Had they still been husband and wife, as in that other lifetime, it might have been simpler; but here, where unseen hands maneuvered them both, their shared intimacy lay between them like an unsheathed blade.

Even the briefest mention of their pleasure stained the air with uncertain heat.

High above, an exotic frangipani blossom shook loose from the rockery and drifted downward, coming to rest in the dark silk of her hair.

Soren reached out, plucked the blossom free with quiet authority, and any protest she might have voiced died unspoken.

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12:09 Wed, Oct 15

Chapter 147 Tangled Recollections

“Soren, what exactly do you

want?”

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Fiona’s voice broke the room’s gauzy hush, cach syllable sharp enough to slice through the slow–burn tension that had pooled between them like late–summer heat.

“Have you been avoiding me on purpose these last few days?” Soren asked, his tone satin- smooth, his eyes anything but.

She answered with silence, turning instead toward the distant koi pond where concentric ripples traveled outward, carrying her unspoken words across the water’s glassy skin.

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