My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 247

11:54 Fri, Oct 24

Chapter 247 A Choice Reconsidered

Chapter 247 A Choice Reconsidered

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All of this he decided the moment he noticed Fiona’s former affections had cooled; any thought of matchmaking withered then and there.

Soren recalled the subtle challenge Xavier had issued—no malice, merely a warning: mistreat her, and she will return to the man who treasures her.

“Perhaps you will one day love her fiercely. Yet I beg you–let her walk the path she chooses. She labored to heal Mr. Niven and Mdm. Meryl’s marriage, to save the Princess Royal’s household, even to keep her father from exile. Piece by piece, the destiny of the Niven family bends because of her. After so much effort, I cannot bear to watch her live this life as emptily as the last.”

A quiet chord stirred in Soren’s heart. Hearing of her former misery had already sown guilt; that was why, in the end, he honored her wish and released her from the betrothal.

He had agreed to talk of marriage because it was what she wanted.

Gratitude for the life–saving kindness she once showed him weighed in that decision, yet a heavier motive struck when he heard her murmur that she did not wish to die young a second time.

In that instant a dull ache pressed against his ribs. He was no champion of mercy–he knew that—but, all the same, he wanted her to live well.

“In her earlier life,” Soren asked, his voice low and oddly tentative, “how was she different from the woman standing here now?”

“Back then she was softer–easier to persuade,” Xavier answered, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “After she married you she learned a touch of calculation from you yourself. In this lifetime, she carries that vigilance from the start.”

Listening to Xavier’s recollections, images galloped through Soren’s mind–half–formed scenes, blurred faces, emotions that did not belong to this life–leaving him with the uncanny sense that he had just peered over the rim of another existence he could almost remember.

After a long, silent stretch he rose. “I am not the sort to force her,” he said at last. “A few days ago she refused the match outright. I will not disturb her again.”

And yet, in the stillest hours of the night, resentment sometimes coiled inside him. He imagined using harsher means to make her yield. Imagination, however, was as far as he let it travel; he was not a man who repaid kindness with cruelty.

11:54 Fri, Oct 24

Chapter 247 A Choice Reconsidered

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When Soren stepped out of the Luthor Estate he found Fiona and Victoria kneeling in the front courtyard, hands buried in damp soil as they set new seedlings in their flowerbeds. Their shared laughter drifted up like sunlight, and his stride faltered.

The moment Fiona noticed him, the laughter drained from her face.

Soren inclined his head in the barest nod, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Only then did Fiona release the breath she had been holding.

Several quiet days passed before a servant reported that a shipment of fresh leaves had reached her teahouse. Hearing this, Fiona finally made the trip across town.

“Your father should return to Jexburgh,” Morgan told her, his tone matter–of–fact. “In a day or two I will see that a request for his transfer reaches the proper desk.”

“Would it not be wiser,” Fiona asked after a reflective pause, “to avoid startling the Fourth Prince just yet?”

“Cornelius merely thinks your father is auditing that county’s grain as part of a Zonfrillo ploy.” Morgan’s eyes were calm. “When your father is promoted in the capital, Cornelius will still need him. In helping Cornelius undermine Zephyr, your father is, in truth, helping me.”

Fiona weighed the plan. If Cornelius saw her father’s efforts as loyal service, suspicion would fall nowhere near the Niven household.

“It seems His Majesty has no wish to punish the Fourth Prince this time,” she murmured.

“Father’s health is sound,” Morgan replied. “So long as he wishes to check Zephyr, he will leave Cornelius untouched. An emperor’s first instinct is always to guard against his sons.”

“It appears, you’re pleased with such an arrangement,” Fiona said, matching his composure.

“Not only 1,” Morgan allowed, “the entire Zonfrillo Estate benefits. I never expected my aloof cousin Soren to raise the matter of marrying you first.”

Fiona could not decipher Marcus‘ true intention–whether he feared rumors of clandestine affection between her and Soren, or merely played a longer game.

Marcus had saved Alexander not for friendship but because the elder prince remained vital to Duflana, and because a victorious Cornelius would leave Zephyr without a shield.

“Lord Soren, for his part, has shown no sign of pressing the matter,” Fiona said steadily.

Morgan stood in the muted glow spilling through the lattice window, arms folded loosely as if

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11:54 Fri, Oct 24

Chapter 247 A Choice Reconsidered

84

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