My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Archery Triumph

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Hannah, too, seemed reborn under the happy wind–cheeks rosy, back straight, a spark in her eyes that made her appear years younger.

“Now, how shall we arrange the banquet?” she asked, voice bright with anticipation.

Meryl brought the porcelain cup to her lips, the steam curling across her smile. “We needn’t scramble this very instant,” she said, voice as light as the wisp of tea. “After the New Year come the horsemanship and music trials. Let the world see we, the Niven family, know how to hold our composure.”

Across the table, Hannah nodded, the silver comb in her snow–white hair glinting beneath the lantern. “Perhaps restraint is best. Our accounts are already running tight this year.” A sigh slipped from her, and she added, “Joanna shows little talent for ledgers. You, Meryl, may have to steady her hand.”

Meryl answered with gentle haste, palms raised in soft refusal. “Mother, I have no head for sums. Better to let Joanna keep the reins.” Not a single word of blame colored her tone.

From her seat beside the screen, Fiona watched the exchange, thoughts unfurling behind a placid gaze. Is Grandmother probing because Aunt Joanna can no longer manage?

In earlier years, Joanna had guarded the household keys with an iron will, and Hannah favored her openly. Meryl, for all her patience, never won a share

At that moment, with Meryl declining, Hannah could not force the matter, no matter how the ledgers bled.

Later, back in Bamboo Lodge, where autumn light striped the bamboo floor, Fiona said to Meryl, “Mother, helping Aunt Joanna with the ledgers might not be impossible.”

First, she could not watch the family coffers drain beneath Joanna’s pride,

Second, a coin meant power. Zachary–though a high officer–was still the second son. Goodwill between brothers might last or fray.

If Meryl oversaw the silver, the main branch would measure every move against that quiet strength.

Meryl stroked Fiona’s sleeve. “True, it isn’t impossible–just not yet. Your aunt will not surrender even a sliver of authority for now.”

Meryl would never toil for praise that never came. Only when Joanna came seeking help

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Chapter 25 Archery Triumph

would the bargaining table tilt in Meryl’s favor.

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Fiona weighed the pieces. Joanna’s pride kept her blind; the looming shortfall would force her head to bow. That crisis, properly used, could open the very doors she barred.

Yet survival required ready silver. Fiona would never raid her mother’s savings.

She needed a way to earn–fast.

The next dawn, Hannah and Joanna bound for Frostenden Temple to pray. They summoned Fiona to join the pilgrimage.

Autumn was nearing its end, and Frostenden Mountain lay hushed beneath a quilt of fallen crimson maples. Sunlight danced on the lakeside, and every breath tasted of distant, quiet

water.

When Fiona saw Penelope, she halted, skirts brushing dry leaves. “Duchess Zonfrillo, blessings upon you.”

At the sight of Fiona, Penelope remembered the scar remedy the young lady had once whispered to her. It had worked exactly as promised. Yet, conscious of Hannah’s watchful eyes, Penelope merely returned a polite nod, gratitude locked behind her composed smile.

Penelope turned to Hannah without preamble. “Old Mrs. Niven, you asked to meet me today. What is it you require?”

Hannah laid a hand on Fiona’s shoulder. “Fiona, Duchess Zonfrillo and I will proceed inside to pray. Wait here in the courtyard and do not wander off.”

Fiona nodded, though unease fluttered in her chest. Grandmother seeks Duchess Zonfrillo for one reason only, and I already know the outcome.

With idle time pressing, she stepped into the temple, offered a proper bow, then drifted toward the table of fortune slips. On impulse, she drew one.

She was not truly devout, yet a hint–any hint–never hurt.

The fortune slip revealed a fortunate verse, “Though distant by a thousand miles, fated hearts

will meet as one.

Fiona stood beneath Frostenden Temple’s vermilion caves, lifting the ribbon–thin fortune slip toward the breeze. What if my husband is not even from Duflana? I will not be traded to some far–off

court.

Despite every tale of dreamlike marriages, she had no desire to live beyond the reach of the

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Chapter 25 Archery Triumph

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