My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40 Hidden Motives

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“Lord Soren, please make it clear to her that I knew nothing of my grandmother’s designs. I never intended–nor wished–to become engaged to you.”

Not merely disinterested, she admitted to herself. If I could live a lifetime without crossing his path,

that would be ideal.

She suspected he had asked Harriet to guide her up Frostenden Mountain as a form of compensation. Had it not been for Naomi, she would have been admiring the season’s first snowfall back in Jexburgh, not trudging through drifts beside him here.

Before long, the rich aroma of roasting meat drifted through the wooden lodge, thick enough to make the rafters hum.

When the strips were charred just so, Soren slid them from the spit and laid the juiciest pieces. into her dish.

Fiona felt no flutter of privilege at his attentiveness. Instead, she noted—almost clinically— that the aloof young lord was perfectly capable of caring for others; he had simply chosen not to before.

“I heard you were wounded. Was it connected to Mr. Saunders?” She reasoned that because the matter had long been settled yet kept from the public for half a year, Soren must have used his injuries as a convenient curtain of time.

“And what makes you believe that?” Soren asked without lifting his head, his tone light, almost indifferent.

“You warned me to be wary of Mr. Saunders. That gained my gratitude and, at the same time, kept my father cautious. Had I urged him to stay neutral, the benefit would still have been yours.”

Zachary held a senior post in the Ministry of Personnel; his web of contacts was vast. He posed no direct threat, yet his involvement would have spawned endless complications Soren could ill afford.

Though the two men stood in opposing camps, Soren’s quarry lay elsewhere. Better to weave a quiet snare that kept the seasoned official from stepping onto the field at all.

Soren’s eyes cooled, yet the corner of his mouth lifted with faint amusement. “Continue.”

“When you asked for my assistance, you solved two puzzles at once. You do need the Divine Doctor, but you also made me collateral. Should my father dare to help Matthew, you will

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Chapter 40 Hidden Motives

have leverage–me. Still, this arrangement profits us both, so I accept it willingly.”

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That explained why Soren had revealed so much. The more she knew, the less boldly her father could act. And he had allowed her to learn that Harriet was his person for reasons she had not yet untangled.

Soren did not oblige her with so much as a nod. The silence, heavy as fresh snow, settled between them.

Waiting for his verdict, Fiona let her fingers drift too near the iron grate. Pain flared, and her skin blossomed crimson.

Swift as falling ice, Soren caught her wrist and drew her outside the lodge. He pressed the back of her hand into a mound of powdery snow.

They had shared bedding on countless journeys, so she felt no shyness over the gesture. Reclaiming her hand, she offered a quiet thanks. “If I obtain word of the Divine Doctor, how should I reach you?”

Soren rubbed his fingertips, surprised by the winter chill numbing her skin. “Go to Clear Sky Pavilion and speak with Ms. Fuller.”

With their terms fixed, the weight lifted from her chest. The crystalline air tasted sweeter, and the snow–draped peaks breathed an ancient, silent grace around them.

Whenever Fiona let slip a soft sigh or a passing musing, Soren would sometimes answer— never more than a pair of reserved sentences.He stayed cold, the chill of early frost still clinging to him, yet even that tiny thaw felt like hard–won progress.

To be Soren’s wife was, she had learned, a thankless burden that could grind any heart to dust.

Still, he treated his subordinates with a soldier’s fairness. For now, she told herself to serve him as one would a distant commander and leave affection out of it.

Without their noticing, the last blush of daylight bled away, and the mountain path slipped into indigo shadow.

Fiona drew a heavy cloak over her shoulders, the fur collar cupping her chin against the night air. “Lord Soren, your injuries are not yet healed. You should rest early,” she said, her voice low but sincerely concerned.

Soren had no shortage of people offering hollow sympathy, and he treated this new handful the same–as silence not worth answering.

The descent proved kinder than the climb; stone steps stretched wide and even, as though

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Chapter 40 Hidden Motives

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