My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7 The Reception.

The attendants welcomed Meryl and Fiona into the Zonfrillo Estate. They passed through a small garden where the air was alive with color–flowering shrubs and blossoms crowded both sides of the path, filling the air with a fragrance so sweet and refreshing it lifted the spirit.

Further in, they reached Serenity Grove, and there Fiona caught sight of Penelope. Beside her sat Winnifred, the wife of Alexander’s younger brother and mother to Callum.

Penelope, though now in her forties, had chosen the simplest of dresses, almost austere. Yet her striking features radiated a beauty that time had not dulled. Soren’s handsome face and bearing were clearly her legacy.

Her sharp gaze lingered on Fiona. Half a year had passed since their last meeting, and the timid little girl Penelope once recalled had transformed. Fiona had bloomed like a rose at dawn, graceful and luminous. Her figure, delicate and willowy, carried the promise of elegance yet to fully unfold. In another two years, she would be a vision that could unsettle courts and cities.

But Penelope’s thoughts were shaded with caution. A woman who was too radiant was not always blessed. She herself had been dearly loved, yet Alexander’s desire for her had once driven him astray from his duties. That sweetness had come with a bitter price, and she had no wish to see her son Soren fall into such snares.

“Fiona has grown lovelier than ever,” Penelope said with a small, practiced smile.

“You flatter her, Duchess Zonfrillo,” Meryl replied, though she could not hide the glint of pride in her eyes.

In the past life Fiona remembered, her mother–in–law had softened toward her, perhaps out of guilt for Soren’s indifference. Still, Penelope had never treated her cruelly. Fiona bowed and added warmly, “I heard you were unwell not long ago, Duchess Zonfrillo. Have you recovered fully?”

Penelope’s expression remained even, her voice steady. “I’m much better now. But tell me, Fiona, how did you hear of my illness?”

Fiona had anticipated such a question. “When Dr. Whittle came to check on me, he mentioned he had just rushed over from here. I asked a little more, and that’s how I learned of it.”

Penelope let the matter drop, turning instead to polite talk with Meryl.

Winnifred offered kindly, “If you’re growing bored, why not enjoy a stroll with the maids, Ms. Fiona?”

“Solana, take Ms. Fiona around,” Penelope instructed.

Fiona curtsied in thanks and followed Solana toward the rear courtyard.

The Zonfrillo Estate was renowned for its vast and varied gardens. Even the imperial palace could not boast such an abundance of flora. Autumn had stripped the city bare, but within these walls, life thrived as though it were still spring. Fiona, having spent three years of her past life here, found little wonder in it now.

Yet when she passed the Radiant Lodge, her old residence, she slowed. Her gaze lingered, heavy with memory.

“That’s Lord Soren’s quarters,” Solana explained cheerfully. “He doesn’t particularly like quiet places, but he chose this secluded lodge himself. Duchess Zonfrillo often jokes that he must’ve picked it for his future wife.”

Soren placed a white piece on the board with deliberate calm before answering, “What puzzles me is how she seems so familiar with the paths of our estate.”

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