My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 197

12:09 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 197 Lingering Doubts

Chapter 197 Lingering Doubts

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“Mr. Xavier, you are exceptionally considerate,” Fiona said, inclining her head.

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“Ms. Fiona, you should head back inside now. The night air will chill you.” Xavier’s voice carried a quiet urgency, a gentleness that nevertheless brokered no refusal.

“I offended you just now, Mr. Xavier. Forgive me.” Fiona lowered her head, the lantern–light tracing the fine curve of her lashes.

“Apologies are unnecessary,” Xavier replied. His smile was calm, almost playful. “Whatever you do, I trust you have your reasons. As long as I’m not harmed, there’s nothing to forgive.”

He tilted his head, studying her. “You would never hurt me, would you, Ms. Fiona?”

Men as generous as Xavier were a rarity in Jexburgh’s labyrinth of power and courtesy.

For an instant Fiona felt her guard slip, her heart thudding at the thought that someone might accept her as she was.

But the vision shattered almost immediately. She had neither the strength nor the time for the soft confusion of love; every breath was already pledged to more urgent battles.

“Old Mrs. Niven, the son of the Zonfrillo family is here,” a servant called from the stone steps.

The name struck Fiona like a pebble on still water, sending ripples of memory outward. She could not help turning toward Soren.

Soren entered in a robe of deep scarlet, the brocade stitched with subtle roundel blossoms that caught the torchlight.

The vibrant color might have eclipsed every other presence, yet it merely amplified the clean lines of his features–sharp, unyielding, impossibly handsome. Tonight those features were carved from winter marble.

Without altering his calm expression, Xavier angled a single step forward, his shoulder aligning with Fiona’s as an unspoken shield.

Soren’s eyes narrowed to slits, dark embers fixed not on Xavier but on the woman sheltered behind him.

Yet Fiona slipped from Xavier’s protection, her skirt whispering across the flagstones. She would not allow the young Luthor to be drawn into her storm.

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12:09 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 197 Lingering Doubts

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The gesture, meant to spare Xavier, slashed deeper than any open rebuff.

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A man can forgive another man’s desire for what he claims his own; he cannot abide the sight of the very woman choosing someone else’s safety over his pride.

Hours earlier, Fiona’s single word-“Hubby“—had been a dart reminding Soren that, in some other life, she and Xavier might truly have lived as husband and wife. The memory poisoned him now.

Fresh anger bled into Soren’s already stormy expression, each second sharpening the shadows under his cheekbones.

Fiona offered neither bow nor pleasantry. Her gaze traveled over him like a quiet verdict, cool and unreadable.

“Please, Lord Soren, come in and sit,” Meryl interjected, her tone gracious despite the tension. She still remembered how he had pulled Fiona from the river that dark spring evening.

As Soren crossed the threshold, he walked past Fiona as though her outlines had been scraped from the world.

The question spun behind her placid face.

Why has he really come?

Inside Ambrosial Garden, Soren folded his hands in formal salute. “Old Mrs. Niven, Mdm. Meryl.” His voice remained even, stripped of any warmth.

“Some days ago, Lord Soren and I agreed to meet,” Elijah began, addressing Hannah. “I had no idea Fiona’s mathematics score would be posted so swiftly, nor that today’s family banquet would be arranged almost overnight. I sent a note to the Zonfrillo Estate, but it likely arrived too late. He went first to my house, heard I was here at the Niven family, and so he came straight on.”

Even as he spoke, Elijah could not banish a flicker of doubt. The explanation sounded reasonable, yet since the feud had erupted, Soren treated the Niven family as a field of thorns; why the sudden urgency?

Soren offered no defense. “Since this is Fiona’s day of academic honor, I would be remiss to arrive empty–handed. Someone from my estate will deliver a suitable gift shortly.”

“There is no need for such formality, Lord Soren.” Meryl’s voice held a tangle of gratitude, caution, and something that almost sounded like hope.

Elijah dipped his head. “Today belongs to Fiona,” he said. “As her cousin–in–law, it is my duty to

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Chapter 197 Lingering Doubts

attend. I regret that you made a needless trip to my

house.”

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His words painted him as the rare son–in–law who placed his wife’s kin above convenience. Both Joanna and Rita felt an unspoken warmth settle in their chests.

Aside from the sprawling Niven clan, only Elijah and Xavier had been invited tonight. Elijah’s presence was obvious; Xavier’s, however, sparked more than one speculative murmur along the silk–draped corridors.

Soren’s voice was cordial, yet carried an unmistakable finality. “However weighty state affairs may be, they can never outrank matters of the family. Mr. Wagner, there is really no need to press the subject any further.”

Elijah recognized the polite wall Soren had just raised and chose not to push. Instead, he slipped into the role of the perfect host, ushering the young lord inside with almost theatrical warmth. The Niven family and the Zonfrillo family seldom saw eye to eye, but Elijah was determined–the Wagners would, somehow, inch closer to the power gathered beneath Prince Alexander’s roof.

Prince Jinks‘ faction was fading. General Yeats‘ northern command was being ground down piece by piece. Only Prince Alexander’s army remained unshaken—steel–spined, loyal, intact. In a palace fractured by competing princes, staking one’s future on the Zonfrillos now looked infinitely safer than choosing any imperial heir.

Rita lingered in a quiet corner, studying Soren with a tangle of envy and regret. Her own life had unraveled into humiliation, while he–ever aloof, ever immaculate–seemed even more restrained and untouchable than he had two years ago.

If I had married him back then, would I be spared today’s disgrace?

Soren would, of course, take concubines. Yet under the Zonfrillo roof no concubine dared challenge a lawful wife. Power and rank shielded the mistress of that house like tempered glass.

Even with countless women in the inner court, life there would still beat this purgatory I’m trapped in.

She drifted so deep into those thoughts that she missed his eyes flicking briefly in her direction. When at last she noticed, crimson flooded her cheeks.

“Fiona, come in and greet Lord Soren at once,” Meryl called from the doorway, her smile stretched just a touch too wide.

Fiona stepped across the threshold, dipped into a restrained curtsy, and kept her gaze fixed on the floorboards. Her silence, and the inch–thick distance she placed between herself and Soren, spoke louder than any refusal.

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Chapter 197 Lingering Doubts

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Noticing she wore only a light silk gown in the raw winter air, Soren’s brow knit for a heartbeat. Then he smoothed the expression away and offered the smallest of nods. “Ms. Fiona, such formalities aren’t necessary.”