My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 249

Chapter 249 The Empty Gate

Chapter 249 The Empty Gate

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Beside him, the deputy general chattered about the capital–about Soren’s wife, Fiona, and the long–awaited firstborn son neither man had ever met.

Soren listened in silence. He respected Fiona, as he would any woman he married, but tender memories were scarce. By their third year the distance between them felt greater than the miles of campaign road behind him.

He hardly minded; duty left little room for sentiment. Yet the absence of a child pricked him with a small, steady regret, like cold rain seeping through armor plates.

People liked to whisper that when Soren and Fiona finally had a child, the babe would be beautiful enough to shame the dawn. Soren himself never gave the rumor much weight, but he admitted one thing–no other man’s son or daughter had ever startled him into wonder.

“Lord Soren, should we expect Lady Fiona at the gates again?” the deputy commander asked, brushing trail dust from his cloak. “She never misses your return.”

Soren only tightened the reins in his gloved hand. He said nothing, yet the same expectation drummed beneath his breastplate.

But the road was empty. Lanterns swayed, soldiers greeted their families, and the place where Fiona usually stood—a single step ahead of every other waiting wife—remained bare.

For the first time, she was not there.

Aide–de–camps melted into embraces, junior officers were crushed by laughing children, even the scribes found themselves wrapped in delicate sleeves. Soren dismounted into silence, companioned by nothing but his own shadow.

A small bruise bloomed in his chest, dark and surprising.

So this is the woman who supposedly worships me, honors me, cannot bear a moment apart?

“My lord, Lady Fiona must have been delayed,” the deputy ventured, voice low with sympathy.

Hours later, when the estate gates creaked open, he learned she had retired early.

Steam still clung to his hair when he entered her chamber. He knelt on the mattress, caught her chin between firm fingers, a restless anger flickering behind his eyes.

He meant to draw breath from her lips, perhaps punish her with tenderness, yet words would

not come.

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Chapter 249 The Empty Gate

She, for her part, lay motionless, offering neither question nor excuse.

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He was not the sort of man to bend first. Reports still waited on his desk, and marriage, like a campaign, could be postponed until daylight.

And then, without warning, the dream changed.

Fiona lay before him, skin drained of color, a statue carved from frost. In that instant every victory, every rank, every breath lost its meaning.

In the dream she rested quietly, the very model of her disciplined slumber. Only the unnatural pallor suggested anything was wrong.

He tried to step closer, desperate to memorize every line of her face. Pearl slid in front of him, arms spread like a fragile shield.

“Move,” Soren said, voice knifing through the still air.

“Our lady does not wish to see you,” Pearl answered, holding her ground.

One of Soren’s men understood the silent command. He brushed Pearl aside with impatient strength.

Soren reached the bedside, lowered himself, and let his palm hover against the chill of her cheek before daring to touch.

“Lord Soren, please don’t touch my lady!”

He silenced her with a single, razor glance.

“How could you bring another woman here?” Pearl cried, tears streaking down her face. “You disgrace my lady–disgrace the entire Niven family!”

Only then did he register the figure behind him–a young woman in a snow–white gown, shifting nervously, her features lost in shadow.

“Lord Soren, should I have stayed away?” she asked in a tremulous whisper.

He jolted upright in bed, lungs straining for breath. Beads of cold sweat raced down his shoulders, and a knife–like ache pulsed beneath his sternum–so painfully real it stole his first attempt at speech.

Ordinarily, dreams of his own death on some distant battlefield faded the moment he woke, dismissed with the shrug of a soldier. Tonight’s vision, however, clung to him like smoke from a funeral pyre.

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Chapter 249 The Empty Gate

Worse, a grim certainty whispered: the dream might not be a dream at all.

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If what he saw truly happened, then the bond between Xavier and Fiona demanded ruthless scrutiny. Should Fiona have been Xavier’s wife in life, why would her passing leave her bound to the halls of the Zonfrillo Estate?

Unless the truth lay elsewhere–unless he himself had dragged her back after a sham ceremony–then the entire tale of their marriage was smoke and mirrors crafted to deceive

him.

A cold, ironic smile tugged at Soren’s mouth. The expression tasted of mockery yet burned with a hurt he refused to confess even to the shadows. If she had never stood beside Xavier at an altar yet told Soren she had wed, then the message was brutal–she wanted no part of him, not even the smallest sliver.

He sat for a long, silent stretch, fingertips pressed to his throbbing temples. The woman in the vision–if Fiona’s hints held true–was either Hillary or Luna, two names now echoing like unanswered questions inside his skull.

That afternoon, as they sifted through intelligence ledgers, Luna drifted behind his chair and raised delicate hands to knead his shoulders. “If we are here to conduct business,” Soren said without turning, “there is no need for you to serve me.”

Something complicated flickered across Luna’s gaze. The young lord had never welcomed a woman’s touch–those painted dancers were strictly ornamental–yet until his return from Yondale he had at least allowed her modest shoulder rubs.

“Is it Ms. Fiona who no longer wishes me near you, Lord Soren?” Luna asked, the words soft yet edged with worry.

“She does not concern herself with these matters,” Soren replied after a pause.She cares nothing for me, either.

Luna’s brows knit. “Then why…” she began, doubt shadowing every syllable.

“You may have once served as a spy for the Steppe Nomads,” he said evenly, “but you have proven loyal. You are not my maid.”

“I serve because I wish to,” Luna said softly, head bowed.

“I am the one unwilling,” Soren said, his voice closing the subject like a door.

For a moment Luna stared, then a small smile touched her lips. “I understand, Lord Soren.” Soren rose. “You risked your life crossing enemy lines to expose Cornelius‘ dealings with the

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Chapter 249 The Empty Gate

Steppe Nomads. Such merit deserves reward. Tell me what you desire.”

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Luna shook her head. “The Scarlet Boutique you gifted me is more than enough. To serve you all my life is honor enough.”

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Chapter 250 Hidden Evidence