I Came Back And They All Chose Her Over Me Chapter 04

I Came Back And They All Chose Her Over Me Chapter 04

The next afternoon, I sat in my grandmother’s old study, reading through the run-of-show for the Laurel

Scholars Program.

Laurel had been my grandmother’s name.

When she was young, she had sponsored many girls through school. Later, the Ashbourne family turned

that work into a long-term foundation program, selecting a group of students every year for scholarships, speaking opportunities, and internship placements.

Before I went abroad, I had taken over part of the program, and I had continued to follow it ever since.

This year’s student forum was scheduled for Saturday, and Elodie was one of the invited student speakers.

On the list Maren had just sent me, the original first item, [Opening Remarks by Seraphina Ashbourne], had

been lightly crossed out in pencil.

Beside it, someone had added a new line.

[Student representative Elodie Wren to speak first to avoid awkwardness.]

The handwriting was not Maren’s. I recognized it at a glance. That neat, restrained handwriting was

Soren’s. Even when he changed someone else’s agenda, he did it gently.

Maren had just sent me the final list when the house manager knocked and told me Evander and the others

had arrived downstairs.

I closed the booklet but did not move.

“Show them up.

})

Five minutes later, all four of them entered the study together,

For a moment, I almost found it funny.

In the past, when the four of them appeared before me all at once, it was usually to back me up. Now they

stood in a neat row, looking as if they had come to put me on trial.

Evander spoke first. “Sera, don’t go to the forum on Saturday.”

I sat by the window without changing my posture. “Give me a reason.”

“Elodie hasn’t been doing well these past two days,” he said. “She saw all those posts on the forum and

couldn’t sleep again last night. She’s one of the speakers this time. If you show up, she’ll be nervous.

Dashiell immediately added, “It’s just one event. Can’t you let her have this one? Wait until all this blows

over.”

Cassian leaned against the desk, his tone as hard as ever. “People are watching both of you right now. If you

appear, it’ll only make things uglier.”

Chapter 4

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Soren was the last to speak, his voice still mild. “I’ve already had the schedule adjusted. If you agree today, this can end here. Don’t let it turn into something bigger.”

I listened quietly, and for some reason, tthe booklet in my hand suddenly felt hard against my palm.

“Are you done?”

All four of them looked at me.

I opened the booklet, pushed it toward them, and pointed at the two gold-stamped words on the cover.

“Do you know what this is?”

No one answered.

“Laurel,” I said softly. “That was my grandmother’s name.”

Dashiell froze. Evander frowned slightly, as if some memory had finally surfaced.

I looked at them, caught between the urge to laugh and the sting of something closer to tears.

“This program is run by the Ashbourne family. The venue is ours. The foundation is ours. I reviewed every page of this schedule with my team last night.”

I withdrew my finger from the booklet, my voice calmer than I expected.

“And now you’re standing in my grandmother’s study, asking me not to attend my own family’s event

because Elodie might feel nervous.”

The room went quiet at once.

Dashiell opened his mouth. “Sera, that’s not what I meant…”

“Then what did you mean?”

I looked up at him.

He was usually the best at coaxing people. Whenever a situation became awkward, he was always the one to

smooth it over. But at that moment, he stood there without managing a single complete sentence.

Cassian’s brows drew together tightly. “We just want this to pass quietly.”

“Do you want this to pass,” I asked, “or do you just want me to disappear?”

His expression changed.

Suddenly, I felt very tired.

“Do all of you really think everything will be fine as long as I’m the one who backs down?”

I looked at the four faces in front of me, faces I knew far too well, and spoke softly.

“When we were children, I was the one expected to step back Now that we’re grown, I’m still expected to

give way. It’s as if Seraphina Ashbourne was born to be reasonable, to be graceful, to preserve everyone else’s dignity.”

No one answered.

The study became so quiet that only the sound of wind moving through the trees outside remained.

After a long while, Evander finally said in a low voice, “I’m not trying to put you through this.”

“But every one of you is doing exactly that.”

I stood and closed the booklet again.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go on Saturday.”

All four of them looked at me at the same time.

Dashiell had just begun to relax when I continued, “Not because I’m giving in to Elodie, and not because I’m

afraid of making things difficult for you.”

“It’s because I suddenly realized that none of you deserve to stand beneath my grandmother’s name and say

these things to me.”

Cassian’s face darkened sharply. “Seraphina.”

“One more thing.” I looked at them. “From now on, if anything involves me, contact my secretary first.

Don’t use what little childhood affection we have left to make me excuse your bias.”

At last, Soren’s composure finally cracked.

“You’re drawing a line between us?”

not the one drawing it.” I gave a faint smile. “You did that first.”

essed the intercom on the desk and asked the house manager to come up and see them out.

None of the four moved at first. In the end, Evander was the first to turn around.

When he reached the door, he seemned to want to turn back and say something, but I had already lowered my

head and opened the booklet again.

The moment the door closed, the study finally fell silent.

I stared at the two words on the cover for a long time, until my vision blurred slightly. Only then did I slowly

raise my hand and rub my eyes.

My phone lit up at that moment.

It was a photo.

Lucien stood at the boarding gate, a bright wall of glass behind him. He wore a dark gray coat and held his passport and boarding pass in one hand, while the other held up two fingers in a small, almost shy peace

sign.

There was only one line beneath it.

[Two more hours, Sera.]

I stared at the photo, and the heaviness that had been pressing against my chest all day suddenly loosened.

A voice message followed.

I tapped it open.

His low voice came through the phone, and his English sounded even smoother than it had a few days ago.

[Don’t be sad.]

He paused, as if carefully searching for the right words.

[This time, let me stand with you.]