He Chose Her Over Me So I Chose Myself Chapter 23
He never made a ceremony of calling them gifts, and he never expected me to turn them into anything. He just set them quietly on the workbench and let me decide for myself.
It was the same way he loved me.
He never chose for me, and he never grew angry when I said no.
Suddenly I thought of that girl from years ago—the one in the ill-fitting formal dress, standing under the lights at a charity banquet, reciting a speech of gratitude.
Again and again, she told the guests how lucky she was to have been chosen by the Mercer family.
But after the banquet, she always sat in the leftover seat, slept in the room that had been vacated for her, and took whatever other people didn’t want. She thought that if she was quiet enough, sensible enough, one day the best portion would finally come to her.
I set the cobalt glass in Eli’s palm and laced my fingers with his.
That girl could never have imagined that one day, someone would love her in earnest.
Not because it was finally her turn.
But because someone had chosen her.
My phone buzzed in the drawer.
I assumed it was another unfamiliar number from the Mercer family. Instead, the screen showed an email from my lawyer.
“The Mercer Foundation’s new fundraising page, launched tonight, is still using your image. The publication date is after receipt of the revocation notice.”
In the attached screenshot, eight-year-old me stood between my adoptive parents, reciting the line I had already said more times than I could count.
At the top of the page were the words—
*The Luck of Being Chosen*.
Eli saw my expression and asked quietly, “What do you need me to do?”
This time, I didn’t close the page.
“Hand me the computer.”