The Fourth Life She Guarded Me Chapter 02
With everyone watching, I walked past Drake, Locke, and Kieran and headed straight for the back of the line.
The line was long.
Strangely, it was composed almost entirely of male guardians.
My gaze slid over them one by one, never pausing.
Until, at the very end, I finally saw her.
She was snow-white, with soft, curly fur, but her breathing was so weak it seemed it could stop at any moment.
She lay at the very back, completely ignored.
I picked her up.
“I want her,” I said, my voice clear and loud.
The entire hall fell silent.
My grandmother, the matriarch of the Romano family, was so furious her hand flew up as if to strike me. “Meredith, are you out of your mind? I won’t allow it. Drake, Locke, Kieran—pick any one of them, but not that one.”
“Grandmother, a contract guardian is a personal choice. I don’t want any of those three.”
“Have you lost your senses? They’re rare pureblood guardians.”
“I can’t stand the sight of them.”
Grandmother staggered.
Several elders from the branch families immediately chimed in. “Fine. Since you chose her yourself, don’t regret it later. Hurry up and complete the ceremony.”
Of course they wanted me to pass on the top three, leaving them for their own children.
Grandmother paced anxiously. “No. I won’t agree to this. Meredith, if you dare contract with her today, you can forget you have a grandmother.”
I stopped.
Grandmother had raised me. She had taught me almost everything I knew.
Once she put it that way, I couldn’t defy her in front of everyone.
I knew she meant well.
Anyone who saw me choosing some nearly dead little thing would think I was throwing my future away.
How could she stand by and watch me leap into a pit?
In my previous three lives, when I was betrayed, she was the one who stayed by my side, helping me recover and find the strength to stand again.
I couldn’t break her heart.
I held the little creature tighter.
Grandmother came over and twisted my ear.
“Put her down. Go pick one from the front. Those three have excellent bloodlines. You couldn’t go wrong with any of them.”
I sighed.
“Grandmother, our paths don’t align.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re the heir to the Romano family. How could they not be fated for you?”
“Look at who they’re looking at.”
Grandmother froze, then instinctively turned her head.
Her expression changed.
Drake, Locke, and Kieran—three pairs of eyes, all fixed on Lani from the Holloway branch of the family.
“This…”
“Grandmother, a contract requires both parties. They clearly don’t want me.”
Grandmother fell silent.
A few seconds later, she frowned in frustration. “Then don’t pick this one either. Pick another.”
“I want her.”
“No. She’s what—a mixed-blood, can’t even take human form, and you can see her talent is poor at a glance. Meredith, you can do better.”
“Grandmother, I want her.”
“You really are determined to drive me to an early grave.”
“I’ve thought this through. I don’t want anyone else.”
“Why…”
She truly didn’t understand.
I rarely pushed back against her.
She couldn’t understand what was so special about this little thing that I would insist again and again.
But I didn’t yield.
She stared at me for a long time.
In the end, she stepped back.
“Fine. Your contract guardian is your own choice.”
I smiled.
I had known she would agree in the end.
She always gave in to me.