There appears to be a confusion here regarding the idea of absorption. In one sense, *every* photon which interacts with an object or medium is “absorbed”.  Some of that absorbed energy is re-emitted, generating the reflected (or transmitted) light, usually of the same color. But some of the energy is not re-emitted; it is lost, converted into another form such as heat. This lost energy is often called the “absorbed” light, in the second sense that you referred to. So indeed, the color of an object is due to the light energy that was not lost, or absorbed, in the object.