The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 205

Ronan glanced at Cordelia, then picked up his phone. Throughout the call, he never took his eyes off Cordelia.

In her mind, Cordelia figured Ronan was ready to cough up the dough this time. Hell, he might even pay more to shut Deanna up, but that would only make Adrian greedier.

Ronan had put the call on speaker.

"Ronan," said Adrian. Just at the sound of his voice, Cordelia could picture her brother's slimy grin.

"You're getting engaged?"

"Yes. Did Cordelia tell you?" Adrian asked.

"Yes, what do they want?"

"They want a wedding gift of 500,000, and also…"

"I'll give you 800,000. What else?" Ronan cut in.

"They also want the house to be in both our names. Ronan, I know it's asking a lot from you, I feel kind of embarrassed."

"I'll handle the paperwork tomorrow." With that, Ronan hung up.

It seemed Adrian's demand for a 500,000 wedding gift was legit. Cordelia hadn't lied. Deanna's love for stirring the pot was also real. Ronan planned to knock her down a peg, hoping to cause a rift between her and Samantha.

Cordelia had thought he might not sign, but she hadn't expected him to pay Adrian's dowry as well. His generosity was astonishing, adding an extra 300,000 right off the bat.

He probably just wanted to show Deanna his character, not giving two cents about who Adrian was marrying. Cordelia felt like he was trying to provoke her a bit.

"That so? Well, I guess I'll be taking my leave then," After saying that, Deanna slinked away.

Ronan tore up the divorce agreement. His eyes remained fixed on Cordelia.

"Do you take marriage as a joke?" he asked.

"No, it's not what you think."

Finally, Cordelia had a chance to speak. She needed to ensure Ronan wouldn't call the cops before she could spill about Samantha's threats.

"You're not mad anymore?" Cordelia sat on the couch, running her hands over Ronan's chest.

…

Once Deanna got in the car, Samantha asked, "Did Ronan sign?"

Slap! Deanna slapped Samantha, "You didn't know about Adrian's engagement?"

"Adrian's getting engaged? I genuinely didn't know." Samantha looked utterly lost.

"Is there anything else you can say other than ‘you don’t know’? Cordelia probably didn't know how to ask Ronan for money, but we've just done her a huge favor! Can you do this job or not? If not, just get lost!" Deanna snapped at Samantha.

Samantha had never been berated like this, embarrassment written all over her face. It seemed unless she could outmaneuver Cordelia, there was no chance of a comeback.

This time, they were fully prepared. The news of Ronald's leg atrophy was a card Samantha had played in advance, telling her mother to specially inform Cordelia's mother. They knew she would persuade Cordelia to give way to Samantha, as Cordelia always listened to her.

They took out the signed divorce agreement in advance, hoping to show Ronan that his wife wanted to divorce him. As long as Ronan was angry, he wouldn't give Cordelia a chance to speak.

They hadn't expected Adrian's engagement to come into play.

Cordelia had managed to wash her hands of the whole mess.