On the seventh day of the New Year, Jamie arrived.
Janice had stepped out to pick up some groceries. Since the grocery store was just down the street, Janice would be back shortly, leaving Cordelia alone at home for a bit.
Jamie brought a large bouquet of roses.
Both PrimeNumbers Accounting and First Enterprises were to resume work on the eighth day of the month. Worried that Cordelia might feel burdened without a job, Jamie decided to come over.
"Where's he?" Jamie looked around, not seeing Ronan.
"He's moved back to Pearl Palms," Cordelia replied.
"He won't be coming around anymore?"
"Right."
Jamie glanced at Cordelia's belly. "Did you tell him about the babies?"
"No," Cordelia replied, not mentioning her own wavering thoughts.
"Cordelia, Brenda told me you declined her invitation. I know you're upset, given that I didn't discuss it with you first. But Kent's takeover was aggressive, and I had no choice..." Jamie said remorsefully. "I wanted to protect you, and ensure your peace and safety, but I failed."
"It's okay. I've come to terms with it," Cordelia replied cheerily.
"Cordelia, would you give me a chance?" With that, Jamie knelt down. "I know you considered aborting this baby initially, which implies you didn't want it. You decided to keep it due to it being twins. I don't mind stepping in. I'll treat them as my own. Give me a chance, and marry me, okay? If you want to study abroad, go ahead. If you don't want to take care of the children, I won't make you. If you don't want to live with my parents, we'll move out, okay?"
Cordelia had thought Jamie's visit was to comfort her, but he was here to propose. "I..." Cordelia didn't know how to respond without hurting Jamie's feelings.
The sound of a key in the door interrupted them; Janice was back. She was initially puzzled to see Jamie kneeling with a bouquet, but she quickly realized he was proposing. Naturally, she felt unjust for Ronan. How could this man swoop in as soon as Ronan moved out?
"I won't comment on others, but you know how much Mr. Evans cherishes you, right?" Seeing Cordelia being proposed to had stirred Janice's emotions, making her more talkative. "Mr. Evans has done so much for you, but he doesn't talk about it. You're not aware."
"He cherishes me? And that's why he spends nights away from home? Cherishes me by putting me through a threatened miscarriage?" Cordelia was also getting angry.
"You see, when he's not home, you're still bothered by that, aren't you? He wasn't out messing around. He was just too preoccupied with Barney's critical illness during that period. Since it's just us here today, I'll speak my mind. I'm guessing the child is most likely Mr. Evans', although I'm not sure why he believes it's not. But regardless of who the father is, he's been good to you, hasn't he? Seeing you pregnant and growing larger each day must've been hard for him. But have you ever seen an ex-husband who treats his ex-wife as well as he does?"
Janice's words left Cordelia speechless. Many times, she had doubted herself. A year had passed since her mother's death, and the pain had gradually faded. But Ronan had remained by her side all this while.
Cordelia retreated to her room. Tears welled up in her eyes. He had just left, and yet she was already hearing praises about him. It made her heart flutter, unable to let him go.
Janice quickly sent Ronan a message via Messenger. [Mr. Evans, Jamie just proposed to Cordelia. Luckily, I got home in time to interrupt him.]
After a while, Ronan replied, [Noted.]
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