The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 591

Ronan couldn't bear to see Cordelia cry. Her tears twisted his heart into knots, making him feel like he’d pluck the stars from the sky just to see her smile again.

"The marriage certificate is a fake! I had it forged. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? And you went and had an abortion on your own?" Ronan was a boiling pot of anger and frustration, but what was done was done, and he felt helpless to change it.

Cordelia stayed silent, just sobbing quietly.

"Damn it," Ronan muttered under his breath.

That was his second curse of the day, mostly directed at himself, with a bit of it aimed at Cordelia's frustrating passivity and endless tears. He had no idea how to handle it, and honestly, he didn’t even want to try.

Cordelia turned to him, her eyes wide with surprise. She had never heard Ronan swear like that before.

"Why are you cursing at me?" she demanded, a spark of anger in her voice.

"I'm not cursing at you, I'm cursing myself. I'm not going home tonight; I’ll stay here."

"Don't you dare!" Cordelia snapped. "You're always all over me, and I just had a miscarriage. We can’t be together for a month."

"I won’t touch you; I’ll just sleep beside you," Ronan said, regret lacing his voice. He’d never felt such remorse in his life.

"I'm afraid Petra will..."

"Don’t bring her up. We’re not married," Ronan snapped, irritation flaring anew.

Because of this woman, he’d lost a child.

"My mom's still up; I have to get her to sleep," Cordelia said, standing up from where she’d been sitting on Ronan's lap.

"Your mom still needs you to put her to sleep?" Ronan asked, incredulous.

"Yeah."

"So, do you know anyone?" Cordelia asked, settling in beside him on the bed.

"Send her to my place."

Cordelia pondered the offer. Sending her mother to his home would mean conceding to this whole mess, and this time, she was determined to make him squirm. If he didn’t take her seriously now, he'd think he could get away with anything in the future.

"No, I can't. I'm new at my job and it's really hectic," Cordelia insisted.

"You won't find anyone," Ronan said, seemingly adamant about having Cordelia stay at his place.

The truth was, options might exist, but Cordelia knew what Ronan was up to. She decided to put the matter to rest for the night. "Let's sleep, we'll talk more tomorrow."

True to his word, Ronan didn’t try anything that night. He held Cordelia from behind, and they both drifted off into a respectful, if somewhat uneasy, slumber.