The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 11

Cordelia's life wasn't as smooth sailing as Ronan's. When she was still in elementary school, she had to cook for herself because her dad was always at work on construction sites, and her mom was also working. At that time, she was so short that she had to stand on a stool to light the stove, cooking for herself and her no-good brother.

As for hand-rolling pasta, Cordelia was a pro by the time she was in sixth grade.

After a while, she had a steaming plate of pasta on the table. Seeing Barney's beaming face, she felt like she was back in the days when Ronan’s grandma was around, and Barney was eating happily.

Ronan, on the other hand, was hard to read. Cordelia kept sneaking glances at him, wondering if she had lived up to the two grand standards.

After dinner and some TV time, the moment Cordelia had been both anxious and excited for had arrived.

At ten o'clock, Barney retreated to his bedroom.

"Time for bed," Ronan said as he glanced at Cordelia.

"Mm-hmm." Cordelia followed Ronan to his bedroom.

Ronan's bedroom was huge, comparable to the two-bedroom apartment Cordelia rented. It had its own bathroom, gym equipment, bookshelves, a desk, and a big double bed.

"You shower, I'll be in the living room." With that, Ronan took his pajamas out of the closet and left, not paying any attention to the anxious Cordelia left in his room.

Cordelia felt like a puppet being controlled; she just nodded and headed to the bathroom with her pajamas. By the time she came out with her pajamas on, Ronan was already in bed reading. He occupied half of the bed, leaving the other half naturally to Cordelia.

Ronan was wearing high-quality silk pajamas, while Cordelia was in cotton ones that looked rather childish in comparison.