The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 458

Standing before their mother's grave, Adrian was casually puffing on a cigarette, just as he usually would. He'd just finished ranting about Tabitha, and even though the matter was already in the past, his temper flared the more he spoke of it.

Whipping out his phone, he shot off a message to Tabitha on Facebook Messenger. [Shameless slut!]

Still not venting enough, he sent another message to Ronan. [You're a bloody jerk, Ronan! You ditched my sister, a lovely woman, for a trashy one. And you even got her pregnant! No wonder my sister dumped you. Just get lost!]

Adrian was a notorious flip-flopper, and his thoughts swayed with his mood and whims. Perhaps he was simply annoyed that he could find no benefit from Ronan, so he decided to hurl insults instead. After all, it wasn't like he had to pay taxes for badmouthing people. He could say whatever he wanted.

What surprised Cordelia, however, was the sight of a bouquet of flowers, somewhat wilted but clearly only a few days old, by their mother, Shelley's grave.

"Do you know who left these flowers?" Cordelia asked Adrian.

"Who knows? Probably one of her old friends or something."

Cordelia pondered. Their mother had been bedridden for six years, many of their old neighbors had moved away, and even those who were still in touch with them would hardly come to visit, let alone Samantha and her mother, who were busy filming in Birchwood. Could it be their Uncle Ronald? But he was in Millstone now.

And it certainly couldn't be Ronan. He was in Birchwood as well.

There were a lot of the things Cordelia wanted to tell her mother, but she said them in her heart. She didn't want Adrian to overhear. There were many hardships she didn't want to share with her mother; she just wanted her to know she was doing well.

Seeing Shelley's grave reminded Cordelia of the old days. Shelley's laughter and her cooking meals for Cordelia... All these memories made Cordelia’s eyes well up with tears.

Even though it was said that it was better to resolve grudges than to hold onto them, Shelley was still Cordelia's kin after all. Remembering that Olen was the one who killed her mother, and Ronan's slanderous words about her mother at the police station, Cordelia couldn't help but smile scornfully.

Right after visiting her mother's grave, Cordelia headed straight back to Birchwood. Because of the upcoming holiday, she needed to return to Empower Operations for an inspection. By the afternoon of the 3rd, she was on a coach back to Birchwood.

Upon receiving Adrian's message, Ronan was puzzled. He replied to Adrian, [Whose child?]

[Are you playing dumb? Tabitha's child.]

Ronan frowned deeply. Janice had mentioned something about this earlier, but he had thought she was just making things up. Over the years, Tabitha had occasionally visited Ronan's house.