The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 678

Cordelia couldn't quite grasp the whirlwind of emotions Shelley must have felt when she decided to adopt her all those years ago.

Back then, it was probably simpler. Cordelia was just a baby, a blank slate, and Shelley naturally adored her. But Jayson, he came with the baggage of Tabitha and Petra’s influence. People viewed him through a lens tinted with judgment, making his situation very different from Cordelia's early days.

The next day, Cordelia and Ronan went to renew their marriage license. It was just a piece of paper, really, and it didn’t stir much inside her. They’d been living together, raising a child, so it felt more like a formality than anything else.

After they got back home with the renewed license, the kids were up to something secretive.

Jayson, still with a bandage wrapped around his head, had a smile that could light up a room. It seemed true that a person’s face reflects their spirit.

As dinner time approached, Callum suddenly turned off the lights.

Cordelia was puzzled at first and asked innocently, “Did the power go out?”

Then, out came Callum and Jayson, holding a cake, its candlelight flickering on their flushed cheeks.

They set the cake down in front of Cordelia and chorused, “Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.”

Tears welled up in Cordelia’s eyes as she laughed and pulled the kids close. “Oh, my darlings, my sweet darlings.”

She rubbed foreheads with them, feeling Jayson's newfound happiness under her touch—a happiness she had worked hard to nurture.

Callum and Jayson softly called her “Mom,” and Cordelia was deeply moved.

She glanced at Ronan, who seemed as impassive as ever.

In Jayson, Cordelia saw reflections of so many abandoned children. She thought about how much better they could thrive with just a bit more love.

Cordelia caught a glimpse of Aunt Whitney’s expression, deep in thought, perhaps moved by the moment.