The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan)

Chapter 17

Cordelia continued doing her laundry, shrugging off the whole thing as a waste of her time.

"Cordelia, aren't you gonna stand up for yourself when everyone's picking on you?"

"Just let it go. No one will care about this in a bit."

"Really..." Brooklyn looked at Cordelia. "Did something really happen between you and the assistant

head of HR?"

Cordelia looked back at Brooklyn. "I don't want to talk to you."

With that, she grabbed her laundry and went out to the balcony to hang it. The only thing bothering

Cordelia was whether Ronan would blame her for this. After all, she had suddenly become the center

of attention due to this incident.

After hanging her clothes, Cordelia sat on her bed with her laptop, writing her Top Graduates Report.

Brooklyn wanted to say something else, but seeing Cordelia's unwillingness to speak, she held her

tongue, only reminding her, “Don’t forget, the new hires have a medical exam tomorrow.”

Cordelia just hummed in response.

Having just become the talk of the office, Cordelia wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow’s group medical

check-up. The email had said, first thing Monday morning, all newly regularized employees were to

gather in the parking lot, hop on the company bus, and head over to Lumos Hospital for a check-up. If it

were before, Cordelia could’ve kept a low profile, but now, she'd probably be recognized by everyone in

the company.

The next day, just as Cordelia had predicted, over thirty of the company’s new regular interns were

sitting on the bus to Lumos Hospital. The bus hadn’t started yet and was just parked in the parking lot.

Despite sitting quietly at the very back, Cordelia still heard lots of people asking, "Which one is

Cordelia?" "Who was that guy picking her up in that luxury car the other day?" "I heard her family isn’t

well-off at all. She must be a gold digger."

Lots of people turned their heads to look at Cordelia.

Just then, someone said, "Look outside."

Everyone followed the voice. Cordelia also wanted to see what could possibly distract the crowd from

their gossip.

A low-profile Mercedes-Benz, the same one from the posts, pulled up next to the bus. Some nosy novelbin

parkers even pulled out their phones to compare the license plate numbers with the ones on the forum.

Now, everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see who would get out of the car. Cordelia could

feel the anticipation and excitement. The car door opened, and Ronan stepped out, locked the car, put

his hands in his pockets, and sauntered towards the office building.

The bus was dead silent.

Brooklyn looked at Cordelia in surprise. "The guy you're rumored to be with is Mr. Evans?"

"I happened to be going to the hospital that day, and he offered me a ride." Cordelia brushed off the

incident, but Brooklyn seemed unconvinced.

The bus had quietened down, and the post had somehow been quietly deleted. No one dared to gossip

about the CEO.

Cordelia wasn’t sure what Ronan was up to. It could've been intentional or unintentional, but it warmed

her heart and made her feel closer to him. She wanted to see Ronan again. For the first time, Cordelia

was really looking forward to Saturday.

On Thursday night, after working overtime, Cordelia was packing up to go back to her dorm when she

received a text from Ronan. [Tell me your height, weight, and measurements.]

Cordelia was looking at the message when she happened to run into Ronan in the elevator, so there

was no need to continue the conversation over text.

"Mr. Evans, what does this mean?" Cordelia held up her phone and asked.

"I'm planning to take wedding photos, so I need to order a wedding dress."

"You're really taking wedding photos?" Cordelia was surprised. She thought they were just a couple in

name to visit Barney.

Cordelia was a little confused. If they held a wedding, the whole city would know. But if they divorced

after the contract ended, wouldn’t she become the city’s infamous dumped woman?

“What’s your size?” Ronan didn’t consider Cordelia’s feelings and continued to ask.

“I’ve never measured my body, so I'm not sure." Cordelia told the truth. She usually just picked the

small size when shopping for clothes and had no idea about her exact measurements. She had never

thought about entering a beauty pageant.

Ronan turned his head and looked Cordelia up and down. His gaze made Cordelia feel a little

uncomfortable, and she involuntarily shrunk back.

The elevator reached the first floor, and Ronan walked out without saying a word. Cordelia stood

dumbfounded in the lobby. Ronan never talked much with Cordelia and never answered questions he

didn’t want to.

Back home that night, Cordelia received another text from Ronan. [We're taking wedding photos on

Saturday.]

[Are we not visiting your grandpa anymore? Are we going to have a wedding?] Cordelia asked

impatiently.

[What are you thinking?]

Ronan's words instantly shattered all of Cordelia's speculations.