The Contracted Ever After novel Chapter 525

Cordelia's Messenger app pinged with a notification. Someone had sent a friend request. The verification message simply read. [Brenda.]

Cordelia was surprised. It had been ages since she'd last been in touch with Brenda. No sooner had she accepted the request than Brenda let loose a barrage of texts. [Cordelia, what's the big idea? You come back from overseas and don't even drop me a line? Are you too high and mighty with your fancy PhD now? You can't even pop by for a visit? If it weren't for Marian sneakily sending that dating ad to Mr. Evans, I wouldn't have had a clue you were back! How could you?]

Cordelia chuckled when she saw the messages. Since she was no longer going out, Cordelia didn't bother drying her hair. She dabbed at her damp locks with a towel as she texted Brenda back. [Been swamped with teaching at Birchwood College. You know how it is - research, tenure reviews. I thought about visiting, but I didn't want to make a promise I couldn't keep. How are you, anyway? Embracing the spinster life?]

[Don't even start. I'd happily be single, but Jordan's moved into my place.]

[Who?] Cordelia nearly forgot who that was.

Jordan, the former finance director, her old boss.

[You forgot? Your ex-big-shot boss. Dude got jailed for three years, got out, and his wife took him to the cleaners - house, money, kids, the whole nine yards. He's like a lost puppy. I ran into him one day, and the next thing I knew, he was at my place. Before I knew it, we... you know. Now he’s practically a househusband, cleaning and cooking. I say jump, and he asks how high. But why on earth should I settle for someone's hand-me-downs?]

Clearly, Brenda was seething, looking to vent, yet seemingly trapped.

Trapped, much like Cordelia herself in a way. Cordelia didn't know the specifics, and it wasn't her place to judge, especially since Jordan had once pursued Brenda. Besides, Brenda had remained single all these years.

Brenda then spilled the whole saga with Jordan.

She was a freshman when Jordan was a junior.

By Brenda's own account, she was stunning in her youth, utterly captivating. Jordan, a simple country boy, didn't stand out, and Brenda wouldn't have given him a second glance, let alone noticed him.

But once, while Brenda was fetching some hot water, she scalded her hand and nearly dropped the kettle. A plain-looking student happened to be passing by. Without a word, he helped her with the kettle and carried it down to her dorm.

"Did you burn your hand?" he asked Brenda. "Run it under some cold tap water. You might avoid a scar that way."

He was so unremarkable that Brenda felt no spark of attraction and even found him a bit nosy. The next day, however, he brought her a tube of burn cream, which she accepted without much thought.

Throughout college, whatever Jordan did, Brenda barely noticed. After he graduated, he managed to snag a real catch - a rich hottie, and for her, he did all the things he used to do for Brenda. Eventually, Jordan and Brenda lost touch, and after Jordan's stint in jail, his upscale wife left him, and he ended up with Brenda.

Cordelia was engrossed in her phone, thumbing through Brenda's lengthy saga, sometimes laughing, sometimes deep in thought as she fired back messages on Messenger.

"Aren't you worried about getting a crick in your neck?" A cold voice suddenly cut through the room, startling Cordelia so much she almost dropped her phone.

Ronan was clearly not thrilled to see Cordelia absorbed in her phone.