The Contracted Ever After novel Chapter 612

Ronan was sprawled out on the living room couch when Cordelia walked in. He glanced up briefly, acknowledging her presence with the barest flicker of his eyes.

Cordelia headed upstairs, not even noticing that Ronan hadn’t called her tonight. It was a break in their usual routine, leaving an odd silence hanging in the air.

Once in her bedroom, she sank into the plush armchair, trying to sort through her tangled thoughts. It wasn’t the revelation that Eason was her brother that truly unsettled her; it was the shattering of the image she held of her father, August, as a paragon of fidelity. Finding out that he had fathered a child with another woman, Alana, upended everything she thought she knew about him.

How could August not see the difference between them? How could he betray her mother like this?

When she had come in, she didn’t see Paola. She was likely already tucked in bed.

Ronan came upstairs shortly after.

"Where were you tonight? Didn’t see you at dinner," Ronan asked, his voice casual but tinged with curiosity.

"Oh, an old classmate dropped by out of the blue," Cordelia replied offhandedly.

She stood up, intending to freshen up in the bathroom and clear her head.

But as she rose, she remembered something Eason had once said: Ronan had been the one digging into this affair. If Ronan knew, could Eason have found out through him?

"You know about Eason stopping by, right?" she asked Ronan, who was still lounging on the sofa.

"Found out he's your brother, huh? Not too thrilled about it, I take it?" Ronan's voice had a teasing edge, as if he was amused by her predicament. "Is that why you've been holed up here all evening?"

A surge of irritation rose within Cordelia, but not for the reasons Ronan might think. It wasn't Eason’s newfound kinship that troubled her, but rather the blow to her faith in love, considering August's indiscretions.

Cordelia didn’t want to engage with Ronan's taunts. She turned to leave for the bathroom, but he caught the back of her shirt, holding her back.

"Not going to clear the air before you run off?" Ronan's tone was still laced with mockery.

Her temper flared, and she slapped his hand away, then stalked off to the bathroom.