The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan)

Chapter 26

At four in the morning on Monday, after a two-hour bullet train ride and three bus transfers on winding

mountain roads, Cordelia didn't reach her destination until ten.

By the time she arrived at Evergreen Primary School, where Logan had once taught, Cordelia felt sick

to her stomach.

Ricardo, a genuinely friendly and warm-hearted guy, told her that Logan was the only one who had

come to teach there out of the goodness of his heart in all these years. Everybody else only came to

boost their image, but Logan genuinely cared for the students.

Ricardo handed over Logan's diary to Cordelia. Tucked inside were photos of Logan with the children,

his warmth and kindness even more pronounced with them by his side.

When Cordelia saw the photos, she bawled her eyes out. Her heart ached for Logan.

After touring the campus with Ricardo, Cordelia checked the time. It was almost noon. She was due at

Barney's at three in the afternoon. However, while waiting for the bus on the mountain road, Cordelia

saw a private car parked on the side. The driver, a young lad, looked rather flustered, kicking his tires in

frustration.

"Need a hand?" Cordelia approached and asked.

The guy seemed relieved to see her. "I ran out of gas and there's no signal here in the middle of

nowhere." He explained. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Cordelia remembered the storeroom she had seen at the school earlier, which had a few barrels of

gasoline. Ricardo had said it was for heating in the winter.

"Go straight and then take a left. Look for a big tree, and you’ll find Evergreen Primary School. They

have gasoline." Cordelia pointed out.

Seeing his blank face, Cordelia sighed, "Come on, I'll take you there."

He locked his car and followed Cordelia to Evergreen Primary School. Along the way, they started

chatting. Turns out the lad was also from Millstone. He worked in a small company and was here on a

business trip. He thought there was a gas station nearby, but couldn't find one. He would've been

stranded on the mountain overnight if it hadn't been for Cordelia.

They were both from Millstone and bumping into each other in this remote area felt like a homecoming

of sorts. They exchanged contact info.

The guy's name was Edwin.

With Ricardo's help, Edwin's car was refueled. He was incredibly grateful and offered to drop Cordelia

off at Cedar Hollow train station.

Once on the train, Cordelia checked her phone and found a dozen missed calls from Ronan, probably

due to the lack of signal. She only got one WhatsApp message: [Where are you?]

Cordelia quickly replied, [Sorry, just got your message. No signal until now.]

Instead of texting back, Ronan called. His tone was frosty, "You took the day off. Where did you go?"

Even over the phone, Cordelia could hear the chill in his voice and the anger he was holding back.

"Weren't we supposed to pick up Barney at three? Why were you calling me in the morning?" Cordelia

quickly redirected the conversation.

"Where did you go?" Ronan wasn't sidetracked and continued to ask calmly.

Considering she had just lectured Ronan about not to see two women at the same time and now she

was picking up her ex-boyfriend's diary. It could be misunderstood, so Cordelia decided to lie, "I went

shopping. I was upset about not being chosen as the Lumos Star, so I blew off some steam."

Ronan knew Cordelia was miffed about the whole Lumos Star thing. He was involved in it and he was

angry at the time too. So, he didn't probe further.

"I was originally planning to go to Barney's this afternoon, return to Millstone tomorrow morning. But

there's a meeting tomorrow, so I decided to go in the morning and return in the afternoon. I'm on my

way now, so you don't need to go back to Birchwood. I'll text you the address, go back to the villa and

wait for Barney." Ronan's tone softened a bit.

"Okay." Cordelia replied.

She thought to herself, “Barney's sick. Living alone in Birchwood is worrisome, so it makes sense to

bring him over. But does this mean Barney's moving in with Ronan? Am I supposed to move in with

Ronan too?”

Just thinking about it gave Cordelia the heebie-jeebies. She was always at Ronan's mercy. But

Cordelia didn't allow herself to dwell on it. She started reading Logan's diary. From when they first met,

fell in love, and he went off to teach in the rural area, it was like reliving every day of their past.

Tears dropped onto the pages of his diary. In his entries, Logan mentioned several times about the gap

between Cedar Hollow's children and the outside world. His greatest wish was to buy each child at

Evergreen Primary School a computer, but he didn't have the funds.

Cordelia clenched her fists. She would make sure Logan's wish came true. But after doing some math,

she realized she didn't have enough money. After signing the agreement, Ronan gave her twenty

grand in one go, and a few trips to Barney's earned her less than ten grand. That was still less than

thirty grand dollars in total. Most of that money went towards her mom's medical bills. Dr. Devon was

hiring a caretaker, and she needed the remaining money for that.

Cordelia wondered how could she make more money.