Love or Die CEO’s Daily Dose of Swoon

Chapter 3

The next day, a curious crowd of students surrounded the seniors in Class 1 at Greenmeadow International School.

“Is that the new transfer student?“–

“I heard she’s the Delaney kid who went missing for eighteen years, and they finally found her in some rural orphanage.

“A country bumpkin, huh? Can she even understand our foreign language teacher’s lectures?”

“Can she keep up with our dance classes or the piano lessons? Has she ever even touched a piano?”

In the midst of the scoffs, a differing voice piped up, “But, she’s pretty hot.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to the back of the classroom, where Cordelia was reading a book.

She sat there quietly, her pale fingers holding a set of practice exams, her hair neatly tied in a ponytail, revealing a perfect forehead. In her black and white uniform, she exuded an air of scholarly poise, her expressionless face focused on the test papers, and her beautiful eyes veiled in a mist.

A few boys nearby couldn’t take their eyes off her.

Most students at Greenmeadow International School came from wealthy families, used to seeing all kinds of starlets and beauties, but a beauty like Cordelia was rare.

Seeing the boys attracted, a girl’s voice pierced the air sharply, “Juliana, why is your cousin ignoring everyone? Is she that stuck–up?”

Juliana glanced at the handsome boy beside her, her eyes flickering. “Don’t say that. My cousin’s just a bit slow on the uptake. She’s new and might need everyone’s help with her studies.”

“Slow on the uptake? So, she’s a ditz, huh?“:

“No wonder she looks so dull and dim!”

The class president complained, “If she’s a ditz, she shouldn’t be in our class. There’s a baseline test today, and what if she drags down our class average?”

Class 1 was the elite class of the school, where each student carried a sense of pride.

“Why is she even in our class?”

Someone suddenly remarked, “Could it be for Hanley Foster?”

that, everyone looked at the school heartthrob, Hanley.

Foster families had an arranged engagement, a typical alliance of wealth. But since the Delaney family’s eldest daughter went missing, the agreement defaulted

Juliana.

it be she wanted

you get hitched to a

irritable, Hanley clenched his jaw, his sarcasm barely veiled. “How could

going

“Bang!”

classroom door swung open as Mr. Latham, the homeroom teacher, strode in, slamming the test papers onto the desk and disrupting the chatter. The man in his forties frowned deeply. “Look how wild you’ve gotten after the holiday! Enough chit–chat. Let’s get something straight. Those who rank in the bottom ten

are on cleaning duty for a week! Now clean up your desks. Class president,

class instantly rustled

and

student in front of Cordelia passed her the

seconds later, Cordelia looked up as if she hadn’t heard the previous

exam, Hanley glanced back

was a math test, and everyone was scribbling calculations on their scratch paper, but Cordelia just stared straight at the questions, writing an answer every ten seconds with a rhythm

stood up and handed in

Was she scribbling nonsense?

to buy a high–priced diploma, right? In the world of the wealthy, that move was

useless people

Latham, proctoring from the podium, also felt

and was a bit off in the head, had been placed in his class, untouchable and

had handed in her paper after just half an hour, essentially giving

to grade it. Looking down, he found the paper clean and neat, with direct answers written for the multiple–choice and fill–in–the–blank questions. He wondered how many Cordelia had

first question, choice C,

also correct. Lucky streak?

Mr. Latham’s eyes widened

Cordelia strolled downstairs.

and skills. Perhaps having particular strengths meant having weaknesses, too. She was somewhat slow to process emotions and

completing the overly simple test, she decided to leave the

a wave of heat, regretting her haste in handing in

paper.