Love or Die CEO’s Daily Dose of Swoon

Chapter 8

Latham strode into the classroom, his arrival predating the bell’s chime by mere seconds.

He dropped a stack of thick papers onto the desk at the front, Daniel, would you mind handing these out?”

A hush fell over the room as Cordelia, seated at the back, watched necks crane and bodies lean forward in anticipation. As the papers made their rounds, a cacophony of sighs and gasps peppered the air from every

comer.

Daniel, a slim figure with glasses that seemed too heavy for his face, approached Juliana and handed her the

paper.

Curiosity bubbled up from the desks, “What do you get?”

Juliana glanced at her score with a mix of ease and pride in her voice. “A”

“And you nailed that with these brain–busters? Impressive!”

Juliana feigned modesty. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. I’m still trailing behind Hanley”

“No need to compare with that guy who is been raking in math awards since he was in diapers. But you know, you’re two peas in a pod, academically speaking.

Amidst the surrounding exclamations of admiration, Juliana inevitably drifted her gaze to the back row

With a hint of teasing, she said, “Daniel, would you be a dear and check my cousin’s grade?”

Fumbling through the papers, Daniel didn’t find Cordelia’s but instead pulled out Hanley’s and promptly handed it over…

Before the commotion could settle, Latham announced from the front, “This math test, there’s only one perfect score in the entire grade, and it’s from our class!”

“Wow!”

“Hanley’s got to be the man, right?”

As the class buzzed with astonishment, Hanley quietly exhaled in relief.

had been a toss–up on a few questions, but it seemed they

kudos! You’re a genius,” came Juliana’s

lips into a smile at

family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a

too

a blur before his eyes as Daniel placed

smile froze, ‘A? Was there some

added, “Let’s extend our warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the

briefly as still as a tableau, erupted into whispers and turned heads, all eyes on

back row.

on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile,

Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by

was equally frozen, her mind a loop of denial, “Impossible!

“Class dismissed!”

review just in time for

than the room

“Screech!”

Cordelia’s front–row neighbor, swung around in her seat. With the laxity of a ragdoll, she leaned on Cordelia’s desk. “Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and dramatic makeup reminiscent of a cartoon character. She popped her bubblegumn and continued

replying

and chirped, “The whole school is buzzing on the forum about whether Hanley can cling to his top spot. I gotta say I’ve had it up to

a

Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are

stayed silent, her first impression of Merry being that of an overfriendly

playing her role as a volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing

approached Cordelia, paper in hand, just in time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no

she did

this result, do you think you can take the top spot? Dream on.”

whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s there for you to be so smug about?”

“Considering you’re at the bottom, I suppose you have no room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn’t be prouder to rank the last in the

stormed off,

end of the school day, posted on the wall for all to

didn’t bother to look. Grades were just a number to her. She grabbed her bag and was the first