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.

on a few questions, but it seemed they were all hits….

You’re a genius,” came

a smile at her words.

marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like him deserved nothing but

Not too shabby.

Daniel placed a

at the result. His smile froze, ‘A?

Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable.

a tableau, erupted into whispers and turned heads, all eyes on the girl in

back row.

in disbelief, turning to see Cordelia slowly lift her head, her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough

if slapped

frozen, her mind a loop of

“Class dismissed!”

in time for

sooner had he gone than the room erupted into noise.

“Screech!”

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

her for a moment, replying simply, “Nice to

the forum about whether Hanley can cling to his top spot. I gotta say I’ve had it up to here with Hanley and Juliana, prancing around like they own the place just because

with a noncommittal, “Oh.”

falter her chatter, “I heard the Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you gonna try and top

impression of Merry being that of an

next class began, Juliana, playing her role as a volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing was check Cordelia’s result.

comment. “Hanley is no one–trick

she did

result, do you think you can take the top spot? Dream

at Juliana,” I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s

retort, Juliana sneered, “Considering you’re at the bottom, I suppose you have no room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn’t

off,

the school day, posted

number to her. She grabbed her bag and was