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.

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

kudos! You’re a genius,”

into a smile at her

learned that his family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a

too

blur before his eyes as Daniel placed a paper on his

the result. His smile froze, ‘A? Was there

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

whispers and turned heads, all eyes on the

back row.

him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough for

Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by

him, Juliana was equally frozen, her mind a loop of denial, “Impossible! How?‘

“Class dismissed!”

review just in time for the bell and left

sooner had he gone than the room erupted

“Screech!”

on Cordelia’s desk. “Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and dramatic makeup reminiscent of

eyeballed her for a moment, replying simply,

on 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

with a noncommittal,

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

Merry

volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing was check

paper in hand, just in time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick

she did

result, do you

and tilted her head at Juliana,” I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but

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

off, fuming.

final rankings weren’t out until the end of the school day, posted on the wall for

were just a number to her. She grabbed her bag and was the