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.

been a toss–up on a few questions,

genius,” came Juliana’s congratulations.

into a

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

Not too shabby.

as Daniel placed a paper on

His smile froze, ‘A? Was there some

our warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite

into whispers and turned heads,

back row.

on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough for him to hear, “Not

as if slapped by an invisible hand.

Juliana was equally frozen, her mind a

“Class dismissed!”

the review just in time for the bell and left the

he gone than the

“Screech!”

Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and

eyeballed her for a moment, replying simply, “Nice

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

a noncommittal,

didn’t falter her chatter, “I heard the Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you

silent, her first impression of Merry being that of an overfriendly blabbermouth.

volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing

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

she did

“B+. Cordelia, with this result, do you think you can take the top spot? Dream

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

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

off, fuming.

the school day, posted on the wall for

number to her. She grabbed her bag and was the first to head out the door.