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

a genius,” came Juliana’s congratulations.

lips into a smile at

just learned that his family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy

too shabby.

as Daniel placed

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

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

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

back row.

eyes 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 for him

cheeks as if slapped by

equally frozen, her mind a loop of

“Class dismissed!”

time for the bell and left the classroom.

he gone than

“Screech!”

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 without waiting for a reply.

moment, replying simply, “Nice

can cling to his top spot. I gotta say I’ve had

responded with a noncommittal,

so they called off the engagement?

silent, her first impression of Merry being that

class began, Juliana, playing her role as a volunteer, collected the papers. The first

just in time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick pony,” Juliana interjected. “He excels in every subject.”

she did

with this result, do you think you can take the top

Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s there for

room for pride.” Merry

stormed off, fuming.

the school day, posted on the wall for all

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