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.

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

kudos! You’re a genius,” came

curled his lips into a

Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like

too shabby.

Daniel

result. His smile

Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty of this exam, her result was unexpected, better

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

back row.

him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered

as if slapped by an

her mind a loop of denial, “Impossible! How?‘

“Class dismissed!”

time for the

sooner had he gone than the

“Screech!”

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

replying simply, “Nice

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 here with Hanley and Juliana, prancing around like they own the place

with a noncommittal,

your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you gonna try

first impression of Merry being that

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

comment. “Hanley is no one–trick pony,” Juliana

she did

do you think you can take the

blew another bubble and tilted her head at Juliana,” I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s there for you to

room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn’t be prouder to rank the last in the class.”

off, fuming.

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

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