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 few questions, but it seemed they

You’re a genius,” came Juliana’s congratulations.

lips into a smile at her

just learned that his family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like him deserved nothing but the

Not too

as Daniel placed a paper

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

extend our warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is

tableau, erupted into whispers and turned heads, all

back row.

widened his eyes in disbelief, turning to see Cordelia slowly lift her head, her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow

rushed to Hanley’s cheeks as if

frozen, her mind a loop of denial, “Impossible!

“Class dismissed!”

time for the

gone than the room

“Screech!”

“Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and dramatic makeup reminiscent of a cartoon character. She

a moment, replying simply, “Nice to

school is buzzing on the forum about whether Hanley can cling to his top spot. I gotta say

a noncommittal, “Oh.”

were embarrassing, so they called off

first impression of Merry being

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

Merry’s comment. “Hanley

she did

Literature paper, “B+. Cordelia, with this result, do you think you can take the top

Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than

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

stormed off,

weren’t out until the end of the school day,

to her. She grabbed her bag and was

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