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 they were

You’re a genius,” came

a smile

family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like him deserved nothing but the best, after all!

too shabby.

before his eyes as Daniel placed a paper on his

His smile froze,

warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics

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

back row.

her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just

to Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped

Juliana was equally frozen, her mind a loop

“Class dismissed!”

wrapped up the review just in time

he gone than the room erupted into

“Screech!”

desk. “Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and

her for a moment, replying simply, “Nice to meet you.”

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

responded with a noncommittal, “Oh.”

family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you gonna try and top the class

of Merry being

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

time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick pony,” Juliana

she did

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

whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s

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,

number to her. She grabbed her bag and was