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.

a toss–up on a few

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

his lips into a smile at her

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

too shabby.

Daniel placed a paper

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

grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty of this exam,

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

back row.

see Cordelia slowly lift her head, her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough for

rushed to Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by

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

“Class dismissed!”

just in time for the

had he gone than the room

“Screech!”

floor as Merry, Cordelia’s 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

moment, replying simply, “Nice to

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 just because of some high

a

they

her first impression of Merry

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

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

she did

result, do you think you

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 be

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 class.”

off,

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

Grades were just a number to her. She grabbed her bag