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

You’re a genius,” came Juliana’s

into a smile at her

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

too shabby.

blur before his eyes as Daniel

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

added, “Let’s extend our warmest congratulations to 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

back row.

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

Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped

mind a

“Class dismissed!”

review just in time for the bell and

gone than the room

“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

a moment, replying

“The whole school is buzzing on the forum about whether Hanley can cling to his top spot. I

with a noncommittal,

thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off

Merry being that of an overfriendly blabbermouth.

a volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing was check Cordelia’s result. Upon seeing the grade, Juliana

comment. “Hanley

she did

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

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

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

stormed off,

the end of the school day, posted on the wall

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

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