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

genius,” came Juliana’s congratulations.

lips into a smile at her

to marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like him deserved nothing

too

as Daniel placed a paper on his

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

added, “Let’s extend our warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty of this exam, her result

as still as a tableau, erupted into whispers and turned

back row.

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

cheeks as if slapped by an invisible

equally frozen, her mind a loop of

“Class dismissed!”

time for the bell

he gone than the room erupted

“Screech!”

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.

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

phone and 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 just because of some high scores.”

with a noncommittal, “Oh.”

“I heard the Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you gonna

impression of Merry being that of

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

time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick

she did

do you

I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better

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

stormed off,

end of the school day, posted on

bother to look. Grades were just a number to her. She grabbed