Love or Die CEO’s Daily Dose of Swoon

Chapter 119

The Pioneers Group chat had been silent for days, so when someone finally piped up, the others quickly bubbled to the surface of the conversation.

Mathster replied, [Never heard of ‘em.]

Bland replied, [Farly bird interrupts my sweet dreams, huh?]

Painter said, [Ever heard of mute?]

Bland replied, [Set this chat to priority alerts, man. What if the boss needs me and I miss it?]

The others mentally rolled their eyes at his brown–nosing, but no one dared to say it out loud. Instead-

Painter said, [Same here, bro.]

Chef echoed, [And me]

Clothing Retailer said, [Me too]

Pianoman asked, [Who’s this person, anyway? Never heard of them. Are they famous or something? @Painter]

Painter said, [This person had a real flair for painting 18 years ago. Young and talented. But then I heard she married into some high society and stopped painting altogether. Not many people know her because of that.]

Bland asked, [So why are you looking for her?]

Painter replied, [To paint, obviously.]

Bland said, [? But you’re a renowned artist yourself. Why do you need someone else to paint for you?]

Painter said, [Let me school you, newbie. Watercolor themes fall into three categories, landscapes, figures, and still lifes. I specialize in figures, not landscapes.]

Painter said, [I got roped into this game design gig, doing character art. I need a landscape artist for the scenery. Most of the famed landscape artists here have either aged out of the game or their work is too superficial for my taste.]

said, [After much thought, only Lorn from 18 years ago caught my eye. Her

[You’re a big shot in the art world, chairing the Superiority Country Fine Art Association and heading the Superiority Art Academy. You must

a rookie myself, couldn’t dig up her real identity, and then she vanished. She might have changed her name, but talent like hers doesn’t just disappear. I’ve cast a wide net in my circles. You all have

replied, [No

[Got it.]

thought for a moment. She couldn’t paint, but Lorna could. Maybe there

[Got it.]

It was physics–related, hard to understand, but she tackled them with zest,

college courses back at the orphanage. But it wasn’t until she’d visited her grandparents‘

professors, and when she visited them with

Chapter 119

of books to delve deeper

and her grandmother was supposed to arrive tonight,

an hour later, a car pulled up in front

the stairs and entered Midnight Scent.

table effortlessly, prompting Everard to rise from

These two didn’t seem like former colleagues at all. But Everard had

with a hint of curiosity, “You’ve been hanging around for two months now. Don’t you have things

to reply when Everard’s smooth voice intervened, “He’s leaving soon.”

forced smile, he added, “Yeah, I actually came to Greenmeadow for business. Time

how to kick him to the curb once he’s no

back, resting his hands on the table, expecting the usual handshake. But when it didn’t come, he looked up, puzzled, to see Cordelia staring–not at him, but at

at him today, but she wasn’t. And

between her thoughts and his gaze, she

how attractive his hands really were–long, defined, with calluses that spoke of work

that heat seemed to burn

they held hands, tracing her palm when she wasn’t paying attention. But today, when he did, Cordelia jerked away as if electrocuted, feeling

enough, the heartache that usually needed a ten–minute handhold to subside was gone with

grabbing her backpack, I’m off to school

the school, pondering why