Love or Die: CEO’ s Daily Dose of Swoon (Cordelia)

Chapter 35

Merry's voice cut through the chatter in the classroom, drawing every eye in her direction.

Was the result a cause for celebration or commiseration?

While the students were pondering, Cordelia’s brow furrowed, and her surprise was evident. She had felt confident in her answers. How on earth had she lost 12 points?

The sight of her expression made a wave of relief wash over Juliana, her heart brimming with a sense of schadenfreude. Maybe Cordelia had only scored in the fifties, so Merry's shock meant a dismal failure. After all, Cordelia had aced the previous math quiz.

Juliana could barely conceal her glee and shot Hanley a sly glance, her voice dripping with faux sympathy. "Cordelia, don't beat yourself up. We're talking about the math competition here. It's brutal. Plenty of folks are thrilled to even score in the fifties."

Latham, who had harbored hopes for Cordelia, paused at Juliana's words, swallowing his disappointment to offer consolation. "Cordelia, chin up! There's always next time."

On the other hand, Hanley smirked with self-satisfaction. He had lost to her in the last quiz due to a fluke, but not this time. Surely, Cordelia would recognize his superiority.

Some classmates, eager to see Cordelia knocked down a peg, bit back their snide remarks, recalling her commanding presence in earlier classes. Instead, they ducked their heads and anonymously hit the school's online forum with their phones.

[Live update. Scores are out! Someone's world just got rocked!]

[Waiting for her result!]

[So much for the know-it-all, huh?]

[Drop the score!]

The forum buzzed with gossip as Merry remained in shock. The same group of girls who thrived on rumors swallowed hard.

Scoring an 88 on a math competition test was no small feat for the average Joe!

Juliana teased, "For all we know, some people are happy to scrape by with barely double digits. So, Cordelia, how many points did you get?" Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Cordelia remained silent, but Merry could hold back no more and blurted out. "288!"

"What? Did I mishear, or did you misspeak?"

"Did you accidentally add a hundred? I'd believe 188, maybe."

"288? You're pulling my leg! Merry, you're full of it!"

"You mean 88, right?"

Hanley and Juliana's eyes widened in disbelief, thinking Merry must have made a mistake.

Already on his feet, Latham rushed over to Cordelia with a look of eager anticipation. "Cordelia, how much did you score?"

Cordelia handed her phone over peacefully. Latham grabbed it, his eyes widening before scrubbing at them as if to clear away any illusion. The small phone screen was clear enough, though, and the number was unmistakable. 288!

Ignoring the buzzing of her classmates, Cordelia drawled, "Should I be worried? Did I do terribly?"

Latham was speechless. Struggling to contain his excitement, Latham explained, "This isn't a regular test. Since its inception, the Galaxy Math Whiz Competition has seen a national high of 271 points by a genius who nearly clinched a gold medal at IMO."

As he spoke, Latham couldn't bear to return the phone, staring at the number repeatedly, his hands trembling with excitement.

Then, a loud ringtone cut through the air.

Latham fished out a no-frills cell phone from his pocket and answered the call. It was Zack, the head of the math department, his voice booming through the phone as if on speaker. "Latham, how did Hanley score?"

Latham paused, "212."

Zack chuckled. "Not bad, a first prize for sure! But it looks like Jake from our school has snagged the top spot again with 224 points!"

Latham replied almost reflexively, "Congrats."

Zack continued, "What's there to congratulate? First place is surely at our school. That Greenmeadow International School of yours getting a first prize is a miracle. But, Latham, I've got to say you've got the math chops to coach our competition team, yet you went for the fat paycheck at Greenmeadow International. It's a shame. As teachers, shouldn't we take pride not in how much we earn but in how exceptional our students become?"

Under normal circumstances, Latham would have hung up.

It was evident Zack was calling to gloat, but Latham stood tall this time, his voice brimming with confidence. "You're right, Zack. But about that first place, you might want to think again."

Zack was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Latham couldn't help but smirk, "Oh, I forgot to mention. My student Cordelia scored 288."

"What?"

-

Out on the schoolyard, the Flame Union assembled, their ranks seated in a neat line on the steps, each with a phone in hand.

Yates stood with one foot propped on a step, announcing, "I've got two hundred insults printed here. We're eight strong but need to come at them like we're eight hundred. Got it?"

"Got it!"

With Yates's command of "Go!" they dived into the forum.

[She probably just scored in the fifties, right? Show the score!] Someone sneered.

Yates replied, [Crap, you think you could score eight? Oh, my bad, you don't qualify for the test.]

...

[Scores are out. Get ready, and you'll be blown away!]

"Here come the scores!”

Flame No. 1 shouted nervously, "Get ready to flood the chat! We have to bury their trash talk! Here's the spam line. 'Even if she fails, she’s still better than you!' Type it out, copy and paste it. Save on typing time when it's go-time. Now, flood it!"

The Flames went to work, their fingers flying, hundreds of posts in under a minute, pushing the score to reveal down the thread.

Mid-flood, someone noticed something off. "Hey, where are all the trolls?"

Another asked, "Did you guys see the score?"

The chat, once a battleground of insults and bravado, was then a scene of stunned silence.

Flame One’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie, "Keep up the lookout. I'm heading back to check the score."

After he had navigated the winding trails back to the main hall where they posted the scores, Flame One was shocked.

Yates nudged him with a boot. "Well, spit it out, man."

"It's just... I mean, there's no way Lia only got an 8, right?"

Flame One swallowed hard. "288."

Flame Six, not up to speed on the grading scale, interrupted, "Out of what, exactly?"

Flame One replied with a heavy pause, "300."

A hush fell over the group on the field, the sun beating down on them so fiercely it seemed as if Lia was bathed in a halo of brilliance, her stature growing immensely in their eyes.

-

Lorna keyed in the examination number with trembling fingers in the Delaney family’s living room.

Sanderson stood by her side, chuckling. "Relax. I told you Lia was just warming up."

It was easy to say, but he fixed his eyes on the tablet screen.

Laurinda scoffed from across the room. "Like she's going to rank high. What's there to be nervous about? Unless you're worried that she scored so low that it's embarrassing..."