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

Chapter 29

Lucille had always had high hopes for Leila, one of the top five students in her class. With the SATs around the corner, she was counting on Leila to ace the tests and bolster the school's academic reputation.

But when the likes of Yates and his crew showed up, Lucille instantly lost her nerve and clammed up, not daring to utter another word.

Latham, on the other hand, furrowed his brow and confronted them, "Yates, what are you doing here instead of being in class?"

Yates, arms crossed and with an impatient glance at Merry, responded, "Heard someone's been bad-mouthing our Flame Union. Just wanted to see who's got the guts."

His gaze shifted to Leila, who shivered the moment their eyes met.

She was confused. Wasn't it rumored that Cordelia had taken over as the head honcho of Flame Union? Yates should be holding a grudge, so why was he sticking up for Merry?

As Yates' gaze unintentionally brushed past Cordelia, he fixed his eyes on Lucille, "Since Leila is fessed up, how do you plan on punishing her?"

Before Lucille could respond, Paulina stepped forward, "This little mix-up? Let's just settle it with ten times the dues for the class fund."

Yates, however, tilted his chin up slightly, "Theft and slander are two offenses... Hmm, by the school's code of conduct, that's grounds for major disciplinary action. Don't worry, Ms. Lucille, I'll take it up with the vice principal."

Every high school has its rules. No dyed hair, for instance. But Yates and his Flame Union seemed to strut around Greenmeadow International School with impunity, mainly because one of the

school's trustees was none other than Hackett, his grandpa!

After laying down the law, Yates stepped aside, "Lia, shall we?"

Cordelia, who had been the sole eyewitness, had spent the entire period in the office, missing her class. "Oh, right," she muttered, leading Merry towards the door.

As they were about to leave, Paulina shouted desperately, "Merry, how could you ruin Leila like this? How can you be so selfish and cruel?"

Merry closed her eyes in pain at the accusation.

Just then, a voice tinged with confusion cut through the tension, "But... didn't she bring this upon herself? Why are we saying Merry's the one who ruined her?" asked Cordelia.

Paulina was at a loss for words.

The entire office turned to look at Cordelia, whose distant eyes seemed to be searching for an answer from Paulina.

After a tense silence, Cordelia turned and left the office.

The group made their way out of the administration building and towards the academic wing. Cordelia walked ahead, with Yates, his chin held high, trailing beside her.

Having dealt with the situation, Cordelia finally checked her phone for a message from Louie.

Louie asked, "Lia, you got a boyfriend?"

Cordelia paused, belatedly realizing something she hadn't picked up on before. She played back the voice message she had sent earlier. It began with Everard's voice saying, "My dear girlfriend, you can talk now," followed by her own, "Louie, what's up?"

She stopped in her tracks, puzzled.

Yates, overhearing the message, was equally stunned. Girlfriend?

The others behind them didn’t notice the exchange, and Flame No. 1, after getting the full story from Merry, inquired, "Lia, why didn't you just call the cops? That would've put Leila behind bars!"

Cordelia lazily replied, "Little Parrot touched the envelope."

Flame No. 1 was perplexed, "What?"

It took him a moment to realize Little Parrot was a nickname for Merry.

Cordelia explained, "Fingerprint evidence would be useless, then."

Leila and Merry were indeed identical twins. With Merry's penchant for heavy makeup, it was too easy to impersonate one another. The surveillance footage was inconclusive.

"Ah, I get it now! Boss Cordelia, you were bluffing. Clever move!" Flame No. 1 said, scratching his head. He then looked at Cordelia and asked, "You like giving people nicknames, huh? What's mine? Did you give one to Yates too?"

Cordelia glanced at his hair and felt a twinge of guilt, "...I don't think so."

After sending a quick message to Louie, "Yeah, it's a special case. I'll explain later. Got a class now."

She noticed a new friend request with the name 'E' and a black profile picture, but she dismissed it and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Meanwhile, at Midnight Scent, Everard chuckled softly at the 'Request Denied' notification, causing Calvert, who was gaming nearby, to edge away from his boss...

The school day flew by and it was time for the advanced math class. Well, today it was the physics competition prep.

Cordelia, books in hand, made her way to the lecture hall and spotted Merry and Paulina in a heated exchange. Paulina, eyes red, was trying to stuff a bank card into Merry.

Merry, however, shook her head, pushed the card back to Paulina, and ran off.

Cordelia watched briefly before heading to her class, where she found it even less populated than the math competition group, just seven students.

She took a seat and tuned out Juliana's concerns about her upcoming Galaxy Math Whiz competition, focusing instead on the physics ahead.

Juliana nodded, casually brushing her bangs aside with an air of nonchalance. "Yeah, the Math and Physics Clubs are swamped with homework already. She's burning the midnight oil every day. I honestly wonder if she can handle both classes."

The guy looked baffled, "Seriously? One competition is already a full-time commitment. Is she just doing this for kicks?" ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Juliana shrugged, "Who knows what she's thinking."

The others glanced at each other but remained silent.

However, within five minutes, a buzz started on the school's online forum when an anonymous post went viral. "Did someone get too big for their boots after acing one test and signing up for two competitions?"

The post quickly racked up a flurry of comments.

‘Who? Cordelia from senior year?’

‘I'm in the advanced Math Club, let me enlighten you all. Cordelia's been at the bottom in the last two mock exams. Why on earth did Latham even admit her? As a mascot or something?’

‘Bet she cheated to get that top grade. Is Cordelia from the Delaney family trying to play the genius card to add some shine to her high-society status? But isn't this a bit too much?’

‘The Galaxy Math Whiz Competition is just around the corner. We'll see what happens, no cheating there. All the pretenders will be exposed!’

Oblivious to the online storm, Cordelia's phone buzzed with another notification.

She picked it up to find a new friend request. The profile picture was a confident selfie with a pair of fangs in the smile. The username was 'Boss Wallace'.

Meanwhile, at Midnight Scent.

Calvert was sucking up to Everard with a smirk, "Boss, I bet she won't accept a stranger's request. Just watch, she'll reject me too!"

No sooner had he spoken than his phone vibrated. Both he and Everard looked down to see a notification, "Friend Request Accepted by Learn Lover."

Calvert was speechless.