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

Chapter 25

Following her question, the atmosphere of the Midnight Scent became hushed, only for the stillness to shatter at the sound of ensuing laughter.

Everard chuckled again, bending down, his face drawing close to Cordelia's as he teased in a whisper, "Girl, what do you think?"

He anticipated her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, her indignation palpable. Instead, Cordelia blinked her innocent, wide eyes, seemingly oblivious to his proximity, and pondered seriously.

With the earnestness of a straight-A student asking a teacher a question, she began, "Dating should start with a confession, followed by hand-holding, then perhaps a kiss, a hug, and finally..." Her words trailed off as she looked at Everard in shock.

Everard raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Cordelia narrowed her eyes, a baffled expression clouding her face as she steeled herself. She thought if Everard dared suggest they sleep together, she'd unleash a roundhouse kick his way!

Their breaths mingled, their faces inches apart.

Under Cordelia's fierce gaze, Everard looked away, his hands tucked into his pockets as he straightened up, his voice with a hint of helplessness, "Relax, just head to class."

Relax about what? Cordelia internally rolled her eyes but still grabbed her backpack to head to class. She decided to take things one step at a time. For now, hand-holding wasn't too appalling.

She didn't notice the faint blush that had crept up Everard's face...

In the corner, Calvert tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, so as to avoid becoming a casualty of witnessing the boss' failed flirtation.

As soon as Cordelia stepped into the classroom, she caught the whispers, "She's got herself a sugar baby".

Turning to look, the gossipers fell silent.

A soft voice chimed in, "Better stop talking, if we offend her, who knows what the Flame Union guys will do?"

The others went silent immediately.

For the first time, Cordelia found the Flame Union's presence useful. It certainly quieted things down.

After six classes, as Cordelia was packing up for advanced math, the Flames from the Flame Union showed up again. Yates crossed his arms by the door while Flame No. 1 took a seat offered by Merry and asked, "Lia, off to another class?"

Cordelia didn't respond, prompting him to ask himself, "You're not going to demand we stay and hit the books too, right?"

"Yes," Cordelia replied firmly.

Flame No. 1 looked stunned, "What? Yates, what do we do?"

Yates, equally taken aback by the idea of homework, quickly conceded, "She's the boss now. We do as she says!"

The Flames groaned collectively, standing up dejectedly.

"I wanted to catch a movie tonight!"

"Me too, I was planning to shoot some hoops!"

As they lamented, Yates kicked at them, "Homework check tomorrow, the boss' orders must be followed."

"...Can we copy, though?" one dared to ask.

"What do you think?" Yates retorted.

They arrived fast and left just as quickly. As they vanished through the door, Cordelia's words - “No need” - remained unspoken, stuck in her throat.

She paused, slightly dazed.

How others chose to live was not her concern, just as she never insisted the Flames revert their hair to natural colors. She had no intention of turning them into nerds like herself.

Her previous reply was to Flame No. 1’s first question!

But she realized, aside from Yates, she didn't even know their names, let alone inform them individually.

With a sigh, Cordelia gathered her textbooks and left the classroom, her pace leisurely, never one to rush. As she exited, Juliana whispered to Hanley, "...she admitted her boyfriend is a street thug, only with her for the money. Hanley, we should keep our distance from such a disgraceful girl."

Hanley watched Cordelia's retreating figure, then followed her, taking a seat behind her in the advanced math class.

After a while, unable to contain himself, he blurted out, "You didn't just randomly pick someone after I broke off our engagement, did you?"

Seeing her ignoring him, he prodded her shoulder with a pen, only to be met with her bewildered and impatient look, "What do you want?"

Hanley was taken aback. Had she not heard a word he said?

He felt a rush of embarrassment as he realized his peers were watching. He quickly looked away, pondering her arrogance.

He sneered internally upon seeing her basic math exercises, thinking her competition scores must be so poor that Latham only gave her easy problems.

The upcoming Galaxy Math Whiz Competition would be his chance to outdo her and prove his superiority!

The advanced math sessions flew by. As Cordelia lingered to finish the last problem, she realized she was the last one in the classroom.

Gathering her things, she pondered the last problem on her way back to the main classroom.

Lost in thought, she nearly collided with a girl rushing out of the room. Cordelia caught a glimpse of a girl's resentful glare before she hurried away.

Was that Merry? She seemed different…

Her swift exit left Cordelia puzzled, a strange feeling lingering as Cordelia picked up her backpack and left the echoes of schoolyard drama behind.

Cordelia and Juliana returned home just in time for dinner when Steward received a phone call. After he returned to the dining room, his usually composed face was etched with seriousness. Addressing Sanderson, Steward said, "I've figured out why Hackett didn't accept our gift."

Sanderson, eager for information, pressed, "Why's that?"

Steward settled into his chair, mulling over his words before revealing, "I've just received a tip-off that a big shot has arrived in Greenmeadow!"

Laurinda's curiosity was piqued. "What kind of big shot?"

Steward shook his head, "I don't know the exact details, but if Hackett is bending over backward for him, this person is no small fry. For the time being, we'd better keep a low profile with the company's dealings."

"Understood," Sanderson replied, before adding, "Dad, do we have a name? We wouldn't want to rub this person the wrong way by mistake."

Nodding, Steward leaned in, "That's precisely what I wanted to discuss. Everyone, if you hear this name being mentioned, remember that we can't afford to offend this individual."

At that, Cordelia set down her fork, her gaze locked onto Steward, ready to commit every word to memory.