SWNOVELS Chapter 8
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.
Last night had been a toss-up on a few questions, but it seemed they were all
ifs
“Hanley, kudos! You're a genius,” came Juliana’s congratulations.
Hanley curled his lips into a smile at her words.
He had just learned that his family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a relief
in itself. A guy like him deserved nothing but the best, after all!
A... Not too shabby.
Then, a blur before his eyes as Daniel placed a paper on his desk.
Hanley subconsciously glanced at the result. His smile froze, “A? Was there
some mistake?"
While they pondered, a breathless Latham added, “Let's extend our warmest
congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the
difficulty of this exam, her result was unexpected, better than Hanley!”
The classroom, briefly as still as a tableau, erupted into whispers and turned
heads, all eyes on the girl in the
back row.
Hanley widened his eyes in disbelief, 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 to hear, “Not bad.”
Heat rushed to Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by an invisible hand.
Beside him, Juliana was equally frozen, her mind a loop of denial, “Impossible!
How?"
“Class dismissed!”
Latham wrapped up the review just in time for the bell and left the classroom.
No sooner had he gone than the room erupted into noise.
“Screech!”
A chair scraped across the floor as Merry, Cordelia’s front-row neighbor, swung
around in her seat. With the laxity of a ragdoll, 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. She popped her
bubblegumn and continued without waiting for a reply.
Cordelia eyeballed her for a moment, replying simply, “Nice to meet you.”
Undeterred by Cordelia's cool demeanor, Merry brandished her 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.”
Cordelia responded with a noncommittal, “Oh.”
Merry didn't falter her chatter, “I heard the Foster family thought your grades
were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement? Are you gonna try and
top the class to show them up?”
Cordelia stayed silent, her first impression of Merry being that of an overfriendly
blabbermouth.
As the next class began, Juliana, playing her role as a volunteer, collected the
papers. The first thing was check Cordelia’s result. Upon seeing the grade,
Juliana exhaled in relief.
She approached Cordelia, paper in hand, just in time to catch Merry's comment.
“Hanley is no one—trick pony,” Juliana interjected. “He excels in every subject.”
she did
She handed Cordelia her Literature paper, “B+. Cordelia, with this result, do you
think you can take the top spot? Dream on.”
Merry blew another bubble and tilted her head at Juliana,” I'm not sure whether
Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she'll definitely better than you. What's there for
you to be so smug about?”
Stumped for a retort, Juliana sneered, “Considering you're at the bottom, I
suppose you have no room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn't be prouder
to rank the last in the class.”
Juliana stormed off, fuming.
The final rankings weren't out until the end of the school day, posted on the wall
for all to see.
Cordelia didn’t bother to look. Grades were just a number to her. She grabbed
her bag and was the first to head out the door.
In the classroom, Hanley and Juliana lingered, both too proud to jostle with the
crowd yet dying to know the standings.
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By the time most of the crowd had
dissipated, Hanley finally started
walking over. His gaze immediately
fell upon the first row, far left. It was
a spot usually reserved for him. But
today, someone had taken his usual
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seat.
Hanley was stunned.
Meanwhile, Juliana was on the verge of losing her mind...
At 6:30 PM, the car rolled through the gates of the Delaney family.
The moment the vehicle came to a halt, Cordelia was about to push the door
open when a sharp voice cut
13.00
Chapter 8
through the air, “Are you pleased with yourself?”
Cordelia paused, only to see Juliana with reddened eyes, brimming with tears.
She yelled, “Pretending to be a fool to mock me and Hanley, are you happy
now?”
Cordelia was flabbergasted.
Is Juliana out of her mind?
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Before Cordelia could voice her
thoughts, Juliana flung the car door
open and dashed into the mansion,
crying. As Cordelia got out of the car
and followed into the living room, she
f . .
heard Laurinda’s anxious voice,
“ : , . ”
Juliana, what's wrong with you?” The
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Juliana didn’t answer and just ran upstairs, locking her room behind her.
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Outside, Laurinda was pacing
: I ) .
frantically, “What's gotten into you?
Why the tears all of a sudden... Oh,
. p
the grades came out today, didn't
they? Did Cordelia see how well you
did and got jealous, bullying you over
rT :
it?" The content is on
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chapter there!
Cordelia who had just stepped inside was speechless.