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

Chapter 47

Cordelia never had a keen sense for romance, so she completely missed the hint when the big shot in the group flirted with her through the 'dear' stuff.

Cordelia would show her respect since she referred to him as her teacher. She couldn’t explain why but just found him reliable.

After sending the message, Cordelia printed the downloaded materials and carried them from the study to her bedroom.

On her way, she bumped into Rachel heading downstairs. Rachel looked surprised. "Lia, where's Juliana? Didn't she come home with you?"

Cordelia responded with an indifferent "No."

Rachel frowned. "Why didn't you wait for Juliana? You were like this in the morning, too. You're too cold-hearted."

Watching a sitcom in the living room, Laurinda cut in without taking her eyes off the screen. "Well, that's what happens when you don't grow up in the family. Thank goodness. Juliana’s a good girl."

Cordelia couldn't care less about their comments and continued to her room, closing the door behind her. She placed the papers on her desk and picked up her phone.

Mr. All-Round texted. [Learning to drive a sports car is fine, but don't speed in the city. It's against the law. I'll teach you when I get the chance.]

Cordelia smiled softly and texted back. [Okay, I'll start studying now.] This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Mr. All-Round texted again. [Good. If you have any questions, ask me.]

She knew she had to master the new information before tackling Batra's Conjecture. She had just started diving into the material when there was a knock on the door, and Lorna called her down for dinner.

Reluctantly, Cordelia put the papers down, sighed softly, and went downstairs.

The house was bustling today. Except for Kermit, everyone was around.

Steward and Laurinda sat at opposite ends of the long dining table, with Sanderson, Lorna, and Cordelia on one side and Rachel with Juliana on the other.

While they were eating, Rachel's cell phone rang. She hastily answered, attentive. "Hello, Mrs. Collins... No trouble at all. Please go ahead. Oh?"

Whatever the caller said changed Rachel's expression. She first glared at Juliana, then replied with a forced smile. "Of course, no problem at all!"

After hanging up, she slapped Juliana on the back. "What were you thinking, child?"

Stunned and annoyed, Juliana retorted, "Mom, why did you do that?"

Rachel was livid. "Did you blab about the private tutorial with Mr. Stanton I set up for you? Didn't I tell you to keep it a secret? I've pulled so many strings to get you this opportunity, and now, look, the news has spread, and Mrs. Collins is insisting her daughter join the interview, too! I can't afford to offend the Collins family!"

Juliana's eyes flickered guiltily. She shot Cordelia a malicious look.

Cordelia had been the talk of the school, and Juliana couldn't help but share the news with her best friend, never imagining it would leak.

But no, she had told her friend to keep it to herself. So, it must be Cordelia leaking the news.

Juliana stood up abruptly, pointing at Cordelia. "Was it you?!"

Cordelia, who had been quietly eating, looked up in confusion.

"You never talk to anyone else! Did you tell Merry? With her gossiping ways, I bet she has spread the news! You're just jealous since I play the piano and will take lessons from Mr. Stanton, so you sabotaged me on purpose to make me lose the spot!"

Rachel also cast a suspicious eye on Cordelia.

Before Lorna could intervene, Laurinda slammed her hand on the table. "Cordelia! How can you be so envious? You doesn’t care about Juliana at all, and now you're deliberately causing trouble, huh?"

Sanderson set down his fork with a clatter. "Mom, shouldn't we look into what happened before we start accusing Lia?"

Laurinda shouted, her chest heaving with anger. "Who else could it be? Only the family knew, and Juliana certainly wouldn't line up competitors for herself!"

Sanderson looked at Cordelia, asking for clarification. "Lia, are you involved in this?"

He was subtly giving his daughter a chance to speak.

The room fell silent as Cordelia slowly spoke up. "Involved in what?"

Sanderson tried to suppress a smile at his daughter's cute expression. "The matter of inviting Mr. Stanton to our house this weekend." he explained.

Cordelia replied, "Oh, no, I didn't say anything."

She had been too busy at school proving her theorem to gossip about Juliana or anything else, for that matter.

After clarifying, she continued eating, but Juliana didn’t buy it. "It must be you!” she shouted, “Did you tell Merry? After hearing it from her, everyone knows now!"

Juliana insisted it should be Cordelia's fault. Otherwise, she'd be the one in trouble.

Her anger flared. "You pretend to be so calm, but you're always trying to outdo me, right? Cordelia, you're so despicable!"

"Enough!" Lorna's voice cut through the tension. "Do you have any proof? Juliana, you're family, not enemies. Lia has never done anything against you since she entered this house."

"How can you deny that?" Rachel backed Juliana, encouraging her. "Hanley's in the math club, and so Lia joins math. I'm in physics, and so Lia is in physics. Why doesn't she compete in chemistry? She's holding a grudge because I took her fiancé!"

Cordelia paused a while before asking, "Is there a chemistry competition, too?"

Everyone was shocked by her genuinely perplexed reaction.

She pondered, considering chemistry competitions may be a valuable learning opportunity.

The family stared at her in disbelief, her innocent inquiry hanging in the air.

Finally, with a voice that cut through the air like a thunderclap, Laurinda bellowed. "Look at her! What kind of attitude is this? Arrogance? She's a good student, and so what? There are plenty of fish in the sea. There are people far more capable than her! And what good is academic excellence to a high society like ours? Look at her manners. Can she play the piano? Does she know how to

waltz? Can she arrange a bouquet? She’s just a wildflower plucked from some backwater orphanage, and she dares to defy me!"

Lorna trembled with rage, about to retort.

Bang! A forceful slap struck the table.

A sudden hush fell over the dinner party as all eyes turned to the source of the outburst, Sanderson.

His face was a picture of brewing storm clouds. He took a deep breath and said, "Mom, since I married Lorna, you've made it clear you didn't like her. And now you've extended that to Lia. I've been wondering if you can’t stand them or me!"

Laurinda was stunned. "I..."

Sanderson closed his eyes as if reaching a painful conclusion. "If the three of us are such a burden to you, maybe it's best we just go our separate ways."