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

Chapter 26

As the eyes of the dinner table settled on him, Steward drawled out a name, "Calvert Wallace."

Cordelia, seeing that Steward had nothing more to add, picked up her fork and resumed her meal.

Sanderson frowned, "Never heard of any big shot in the Wallace family. Who is this guy?"

Steward shook his head, replying, "Just be wary if you run into someone with that name. They say he's lurking around somewhere, unknown why he's come to Greenmeadow. Just don't cross him!"

Sanderson, who was always thinking a step ahead, asked, "Doesn't Hackett have any plans?"

Steward cleared his throat, "In a while, Hackett's throwing his sixty-ninth birthday bash, and Calvert will be invited. So you all might want to start looking for your party outfits."

That last bit was aimed at Lorna, who nodded eagerly.

After dinner, Cordelia went upstairs to tackle her mountain of practice tests. At ten sharp, a knock came at her door, and after granting permission, Lorna entered with a glass of warm milk and honey.

She set the glass down beside Cordelia, glancing at the pile of papers and couldn't help but say, "Lia, you're pushing too hard. You've got to rest."

"Okay," Cordelia replied without looking up.

Lorna sighed and pushed the glass into Cordelia's hands, "You're taking a break now."

Cordelia sighed, a bit helplessly facing Lorna's insistence, and quickly drank the milk. Just as she was about to dive back into her math problems, Lorna intervened, "Lia, do something else for a bit. Take a ten-minute break."

Cordelia looked blank, "Like what?" All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Lorna, equally puzzled, suggested, "Don't you ever chat with your boyfriend?"

Cordelia was curt, "No need."

Lorna persisted, "And you didn’t go out over the weekend. Why not catch a movie together?"

Lorna was weary. Most parents worried about their kids dating too early and neglecting their studies, but here she was, nudging her daughter towards romance.

To her surprise, Cordelia quickly shot back, "Movies are a waste of time. They distract from studying."

Lorna was dumbfounded.

Cordelia blinked and asked slowly, "Mom, can I get back to my practice tests now?"

Lorna picked up the empty glass, "Fine, but make sure you get some sleep early."

Since Cordelia stayed up late studying every night, Lorna was accustomed to letting her sleep in a bit longer in the mornings, packing her breakfast for the road.

As she grabbed her breakfast and headed out, Laurinda couldn't resist a snide remark, "One top score and you think you're some kind of genius? Math Club and now Physics Club? Spreading yourself thin, huh? Greed can lead to loss on both fronts."

Cordelia ignored her, stepping straight into the car.

When she arrived at Midnight Scent, Juliana cast a meaningful glance at the store and clicked her tongue, but knowing Cordelia wouldn't respond, she kept quiet.

Cordelia quietly got out of the car.

At breakfast, her phone chimed with a text. Unbothered, Cordelia kept eating her bagel, not bothering to check the message.

Everard, in his languid way, swallowed his mouthful and said, "Girl, you've got a text."

“Okay,” replied Cordelia, continuing to eat without uttering another word.

Everard arched his eyebrows and, leaning back, cast a glance towards her schoolbag. "Aren't you going to check it?" He inquired.

Cordelia finished eating the bagel in her hand, then picked up her schoolbag, took out her mobile phone and found that Louie was the one who sent her a text message.

She'd saved Louie as the sole entry in her contacts.

Everard stared at Cordelia and saw her lips hook slightly after seeing the message with a faint but quickly disappearing smile. His eyes fell on her phone screen.

Even after a certain distance, he still captured the text with good eyesight.

Louie suggested, "Download WhatsApp and add my contact."

Then Everard saw his girlfriend quickly open the App Store, download the app, and immediately register with her phone number. Then she added Louie’s contact without any hesitation.

After adding Louie, she received his message, "Lia, you must be about to start class. Hope I'm not interrupting."

Cordelia was on the verge of typing a response, but she found it inconvenient to do while eating. Then she heard Everard suggesting, "It has voice reply. Just press here."

His finger pressed the voice button and he said smoothly, "My dear girlfriend, you can talk now."

Cordelia paused before replying, "Louie, what's up?"

Everard released the button, sending the voice message.

Calvert was gobsmacked, his bagel lodged in his throat, unable to swallow.

Everard's bold display had him floored.

Calvert winced as Cordelia finished her breakfast and grabbed Everard's hand with an air of finality. The usually domineering Everard now looked like a well-behaved pup, indulging her every whim with a hint of adoration.

Calvert suddenly thought that Everard's doting appearance was... almost too much to bear.

Everard looked down at Cordelia's delicate fingers that seemed so soft and tempting to touch. As he entertained the thought, his fingers gently brushed against her palm.

But just as Everard tried to tease her, he felt a firm grip on his hand, and heard her cool and slightly threatening voice, "Don't move."

Everard was puzzled, but after about ten seconds, when the pressure on his chest eased, Cordelia released him as if checking off a task, grabbed her backpack, and headed out.

Everard stared at the floor, a sudden emptiness gripping his palm.

Calvert waited for a beat, watching as the smile slowly faded from Everard, once again replaced by a stony coolness, before he reported, "Boss, we've had all sorts of riff-raff sniffing around lately. So Mr. Griffin said it was me who came by."

Everard grunted a noncommittal, "OK."

After a pause, Calvert added with a chuckle, "He also said there's a big bash for his 69th birthday coming up and invited me there. He'll even set me up with a date."

Cordelia stepped into the classroom just as the warning bell rang.

Her phone buzzed with what must've been a text from Louie. She was about to sneak a peek when Daniel’s scream cut through the air, "Where's the class fund? The money's been stolen!"

The room fell into an eerie silence.

Following her instincts, Cordelia's gaze swept towards Merry but found the usually talkative young woman slouched over the desk, seeming dejected and not quite herself.