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 Cordeliaâs he teased in a whisper, âGirl, what do you think?â
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 straightâA student asking a teacher a question, she began, âDating should start with
a confession, followed by handâholding, 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 she steeled herself. She thought
Everard dared suggest they sleep together, sheâd unleash a roundhouse kick his !
Their breaths mingled, their faces inches apart.
if
Under Cordeliaâs fierce gaze, Everard looked away, his hands tucked into his pockets as he straightened up, his voice with a hint of helplessness, âRelax, just head to class.â
Relax about what? Cordelia internally rolled her eyes but still grabbed her backpack to head to class. She decided to take things one step a time. For now, handâholding wasnât too appalling.
She didnât notice the faint blush that had crept up Everardâs faceâ¦
In the corner, Calvert tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, so as to avoid becoming a casualty of witnessing the bossâ failed flirtation.
As soon as Cordelia stepped into the classroom, she caught the whispers, âSheâs got herself a sugar
Turning to look, the gossipers fell silent.
babyâ.
A soft voice chimed in, âBetter stop talking, if we offend her, who knows what the Flame Union guys will do?â
The others went silent immediately.
For the first time, Cordelia found the Flame Unionâs 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, âLia, off to another class?â
Cordelia didnât respond, prompting him to ask himself, âYouâre not going to demand we stay and hit the books , right?â
âYes,â Cordelia replied firmly.
Flame No. 1 looked stunned, âWhat? Yates, what do we do?â
Yates, equally taken aback by the idea of homework, quickly conceded, âSheâs the boss now. We do as she says!â
The Flames groaned collectively, standing up dejectedly.
âI wanted to catch a movie tonight!â
âMe too, I was planning to shoot some hoops!â
As they lamented, Yates kicked at them, âHomework check tomorrow, the bossâ orders must be followed.â ââ¦Can we copy, though?â one dared to ask.
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Chapter 25
âWhat do you think? Yates retorted
They antyed fast and left just as quickly. As they vanished through the door, Cordeliaâs words âNo needâ 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.
Het previous reply was to Flame No Tâs first question!
But she , aside from Yates, she didnât 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, whispered to Hanley,â she admitted her boyfriend is a street thug, only with her for the money Hanley, we should keep our distance from such a disgraceful girlâ
Hanley watched 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, âYou didnât just randomly pick someone after I broke off our engagement, did you?â
Seeing her him, he prodded her shoulder with a pen, only to be met with her bewildered and impatient look. âWhat do you want?â
Hanley was taken . Had she not heard a word he ?
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 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 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 girlâs resentful before she hurried away.
Was that Merry? She seemed differentâ¦.
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 etched with seriousness. Addressing Sanderson, Steward said, âIâve figured out why Hackett didnât accept our gift.â
Sanderson, eager for information, pressed, âWhyâs ?â
Steward settled into his , mulling over his words before revealing. âIâve just received a tip off that a big arrived in Greenmeadow!â
Laurindaâs curiosity was piqued. â
kind of big ?â
Steward shook his , âI donât know the exact details, but if Hackett is bending over backward for him, this person is no small fry. For the time being, weâd better keep a low profile with the companyâs dealings.â
âUnderstood,â Sanderson replied, before adding, â
, do we have name? We wouldnât want to rub this person the wrong way by mistake.â
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Chapter 25
Nodding, Steward leaned in, âThatâs precisely what I wanted to discuss. Everyone, if you hear this name being mentioned, remember that we canât afford to offend this individual.â
At that, Cordelia set down her fork, her gaze locked onto Steward, ready to commit every word to memory.