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

Chapter 53

The group was in a state of befuddlement when Cordelia nodded slowly, "Nope."

Stanton's jaw dropped.

It dawned on him with a start. No wonder Cordelia couldn't articulate his problem that day, and she had to play it on the piano to show him. She hadn't learned to play the piano at all. She didn't know the first thing about musical terminology!

He swallowed hard. "How... how do you know how to play then?"

Cordelia replied peacefully, "Figured it out myself."

Stanton went silent.

He was a maestro of the piano, but even with his innate talent, he had diligently practiced for countless hours a day since childhood to reach his current stature.

Compared to Cordelia, well, there was just no comparison!

As Stanton was questioning his talent, their exchange caught the attention of the others.

Lorna was the first to ask, "Lia, you play the piano?"

Before Cordelia could respond, Rachel zeroed in on a more pressing issue. "Lia, you and Maestro Stanton know each other?"

From their interaction, they seemed familiar with each other.

Cordelia nodded at Lorna and then turned to answer Rachel with a simple "Yeah."

Rachel was frantic. "How did you two meet?"

Cordelia usually didn't pay her much mind, but she seemed to relish seeing Rachel squirm and replied leisurely, "Did him a little favor."

At the mention of a "little favor," Stanton hastily interjected, "Little favor? Lia, you saved my life!"

If he hadn't resolved that issue with the composition, he might have faced a psychological breakdown, unable to play again.

Not being able to play was akin to taking his life!

As these thoughts rushed through his head, Stanton's expression turned grave. "Lia, I would grant you any request."

Juliana's piano playing was frankly subpar, but if Lia asked, he'd grit his teeth and take on this, no, not a mess, this student.

He had no choice there. Cordelia was his boss!

To the others, however, his words meant something entirely different.

Cordelia could directly ask to be Stanton's student!

Rachel panicked, realizing she might have inadvertently set Cordelia up for success despite all her efforts and connections.

She blurted out. "No way!"

At the same time, Juliana also shouted, "Why should she?"

Seeing the odd reaction from the two, Stanton was confused. Why was the concerned party objecting? He looked at Juliana perplexedly, "You don't want to?"

Juliana clenched her fists. "As a member of the Delaney family, we stand by merit. If we get this opportunity through connections, how would that look?"

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Juliana's right. We don't exploit favors. Right, Lorna? Lia? We can't do that."

Lorna felt there was more to the story and turned to Cordelia, who stood there quietly, her detached and aloof demeanor marking her as an outsider. She gave a noncommittal "well."

Finally, Stanton caught on.

The relationship between Cordelia and the Delaney family seemed strained.

As he was piecing it together, Rachel turned to Stanton. "Mr. Stanton, since Lia agrees, who will you choose as your student?"

Juliana looked confidently at Stanton.

Mrs. Collins and Joy also watched him, holding on to a sliver of hope despite knowing the odds.

Under their collective gaze, Stanton sighed, "I was thinking of taking you on for Lia's sake, but since you're not interested, forget it. And as for the three of you, I wasn't considering any of you."

Stunned silence followed his declaration! Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Juliana couldn't believe it and blurted out, "Why not? You just said my performance was not bad!"

Since Stanton realized Cordelia wasn't on good terms with them, he stopped holding back. "I was too subtle before, so let me give you some feedback."

He pointed to Juliana. "All these years playing the piano, you might as well have been playing blind. Grade ten is just the beginning! It means you've got the technical skills, but I can't hear any emotion

in your playing. In this case, you're not even playing at a beginner's level! Without musical talent, you're only making it hard on yourself!"

After his critique, he turned to Rosina. "As for you, calling what you do 'playing' the piano is an insult to the instrument. You're not playing the piano, and you're just hitting keys!"

After assessing the two, his gaze softened with pity as he looked at Joy. "It's a shame. Beethoven went deaf in his later years, but you, at ten. Your grasp of music isn't mature enough. I could teach you, but you'll never reach a master's level in your lifetime, so I'd rather not waste my time."

Having given his verdict on the three, Rosina and Joy weren't surprised. They had expected rejection. But Juliana couldn't accept it.

She bit her lip hard and finally burst out. "None of us are good enough, then who is? After all this, you still want Cordelia as your student?"

Stanton was stunned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Before Juliana could respond, they heard Stanton's following words. "I'm not worthy of it!"

Juliana was shocked.

Stanton looked at them incredulously. "Haven't you heard Lia play the piano? Her skills are only higher than mine!"

Then, he eagerly addressed Cordelia, "Lia, I've just composed a piece. When you have time, would you mind taking a look and offering some feedback?"

Ever composed, Cordelia slowly nodded. "Sure."

Seeing the shock on everyone's faces as they struggled to accept Lia was a piano virtuoso, Stanton decided to leave them to it and started to walk away. "Then, I'll take my leave."

"Wait." Cordelia's voice halted him.

She pointed at Joy and said, "She's good."

It was clear she wanted Stanton to consider taking Joy as his student.

Stanton never imagined Cordelia would take a shine to the mute girl, but when Cordelia made a demand, he was quick to oblige. Without a second thought, he declared, "Fine, I'll take her on as my student!"

Mrs. Collins was over the moon.

Since the age of ten, after an unfortunate accident left Joy mute and partially deaf, the piano became her sole passion, and her admiration for Stanton knew no bounds.

But she knew a man like Stanton wasn't in it for money. He was the talent people couldn't buy with a fat check. She had almost given up hope since Cordelia wouldn't even lift a finger to help Juliana, let alone them.

But then, out of the blue, the miracle they had barely dared to hope for happened!

Hugging Joy tightly, her eyes brimming with tears of excitement, she exclaimed, "Thank you!"

And with that, the day's supposed star, Rachel, found herself sidelined. She watched as Mrs. Collins clung to Lorna's hand the entire time, her usual haughtiness gone. As she left, she even dropped an invitation, "There's a charity gala in a few days. I'll take you with me."

Meanwhile, Cordelia, who was helping Lorna see out the guests, had her mind racing with different thoughts altogether. She'd finally cracked Batra's Conjecture. She would snap a photo and send it to Mathster soon.