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Maddy's POV

"Maddy, come see this," one of the cheerleaders said as she ran up to me while I did some yoga poses by the bleachers.

I repositioned myself on the floor and raised my head to look at her. She had her phone between her hands as she smiled down at it. She fell to her knees beside me and tapped her phone before handing it to me.

I saw it was a paused video of two students. When I played the video with a tap on the screen, my eyes widened. It was Lucas and Jackie, standing so close to one another. I couldn't hear what they were saying since it looked like she had taken the video from across them.

After some seconds, I saw him hand over a white bag to her. I looked closer only for me to grip the phone tight when I saw it was a brand new phone. Lucas was smiling down at her as she analyzed the phone. I have never been given anything by Lucas yet he dared to give an expensive phone to this bitch.

"They look so cute together," Natalia said, giggling.

I stopped the video and tossed the phone away in anger. Natalia gasped and smacked my arm.

"I just got that phone last week! What is wrong with you?"

"I'll get you a new phone if it's ruined!" I retorted as I thought about what I had just seen.

"So, when did Lucas start buying things for girls? Isn't he supposed to marry you or something? From the way he acted toward that girl, he seems more interested in her than I've ever seen him with you," Natalia said in a cocky tone that almost made me want to smack her stupid face into the floorboards.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up that stinky mouth of yours," I ordered and she pressed her lips together.

It burned my heart how Lucas could hurt me this way. That girl was nothing compared to me. She was poor and lived on the poorest side of Redside. She struggled to survive with her deadbeat family yet Lucas found something attractive in a liability?

"Oh, Lucas also invited her to his party," she said and I rose to my feet. "Shocking, right? He barely invites a girl to his parties. Wow, Lucas must have it bad for her. Funny thing is, no one at school knew about them until recently."

I clenched my hands and glared at the floor.

"I don't know what that gold-digging whore wants from Lucas. If she thinks she'll turn into a charity project just to climb her way to the top, I will not accept such."

Natalia rose to her feet and stood beside me with arms crossed.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet. Whatever I plan to do, I have to act smart because I don't want to get on Lucas' bad side in the process," I replied.

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I was driving out of my neighborhood to go shop for the outfit I would wear to the party when I saw Jackie from her back. I increased my speed to catch up then slowed down beside her, to see if it was truly her and it indeed was her.

She slowly raised her head which was bowed slightly and looked at me. The shock was evident on her face as she acknowledged my presence. I smiled slightly while nodding my head to the music playing in my car. Deep down inside of me, I was plotting how to address her.

I didn't want to come off as rude to avoid Lucas' wrath on me if they had something going on. Secondly, I needed to approach her with false kindness to avoid suspicion.

"Aren't you Jackie Garner?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied and I could sense confusion in her tone.

I would be confused too if someone better than her suddenly started talking to her out of the blue. I eyed her faded outfits before tapping the passenger seat.

"Get in, let me drop you off," I offered even though I was finding it hard to do. But I had to go with my plan.

"No, thanks," she said and started walking away, but I drove after her.

"Come on, Jackie. Let me drop you off. I'm just being kind." I rolled my eyes.

Jackie stood in silence for a moment, probably thinking of her decision before getting into the car.

"Thanks," I said and continued driving through the street.

I drove for some minutes while thinking of my next course of action. It was killing me as I was acting all nice when all I wanted was to bash her ugly face.

"So, how are you?" I asked through my teeth.

"Fine," she replied in a stiff tone.

I suspected she was trying to act nice because she must've known that Lucas was mine, to begin with. Any woman that was suddenly in the presence of the rightful partner of the man she was after would be uncomfortable and I knew she was.

I hummed. "I heard you'll be coming to Lucas' party. Is it true?"

"Don't worry, one of the cheerleaders heard Lucas inviting you over. You two were standing close to her locker," I said truthfully and she wiggled in her seat.

"Uh, yes. He invited me," she replied.

"Nice," I said and took a turn into the highway. "Do you have anything to wear to the party? Seeing that it's a cosplay party and all."

She was broke to the core, so I was not expecting her to say anything. Besides, I am sure she is desperate for money or something to wear to such a classy party. I needed to use this way to get into her mind.

"Look, you don't have to front, Jackie. You know what? Why don't we go shopping?" I asked and she looked surprised.

"Excuse me?"

I shrugged. "I was heading to the mall anyway. So, let's go together. You've not gotten anything to wear, I suppose. While I buy mine, you buy yours. There's this nice store at the mall and in it is a clothing store that has the most beautiful outfits of all types. We could go there and it'll be fun."

"Yeah, fun," Jackie responded and I smirked.

Indeed, it will be fun putting this girl in her place.

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While Jackie was changing, I waited outside in agony. I wanted to leave so bad, so she could be embarrassed by the store staff but while I waited, a brilliant idea came to me.

"I have to keep acting nice to this leech because if anything goes wrong, it's going to affect whatever relationship I have with Lucas and this situation is sensitive. Even though it's going to be gag-worthy, I have to act like I no longer care for Lucas to get between them. Ugh, the things I have to do for love," I said with a grimace.

After shopping with Jackie and dropping her home, I drove to Lucas' house and luckily found him outside, talking on the phone. I parked my car and made my way to him. He ended the call and faced me.

"Who is Jackie Garner to you?" I asked and he frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

I wanted to confront him because I was hurt by his actions but I had to play nice.

"Nothing. It's just that almost everyone keeps talking about you two. Is she the one who now has your attention?" I asked and smiled.

"I don't know what you mean," he replied.

"Look, Lucas. I know we are tied to each other because of this marriage contract but I spoke to my parents about it. I'm tired and don't want it anymore. Since you don't care about me, what's the point of forcing something that isn't there? I just came to tell you that as soon as we graduate, I'll find my way. My parents are too forceful and I had a talk with some friends and they told me how difficult marriage is."

Lucas stared at me for so long that it made me uncomfortable. I didn't even know if I sounded convincing enough.

"Good thing you came to your senses. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a party to plan," he said and walked back to his house.

"I deserve to be in Hollywood for my acting skills," I said and smiled to myself.

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"

Hey," I said to a group of boys sitting outside Lucas' house while the party went on.

They turned to me and I walked over to them. I needed them for something important despite how difficult it was going to be for me. After I spoke to my father about Jackie, I received the insult of my life because of her. My father had threatened to end the marriage contract if Jackie was still in the picture and find another means of merging with Mr. Hamilton.

That set me off and I knew I had to do something to make Jackie leave Lucas at all costs.

"Hey, Maddy. My girlfriend said you wanted to speak to me and the rest of us?" Ashton, the leader of the group asked as he rose to his feet.

"Yeah, I need your help again with some bitch coming between Lucas and me," I said and Ashton smirked.

"Who is it again, cousin?" Ashton asked and took a sip of his drink.

"I haven't thought of any plans yet but I want you to stay close. The girl in question is Jackie Garner," I said and pulled out my phone to show them a picture I took with Jackie earlier in the day.

"She's hot," one of his friends said and I glared at him.

"She's not. Look out for her in case she arrives at the party. You boys try to woo her or something. Anything to make her get away from my Lucas. I'll call you if there's anything I need," I said and walked away to join the party.

It was later after Jackie had arrived that I had to keep up with my niceness even down to supposedly saving her from my cousin and his friends.

"Maddy, I'll be right back," Jackie said while I was busy texting my cousin about not making it obvious that I wanted him to try to get Jackie.

When Jackie left my presence, I looked up and started to follow her to see what she was up to. Before I could get closer to her, I saw Lucas drag her under the stairs. I rushed to them but stood at a safe distance. My heart ached at their proximity and how they looked at each other, particularly Lucas.

I barely heard a word they said. My anger was burning me on the inside so much that I felt like going to them to confront them but I had to pretend not to care. They continued to talk and touch each other which disgusted me.

Just when I was about to walk away, I saw Lucas pop the lollipop gun I had given to Jackie into his mouth. He pulled it out after some seconds and said something to her. I watched with heavy jealousy as Jackie, like the slut that she was, suck on the lollipop. Tears brimmed my eyes at the erotic scene and when Lucas pulled it out of her mouth and kissed her, my heart shattered.

I have never been so angry in my life at that moment. I left and made my way outside the house for some fresh air. Tears were falling out of my eyes as I brushed past people blocking my way.

I stayed outside for a while before I went back inside. Upon reaching the area where I had been standing with Jackie, I overheard her telling Ruth something about her phone being with Lucas and how to be refused to give it to her. Ruth promised to give it to her and I saw that as an opportunity for a plan to ruin their relationship.

I took out my phone and sent a text to my cousin, telling him what to do. Even though it was the lowest I had gone, I needed to destroy their relationship from the foundation; trust.