Chapter 1The Billionaire Bully and His Valedictorian For Hire

The school bully hired me, the class valedictorian, to be his fake girlfriend just to one-up the school’s Golden Boy.

He wanted a trophy; I wanted his money.

So the whole school watched in horror as the most bizarre couple in history emerged. The violent, untamable delinquent would show up at my classroom door every day like clockwork to "clock in" for our PDA session.

He'd start a fight; I'd stop it. He'd get angry; I'd calm him down. He'd pout; I'd pat his head.

The student body whispered: "Is that a leash on a rabid dog? It's like watching a wicked witch walking her poodle."

* * *

Jax Thorne, the school’s notorious bad boy, cornered me in an alley. He leaned against the brick wall, something sticking out of his mouth, looking wild and unapproachable.

At first, I thought he was going to mug me.

Instead, he suddenly said he wanted to hire me to date him.

"Why me?"

I clutched my backpack straps, burying my face in the collar of my only winter coat.

"You're pretty."

He looked absolutely certain.

When he took the thing out of his mouth to speak, I realized it was a lollipop.

"You have good grades. You're the valedictorian. You can crush that Liam Sterling. And you're hot. I'll pay you to be my girlfriend."

Oh. Crushing Liam Sterling was the key point here.

"How much?"

He named a number I physically couldn't refuse.

"Deal."