WRECKED BY YOU

CHAPTER 9: PLAYING DIRTY

The next morning, Saint Matthew's Academy buzzed louder than usual.

Something was going down.

Zara walked the halls with her head high, shoulders squared, boots loud against polished tiles. But inside, she was boiling.

Someone had declared war.

And she didn't plan on losing.

⸻

First stop: Vanessa.

Zara found her in the courtyard, sunglasses on, sipping an overpriced iced coffee like she didn't have secrets boiling beneath her glossed exterior.

"You know something," Zara said, dropping into the chair across from her.

Vanessa didn't flinch. "About?"

"Who's trying to blackmail me. Don't play dumb."

Vanessa gave a slow, smug smile. "I warned you about Jace, remember?"

"That's not an answer."

She leaned in. "Trey's been obsessed with Jace ever since sophomore year. Not because of girls — because Jace humiliated him during a trustee fundraiser. Said something about Trey's father laundering money. Jace was right. But the Whitmores covered it up."

Zara raised a brow. "So this is revenge."

"More like a power play. You're just... collateral damage."

Not happening.

Not to her.

⸻

Next stop: The Archives Room.

Most students didn't even know it existed. But Zara had overheard a TA mention it — a locked storage room where admin files were kept.

She needed dirt.

If Trey Whitmore wanted to play games with hidden cameras and anonymous threats, she'd give him a taste of his own medicine.

She picked the lock (thank you, YouTube tutorials), snuck inside, and started digging.

Two hours later, her fingers were stained with dust — but she found what she needed.

A folder labeled: Disciplinary Committee: Whitmore, Trey.

Inside?

Photos.

Of Trey, not Jace.

Doing lines of white powder at a house party with two girls in uniform beside him.

A report from an anonymous teacher — buried, never acted on.

Zara's pulse spiked.

This was gold.

She scanned the whole file to a USB and slid it into her blazer pocket.

⸻

That night, she showed Jace.

His jaw dropped. "Where the hell did you find this?"

"Let's just say I made a few friends in dark places."

Jace stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

Not the transfer girl.

Not the girl who kissed like fire.

But the girl who could fight dirty.

For him.

For them.

⸻

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked, touching her cheek.

Zara nodded. "He came for us. Now we hit back."

⸻

The next morning, the files were emailed anonymously to the Dean, every staff member, and half the student body.

By lunch, Trey Whitmore was suspended indefinitely pending investigation.

And Zara?

She walked past him as security escorted him off campus, her eyes sharp, her smile like a blade.

Jace was waiting for her behind the music building. When she reached him, he pulled her into his arms, kissed her like they'd just survived a war.

Because maybe they had.

But they both knew...

This was only the beginning.