Chapter 4
During filming, Phoebe kept her distance, staying away from the Jenkins family and Reece.
But Reece made it a point to show up every month with that same worried look, swearing up and down that nothing was happening between him and Sienna–just like he used to reassure her before.
But the way he kept getting all cozy with Sienna on those reality shows? That shit felt like a knife to the gut.
So as soon as the shoot wrapped up, Phoebe hightailed it back to Solara City and wasted no time hiring someone to dig up the dirt on Reece and Sienna.
Not long after, the movie she’d starred in hit the theaters and blew up big–time. It was a massive hit, and she even landed a nomination for Best Actress at one of the top film festivals in the country.
Her director was so sure she’d win, he was practically popping champagne already.
But just when she thought everything was falling into place, her world came crashing down. She got kidnapped. And if that wasn’t messed up enough, Sienna got dragged into it too.
That day, Reece and the Jenkins family scrambled to track them down. After some tense back–and–forth with the kidnappers, they laid out a brutal choice: one of them could walk free, but the other had to stay behind as a hostage.
Phoebe wasn’t surprised by the Jenkins family’s decision–they were predictable. But Reece? That betrayal hit hard. He picked Sienna. It felt like a slap in the face.
She stood there, stunned, realizing that the guy she’d thought would always have her back had actually chosen someone else over her.
In that moment, one thing became crystal clear: if she made it out of this alive, she’d be done with the Jenkins family and Reece, once and for all.
But before she could think of a way out, one of the kidnappers, twitchy and on edge, pulled the trigger and shot her.
As she collapsed, she could faintly hear Reece and the Jenkins family shouting her name. But honestly, her heart had already frozen over.
Now, she had been handed a second chance. The ties to the Jenkins family were gone, and saying goodbye to Reece was the easiest decision she’d ever made.
Reece never saw it coming when Phoebe brought up Sienna. Her next words hit him like a truck. Frowning, he snapped, “You’re out of your damn mind. I don’t have some damn ‘dream girl.”
Before he could even finish, Phoebe cut him off cold. “Reece, we’re done. Let’s break up.”
He froze, convinced he must’ve misheard. “Wait, what did you just say?” In his mind, there was no way Phoebe would be the one calling the shots.
Her voice was like ice as she repeated, “I said, let’s break up.”
His expression faltered, and he scrambled to play it off. “Take it back. I’ll pretend you didn’t say that.”
Phoebe rolled her eyes at his arrogance. “This isn’t a negotiation, Reece. I’m not asking your permission. We’re done. You live your life, I’ll live mine.”
Her tone knocked him sideways. “Why?” he asked.
Phoebe didn’t hold back. “Reece, you’re hung up on Sienna—so go after her. Don’t waste my time while you pine for
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someone else, expecting me to just stand aside. That kind of crap makes me sick.”
If he’d been honest from the start about his feelings for Sienna, maybe Phoebe could’ve left on her own terms.
But he hadn’t. He’d dragged her along and, in the end, wrecked her trust so thoroughly that she was done for good.
“Don’t contact me again.” With that, she hung up and immediately blocked him on everything.
The flat tone of the call ending snapped him out of it. Reece never thought Phoebe would piece together his thing with Sienna, and now that she’d cut him loose so easily, he didn’t know how to handle it.
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Desperate, he tried dialing her number again, but it went straight to voicemail–blocked. He tried video calling, same result. She’d erased him like he was nothing.
Reece sat there in shock, an emptiness creeping in. He quickly dialed Leon, looking for answers.
When he found out that Phoebe wasn’t just done with him, but was cutting off the Jenkins family completely–leaving home and everything because she refused to give up her place for Sienna–Reece was floored. He was at a total loss for words.
Phoebe quietly sorted through the few things she’d swiped from the Jenkins family home. She finally pulled out an old adoption document from her bag, letting her fingers linger on it for a second.
up
Years ago, when her mentor, Percival Burgess, officially adopted her, he’d gone out of his way to set her with a fresh identity, complete with adoption papers under a family name that’d faded from memory.
Percival figured that a blank slate might help her stand on her own, avoid any headaches tied to her past. The document bore only her name–clean, independent, and exactly as he’d intended.
When she’d returned to the Jenkins family, they hadn’t bothered touching it, not the surname, nothing. Everything stayed as
it was.
Tracing her fingers over the paper now, Phoebe felt an odd sense of calm. It was almost as if Percival had known that if she ever ended up with “family,” they’d probably treat her like a stranger, maybe even worse.
The idea of family had always been flimsy to her, more of an empty title than anything real. To her, family ties were just empty promises, bringing nothing but disappointment.
With that thought, Phoebe made a decision. In this time, she’d be the person Percival wanted her to be–independent, standing on her own. Alone or not, she’d make it work.
Just as she finished packing, her phone rang. It was a friend from the industry, giving her the heads–up that she’d been blacklisted.
Apparently, the president of Jenkins Entertainment and one of their top agents had put the word out: no one was supposed to work with her.
Phoebe scoffed. This was exactly the kind of petty crap her brothers would pull–blacklisting her to try to make her crawl back to them.
Her chest tightened, but there was no heartbreak, just a strange mix of anger and amusement. These people–family in name only–couldn’t care less about her and were throwing her to the wolves for a complete stranger.
Lucky for her, she’d already learned to expect nothing from them. Any scrap of “family” love she’d once clung to had been crushed before her time travel, leaving her with only a wry smile now.
Without wasting time, she called the director of the variety show she was scheduled for, just to confirm her spot. He didn’t hesitate to reassure her–she was still on.
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After hanging up, she jumped online, researching how to set up her own artist studio.
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Jenkins Entertainment was one of the biggest players in the country, and with Ollie and Leon determined to blacklist her, she knew no one else would want to risk pissing them off without a good reason.
But Phoebe wasn’t fazed. If nobody else would sign her, she’d do it herself. She’d start her own studio, take charge of her career, and, down the line, bring in other artists who deserved better.
As they rose to fame, she’d build up her influence, turning it into the kind of power she could wield on her terms.
Within a week, after a quick consult with a lawyer she trusted, Phoebe had her studio registered. Sure, she still needed a location and a team, but that could all wait until after she wrapped up her work on the variety show.
Phoebe headed over to the production team to sign her contract. Just as she stepped outside, she nearly collided with Leon, Jamar, and Sienna. They were all laughing, but the second they saw her, the mood shifted.
Sienna couldn’t help herself; she flashed Phoebe a smug grin. “Oh, Phoebe, here to sign your contract too?”
Phoebe instantly picked up on Sienna’s taunting tone. She raised an eyebrow and replied, “What, are you guys here to sign
contracts too?”
Sienna nodded, her tone dripping with fake sweetness. “Oh, totally! I was dying to be part of this whole thing, so Leon had a word with the director, and Jamar tagged along for backup. The director’s already on board.”
Leon shot Phoebe a self–satisfied look. “You’re not ready to give up your spot? Doesn’t matter–we’ve got plenty of ways to make sure Sienna gets what she wants.”
Phoebe met his gaze with a cold smile. “So you had the pull to get her a spot all along, but instead, you went out of your way to make me give up mine? Gotta love family, huh?”
The Jenkins boys were all legends in the industry: Ollie, the big–shot mogul behind the entertainment empire; Leon, the star–making agent; Joshua, the singer everyone loved; Cain, the hotshot new director; and finally, Jamar, the idol topping every chart.
When Jamar, one of the biggest names out there, offered to join a variety show, the director couldn’t believe his luck. Having Jamar on board guaranteed sky–high ratings and major favor with the Jenkins family.
They hadn’t outright demanded the director step aside; they just kept pressuring Phoebe to voluntarily give her spot to Sienna. And of course, Sienna was all too happy to stir things up behind the scenes.
The irony was Sienna had stolen Phoebe’s entire life–her name, her family, everything–and yet, the Jenkins family still treated Sienna like she was their own flesh and blood, while Phoebe was just “the one they took in.”
Somehow, in their messed–up logic, Phoebe still owed Sienna for taking her life. Even though Phoebe was back in the family now and high society knew about her, the Jenkins had never officially recognized her.
To them, Sienna would always be their cherished little princess, and the world just followed their lead. The absurdity of it all made Phoebe sick.
As their fake smiles dropped and turned to scowls, Phoebe’s eyes filled with disdain. She looked at them coldly. “Lucky for me, I cut ties with you all. Otherwise, I’d be fighting the urge to throw up right now.”
Leon looked taken aback. “What the hell-”
Jamar’s face darkened, and he snapped, “Watch it, Phoebe. Don’t push your damn luck.” The more she stood her ground, the closer he was to losing it.
Phoebe shot him a look filled with contempt. “Push my luck? Just thinking about the time I wasted faking this family crap with you makes me wanna puke.”
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With that, she walked past them without a second glance, leaving Leon and Jamar glaring after her and Sienna quietly enjoying the whole show on the sidelines.
