Chapter 140

After returning to her apartment, Barnsda shared the details of her conversation with Finnian with Phoebe. Phoebe was not particularly surprised; she had already noticed that Finnian was not as hopelessly in love as he appeared. As expected, he had been putting on an act all along. She had also suspected from the beginning that whoever was orchestrating this was trying to steal a fortune. Otherwise, they would not have gone to such lengths to infiltrate multiple elite families.

Benda asked, “Theebs, do you think Ophelia was also infected with evil energy by that man?” Otherwise, Brenda could not understand why she had made such mindless decisions.

Phoebe answered truthfully, “I met your mother once before, but I didn’t find any traces of evil energy in her. Your dad is not truly love-blind, but your mom just might be.”

Brenda sighed. “I knew it. I always thought she wasn’t very smart, so it makes sense that she got completely fooled by that man. As for the evil energy on my dad, I don’t know if you can remove it.”

Phoebe replied, “Once I get stronger, removing the evil energy from your dad should not be a problem. But even if I could do it now, I wouldn’t. It would alert them. Your dad has endured for over twenty years. We can’t let all his effort go to waste.”

Brenda nodded. “That makes sense.”

She then asked, “Does Frank know about all this?”

Phoebe thought for a moment. Judging by Frank’s behavior, he might know something. Frank was far more cunning and shrewd than Reece and the Jenkins brothers.

“He keeps Edith around, and I doubt it’s just because she’s his stepmother’s daughter,” Phoebe said.

Brenda asked, “Should we work with him to resolve this whole situation?” The people behind this were targeting the Hill family, the Jenkins family, and the Harvey family. If they joined forces, it would probably be smoother.

Phoebe responded, “It’s not time for the three families to join forces just yet. We should first set up a private meeting with Frank and test him. Let’s not mention your dad’s situation. Just bring up the fact that we found out Sienna and Edith are half-sisters.” Frank was smart, calculating, and a thorn in both Finnian and his stepmother’s side. He could be a potential ally.

Phoebe added, “As for the Jenkins family, those brothers trust and adore Sienna too much. If we work with them, it means Sienna will find out everything, so it’s better to hold off for now. In the future, we can work with Elliot instead.”

Brenda nodded. “That makes sense.” She also did not want Reece to know about any of this. If Ophelia ever managed to pull Reece back to her side, everything would be exposed.

Brenda said, “Once you wrap up your next variety show, if Frank is still in Solara City, we’ll set up a meeting with him.” It was not that she still had feelings for Frank and was looking for an excuse to reach out. She just wanted to join forces against the people behind all of this. After all, Frank was just another piece on the chessboard.

Phoebe smiled. “That’s what I was thinking too!”

The two chatted for a while longer before Brenda’s phone chimed with a message. The moment she opened it, she knew who had sent it.

Brenda: (Got it) notification. It was an MMS from an unknown number.

She turned to Phoebe. “Pherbs, my dad just sent me a photo of Soren’s birth certificate.” Earlier, Brenda had called a maid who used to serve Ophelia at the Hill residence to dig for information. She had managed to find out Soren’s birth date, but not his exact birth time. So, she asked her dad. Finnian did not remember either, but he told her that their bedroom safe contained birth certificates for all three of them. He had promised to send her a copy as soon as he got home. It seemed that Finnian also had a separate phone and a new number that he used to avoid those people.

Phoebe examined the birth time on the certificate, did some quick calculations, and suddenly froze. “Based on this birth time, Soren should have had a short lifespan. He shouldn’t have lived past sixteen. But he is already in his twenties.”

“That means either someone has been secretly extending his life, or he’s being used as a medium.”

Brenda was stunned. “A medium!”

Phoebe explained, “If the mastermind wants to directly steal the Hill family’s fortune, it would harm their own karmic balance. If they are not careful, they could end up being consumed by their own actions. By using a medium to channel the stolen fate first before absorbing it, they lower the risk of backlash.”

She continued, “And using someone who was originally supposed to die at sixteen as the medium is a way of exploiting a loophole in destiny. The mastermind would use dark sorcery on the medium, allowing them to absorb a portion of the stolen fortune and convert it into life energy. If there is ever any backlash in the future, as long as nothing goes wrong, it would all fall onto the medium instead.”

Brenda immediately understood. “So that is how it works. In that case, Soren is most likely the so-called medium.” Being used as a medium by his own father, Soren was quite pitiful.

Phoebe nodded. “I am almost certain he is. This also shows how extremely cautious and meticulous the mastermind is. This scheme has clearly been in the works for a long time.”

Brenda agreed. “Then we need to be careful too.” She promptly deleted the photo from her phone. Phoebe used her hacking skills to erase all traces of the messages between Brenda and Finnian, including any record of the deletion.

That night, Phoebe drew a talisman and threaded it onto a red string for Brenda to wear around her neck. The talisman was waterproof and fireproof, so she would not even need to take it off when bathing.

Over the next few days, Phoebe focused on securing the lead female role for Gwen. Thanks to her efforts, Gwen secured an audition spot. Gwen did not disappoint. She aced the audition and landed the role, completely thwarting Jenkins Entertainment’s plan to push their own candidate into the position. Naturally, some people were displeased and took their complaints to Ollie.

Ollie already found Phoebe to be a headache. He had no idea how to handle this situation, yet these people expected him to go to Phoebe and demand the role back. They seriously overestimated his influence. He was well aware that none of the Jenkins brothers had any real authority when it came to Phoebe. He was not that clueless. However, this situation stirred dissatisfaction among the company’s shareholders. Phoebe was, after all, a daughter of the Jenkins family, yet she was deliberately working against Jenkins Entertainment. It was a completely self-destructive move, benefiting no one. It was outrageous.

The shareholders wanted Ollie to smooth things over with Phoebe. So, Ollie called Leon to ask for his opinion.

After hearing the details, Leon’s mind started turning. He said, “We might as well give it a shot. Joshua is attending the same live variety show as Phoebe tomorrow. Have the company higher-ups talk to him and tell him to try negotiating with Phoebe. Tell her to stop targeting our company.” Joshua and Cain love to act like it is easy to talk things out. Well then, let them go for it and see how that works out for them, he thought.

Ollie raised an eyebrow. “You got him that spot?” He had been too busy lately to keep track of everything, but Leon sounded certain.

Leon replied, “He insisted on going. I could not stop him. He even threatened to cut ties with me if I did not help. What was I supposed to do?”

Ollie knew Joshua’s personality well. “Is he out of his mind?”

Leon scoffed, “He has never been sane.”

Ollie sighed. “That was a pretty ruthless plan you just came up with.” This was essentially sending Joshua straight to Phoebe, knowing she would have no mercy.

Leon smirked meaningfully. “Ollie, do you not think it is a good idea! If you do not, then why not go talk to Phoebe yourself and give the shareholders a proper explanation?”

Ollie chuckled. “No, I think it is a great idea.” This kind of task was best left for Joshua to handle.