Chapter 266

Bron's words made Reece's expression shift. He suddenly fell silent and downed a few more drinks.

Frank sighed and said, “Reece, the thing is, you took Phoebe’s love for granted. You thought no matter what you did, she’d always be there, your childhood friend who would never abandon you. So, you pushed your limits, thinking she’d never truly leave. But it turns out, she has her limits. When she said she was done, she meant it. When she turned her back, she never looked back. And by the time you realized your mistake, it was too late.”

With every word Frank spoke, Reece’s face grew paler.

Leon nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly how it is. I used to think the same way—Phoebe is our biological sister, and no matter what, blood ties can’t be severed. She used to care about us so much, so I figured she’d never hold a grudge.”

“I thought, ‘we’re family—there’s nothing we can’t get past.’ But in the end, we really couldn’t get past it. We pushed Phoebe away, and she never came back.”

Like Reece, they had all taken Phoebe’s kindness and patience for granted. By the time they realized their mistake, it was already too late.

Reece took a deep breath. “You’re right. I was too arrogant.” He had always believed that no matter what, the girl who had grown up relying on him would always be there, waiting for him. But this time, he had pushed her too far. He had lost her completely. She would never wait for him again.

He looked at Frank and said, “You’ve got me all figured out, huh? Then what about you and Brenda? Do you really think she’ll come back? Weren’t you also stringing her along and hurting her just because you knew she loved you?”

Frank’s smirk disappeared instantly. He scoffed at himself. “Yeah, so what? I’m not a good person either. We were all too arrogant, thinking we could act however we wanted. And now look at us—just a bunch of idiots who got what we deserved.”

He had been just as careless as Reece, assuming Brenda’s love for him was unconditional. Now he regretted it, but it was too late. And yet, he still couldn’t let go. That’s what made it even more painful.

He sighed. “Maybe I’ve been hanging around you two for too long, and you both rubbed off on me.” Otherwise, why had he treated Brenda so terribly? He thought he was doing what was best for her, but all he did was break her heart.

Leon and Reece said in unison, “Shut up.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “You’ve always been the worst one out of all of us. How dare you say we rubbed off on you; if anything, we should be blaming x, you’re the inosicalculating one. And now you’re trying to sit around on us!”

He agreed. “Yeah, out of the three of us…”

He refilled their glasses. “But you’re right about one thing—we really are all in the same boat. We all messed up, we all took things for granted, and now we’re all paying the price. Let’s just drink. No stopping until we’re wasted.”

He downed his drink in one go and kept pouring. Ever since he and Phoebe had fallen out, drinking had become his way of numbing himself. Frank and Leon, feeling just as miserable, joined him.

The three drank late into the night until their assistants came to take them home, all completely wasted.

Leon’s bad hiccups kicked in almost immediately. As he was stepping down the stairs, his foot slipped, and he tumbled all the way down.

Chapter 266

His assistant panicked at the sight of blood pouring from Leon’s head and rushed to drive him to the hospital. But halfway there, the car broke down. No rideshare drivers were accepting their requests, and they couldn’t flag down a cab either. In the end, they had to call an ambulance. Leon had sobered up quite a bit from the fall alone. After getting to the hospital, his wound was treated, and he was hooked up to an IV to flush out the alcohol.

When he was fully awake, he realized the extent of his injuries—his head had been stitched up, and one of his hands was fractured.

Leon felt like swearing. Unable to hold back, he called Cain, but no answer. He tried video calling—still no answer. That bastard was definitely ignoring him on purpose. Leon had his assistant take a few photos of his injuries, planning to use them as evidence when he confronted Cain later.

Still feeling frustrated, he opened a small group chat with Joshua and Jamar and initiated a video call. Both of them had been fast asleep. They quickly checked the time—5 a.m.—and wondered what the hell Leon was up to. But they still picked up. The moment they saw Leon’s battered face, they were instantly wide awake.

Joshua asked in shock, “Leon, what the hell happened to you?”

Leon gritted his teeth. “This is all your fault. Why did you have to tell Cain that I could get Phoebe to make talismans? He came looking for me, and when Phoebe refused to help him, he stole mine instead.”

Joshua was stunned. “He stole your talisman, and you ended up like this?”

Leon snapped, “Obviously. Phoebe said my energy was infused in that talisman, so when Cain took it, I started taking all his bad luck instead.” He then told them about his disastrous night—the fall, the broken car, the stitches, and the broken hand.

Both Joshua and Jamar felt a chill run down their spines. Especially Joshua—Cain was still crashing at his place.

Joshua hesitated. “When he steals our talismans too, does that mean we’ll start taking the bad luck for him?”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? We’re all his blood brothers. That’s why I’m warning you now!” But honestly, he didn’t think they could escape it. Cain was a menace, a risk—now that he had seen firsthand how effective the talisman was, he wasn’t going to stop at just stealing Leon’s.

So, while Leon was technically warning them, he was also looking forward to watching the chaos unfold. After all, Cain wouldn’t have come after him if Joshua hadn’t told him about the talismans in the first place.

And now, because Leon had warned them, Joshua and Jamar would start guarding their talismans more carefully, which would only make Cain even more desperate to steal them.

Joshua groaned. “I can’t believe this is happening!”

Jamar looked like he was about to cry. “I really don’t want to do the next season of that reality show.”

Damn. One Sienna wasn’t enough—now he had to deal with Cain too.

Leon sneered. “Too late for regrets. You swore you’d help Sienna get on the show. You think you can back out now?”

Joshua added, “Exactly, Jamar, you’re not getting out of this just…”

12:14 AM

Chapter 266

If Jamar bailed, Sienna and Cain would definitely come after him. Jamar looked miserable. With brothers like these, who needed enemies?

The three of them kept talking for a while before finally ending the call. But none of them could fall back asleep.

The next morning, Jamar had just finished breakfast when he got a call from Sebastian. The original filming schedule and location had changed due to some “issues.” Now, the next shoot had been delayed by half a month and relocated to Caluwa.

Hearing this, Jamar felt uneasy. They were actually delaying the show and changing the location! The people behind Sienna were more powerful than he had thought.

Hesitantly, he asked if he could drop out of the next season, even offering to pay the contract penalty. But Sebastian refused. Unless he was physically unable to show up, he had no choice but to participate. After all, Jamar had personally promised to join every season in exchange for getting Sienna on board. There was no backing out now. Jamar had no choice but to agree.

Meanwhile, Phoebe and her team also received Sebastian’s update.

At noon, Leon was finally discharged from the hospital. He had his assistant drive him straight to Phoebe’s apartment.