Chapter 282

While Phoebe was busy handling the never-ending line for makeup, Maddox and his team started bickering. Sienna suggested, “Why don’t we keep performing? I can play the cello and do classical dance?” Cain nodded. “Yeah, Sienna is really good at it.”

Maddox scoffed. “Didn’t you guys already do this the last two episodes? Especially last time, you played the cello, sang, danced for ages, and barely made any money. Maybe take the hint.” His tone was pure sarcasm. “This is an ancient city. Tons of people here can play the cello and dance. You really wanna compete with street performers? Don’t embarrass yourself.”

Stetina was stunned. “This jerk!” She was a professional. Of course, she was better than those random performers. It wasn’t embarrassing at all. Cain frowned. “You don’t have to be so rude.”

Maddox gave him a sideways glance. “What? Am I wrong!” Cain cursed silently. This guy really doesn’t hold back. Then, Cain muttered under his breath, “With a mouth like that, good luck finding a girlfriend.”

Maddox smirked. “If my only option is someone like your sister… I’d rather die alone.” Cain’s expression darkened. “Watch it! Sienna is not even interested in you.”

He had heard the rumors about Maddox: arrogant, sharp-tongued, completely unfiltered. Especially with women who tried to get close to him, he was downright ruthless. Cain used to think people exaggerated, but now, if anything, they were being nice. Maddox just looked relieved. “Thank goodness.”

Cain had nothing to say to that. Sienna, on the other hand, looked like she was about to cry. “I only tried to get close to him a couple of times, and he’s acting like I’m some kind of stalker!” She clenched her fists, feeling wronged. Phoebe must have trashed me behind my back.

Her voice trembled slightly as she said, “Fine. I won’t play the cello or dance. What do you suggest we do instead!” She just hoped he wouldn’t come crawling back later.

Meanwhile, Maddox was straight-up annoyed by Sienna’s act. “Oh, come on. Don’t give me that red-eyed, ‘poor me’ look. No one’s bullying you. If you wanna pretend, at least do it properly. What? Are you a crybaby now? Aren’t you supposed to have that elegant, fairy-like vibe that makes people feel all warm and fuzzy? Kught now, you’re more like one of those fake girls online, innocent on the outside, but a total snake underneath.”

He was so over it. Sienna pulled this same sad expression every damn time. The only ones still buying into it were the Jenkins brothers, who apparently never got sick of her act. Best sported. “Wow, you actually know a lot about this.” —all her way of saying she agreed. Maddox smirked and lifted his chin. “Of course. Spotting fakes is my specialty.” He’d seen way too many two-faced girls try to play innocent just to get close to him, before and after. Sienna was just another one, except she was worse because she was trying way too hard. His alebaut.

Nina’s face stiffened. She’d not expected Maddox to be this brutal. “You know what? Since you’re so great, why don’t you two go make money?” —would never be Phoebe. If she stayed around Maddox any longer, she would definitely lose it.

This bastard always ran his mouth, and with the cameras rolling, he was going to destroy her reputation. She needed to steer clear of him for a while. Otherwise, the internet would never let her live it down. To the viewers, it probably looked like Maddox had chased her off. Cain glared at him. “You’re such an ass. Fine, we’ll earn money separately.”

At least that way, Maddox wouldn’t keep going after Sienna. Maddox grinned. “Great. Works for me.” Honestly, he was relieved. Even Lexie thought Sienna leaving was for the best. She was tired of the same old routine, the teary eyes, the fake hurt expression. She sneered. “This is the third episode. Switch it up already.”

Cain sighed, realizing there was no arguing with Maddox. He turned and ran after Sienna. By then, she was already walking away in tears, acting like the biggest victim in the world. The live stream chat was divided. Some viewers were totally on Maddox’s side, saying Sienna was always like this, annoying to watch. She was fake to begin with, and now she was trying just because she got called out. But a smaller group of fans thought Maddox was being way too harsh. He had no way of knowing if her idea would work since they hadn’t even… Saying she was embarrassing herself was just uncalled for.

They started hyping Sienna up, telling her to go for it, make money, and rub it in Maddox’s face. Cain was on board with that. He comforted Sienna first, nothing over the top, just enough so people wouldn’t read too much into it after the whole hospital thing. Then he said, “Come on, let’s play the cello and dance. No way we’re making less than Maddox. This is an ancient city. People love cello and classical dance. Don’t listen to Maddox’s nonsense. What does he even know? We’ll prove him wrong. We’re not here to scrape by, we’ll actually make something.”

Sienna agreed, but deep down, she was pissed. Maddox really thought she was beneath him. She wanted to show him she could make money on her own. However, she wasn’t about to say that out loud. For one, Maddox had way too many fans, and she wasn’t about to get roasted online. And second, she still wasn’t giving up on Cain. Maddox treated Phoebe like gold but acted like she didn’t matter. What she really wanted was to tip the script, to have Cain protect her and let Maddox be cold to Phoebe for once.

So, after a moment, she just said, “I’ll listen to you, Cain.” That way, if it all went downhill, like the second episode where they barely made any money, she had an easy excuse. It wasn’t her idea; Cain was the one who pushed for it.

Meanwhile, watching the live stream, Leon and Joshua both had the same thought. Leon pressed his lips together. “Yep. If this bombs, Cain is taking the hit again.” Joshua nodded. “No doubt about it.” He had been through it himself, so he knew exactly how it felt. Back when he was on the show, he hadn’t noticed it as much. However, watching the live broadcast from the outside gave him a whole new perspective. It was true what they said, bystanders saw things more clearly.

He exhaled. “The more I watch, the more obvious it is. Sienna knows exactly what she’s doing. And the worst part, she’s using the people who actually care about her.” If he hadn’t seen it for himself, he never would’ve believed this was the same little sister he’d spoiled for years.