Chapter 283

Leon saw things crystal clear now. He scoffed. “Of course she’s using the people who actually care about her. How else is she supposed to get what she wants!”

“You think anyone else would put up with her? Maddox and Lexie don’t. They won’t spoil her like we did.”

Only those of them who had spoiled her before would keep doing it.

“Sienna acts this way because we let her,” Leon said, his voice sharp.

Joshua sighed. “Yeah. She played us, made us do all the dirty work for her.”

Then, with a bitter laugh, he added, “You ever think… maybe we did the same thing to Phoebe?”

Back then, they had taken Phoebe’s kindness for granted, always assuming she would be there no matter what. Pretty selfish. We let Sienna rub off on us too much.”

Leon stiffened. “Now that you say it… yeah. We were pretty selfish.”

They had spent years spoiling Sienna, and in the process, they had picked up some of her worst habits. The thought of it made his stomach turn.

Joshua exhaled. “We got dragged into her mess without even realizing it. People really do become like the company they keep.”

“If Phoebe had been around from the start, maybe we wouldn’t have ended up like this,” he muttered.

The more they thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. One thing was for sure, they needed to stay away from Sienna before she pulled them in again.

Meanwhile, in the ancient city, Sienna and Cain had worked things out with the production team to perform in a public spot. The crew provided a cello and even got them permission from the city’s management office to perform. Since the city wanted more visitors, featuring on a variety show was basically free advertising. As long as they didn’t cause a scene, the management was on board.

Once the cello was ready, Sienna took a seat while Cain wasted no time pulling people over to watch. Sienna started playing the cello with confidence while Cain tried to pull in more people.

At first, a decent crowd gathered, but as the performance went on, people started losing interest and walking away. Cain couldn’t just let that slide. He stepped in front of a few tourists and asked, “Hey, why are you leaving?”

One of them looked at him, puzzled. “We’re just not that into it. What’s the problem!”

Cain frowned. “Why not stay and listen a little longer? The music is good, isn’t it?”

The tourist hesitated, then said politely, “Honestly, we prefer the cello performances during the city’s official events. The musicians at those are much better.”

Someone else added, “There’s a guy from Phoebe’s group playing on the next street over. He sounds way better than this.”

Another girl pulled her friend along. “Come on, let’s listen over there. Even that scumbag ex-boyfriend playing the flute is more entertaining.”

At least that guy was good-looking. Meanwhile, Sienna was not exactly drawing them in. If they wanted to watch a gorgeous woman, they would go see Phoebe.

Cain just stood there, speechless, as more people left. Phoebe was becoming their biggest enemy now.

By the time Sienna finished, more than half the crowd was gone, and when Cain tried asking for tips, barely anyone gave anything.

Sienna’s face stiffened. That couldn’t be right. She was sure she had played better than usual.

Cain, meanwhile, was losing his patience. He had never been short on money in his life, and now he was stuck standing here, shamelessly asking for tips only to be ignored. He wanted to bail. However, for the sake of proving Maddox wrong, he forced himself to stick around.

Trying to sound casual, he turned to a young woman nearby. “My sister plays pretty well, don’t you think? You guys are being kinda harsh.”

Chapter 283

The woman stepped back and shook her head. “Honestly? It was just okay. The city holds a cello recital every five days?”

She crossed her arms. “The musicians there are way better than your sister. And it’s free, plus, they serve coffee and pastries.”

She glanced toward the next street. “That guy from the other group plays way better, and he’s not even asking for money. So seriously, what makes you think you can charge people for this!”

She was actually a fan of Phoebe, but she came here out of curiosity to hear Sienna play the cello. Deep down, she also wanted to compare the two. But the moment she arrived, Cain stopped her and started asking questions. Well, since he asked, she might as well be honest.

She wasn’t trying to trash Sienna on purpose, but the truth was, plenty of people in this city could play the cello, and they played it a lot better. Even the musicians hired by restaurants were more skilled.

The people around her nodded in agreement. “Yeah, tons of people here can play. She’s nothing special.”

“If it was free, I’d stay and listen for fun. But paying? Not worth it,”

“Same. I thought this was free, but turns out they’re charging money. This is an ancient city. There’s no shortage of talented celloists.”

“Seriously, with this level of skill, you might as well just be busking on the street instead of charging.”

Cain felt his face heat up in embarrassment. This was beyond awkward. And Sienna was just as mortified. She never expected this kind of reaction.

Not wanting to drag it out any longer, she quickly got up and told Cain to step back. Then, she switched things up; if they didn’t appreciate her cello playing, maybe they would like her dancing.

She had trained for years. If nothing else, she knew she was good at this. But as soon as she started, people began walking away. Some even muttered complaints as they walked off. “This isn’t impressive at all. The dancers at the ballroom are way better.”

“Yeah, let’s just go to the ballroom tomorrow.”

“And the best part, they don’t charge.”

“If her dancing was actually mind-blowing, sure, I’d tip. But this? Not happening.”

“Come on, let’s go. No money, no time for this.”

More and more people left, until barely anyone was left watching. Sienna kept dancing for a bit, but she couldn’t ignore the emptying crowd. Before she could even finish her routine, she gave up and stopped.

Cain felt just as awkward. He hadn’t expected things to go this badly.

Trying to salvage the situation, he walked up to Sienna and said, “Sienna, let’s just stop. It’s not that you’re not good, they just don’t know how to appreciate real talent.”

That only made Sienna feel even worse. Cain, if you don’t know how to comfort me, just don’t. You’re making this even worse, she thought.

Forcing a smile, she said, “Cain, they literally just said there are tons of free cello and dance performances here. Since we’re asking for money, of course, people aren’t going to stick around.”

That had to be it. It wasn’t that she was bad; it was just that no one wanted to pay.

She sighed. “We should probably figure out another way to make money.”

At the same time, regret started sinking in. She had stormed off earlier, and now she was paying the price. She never should have let Cain talk her into performing like this. She also kicked herself for not doing more research before coming here. If she had known the city had free concerts and ballroom dances everywhere, she would have come up with a different plan.

Now, instead of embarrassing Maddox, they had only embarrassed themselves.