Chapter 3

Phoebe’s worth hit Jamar like a slap. He hadn’t meant for things to end this way, but his choices had forced her to scrape by for years, never enjoying a single perk of being the family heiress.

Phoebe’s voice was ice-cold, cutting through the silence. “Let’s get one thing straight, for the last time: none of you means a damn thing to me anymore. I’m not interested in fighting Sienna for anyone’s favor. Not now, not ever.”

Leon shot her a dark look, his voice dripping with warning. “You’d better think this through. You cut ties with us, and don’t expect a penny of support from the company.”

Ollie Jenkins backed him up with a smirk. “We’ll make sure you’re blacklisted everywhere.”

They clearly thought they could scare her into backing down, hoping she’d realize just how much she’d be giving up.

But Phoebe just scoffed, her laugh sharp and mocking. “Oh, spare the lies! Like you’ve ever done me any favors. Since I joined your precious entertainment company, I’ve had fewer and crappier gigs than when I was with that low-rent agency that barely paid me.

“And the resources you gave me? Bottom of the barrel. When people were trashing me online, did you even try to help? Not a chance.

“Every decent deal I scraped together myself, you tried to hand off to Sienna. And now you’re throwing ‘support’ in my face as a threat? I’ve seen shameless people, but you two are on another level.”

Watching their faces go from sour to livid, Phoebe went on, cool as ice. “Good thing I never signed a contract when I came over, so I don’t waste a second breaking one.”

Back then, Ollie and Leon had sworn up and down that, as family, no formal contract was needed, and she’d be “taken care of.” But Phoebe had kept her guard up, holding onto her freedom just in case.

And she’d been right. If she’d signed, she’d be staring down a mountain of penalties to get out, and they’d shut her out of everything without hesitation.

“As of today, I’m done bending over backward for you. Do whatever the hell you want,” she said. “Since you never even acknowledged me publicly as family, there’s no need for me to make a big show about cutting ties. Saves us all the hassle. Goodbye.”

With that, Phoebe turned, suitcase in hand, and walked away without a single backward glance. As she crossed the doorway, she casually paused the recording app on her phone.

The Jenkins family stood in silence, watching as Phoebe’s determined silhouette faded into the distance. They felt a storm of emotions—way more complicated than just anger.

Lydia’s face twisted in rage. “She really just walked out on us! That ungrateful brat!”

Leon’s face darkened. “If she’s that hell-bent on going solo, let’s see how she manages without us behind her.”

To him, this was nothing but Phoebe’s revenge for them choosing Sienna over her, and it only made him angrier.

He turned to Ollie, his expression hard. “You’ve got industry contacts—let them know Phoebe is off-limits. Nobody signs her.”

Ollie gave a short nod, his mouth curling into a smirk. “Already on it.”

Phoebe’s sudden defiance, after years of being the obedient one, made Ollie want to knock some sense into her. She’d see soon enough that going against them had consequences.

Seeing Ollie’s enthusiasm, Leon’s eyes narrowed with a cruel smile. “Let her play tough. I bet she’ll come crawling back sooner than she thinks.” He’d make sure the entire industry knew Phoebe was untouchable.

Sienna, who’d been listening nearby, felt a wave of satisfaction, though she kept her expression guilty. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have upset her so much. Ollie, Leon, please don’t do this. I didn’t mean to make her leave.”

With a sigh, she added, “Give her some time. Once she cools off, I’ll apologize. And if you talk to her, she’ll come back.”

Her words only deepened the family’s belief that Phoebe was in the wrong, and their anger toward her grew.

Ollie waved her off. “This isn’t your fault, Sienna. She’s the one biting the hand that feeds her.”

The other brothers quickly agreed. “Exactly! She’s already got the family name, but she has to act out! Ridiculous!”

“You don’t need to apologize, and we sure aren’t bending over backward for her.”

Chapter 3

“She needs a serious reality check, or we’ll never have peace around here!”

Sienna’s calm and “understanding” demeanor only made Phoebe’s behavior seem more outrageous to them.

After a moment’s thought, Lydia gave Sienna’s shoulder a comforting pat. “Don’t worry, dear. Your brothers know what they’re doing. When Phoebe comes back, she’ll know her place.”

Sienna nodded, feigning reluctance. “Alright, if you say so.”

Elliot listened quietly, convinced that after a few hard knocks, Phoebe would come crawling back home. He had no doubts, so he simply watched the plan unfold.

Phoebe shipped back into her old apartment in Solara City—the place she kept as a getaway ever since moving back with the Jenkins family. When things got tense at home, this was her escape.

She was barely done tidying up when her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, her expression twisting into something halfway between annoyed and sarcastic. Reece Hill. Childhood friend, ex-boyfriend, and lately, the guy she was doing her best to dodge.

After she’d been adopted by his mentor, Percival Burgess, Phoebe lived next door to Reece’s granddad. The two families were tight, so naturally, she and Reece grew up close.

Back then, she’d been a damaged kid, too scared to step out beyond the tiny courtyard. But Reece, with his warmth and steady hand, had pulled her out of her shell and into the world.

From that point on, she followed him like a shadow. He was five years older, and when he left for Solara City in high school, she was determined to keep up.

She threw herself into her studies, skipping grades to make it to the city. A couple of years later, Reece joined the entertainment industry, and once she graduated, she went right in after him.

Finally, after she’d returned to the Jenkins family, she’d built up the nerve to tell him how she felt. He hadn’t rejected her, and for a second, she thought she had a shot.

But right before she traveled back in time, he hit her with a betrayal that cut deep. She wasn’t about to make that same mistake twice.

When she picked up, her voice was ice. “Yeah! What do you want?”

Reece could feel the chill in her tone but shrugged it off. “So, you’re really bailing on that reality show?”

“Who told you that?” she shot back, already suspecting Sienna was behind this.

Reece paused. “Leon said you were considering giving up your spot.”

She didn’t skip a beat. “Not a chance. I’m not giving up my spot for anyone.”

His tone grew sharper. “So you’re ignoring Leon?”

Phoebe snorted. “Since when do I have to do whatever he says?”

Reece and Leon were practically glued at the hip. Back before her time travel, she’d been naive enough to think Reece was trying to help when he’d told her to step aside, not realizing Sienna had manipulated the whole thing.

Reece’s voice hardened. “Leon’s your manager. He’s got your back. Don’t be so damn stubborn.”

She scoffed. “Oh, so saying no to Sienna makes me stubborn? Let me guess—if I roll over and do whatever she wants, I’m reasonable, and you get to run off into the sunset with your dream girl, right? That’s how it works!”

She’d had it with them. All of them. She was done being played.

Before she ended up time-traveling, Phoebe finally caved under relentless pressure from the family and Reece, giving up her one shot and handing it over to Sienna.

With her family’s careful packaging—and Reece playing the dating sidekick on that reality show—Sienna quickly became everyone’s new “fairy-tale princess” online, going viral practically overnight.

Meanwhile, the “big break” Leon had dangled in front of Phoebe turned out to be a joke—a bit part with almost zero screen time.

And just when she thought it couldn’t get worse, the show got delayed indefinitely after the lead actor found himself neck-deep in scandal. Phoebe’s career was left hanging by a thread.

The kicker was that Reece had already signed on for the reality show and hadn’t even mentioned it to her.

She didn’t find out until the premiere aired and—bam—there he was, one of the show’s mystery regulars. Watching him shower Sienna with attention smacked her right in the face: these two were way closer than she’d thought, and his “feelings” were clearly a hell of a lot more than friendly.

Before she could even process the betrayal, she was whisked off for an urgent, closed shoot with her crew. By the time she wrapped up and got back, a full six months had passed.

In those months, she’d been stuck in this miserable limbo, torn between cutting ties with her family and Reece or holding on and hoping something might change.

Then, like a lifeline, a random encounter landed her a role all on her own—the lead in an indie film. With a fire lit under her, Phoebe packed her bags and headed out to a remote town for filming.