Chapter 3

Sienna was about to snap back when her phone rang loudly.

It was the director of her upcoming blockbuster. He was calling to inform her that she had been replaced.

Sienna lost her mind right there in the hallway.

"Caleb, did you do this?! You did this on purpose! You had the director fire me! How could you be so petty?!"

"You're a selfish monster! Just because I won't marry you right away, you want to ruin my entire life?! This is coercion! You can't do this to me!"

Everything she had in this town was bought with my family's money and influence. If I chose to pull the plug, who was going to stop me?

Watching her throw a tantrum, so crude and unreasonable, I felt like I was looking at a complete stranger.

She hadn't always been like this.

My mind drifted back to the afternoon we first crossed paths. A crisp, sunny day on campus, buzzing with youthful energy.

I was funding and producing a student showcase film, visiting sets to find the right face to lead the project.

That was the moment Sienna walked into my life.

She wore a simple, elegant white summer dress, her brown hair falling over her shoulders. She was standing quietly among a crowd of extras, but she had a glow that drew everyone's eyes.

My heart skipped a beat. It felt like stumbling across something pure and rare.

I made her my female lead without a second thought.

After that, I paved her path in Hollywood with gold.

She went from an unnoticed background extra to the fastest-rising starlet in the industry.

I catered to her every whim. Whatever role she wanted, I secured it. I hired top-tier acting coaches, vocal trainers, and PR publicists. Whenever she felt overwhelmed, I personally managed her day-to-day chaos.

To me, she was the brightest star in the sky, worthy of everything I had to give.

Over time, though, her appetite grew monstrous.

She grew demanding and treated my sacrifices as background noise. Her ambition became a bottomless pit that no amount of praise or luxury could fill.

I thought love and patience would ground her, hoping she’d eventually value what we had.

I was wrong.

Then came the rumors about Logan Brooks.

At first, it was just grainy paparazzi shots of them hanging out late at night. A knot tightened in my gut, but I lied to myself, thinking it was just PR buzz or tabloid trash.

I even paid off entertainment outlets to scrub the articles.

Until I caught them touching each other intimately right under my nose.

It wasn't an innocent mistake. It was a calculated, deliberate betrayal.

The realization shattered my illusions like glass.

Rage, betrayal, and heartbreak choked the air out of my lungs.

I asked myself if five years of devotion had been worth it, or if I had been a blind fool from day one.

My love for her had been built on a fragile bubble. And reality had just popped it.

Right before she walked in today, I had called the studio's executive board and pulled our entire investment from her film.

The production team had worked fast.