CHAPTER THREE

The phone rang. Once. Twice.

I almost didn’t pick up.

But then, something inside me told me I had to.

I glanced at the caller ID, my stomach tightening at the name flashing on my screen.

Adrian.

For a moment, I just stared at it. My breathe hitched, and my fingers curled tightly around the device.

After three years, he still had my number.

After three years, he still had the audacity to call me.

The weight of the past pressed against my chest, but I refused to let it shake me. I wasn’t that naive girl anymore—the one who had once believed in him, the one who had been so blind to the truth.

Jaw clenched, I finally swiped to answer.

“What the hell do you want?” My voice was sharp, cutting, dripping with cold fury.

A low chuckle came through the receiver. Smooth. Familiar. Infuriating.

“Sienna,” he said simply. Not a question. Not a plea. Just my name.

Like he still had the right to say it.

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the vanity table in my dressing room, gripping the edge so tightly my knuckles turned white. “Talk fast or I’m hanging up.”

“Still impatient, I see.”

“Still an asshole, I see.”

Silence.

Then, “You’re back in Valmont City.”

I crossed my legs, tapping my manicured nails against the table. “Brilliant observation. Did you figure that out all by yourself, or did someone hold your hand through it?”

Another pause. I could imagine the way his jaw would be tightening right now, how those cold gray eyes of his would be narrowing slightly.

“You were never one to hide, Sienna,” he finally said. “Your face is everywhere. Your name is everywhere.”

I laughed, a short, bitter sound. “And that bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“No.”

A beat of silence.

“You used to hate the spotlight,” he murmured.

Something inside me twisted. Once upon a time, that was true. Once upon a time, I had shied away from attention, happy to be in the shadows, safe in the illusion of his love.

But that version of me was dead.

“People change,” I said flatly.

“Do they?”

My grip on the table tightened. “Cut the cryptic bullshit, Adrian. Why are you calling me?”

A pause. Then, in a tone far too casual: “Where are you?”

I almost laughed. “That’s none of your goddamn business.”

“Sienna—”

“No,” I cut him off sharply, my body tensing with barely contained anger. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to call me after all these years and act like you have some right to ask me anything.”

My free hand curled into a fist. My pulse was hammering, but I didn’t care.

“You lost that right the moment you chose your selfish desires over me,” I continued, my voice like ice. “The moment you broke me and walked away like I meant nothing.”

He was silent for a long moment.

Then, “You were never nothing to me, Sienna.”

I scoffed, shaking my head. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Another pause.

“I called to—”

“I don’t care why you called.”

I didn’t give him the chance to say anything else. With a swift, final motion, I ended the call and threw my phone onto the vanity.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

My face was composed, my makeup flawless.

But my hands were shaking.

I exhaled sharply, closing my eyes for a brief second.

No. He didn’t get to do this to me. Not anymore.

Tonight wasn’t about Adrian.

Tonight was about me.

The Valmont Grand Theater was already packed when I arrived.

From the window of the sleek black car, I could see the flashing lights, the towering banners bearing my face, the throngs of people waiting outside.

A soft knock on the window made me glance up.

And there he was.

Leo Castille.

The country’s newest heartthrob. My co-star. The male lead of Whispers of the Night.

With his sharp jawline, piercing green eyes, and easy charm, he was a fan favorite—especially after the electric chemistry we’d displayed on screen.

Leo flashed me a grin, his perfectly styled chestnut hair tousled just enough to look effortlessly cool.

I rolled down the window, arching a brow. “What are you doing?”

“Picking up my date,” he said smoothly, offering his hand.

I smirked. “I wasn’t aware I agreed to be your date.”

“You didn’t,” he admitted. “But you’d rather walk alone? Because I can already see the reporters planning their questions, and if you think they’re bad now, just wait until you step out by yourself.”

I exhaled. He wasn’t wrong.

With a small shake of my head, I took his hand. “Fine. But don’t get used to this, Leo.”

He chuckled as he helped me out of the car. “No promises, Sienna.”

The cameras went wild the moment we stepped onto the carpet.

“Leo! Sienna! Over here!”

“Sienna, look this way!”

The flashes were blinding, but I was used to it. My midnight blue gown shimmered beneath the lights, the thigh-high slit revealing just enough to make a statement.

Leo held my hand lightly as we moved forward, his easy confidence a perfect complement to my cool composure.

And then—

“Sienna, you and Leo look amazing together! Is there something more between you two?”

The question was inevitable.

Leo grinned, tightening his grip on my hand. “What do you think, Sienna?”

I smirked, playing along. “I think reporters need to find a new hobby.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd, but the cameras kept clicking.

Leo leaned down slightly, whispering near my ear, “That was a smooth dodge.”

“I know,” I murmured back.

But just as we were about to step inside, a presence at the edge of the carpet made me freeze.

Adrian.

Standing in the shadows near the grand staircase. Watching me.

Watching us.

His sharp black suit was tailored to perfection, his dark hair slightly tousled, his storm-gray eyes locked onto me with unreadable intensity.

And for a moment, it felt like the world stopped.

Like the past wasn’t the past. Like the pain had just happened.

Then he moved.

Slowly. Deliberately.

Toward me.

I lifted my chin, standing my ground. I wasn’t the same girl he had walked away from.

I was stronger.

Colder.

Untouchable.

Or at least, I thought I was.

But then, he stopped just inches away, his voice low and smooth.

“Hello, Sienna.”

My pulse stuttered.

“What are you doing here, Adrian?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain steady.

His lips curled slightly. “I came to see the woman you’ve become.”

I held his gaze, my expression unreadable. “And?”

“You’re breathtaking,” he said softly.

I exhaled sharply, pushing away the flicker of emotion.

“Save your empty words, Adrian,” I said coolly. “Whatever we had is dead.”

His jaw tightened. “Is it?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer.

Because for the first time in three years—standing in front of the man who had destroyed me—I wasn’t sure.

For a moment, the world around us faded.

The flashing cameras. The murmuring crowd. The dazzling lights.

It was just me and him..

The man who had shattered me. The man who had walked away without a second glance.

And now he was here. Standing in front of me, looking at me like he had the right to. Like he hadn’t been the one to break everything between us.

I hated that my heart still knew his presence before my mind could process it. Hated that even now, the sight of him sent a rush of something down my spine—something sharp, something dangerous.

“Sienna.” His voice was smooth, just as I remembered

with a hard edge in his voice, his eyes narrowing as he looked between Leo and I.

I met his gaze, the old bitterness creeping up my throat like bile. “I moved on a long time ago, Adrian,” I said, my voice steady but laced with contempt. “You had your chance. You walked away from it. Now, you don’t get to waltz in like nothing happened.”

Leo, ever the composed figure, smiled smoothly. “We’re just here to enjoy the evening, Perhaps you should do the same.” I had told Leo about Adrian few months back. And in this moment I guess he knew that this was him.

Adrian’s jaw clenched, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. I could feel the tension radiating from him, like a storm about to break. But there was nothing left for him to take from me—not my heart, not my time, not my attention. I was done.

The crowd around us continued to buzz with excitement, oblivious to the storm that had momentarily raged between the three of us. The lights of the premiere flickered and flashed, a whirlwind of glamour and artificial brightness. But all I could focus on was Adrian—the man who had tried to break me, the man who had failed.

“I’m not here to fight,” he said after a beat, his tone softer now, though the undercurrent of frustration still lingered. “I’m just… I’m just trying to make things right.”

“Right?” I laughed, bitterly. “You don’t get to decide what’s right for me anymore, Adrian. Not after everything.”

Leo placed a hand lightly on my shoulder, as if to guide me away, but I wasn’t finished. “You want to make things right?” I said, turning back to Adrian with a cold smile. “Then start by leaving me alone. Let me have the life I’ve built without you. Because I don’t need your redemption, and I don’t want your apologies.”

Adrian’s eyes flickered with something like hurt—maybe even regret—but I didn’t care. It was too little, too late.

He opened his mouth to respond, but I turned on my heel, linking my arm with Leo’s. “Let’s go, Leo,” I said, my voice firm. “I’ve had enough of this.”

We began to walk away, the crowd parting for us like a wave parting for a ship. The whispers began almost immediately—about the woman who had left a billionaire behind, about the star who had risen from the ashes. I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to satisfy their curiosity. I was here for me.