The city was buzzing.
Every tabloid, every news site, every gossip channel screamed the same story:
"Luna and Jayden BREAK UP after cheating scandal!"
Jayden sat in his empty apartment, staring at the headlines.
His guitar leaned against the wall, strings untouched, dust already settling.
Max stormed in, slamming the papers down.
"This is insane! You didn't cheat. You didn't do anything wrong. Why aren't you fighting back?!"
Jayden's voice was low, hollow.
"Because she doesn't believe me anymore."
Meanwhile, Luna stood in front of her bathroom mirror, wiping smeared makeup from her swollen eyes.
Her manager hovered nervously.
"It's over, Luna. The company wants a statement. If you don't issue a clean break, they'll terminate your contract."
Luna's lips trembled as she whispered, "Fine. Write it."
Her manager froze. "Are you sure?"
A single tear slid down her cheek.
"I have to protect him. If the world wants me to hate him, then I'll carry it alone."
The next morning, the press release dropped.
LUNA PARK OFFICIALLY ENDS RELATIONSHIP WITH JAYDEN.
"I was deceived, and I can no longer support him. Please respect my decision."
The words weren't hers, but they might as well have been knives.
Jayden read the statement over and over until his vision blurred.
He whispered to himself, broken:
"She gave up on me."
Max tried to speak, but Jayden grabbed his jacket and bolted into the night, desperate to outrun the suffocating silence.
He ended up at the rooftop where he and Luna once sang their first song.
The city lights glowed around him, but he felt nothing but darkness.
He whispered into the wind, "Ethan… maybe I failed again. Maybe I wasn't meant to keep my promise."
His guitar slipped from his hands, clattering against the concrete.
And across town, Crystal toasted her glass of wine with a smile.
"Love is fragile," she purred. "And theirs is finally shattered."
Or so she thought.
End of Episode Ten part one
The Phoenix in Ashes
For days, Jayden disappeared.
No calls. No interviews. No music.
Rumors spread like wildfire:
"He left the country."
"He's given up music."
"He's hiding because the truth is worse than we think."
But the truth was simpler.
Jayden was broken.
On the rooftop, where he once dreamed, he sat staring at his silent guitar.
Max found him there, hair unkempt, eyes hollow.
"Bro… you can't keep doing this. You're letting her win."
Jayden whispered, "She already won. Luna's gone."
Max crouched beside him. "No. You're gone. That's the problem. You think this is about Luna? About Crystal? This is about you. Ethan made you promise to shine. And right now, you're spitting on that promise."
Jayden's jaw tightened. "I don't deserve to shine."
Max shoved the guitar into his lap. "Then don't do it for you. Do it for him. Do it for the music. Do it for the kid who sang on street corners with nothing but hope in his pocket."
That night, Jayden strummed again for the first time in weeks.
His voice cracked, raw and unpolished.
But as the chords filled the rooftop, something inside him stirred—pain, anger, love, loss.
All of it poured out, messy and beautiful.
And for the first time, he wasn't singing for fame, or fans, or even Luna.
He was singing for himself.
Meanwhile, Luna sat alone in her darkened dressing room, scrolling through hateful comments.
"Fake star."
"Traitor."
"He used you and you used us."
Her hands shook as she shut her phone.
But then… faintly, through the window, she heard it.
A melody carried by the night air.
Jayden's voice.
Her chest tightened, tears filling her eyes.
He hadn't stopped.
He was still fighting.
And maybe… so should she.
Far away, Crystal watched the trending feed, expecting silence from Jayden.
But instead, a shaky rooftop recording of his new song had gone viral.
#PhoenixSong was climbing the charts.
Fans commented:
"He sounds broken, but real."
"This is the Jayden we fell for."
"Maybe we judged too quickly…"
Crystal's glass slipped from her hand, shattering.
"No… this isn't possible. He was supposed to be finished!"
But Jayden was no longer ashes.
He was rising.
End of Episode Ten part two
Episode Twenty-Five: Rise of the Phoenix
Jayden's rooftop song—raw, broken, imperfect—spread faster than wildfire.
The hashtag #PhoenixSong trended worldwide.
Clips flooded TikTok, fans whispering:
"He's hurting, but he's real."
"That voice… it feels like pain and hope at the same time."
"Maybe he deserves another chance."
For the first time in weeks, public opinion began to shift.
Jayden was stunned when Max barged into his apartment, holding his phone like a trophy.
"Bro, you're number one on streaming. Do you hear me? Number one. With a rough rooftop recording!"
Jayden blinked in disbelief. "You're kidding."
Max slapped his back. "The world wants you back. Question is—do you want it?"
Jayden looked at his guitar, then out the window at the city that had nearly destroyed him.
And for the first time, he whispered, "Yes."
Meanwhile, Luna was living a nightmare.
Her company locked her into silence, canceling her shows and stripping her endorsements. Her manager begged her to stay low, stay quiet, distance herself from Jayden forever.
But her heart twisted every time she saw the rooftop clip.
His voice wasn't just music—it was a message.
A promise he hadn't let die.
And she realized with aching clarity:
She didn't want to choose between her career and him.
But the world would make her.
One evening, Luna slipped out of her apartment, hoodie pulled low, and went to the rooftop where it had all begun.
Jayden was there, strumming the same chords, lost in thought.
When he saw her, he froze.
"Luna…"
Her eyes filled with tears. "You're rising again. Without me."
Jayden shook his head. "I'm only rising because of you."
Silence stretched between them, heavy with everything unsaid.
Then, softly, Luna whispered:
"If I stand with you… I'll lose everything."
Jayden's chest tightened. He wanted to beg her to stay—but instead, he met her gaze steadily.
"Then let me be enough."
Far away, Crystal watched the headlines turning.
Public sympathy was creeping back toward Jayden.
And now Luna was standing on the edge of a choice.
Crystal's smirk returned.
"Rise all you want, Jayden. Because the higher you fly… the sweeter it'll be when I clip your wings."
End of Episode Ten