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I have these three layers in a group on top of a black Background layer:

Layer (3) - top. An Adjustment Layer - Brightness / Contrast

Layer (2) - middle. A mostly empty layer onto which I've cloned some touch-ups to

Layer (1) - bottom: "Pixel Image" with a linked layer mask

Now I want to adjust the "exposure" or light/dark level of one big section of Layer (1). I tried duplicating it and editing the linked layer mask to isolate the area I want to adjust, and then adding a new Adjustment Layer (Bright / Contrast) to lighten just the one section. That seemed to work BUT the cloned areas in Layer (2) changed their appearance. I tried duplicating the cloned layer and adding that to the new additional layers and the cloned areas got worse.

What should I do?