Hi guys! Here's another chapter of Sweet Oblivion! Spring break's over and school started again for me but I'll do my very best to be consistent with updates! Thank you so much for all your patience! 

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"Make sure that you keep your street attitude to yourself when you're around members of the family and workers." he ordered his brows furrowing in annoyance.

Street attitude? This man was going too far. Valentina was only biding her time until she could find some dirt on Tristan. And when she does, she'll make him pay for looking down on her.

But it doesn't hurt to defend herself now.

"Street attitude?" she said incredulously, her tone dripping with venom.

"Listen, Julian. I may not be the true Avano sister, but you don't have the right to tell me how to act or speak even if you're my boss."

Julian opened his mouth to speak but Valentina cut him off immediately. "And besides, even if you do found your real sister, she wouldn't be acting snobbish like the rest of your family does. She could've grown up in a family like I did; loving and supporting. So don't you dare look down on where I came from and how I act because you sure don't know the things I've been through to get to where I am now."

Valentina finished her rant. He may be the CEO but he needed a lesson on what it's like to be poor and living day to day on a paycheck.

Julian remained silent. This silence could be Tristan thinking if he wants to fire her after this outburst.

She didn't want to find out. But after awhile, he began to speak.

"I looked up your file on where you've lived, your grades in school, and the jobs you've worked." he took out a bunch of files from his side and showed them to her.

Valentina's blood ran cold. Did he look deeper to find out about her brother Vincent? It couldn't be. No one knew that she could ever be Vincent's little sister. She made sure of it by asking someone from her old neighborhood to erase any family ties may have with her in order to get her revenge on the Avanos.

It was tough as always about the steps she took but hopefully Julian didn't dig in too deep to find out that she had a brother.

"Your mother passed away at a very young age, and your father left you two before that. You didn't have anyone and you were passed onto different foster homes. Yet you still excelled in school." Julian read off these face to her out loud.

"How could you think that I don't know what you've done to improve your life? It was very impressive." he said to her..

"Be careful with how you act around the family is what I'm saying." he reminded her again coldly. 

Valentina rolled her eyes. At the same time, she was confused on how he was acting. First he was praising her on how much she knew and how much she worked hard but then he's back to his old self after a few minutes.

No a matter of a few seconds.

Valentina didn't want to piss him off even more and he might even take off some money from her paycheck.

She didn't want to also get on his bad side. He hasn't opened up to her yet but Valentina's plan was to get him to trust her, maybe even fall in love with her.

Hopefully.

She didn't want to waste any more time because once Dahlia gets better enough to come back to the mansion, Valentina would lose her job.

Or would she?

If she could get Dahlia to trust her, there would be no problem and she would continue living her life luxuriously.

It would be amazing to continue living the rich life. And she's going to make sure that she gets to keep the lifestyle that she deserves while destroying the Avanos piece by piece. However, she has to be careful that she doesn't get attached to anyone at all in the Avanos.

"Are we done?" Valentina asked him rudely.

"Because my shift is going to start soon at the cafe." she complained.

"Is your salary as my sister not enough?" he asked her incredulously.

Valentina turned to face him. "No, it's more than enough. However, I've got to have some money on my side just in case shit goes down." she glared.

And with that, she turned and walked confidently back to the mansion. This felt like dejavu since she had done the same thing to the other Avano brother.

Once Valentina opened the door to the mansion, she was met with a beautiful pale young woman about her age. Her entire outfit screamed couture and brand names. From head to toe, she wore every popular expensive name brand known to Valentina. 

She wondered who she is and how she's related to the Avanos. From the list of people she must know that Julian gave her, this girl was not on the list.

"I'm Eva Payne," the girl extended her hand while looking at Valentina's outfit from head to toe.

"I'm sure you've heard all about me from Julian." she smiled smugly.

Actually, he hasn't even talked about you at all, Valentina thought darkly. It shows how much Julian cared about this girl who was criticizing Valentina's outfit.

"I'm Valentina Sanchez." she replied back taking her extended hand. She squeezed this girl's hand tightly.

"I'm not very familiar with that last name. Is your family in the...tech business as well?" she asked tilting her head while her eyes judged Valentina's dress. Her dark brown hair shone in the light and her perfect lips pursed into a knowing smirk.

Valentina knew that this girl was trying to underestimate her. She's not entirely sure if this girl knows that Julian 'found' his sister already.

"Actually, I'm..." she began.

"Julian's sister." A smooth voice finished behind her.

Valentina turned only to see Julian walking towards her and putting his arm around her shoulders.

Eva's jaw dropped.

Haha, you really thought. Valentina smirked to herself.

"I didn't...know that you already found her, Julian." she sighed happily. Her entire demeanor changed when she found out that Valentina was Julian's sister.

She went from being defensive to friendly and accommodating in a matter of seconds. She took the hands of Julian and pulled them to hers.

"Do you want to grab some dinner with me tonight?" she asked him.

"I have work to do later tonight, maybe next time." Julian said tiredly. Valentina scoffed to herself. She just witnessed this girl getting swerved by Julian Avano.

Eva looked hurt but she hid this emotion as quickly as she could and sighed. "It's alright, I can do next time."

"I guess you guys have already met," Julian said.

"Valentina, this is Eva Payne, my best friend."

He turned to Eva.

"My sister, Valentina Sanchez." he pointed to me. Julian looked even more exhausted than ever after repeating this 'fact' multiple times to different people that he knows.

Valentina couldn't believe that Eva is Julian's best friend. She believed that he just felt sorry for her because Eva seemed to be the type of woman who would pursue a guy that she would never be able to get.

But Eva didn't see her as a threat to Julian's attention. Valentina began to realize this when Eva offered her to go shopping.

"We should shop together. I'm going shopping at one of the boutiques in San Francisco for a party tonight." she said excitedly.

Valentina didn't have enough money to go shopping that she was about to decline before Julian placed his hand on her waist and whispered in her ear.

"I'll pay for it. Go."

She didn't need to be told twice already. Valentina agreed to Eva's offer to go shopping and got dressed into something more comfortable and more her. She took out an off the shoulder long sleeved dress that hugged the right curves of her body.

She was going to turn heads with this outfit. She wore the necklace that her brother gave her before he was sent to prison and headed downstairs.

Once Eva saw her, her eyes widened.

"Oohh, I like your outfit. It's very...chic." she said trying to find the right words.

Valentina shrugged. It was cold and chilly in San Francisco which is far from the weather that she was accustomed in South California.

Eva led Valentina to her car and Valentina hopped inside.

"This is such a great way to get to know you." she said happily.

"Julian has looked non stop for you and finally you're here!" she added.

Valentina took this opportunity to find out more about the Avanos through this girl who seems to know all about the Avanos and hopefully, their dirty history.

Valentina clutched her purse that has a recorder in it and prepared for any words that Eva might try to spill.

"So how long have you known Julian?" she asked Eva.

Eva in return, sighed. It's as if she knew that she and Julian had a long history together.

"We've known each other since I was nine and he was eleven years old." She replied.

Valentina did her math and realized that Julian would be twenty six by now. She didn't realize the Julian was eight years older than her. It didn't help that he looked so young too. She realized it's bonus points that he looked the way he does now.

Valentina decided to continue asking Eva questions so she knows on what she's dealing with Julian.

"Sounds like you and my brother have a thing going on by the way that you talk to him." Valentina said slowly, hoping her assumptions were wrong.

Eva only sighed. The car rolled to a stop at the stoplight when Valentina spoke her assumptions. It's going to be a tough one to break if they are indeed together.

"We're getting there." Eva replied confidently causing Valentina to roll her eyes.

She wished. Little does she know that Valentina would come and steal the man she wants in her own way.

Eva and Valentina finally reached their destination at the bohemian shop that Eva wanted to shop at. It was sort of a long drive from the Avano mansion and with a look of distaste at some of the clothes that were displayed at the store.

It is a hipster store after all. Valentina refused to buy anything from this store because it wasn't her style and she would never be caught dead seen in one of these clothes.

Julian's previous words came back to her.

She wouldn't even want to wear it even if he paid. It's the thing with guys. Valentina loved the attention from them and the gifts they would give her but as she eyed the long green dress with frills at the bottom, she knew that she had to pass at this time.

Eva was already skimming though the racks and picked one out for her.

"Try this on." She smiled as she handed Valentina an ugly loose orange dress.

Valentina tried to stop herself from making a face and gagging at the sight. However, if she wanted to continue bonding with Eva and learning more about Julian and the Avanos behind the scenes, she has to try on the most hideous dress she has ever seen in her life.

"Of course."

Valentina went to the dressing room and quickly changed into the large dress that doesn't cling to any of her curves at all.

It's so big on her that it was falling off her shoulders. She ruffled her long hair a little bit and came out of the dressing room to show Eva how it looked.

Apparently, the dress looked gorgeous on her even if it looked ugly as hell. Eva's eyes flashed with jealousy and people who were walking out side the door of the clothing store stopped to look at Valentina.

As she looked at the mirror in front of her, she had to admit that she looked good. The sales woman even complimented her.

"You look beautiful in bohemian pieces."

Valentina just smiled at her in thanks. The people at San Francisco are weird. Why would you dress boho for a party? Parties usually call for tight dresses or short shorts.

But it'll do.

Eva began to try out different pieces that all looked equally hideous except for the ones Valentina decided to pick out for her.

"Now we're ready to party!" Eva squealed happily.

Valentina only remained silent not wanting to say anything. She was super tired from all the lies that she has to keep up with. Not that she doesn't mind since it's a good thing that in just a few minutes, she'll have Eva spilling most of the secrets of the Avanos.

Since most shopkeepers know the Avano family, they decided to put Valentina's dress on a tab for Julian to later pay.

Valentina walked ahead of Eva confidently to her car before Eva stopped her. "we should get lunch soon." she suggested.

"Of course, where would you like to eat?" Valentina asked her.

"I know just the place." Eva smiled.

Of course she does. Eva decided to take them to the most expensive restaurant in San Francisco. Valentina feels a little intimidated but then she realized that that's what Eva wanted her to feel. She smiled at Eva softly, knowing that there were a lot of things that she will do anything to be rich.

But for now, she'll just mooch off Julian first and bide her time. 

Hey guys! I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter! Please don't forget to comment and vote!