Before Valentina could even leave the room, her phone began ringing as she took it from DND.

Glancing at the caller ID, she noticed it was Rio. Picking up the call, she spoke casually.

“Yo, Mr. Fallen Angel,”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite nepo baby. Do you mind giving me a donation? I take all forms of payment.” Rio began joking, causing Valentina to roll her eyes even though he couldn’t see it.

“You think you’re so funny, Rio. What do you want?”

“I can’t call you just to hear your voice?”

“No. Weirdo.” Valentina replied bluntly, causing him to laugh again.

“Tsk. Tsk. And after I joined your live and gave you free promo and bonus fans. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“Wow. Thank. You. So. Much. I. Appreciate. It. What. Would. I. Ever. Do. Without. You.” Valentina replied in a monotone voice, and hearing it, Rio burst out laughing.

“I know that deep, deep inside, you’re on the verge of tears and about to get on your knees to thank me. But there’s no need to praise me. It’s what I should do since I’m amazing.”

Hearing the self-praise coming from his mouth, Valentina found herself temporarily speechless. First, it was Kaiser, now it was Rio. What was with the super cocky, self-confident men around her?

“……is this what you called me for? To make jokes and to congratulate yourself?? If so, I’m hanging up.”

“Calm down, Val. I was joking. I was actually concerned about you. What’s going on with you and Aaliyah? Are you really okay after that fall? How’s your body? What did the director say? And how did that video get shared?”

“And again, you’re not funny. The doctor said I’m fine and I haven’t spoken to the director yet. As for Aaliyah, she clearly doesn’t like me, or couldn’t you tell? ” Valentina replied dryly. “The video being shared has nothing to do with me. I was unconscious when it happened and woke up to see it everywhere. I'd like to thank the person, though.”

“Hmmm. Is Aaliyah bullying you again? Do you need me to do something?”

Hearing his words, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow in deep thought. It was something that she had felt for a while, but Rio always acted like he knew her or had some history with her.

But as far as she knew, she had no contact with Rio before, and he wasn’t mentioned in the novel at all in relation to Aaliyah. How could he know her?

Pretending not to know anything, she took a deep breath to calm her thoughts and asked, “Again? What do you mean by that? And what could you even do? You’re an outsider.”

“Playing coy with me, Val? I know you don’t get along with Aaliyah and the Salazar family. And it’s not the first time something like this has happened, although I guess it’s the first time Aaliyah’s been caught and exposed like this. I’m sure they’re probably blasting your phone and calling you back home to apologize once you finished your live. Do you want me to go with you when you go back to the Salazar house, or do you want to come hide out at my place? I may not be able to help you out at Black Rock Entertainment, but with me around, your father and Aaliyah have to give me some face and won't be too hard on you.”

“…You seem really… well-informed about my situation.”

“Of course. It’s not like we’re strangers. We’ve met before and know each other, or do you not remember?”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Valentina: “……” I don’t remember! I definitely don’t remember. No matter how I think about it, we’re definitely strangers!

“Val? Do you not remember?” Rio asked again.

Hearing the concern in his voice, although she felt bad, she decided not to tell Rio the full truth the way she did Kaiser. Although they were on friendly terms, she wasn’t comfortable sharing so much of herself with him. And besides, he clearly knew more about the original Valentina, and she wanted to know what he knew before sharing more.

“I guess I can’t hide it from you, Rio. I had a really bad medical incident a couple of months ago, and I lost a good chunk of my memories.”

“…what? How? Why? Are you okay? Have you been medically checked out? What did they say?” Rio immediately began asking, his voice slightly panicked and filled with worry.

“I’m fine physically, and I’m trying to recover them, but a lot of things are a big black hole to me. I can’t remember a lot of my past, so anybody I’ve met, any relationship I had, is something I can’t recall. I’m sure you’ve noticed my personality is quite different than before, right? ”

“Not really? If anything, you used to be the way you are now before…” As he mumbled the last part, Valentina strained her ears to hear the words.

“Before I what?” she tried clarifying, but he was completely silent for a couple moments until she heard a soft ‘fuck’ and the sound of something banging and sliding in the background before stopping with a loud thud.

“Rio? Are you okay?” Valentina asked with concern. It sounded like he had slipped down the stairs and slammed into the wall or a door.

“Cough- I can’t believe you’ve been talking to me like this without knowing any- you know what, it’s nothing. Let’s talk about it another time.”

“Mmmm. I feel like you’re being a bit evasive, so I’ll let it slide for now, but you and I need to have a long talk in person. I want to know everything you know since you clearly know me pretty well.”

There was a moment of silence and then the sound of thudding again before Rio cleared his throat and softly replied, “Doesn’t this sound like a date?”

“If you consider the Spanish Inquisition a date, then yes. Prepare to be interrogated about every little detail until you want to die.”

“Dark. Edgy. I like it. Pick a date and time, and I’ll be there. Naturally, I’ll pay and pick you up.” Rio basically whispered in a soft voice.

“It’s not a date; it’s an interrogation. Don’t be weird.” Valentina clarified, not wanting any misunderstandings, “Anyways, let’s get back to why you really called. A Variety show?”

“Ehem, yes. We plan on releasing a new album soon, so we’re doing a promo run right now to build hype. You’ve probably seen us on Ell*n, Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, etc, right?”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Valentina replied casually as she made herself comfortable on Kaiser’s chair and began spinning in a circle as she listened to his deep voice absentmindedly.

As he went into a detailed spiel, she began marveling at the smoothness of the chair’s turns; she began spinning faster and faster, completely ignoring Rio’s words.

As she began picking up speed, she couldn’t help but hold her hands up in the air and cheer, “Wheeeeeee!”

“Val? Val? Valentina? Are you paying attention to me?”

As she slowed down, Rio’s voice finally started penetrating her ears.

“Yes?”

“Were you even listening?”

“I am now. Make your explanation short, Mr. Lecturer. I feel like I’m a student again.” She grumbled.

“…Sigh. I tolerate you, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Which show is it?”

“We are the featured guests on Weekly Idol along with a couple of other musicians and actors, so we’ll add you and Yuri in with our slot to talk about the MV. The filming is on Wednesday, so keep that day free.”

“Hmmmm, okay. Do I need to know anything or prep anything? Am I getting paid?”

“You get a small stipend for showing up, but you get paid in exposure, which you need anyway. You can watch previous episodes to get a feel for it, but details and paperwork will be sent to your email on how to answer some questions that might be asked. They make us play some games as well, so be prepared for that. Clothing-wise, you can dress however you want, but it would be nice to somewhat coordinate our outfits into angels/demon themes if possible. If not, then the only thing you have to concern yourself with is looking good, but you always do.”

“…I do look good, don’t I?” Valentina asked with a happy smile as she flipped her hair and replied cockily.

“Which one of us is acting cocky now? I look good as well, you know.” Rio replied with a bland tone, as if he were saying the sky was blue or the grass was green.

“If you’re fishing for compliments from me, it’s not happening. Go ask your fans or manager to compliment you.” Valentina replied with a bright laugh, sounding like tinkling bells.

Hearing it, Rio had to pause for a moment, his face turning red as he buried his head into his lap as he lay sprawled on the staircase where he had fallen earlier.

“Why can’t you be nice for once? You’re so stingy with compliments.” His voice came out muffled, and hearing him complain like a child, Valentina couldn’t help but laugh again.

“I am. So? What are you going to do about it?” Valentina replied flippantly.

Rio: “……” fine. It was his fault for expecting something different. This was how she always talked to him.

“Anyway, whose house are you in? Don’t tell me you’re still with Kaiser Grayson. Didn’t I tell you to leave there?”

“Hmm? When did you say that? How come I don’t remember?” Valentina bluffed in a shameless tone.

“Val…”

Hearing the tone that meant Rio was about to start nagging at her like an old uncle, Valentina rolled her eyes before responding brightly.

“Is that all you have to say, Rio? Then goodbye. See you Thursday. Send me the details asap.”

“No, wait. I’m not done tal-”

“Bye Rio. Say hi to Shawn for me.”

Decisively hanging up the phone, she continued spinning on the chair with her arms crossed as she thought.

Since the show was filmed on Wednesday, she had a couple of days to get an outfit together. Which meant she would have to speak to Lia and formally make her her stylist. Internally crying at the cost of spending her minimal money to hire a designer and stylist of Lia’s caliber, she decided to check her email to see if there were any jobs she could take or any other updates.