Giving Yuri a bright smile, Valentina completely tossed the ball into the girl’s court. During Rio’s introduction and even when Valentina was walking around, Yuri had continued looking away from her and focused solely on talking to her friend, even when Valentina had been standing almost directly in front of her. Considering that they were about to do a show together, it was really poor working manners.

Since Yuri wanted to be like that, Valentina didn’t mind teasing her a bit and intentionally went to bother her. She wanted to see what the girl would do and if she would really continue to ignore her. Would she maintain a perception of unity and talk to her, or would she leave Valentina to dry?

As Valentina asked her the pointed question, Yuri was temporarily flabbergasted.

She could only stare at Valentine’s with an irritated expression before putting on a neutral smile.

“Please have a seat, Valentina. It’s nice to see you again. Your outfit also looks great.” Yuri looked her up and down noting the quality of the fabric and styling as well as Valentina’s simply made up yet beautiful face. She had forgotten the exquisite features and written off the pictures that she had seen online to good editing, however seeing that seductive face is real life brought back her slight jealousy.

“Don’t mind if I do. And yours does as well. You look very angelic and very pretty,” Valentina commented peacefully.

Honestly, it did. Yuri was dressed in a white chiffon dress that hugged her upper body in white lace before flaring out into a large cloud of material and ribbons. Her hair was braided and had a golden laurel headband around it, while her makeup was doll-like, highlighting her large eyes and placing lots of blush on her nose and cheeks, making her look cute and young and innocent.

Still, even though the overall look was beautiful, Valentina thought that it didn’t quite work for the event they were at today.

Although the dress looked good, the sheer amount of fabric looked as if it would be a bit difficult to move in, and it seemed that the petite girl was being swallowed alive by her dress. This was probably something that should have been saved for a red carpet.

Seated closely beside Yuri was a girl with jet-black hair that was pin straight and fell to her waist in a silken sheet. Her eyes were hazel green, and although her face was pretty, her scowl was quite fierce as she glared at Valentina.

Smiling happily and ignoring the girls’ scowl, Valentina calmly sat down beside Yuri, forcing the girl to move closer to her friend.

After arranging her clothes, she leaned forward and glanced at the blond girl.

“Hello, my name is Valentina. I don’t believe we’ve met before. You seem like a good friend of Yuri’s”

“I’m Emily, her BEST friend,” Emily said before throwing her arm around Yuri’s shoulder.

At the enunciated words, Valentina arched a brow in confusion. Was she afraid she was going to take Yuri away from her?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emily.”

“Well, actually, it’s not a pleasure on my side. I was the one who was supposed to have the role you took from me in the Fallen Angels music video. You’re not even a good actress, and yet you got the role that should have belonged to me! If I didn’t have a prior commitment, it would have been mine. It should be me going on this show with them and not you!” Emily burst out, her face slightly red from anger.

At the outburst, a couple of the people in the room looked over before whispering as they secretly watched the drama.

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Sensing the gazes, Emily’s face blushed in embarrassment, but she continued glaring.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” She asked Valentina once more.

Valentina wanted to roll her eyes at the whole situation. At this point, the video had been out for weeks. Why was she upset?

Seeing Yuri clutching her friends hand while nodding in support, he narrowed her eyes at the two of them and made her tone cold.

“It’s unfortunate that you feel that way, but isn’t that how the industry works? If you can’t commit to a role, it goes to someone else. As for my skills, the director thought that they were more than enough on the video. I thought we already addressed this on set, Yuri? Do you still have complaints? I can properly relay them to Rio, Shawn, and the rest of the staff that you don’t trust their judgment.”

Seeing the subtle threat in Valentina’s cold eyes, Yuri shivered once more before looking away. She chewed her lips, hemming and hawing before finally responding.

“No. Obviously…you did well. There’s no need to tell anyone. Emily, let’s stop here, okay? Everyone is staring.”

“Tsk.”

Emily clicked her teeth, shooting one final glance at Valentina before looking away.

“As I said, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Emily. Even if you don’t feel the same way.”

As she turned to face her front, she heard a chuckle behind her.

Turning to look, she saw a pale woman with the sharpest eyeliner she had ever seen staring at her with warm brown eyes. Dark golden skin was framed by a jet-black wolf cut with hot pink bangs. Wearing a miniskirt that showed off her long legs and a crop top with an oversized letterman jacket and white sneakers, she gave off a very sporty yet stylish impression.

Of course, Valentina immediately recognized her. It was Bobbi Fox, an up-and-coming pop star signed to Platinum Entertainment whose first album had blown up. She was a strong contender for best new artist and had quickly built up a decently sized fanbase.

As their eyes met, the girl gave her a cheeky grin as she spoke out.

“Valentina, right? I’m Bobbi with no ‘e’ by the way. Good job putting her in her place. Some people are just jealous and shouldn’t blame people for their own decisions. She’s just mad that she thought another role would further her career and regrets her choice once she sees the benefits. It’s people like her giving the industry girlies like us a bad name for being mean and jealous.”

Snorting at Emily, whose mouth was open, she leaned forward in her chair as she smiled mischievously at Valentina.

“Rumor has it that you’re coming to Platinum?”

“Bobbi!” A stressed-looking woman in a rumpled skirt suit sat beside Bobbi and looked scandalized before bowing in apology to Valentina.

“What? I said it’s a rumor.”

“I can’t confirm or deny that,” Valentina replied neutrally, even though she could feel her eyes twitching a bit.

Please, let’s skip this topic before the lawyers come get me.

“Well, I hope you do. I’d love to make a video together so some of that good luck from the Fallen Angels rubs off on me too.”

“Bobbi! Enough! Let’s go.”

“Haha, I guess I’m being dragged away. You seem like cool people Valentina. I hope I get to see you at the Platinum Entertainment Brunch this year. And about the video, I’ll have my people call your people.” Making a phone sign with her fingers and winking, Bobbi grinned widely before following her stressed-looking manager out of the room.

Waving in amusement at the energetic girl, she calmly leaned back in her chair and peacefully waited for Rio to come to get her and Yuri.

Several times, the door opened, and people would head out when it was time to film their portion of the show.

During that time, Yuri and Emily loudly whispered while sneaking glances at her, but she continued making a mental list of everything she would need to do while pretending they didn’t exist.

She needed to finish packing, continue providing paperwork for the lawyers, and speak with the psychiatrist which was planned for tomorrow evening. She had so much to do and so little time to do it.

As she was getting more and more lost in her thoughts of all the things she needed to do, the door finally opened, and Shawn poked his head through.

“Yo. Val. Yuri. Time to go. We’re up,” He called out with a bright smile.

Standing up, Valentina quickly walked to the door while Yuri stood up slowly and struggled to arrange her elaborate dress, the poofs catching as she walked.

“I like the fit. Fierce battle angel. That’s a cool vibe.” Shawn looked her over before giving her a thumbs up.

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself. It’s giving bad boy demon on earth,” Valentina replied with a laugh as she looked him over.

As if to oppose Rio’s silken look, Shawn was dressed from head to toe in leather. He wore fitted leather pants and an oversized leather jacket with safety-pinned patches, with a simple fitted black tee under it. With his bright red hair, chrome heart rings, and spiked boots, he had the look of a rock band member who was ready for a good time and to break women’s hearts.

“I try, I try. Your dress looks good, too, Yuri. Very angelic and pretty.” Shawn glanced over at the girl swathed in white, struggling to walk.

“Thank you! You look very handsome!” Yuri blushed lightly as she attempted to speed up until she was beside him, the ribbons from her dress trailing her like a train.

“Thanks. I hope you’re both ready. Apparently, the host has some intense games planned for us.”

“Yep!” Yuri replied enthusiastically.

“I guess?” Valentina replied a beat later in a reluctant tone.

At the two women’s very different responses, Shawn chuckled before continuing to lead them.

As they got to the area leading to the main set and live audience, Valentina spotted Rio speaking with a staff member.

As he turned to face them, the staff member spoke into the mike headset before waiting for their arrival.

“Please stand here; I’m going to mic you all up.” The staff member quickly attached wireless microphones to each of their outfits before lining them up. A couple of words were exchanged between Rio and Shawn before the staff member nodded.

“They’re ready for you. Head out in order. Shawn, Valentina, Yuri, then Rio.”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Valentina followed Shawn and walked out to the stage. As they walked out, the live audience began cheering while the two hosts clapped with bright smiles.