Chapter 3

I walked out of the party the moment I got the chance to. Goodness! It was so awkward inside that house. I hopped in my car and drove away. I puffed a breath as I ran a hand through my hair. Now I was hella sure I would never want to live in that mansion.

And so the next day, I had the time to talk with my mom alone. I asked her to allow me to live in my own apartment. It had been a long conversation and we almost ended up arguing horribly but thank God, my mom finally let me have my own apartment.

Although she asked for conditions and one of that was, I should stay in Franklin's house with her for at least three days every week. She even asked me to stay in that mansion every day like I was just having a vacation with her. Goodness! I didn't wanna agree but to please my mom, I just said yes. I just wished that Vance wasn't living in that mansion or if he was, I swear to God, I was going to do my best to avoid him.

"Sofia, our boss wants to talk to you," Kyle approached me. He was my partner since last year and it had been fun working with him.

I stood from my desk and walked out of my office. Kyle followed me behind. "I heard you met a guy." He smirked.

I just smiled at him before I knocked at the boss' office. I glanced at the boss' secretary and I raised my right brow when I caught her glaring at me.

"Come in," the boss commanded.

I walked into the room with my stiletto kinda trembling. Our boss was not the approachable type so whatever! I would often get intimidated by him.

I cleared my throat. "Sir, the Villanueva's approved our structural design. They wanted to set a meeting with you and the team. I am thinking if you're available tomorrow?"

"You can talk to my secretary about my schedule. And with the Villanueva's, I want you to be very careful with them. I don't want any inconvenience in this project."

"Yes sir," I bowed my head before I excused myself.

I sighed in relief when I finally got out of his cold, office room. I wouldn't say I love working in this industry. I mean when I was just a teenager, yes, architecture was my dream, but now I wasn't even sure if I was taking the right path.

My boss, Emman, made this work even harder to endure. He was strict as hell and he barely smiles at his employees, but the pay is good so I had nothing much to complain about.

The next morning, I really had nothing to look forward to. And the most annoying part was my mother texted me to go to Franklin's house as we were gonna have a family dinner. Wow! Family dinner huh.

I couldn't even resist mom as she brought a stunning dress right into my new apartment. So I found myself putting on simple makeup before I drove to Franklin's house. Oh and I forgot, my mother was also pushing me to call Franklin 'dad'. Well, I was trying. I was not used to saying the word 'dad' to anyone. And the last man I called dad left me so...

"Behave, Sofia, okay?" Mom said when she opened the front door for me.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes as I massaged the dress on my hips, pulling it downwards as it was kinda short on my legs.

"Franklin likes you and he now sees you as his daughter. This is our first family dinner, so please just act normal, sweetie."

"Yes, mom." I sighed. "You told that to me a thousand times."

Aside from being annoyed, my heart was thudding loudly as we walked towards the kitchen, remembering Vance, and that I would see him again, and this time, he was suddenly my brother. What a life!

A while ago in my own mirror, I already trained myself to act normal and to act as if I just knew Vance at Franklin's party. I tried forgetting what we did in a hotel room but damnit, how could I even forget the best day of my life?

"Sofia, we've been waiting for you." Franklin greeted me when mom and I entered the dining room. "Boys, greet your sister."

"What's up, Sofia," Hans nodded at me

My head stiffened as I tried not to look at who was beside Hans. I sat on the chair parallel to Hans without looking at the man beside him. Mom and my new-found dad were sitting at both ends of the table.

"Vance, greet your sister," my stepdad commanded.

I swallowed deeply. Hearing the word sister was just making me nauseous.

"She couldn't even look at me." Vance chuckled.

My lips parted and finally, my eyes took the courage and stared at his annoying yet handsome face. His simple black dress shirt and grey slacks made him a lot more mature-looking and yummy. My lips thinned. What was I even thinking?

"Well hi, Sofia." The side of his lips rose.