Love in the Limelight

Chapter 17

Astnd looked at the man beside her, smiling as she said, “Mr Lampard, we’re not close Please don’t

joke around like this

‘Feelings can be developed over time From the morhent I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were my

woman Elio leaned back slightly, his gaze fixed on Astrid

Astrid smiled faintly “I belong to myself”

Elio raised an eyebrow. “Is that so“”

The atmosphere in the car turned a bit awkward Astrid shifted her gaze, no longer looking at Elio. But

she could feel Elio’s eyes on her face

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Astrid said, “Mr Lampard, I suggest you get rid of any weird ideas about

me, or you might get a good beating”

Carson, the driver, was taken aback. This woman was really bold, huh? She actually dared to address

his boss in such a tone, whose notorious temper was well–known around the world!

Just as Carson believed Elio was about to lose his temper, laughter echoed from within the car “Ms.

Irvine, are you trained in martial arts? We could have a match.”

Astrid looked into Elio’s cold eyes, feeling even more confused about him. He seemed to have many

sides, making him hard to figure out. Such a person was risky. She couldn’t get too close to him. After

some thought, Astrid changed her mind. “Stop the car. I won’t go to your place. I’ll stay in a hotel.”

“Alright Elio didn’t insist “Carson, take M. Irvine to a hotel.”

Carson immediately drove to a nearby hotel.

Roman was sleeping. Astrid gently patted his little arm, “Roman, wake up. I’m getting off.”

Roman didn’t respond

Astrid, “Roman, wake up.”

Still no response from Roman. He even began to snore. His hand was tightly hugging Astrid, getting

tighter and tighter.

Astrid knew the little guy was pretending to sleep. She felt a bit sorry for him. She looked at Ello and

said, “Mr. Lampard, either you wake him up, or let him stay with me tonight.”

“Let him stay with you then. Elip agreed without hesitation, “I’ll escort you guys up.”

Before Astrid could respond, Ello got out of the car and opened the door.

The security guard at the hotel entrance was about to bow as soon as he saw Ello, but was stopped by

Carson, Carson entered the hotel lobby first and told the front desk not to reveal Ello’s Identity. He then

stood by the front desk, waiting for Astrid.

Astrid checked in with her ID card and carried Roman into the elevator. Ello followed, leaving her

speechless. Mr. Lampard, If you’re so worried, just take Roman with you. Why are you following me?”

“I’ll leave after he falls asleep. He’s been with me since he was little. Ello’s words made the pretending–

to–sleep Roman want to expose his father’s lle. He often stayed with his grandparents, and he had

never slept

with Elio!

Just then, Amanda was playing a mobile game. Her phone suddenly rang. She let out a yawn and sald,

‘Mrs. Tate, what’s up so late?”

Mrs. Tate, “Oh my, Amanda, does Elio have a girlfriend? I’ve just seen him, congratulations!”

“What?” Amanda instantly woke up, “I had no idea my son was dating!”

Mrs. Tate, “I just saw him checking into a hotel with a pretty girl. You don’t have to worry about finding a

girlfriend for him anymore.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Tate.” Amanda quickly hung up and called Carson.

Carson saw Amanda’s call in the hallway and answered, “Amanda, what can I do for you?”

*Which hotel are you in? Tell me the address and room number. And don’t tell Elip that I know you guys

are at the hotel!” After speaking, Amanda Immediately rushed off to the hotel.

Carson didn’t know what Amanda was planning, so he could only tell her the address as she

requested.

Half an hour later, Amanda arrived in a hurry. She took out a black object from her bag and placed it on

the card reader After making sure the sensor on the door was disabled, Amanda showed a small smile,

“I made it just in time. Great!”

Carson smirked. So Amanda rushed over just to lock his boss and Astrid In the room.

Hilarious.

To prevent Elio from calling for help, Amanda even brought a signal blocker. Carson watched as

Amanda carefully set up the signal blocker.

Because his boss didn’t want to leave in the first place!

“You have to keep an eye on them. Whether or not I can have a grandchild depends on this!” After

everything was set, Amanda left happily.

After a few steps, Amanda looked back. Thinking that the girl voluntarily came to the hotel with Ello,

she figured it wasn’t too much to prevent Ello from changing his mind and leaving, right? Whatever, she

was doing this for everyone’s good, not doing anything wrong.

Elio kept finding excuses to stay. When he finally ran out of excuses and was about to leave, he found

the door wouldn’t open.

Even the phone in the room couldn’t make calls. There was no signal on his mobile phone.

Astrid suspected someone was playing tricks. Her liking for Ello dropped instantly!

The presidential suite had two rooms. Astrid took Roman to the larger room, asking Elio to stay In the

smaller one. Ello, of course, was more than happy to stay, so he didn’t object.

After returning to her room, Astrid immediately locked the door.

Once he was sure Amanda wouldn’t return, Carson turned off the signal blocker outside the door.

“Ding” A sound came from the phone. Astrid got up to pick it up and saw a news notification. A fire

broke out in the old community being relocated on Oakwood Avenue, but luckily, no one was injured.

Astrid had always been super cautious- she shut off all the power before leaving the house, so there

was no way the fire was an accident. Someone definitely started it on purpose, trying to back her Into a

corner. Over three years ago, her kid was stolen overnight. She got seriously injured and lost a lot of

blood while searching for her kid and the kidnapper.

Kicked out by Sandra, then having her kid stolen after giving birth, she was at her wit’s end. She felt

like she had lost all will to live.

After passing out in the rain and waking up, she found herself in some swanky room. Then the butler

told her… It turned out she was the daughter of the richest man in town, and they had done a DNA test

to prove

it

At first, she thought it was a load of bull, but then she saw a photo of her late mom. And she believed it,

because she was the spitting image of her mom. Coincidentally, they shared the same last name. Her

dad didn’t ask her to change it

She’d always known she was different she could pick up stuff that others couldn’t, easily. But Sandra,

worried Astrid would outshine Lucinda, started to hold her back, stopping her from joining any

competitions or studying If Astrid stepped out of line, she would be punished.

In high school, she often skipped class Sandra thought she was turning Into a bad apple and stopped

bothering her. In reality, she was hitting the books in the library. She’d finished university and her

postgraduate courses in high school, across various fields of study

After returning to the Brooke family her dad hired the world’s top–notch teachers for her.

Now, she had undergone a complete transformation. Among the Brooke clan, she was the only girl with

eight brothers four of them were full brothers, the other four were cousins.

T

Two of her cousins crossed her, and she had already put them on her blacklist

She was about to hit the shower when her phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message It was a group

chat with a few of her brothers The group was called ‘Star Protectors.”

The second son of the Brooke family messaged, “Star, I saw on the news that your house was burned

down. Do you want to move to Emerald Estates?”

Astrid replied.” Tell me are you guys the ones messing with my auditions behind my back?”

The third son of the Brooke family replied, “We agreed on something, and we’ll stick to it We won’t

interfere with your business, and we sure as hell won’t stoop as low as sabotaging your auditions!”