As the conversation died down, everyone at the dinner table turned their disdainful gazes toward Elio Lampard. Yet, Elio remained unruffled, exuding an air of nonchalance.
Astrid Irvine, observing him with a hint of amusement, remarked, "Now I see why you've been single for so many years."
Elio paused mid-reach with his fork. "You think I've been single all this time for any other reason than waiting for you?"
At this, Roman Lampard couldn't help but interject, "That's shameless."
Lucas Lampard nodded in agreement, clearly sharing the sentiment.
Elio, aware of their little gestures, chose to overlook them for Astrid's sake. A proposal was not something to be done carelessly; his earlier comment was just a playful remark. He knew it would be rejected anyway.
After spending a day at home with Roman, Astrid was off to her film set. Despite her protests, Elio insisted on personally driving her there. At the airport, he stubbornly held onto her hand, refusing to let go.
Predictably, the trending topic that day was #ElioAstridAirportLoveShow#. Annoyed, Astrid stomped on his limited-edition sneakers several times, but Elio remained unfazed. He even posted a picture of his now-dirty white shoes on Facebook with the caption: "My wife's masterpiece, quite the artistic touch." He shamelessly tagged her in the post.
When Astrid saw the Facebook post, she had just arrived at the set. Without a word of goodbye, she stormed out of the car in a huff.
...
During the opening ceremony, Astrid scanned the crowd but didn’t see Bernice. Her co-star, Hugh, whispered, "Looking for Ms. Bernice? She dropped out for some reason."
"Sister Linda, you've lost weight again!"
"Why didn't you come singing with us the other day?"
Linda chatted with everyone, acting as if she were well-acquainted with the entire crew, except for Astrid, whom she deliberately ignored.
Astrid couldn't be bothered with Linda's antics. She completed the formalities without a fuss and returned to her hotel.
Shortly after she arrived in her room, Gracie burst in, fuming. "Astrid, can you believe Linda? She showed up with eight assistants! Plus a makeup and styling team. It's ridiculous!"
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