Love in the Limelight (Astrid and Elio)
Chapter 502

[I feel sorry for my Astar. What's this got to do with her, anyway?]

[Hey, anyone fancy the meme I made of Joana chowing down on a drumstick? Who wants in?]

[LOL, kindred spirits unite. Share away.]

Because of tonight's fiasco, Joana was booted out, her personal bodyguards and cameraman replaced on the spot.

Worried about potential trouble, Maddox hired a new team of bodyguards.

These new guys showed up, and Astrid immediately sensed something was off. A few of them had an air that set them apart from the rest. The other guards seemed pretty standard, but these newbies had a look in their eyes, a subtle hint of menace that one couldn't just ignore. She'd felt something was weird about Joana's situation last night-it didn't seem like her style. Now, seeing these new guards, it clicked. Someone was using this chaos as a cover to sneak their own players into the game.

Joana was just a pawn being sacrificed, and the real show was just getting started.

Clearly, Elio had noticed the weird vibe too. Since the crack of dawn, he'd been glued to Astrid, practically wanting to be with her 24/7.

Astrid was getting fed up. "Elio, can't you stop following me around? Aren't you worried about being the laughingstock?"

Elio said, "Nope, I want to stick by you."

"Huh..." Astrid rolled her eyes in disdain. "Can't you stop being so clingy? With my skills, if something goes down, I'd worry about you tripping me up and cramping my style." Elio didn't know what to say. Was that another jab at him?

They were set to trek through a bramble-filled forest today. As Astrid was strapping up her boots, Naylor approached. "We're crossing a ravine today, everyone. Be careful." The group nodded in agreement.

With Joana gone, the team's dynamic was surprisingly harmonious.

About an hour into their hike, they could see the ravine Naylor mentioned in the distance.

It looked daunting from afar, but less terrifying up close. Still, everyone proceeded with caution.

Midway, Elio noticed the suspicious guards closing in on them. He took a big step forward, grabbed Astrid's hand, and his aura turned icy. "Astrid, do you think a fall from here would be fatal?" Astrid's mouth twitched into a sly grin. "If not deadly, definitely crippling."

As she said this, Astrid glanced back sharply at the guards trailing not too far behind. Her gaze was piercing and cold, causing one of the guards to instinctively look away, and in that moment of panic, he nearly slipped off the edge!

Seeing this, Astrid snickered internally, thinking about their pathetic tolerance for pressure. They wanted to play hitman but lacked the nerve. Complete amateurs.

The hidden killers, now aware that Astrid was onto them, decided to make their move that night.

Under the cover of darkness, with everyone else asleep and the guards knocked out by the drugged wine they'd brought, the plan was set in motion. Around 3:30 AM, with the control room staff drowsy, the cameras around Astrid's camp started to malfunction, cutting off the live feed.

Thinking they were in the clear, the killers made their move. With daggers drawn, one of them crept toward Astrid's sleeping form, aiming straight for her heart!