Love in the Limelight (Astrid and Elio) novel Chapter 497

[I never really thought much of Clyde until I saw him on this show. Man, he used to have a celebrity image as heavy as a ton of bricks, but now he's just one of us—no pretense, no fuss.]

[To be honest, last night the camera caught a glimpse of Joana's bag. If it weren't for her stash of makeup, that thing would have been light as a feather.]

[Even though Joana gets under my skin, when Clyde shouted out a "Keep it up!", I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for her. I mean, I couldn't help but laugh...]

...

Joana was on the verge of tears, but she clenched her jaw tight and didn't let them fall.

She looked, well, a little pitiful, truth be told.

After a while, Naylor came back and took some of Joana's stuff, putting it into his own pack. "We're here for an adventure, not a vacation," he said with an icy edge.

Joana just stood there, silent.

The group kept moving, but Joana couldn't keep up. In the end, she reluctantly discarded her skincare products but chose to hold onto her makeup. She didn't have the guts to go completely bare-faced like Astrid.

No one knew how long they'd been walking when they suddenly saw a red tree in the distance. Joana blurted out, "Can we take a detour? Can we not go through the front?"

Parrish frowned. "What's the deal? Why can't we go down that path?"

Parrish, curious and irritated, asked, "What's all this 'place' talk? Can you two stop speaking in riddles? You know curiosity killed the cat, right?"

"Are you sure you want to know? Maybe you're better off in the dark. Otherwise, you'll accuse me of flaunting my relationship again," Elio teased, leaving Parrish pretending to be hurt.

Shaking his head in mock despair, Parrish said, "Mr. Lampard, you've changed. You've started to throw shade at me now. You're not the Mr. Lampard I used to know!"

Turning to face the camera, Parrish addressed the audience, "Viewers at home, I need your support here! My fans have been saying I've put on weight. Do you know why? It's because I'm constantly being force-fed this lovey-dovey stuff. Using this platform, I, Parrish, am officially putting out a call for a sugar mama. I'm tired of trying, and I'm sick of living off love scraps. All I want is someone who can see through my bravado and cherish my vulnerability. That's all I ask."

...