Team work.

Astrid went to Mr Thompson's house and she was taken to the garden, where she waited for Mrs Thompson. When mrs Thompson arrived with Mira, Astrid wasn't surprised that Mira had gained Mrs Thompson's favor.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Astrid said respectfully.

"I'd like to get straight to the point," Mrs Thompson said, ignoring Astrid's greeting.

"Okay then,why did you call me here."

"Wait...." Mira said abruptly "is that a hickey on your neck?" Mira asked making Astrid touch her neck subconsciously

"I hope I wasn't called here to answer questions about my personal life" Astrid replied with her eyes fixed on Mira.

"Who gave you the hickey?" Mrs Thompson asked.

"My lover" Astrid replied.

"I hope that lover isn't my son?" Mrs Thompson asked

"Why would I be with an old man?" Astrid asked with the intention of provoking Mrs Thompson and it worked perfectly. Firstly she hates it when you answer her questions with a question, secondly Astrid called her son 'old'.

"What did you call him old?" Mira asked

Astrid replied, "He's thirteen years older than me. Is he young?" Mrs Thompson became furious, slamming her face on the table and causing Astrid to be shocked but she maintenaned her composure.

Mira intervened and knelt down apologizing for Astrid's behavior and calling her rude and ill-mannered which made Astrid surprised because Mira was playing mind games with Mrs Thompson she was playing the victim here when she's not. Mrs Thompson helped Mira up, and continued questioning Astrid about her relationship with Andrew.

"What's your relationship with Andrew Thompson."

"There's nothing between us" Astrid lied.

"I hear you left the house without money, how then did you survive?" Mrs Thompson asked.

"I got a loan for Mr Thompson " Astrid replied.

Mrs Thompson asked why she didn't go to her fiancé for help. Astrid revealed that she wasn't engaged and that her ex-fiancé had an affair with Mira.

Mrs Thompson faced Mira and asked "is this true." Mira knew she had been put in a tight spot, she didn't know what to do,deny it and keep her position or say the truth and lose it. She decided to go with the first option because it was better than the second.

"That's a lie,I didn't sleep with George Smith" Mira lied.

"Really?..." Astrid asked

"Why would I sleep with George Smith when I have Andrew "Mira said supporting her lie.

"So you're painting me as the liar?" Astrid asked.

"I'm not painting anyone, what you said isn't true so you're lying."

"I'm done with this." Astrid said as she picked her bag and stormed off.

As Astrid stormed off, she could feel the weight of Mrs Thompson's glare on her back. She didn't care; she had had enough of their accusations and insinuations. She reached the gate and hailed a taxi, her heart still racing from the confrontation.

Meanwhile, Mrs Thompson turned to Mira, her face red with rage. "How dare she!" she exclaimed. "I've never met anyone as rude and ungrateful as that girl."

Mira nodded in agreement, trying to make her hate Astrid . "I know, ma'am. She's always been like that."

Mrs Thompson's eyes narrowed. "Mira, I want Andrew to marry you, and I won't let anyone stand in our way."

Mira smiled, a sly glint in her eye. "Don't worry, ma'am. No one would."

As they walked back to the house, Mrs Thompson couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Something about Astrid's words had struck a chord, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was missing something important.

Astrid arrived at the hotel, still fuming from the confrontation. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, trying to calm down. But her mind was racing with thoughts of Mrs Thompson's accusations and Mira's sly smile.

She pushed off from the door and she found Andrew waiting for her. "Hey, how did it go?" he asked, concern etched on his face.

Astrid shook her head, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes." No offense but your mother is annoying"

"Do you want Mira to marry me?" Andrew asked.

"No"Astrid said as she sat on the bed

"Why don't we work together since we have the same goal?" Andrew asked.

"Mrs Thompson is more determined than ever to make sure you marry Mira."

Andrew's expression darkened. "We'll figure something out,"

"We need to come up with a plan to stop them," she said, determination in her voice.

Andrew nodded. "I've been thinking about that"

"I'd need the footage from the hotel but I need the one that captured Mira and George " Astrid said

"I have everything in this drive." He said as he gave her the drive and she plugged it in her laptop and she found what she'd been looking for

"I'm going to show your mother this footage " she said with a smile as she showed him a footage where George and Mira were kissing before the entered inside.

"Why?" Andrew asked.

Astrid sighed and replied "I told your mother that Mira slept with George Smith but Mira denied it. So here's proof"

"How's that gonna help? I know my mother better than you do, she's not going to cancel our engagement rather she'd try to persuade the hotel manager to delete the footage" Andrews said"you need something better. "

Astrid's face fell as Andrew's words hit her like a ton of bricks. She had been so sure that the footage would be enough to convince Mrs. Thompson to call off the engagement. But now, she realized that she had underestimated the older woman's determination.

"What can we do, then?" Astrid asked, feeling a sense of desperation creeping in.

Andrew thought for a moment before speaking. "We need to find something that will discredit Mira completely. Something that will make my mother realize that she's not the perfect woman she thinks she is."

Astrid thought for a moment but she couldn't think of anything that Mira has done except embezzling the company's funds on flashy things"there's nothing I can think of."

"With time we'll find something." Andrew's phone rang and it was his mother.