Chapter 346: Never Too Old To Be a Fan!

Lisa rarely visited Luca’s villa, so Mr. and Mrs. Hale had prepared an elaborate dinner to celebrate her visit.

The dining table was filled with delicious dishes, and the family spent the evening chatting and laughing together. Luca sat among them, enjoying the food and the warm atmosphere, a contented smile lingering on his face.

Unfortunately, the pleasant evening couldn’t last forever.

Despite everyone’s attempts to persuade her to stay the night, Lisa eventually insisted on returning to her rented apartment.

For one thing, she was worried about Zoe being home alone. For another, she had to get up early the following morning to take over her shift at the hospital.

The distance between the villa and San Fierro General Hospital was considerable, and she didn’t want to risk arriving late.

"All right, since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t force you to stay." Luca accompanied her to the garage, where he handed her handbag over. "Just make sure you leave before it gets too dark. Drive carefully, and send me a message as soon as you get home. Understand?"

Lisa accepted her bag and nodded cheerfully.

"Okay, Cuz. Bye-bye!"

"All right, off you go."

Luca watched as she climbed into her Maserati before giving her a final wave.

Now that Lisa had her own car, he felt much more at ease about her travelling between the hospital and her apartment.

If she had continued relying on buses or the subway, he would have worried about her travelling alone at night. There was always the possibility of encountering someone with bad intentions, and he had no desire to leave her safety to chance.

Looking at the white Maserati disappearing through the garage entrance, Luca couldn’t help feeling that buying her the car had been an excellent decision.

At least now, he wouldn’t have to worry so much whenever she went out.

After Lisa left, he returned to the villa.

The following two days passed uneventfully, with Luca maintaining his usual routine of travelling between Octaveo Pharmaceutical and home.

Then, on the evening of the third day, after driving Vivienne back to the villa, he checked his watch and headed toward the airport.

Arabella was due to arrive that evening.

By the time Luca reached the airport and found a parking space, he calculated that she still had about twenty minutes before her flight landed and she could make her way out.

Rather than wander around unnecessarily, he found an empty seat in the arrivals area and settled down, casually scrolling through his phone.

He had barely been sitting for a few minutes when a sudden burst of excited screams came from somewhere nearby.

"Ahhh! Sasha! Over here!"

"Sasha, you’re so beautiful! I love you!"

"Sasha, could I please have your autograph?"

"Go, Sasha! We’ll always support you!"

The excited voices continued one after another, quickly drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Luca glanced toward the commotion.

A sizable crowd had gathered not far from where he was sitting. Many of the young people were holding colourful signs decorated with flashing lights, while others carried portraits featuring photographs of a beautiful woman.

There was little doubt about what was happening.

A celebrity had arrived at the airport, and her fans had come out in force to welcome her.

Luca had noticed the group earlier, but he hadn’t paid much attention to them until now.

He had never been particularly interested in celebrity culture. Back when he was still in school, however, it had been all the rage among the girls in his class. Simply by being around them, he’d picked up the names of quite a few famous entertainers.

Still, the name Sasha Rain didn’t ring a bell.

’She must have become famous fairly recently.’

Watching the fans jostle for a chance to get closer to their idol, Luca shook his head with an amused smile.

Most of them appeared to be around college age, although a few looked young enough to still be in middle school.

’Have these kids even finished their summer homework? They’re already out chasing celebrities late at night.’

He couldn’t help finding the whole scene rather amusing.

He’d seen celebrities at parties and social gatherings before, but watching ordinary fans become so excited over a glimpse of someone famous was a completely different experience.

"Young man, you’ve been looking over there for quite a while. Why don’t you go and ask for an autograph yourself?"

A friendly voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Luca turned toward the speaker and found an elderly man sitting one seat away from him.

The old man looked to be approaching seventy, yet he was in remarkably good spirits. His hair was mostly grey, although a few dark strands remained, and his face had a healthy, energetic glow.

Beside him sat an elderly woman adorned with tasteful jewellery. She had short hair and was dressed elegantly, carrying herself with the sort of poise that suggested she’d been a beautiful woman in her youth.

Luca smiled and waved a hand dismissively.

"Hehe, no need, sir. I’m not a fan of celebrities. I’ve just never seen a crowd like that up close before."

That was the truth.

These days, celebrities were hardly a novelty in Luca’s world.

Whenever he attended business banquets or exclusive social gatherings, the organizers often invited various entertainers, ranging from rising stars to well-established celebrities, to keep the guests company.

Occasionally, some organizers would even drop hints that certain celebrities had already been assigned to entertain him and that he could visit their rooms whenever he pleased.

However, Luca had never been particularly interested in taking advantage of such arrangements.

After all, someone willing to entertain him today might be doing the same for another wealthy man tomorrow.

He had no desire to take advantage of someone in the moment only to pretend afterward that no arrangement had ever existed.

If he wasn’t interested, it was better to decline from the beginning.

Besides, he had plenty of beautiful women around him already.

There was no reason to go out of his way to pursue a celebrity simply because she was famous.

Still, he found it interesting to see how ordinary fans behaved around someone they admired.

Just as he was thinking about it, his phone suddenly rang.

Luca glanced at the screen.

It was Trish.

’That girl? What does she want now?’

He answered the call and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello? What’s up?"

His tone was casual, almost lazy.

Trish’s voice immediately came through the speaker, sounding unusually urgent.

"Bro! Are you at the airport right now?"

"Yeah. I’m here to pick up Arabella."

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Luca could practically imagine his younger cousin patting her chest in relief.

"Have you seen Sasha Rain? If you have, could you get her autograph for me?"

Luca raised an eyebrow.

Trish occasionally watched variety shows, but she wasn’t the sort of person who devoted herself to following celebrities. Her bedroom wasn’t covered in posters, and she didn’t spend her days obsessively tracking the schedules of her favourite entertainers.

Usually, she watched whatever variety show happened to catch her attention, regardless of who was appearing in it.

She hadn’t even been keeping up with Sasha Rain’s recent activities.

It was only a short while ago, while casually browsing videos on her phone, that she’d stumbled across a clip of fans welcoming Sasha to San Fierro.

That was when she’d learned the celebrity had arrived in the city to record a programme.

Under normal circumstances, Trish would never have bothered travelling all the way to the airport just to wait for an autograph.

She was far too lazy for that.

But now that she knew her brother was already there, the situation was different.

Why waste an opportunity when she had such a valuable resource at her disposal?

"You want me to get you an autograph?" Luca repeated, raising his voice slightly.

He almost laughed.

With his current wealth and influence, all he needed to do was lift a finger, and countless beautiful celebrities would be eager to get close to him.

And now he was supposed to chase after a recently popular entertainer for a signature?

What was this girl thinking?

Hearing the change in his tone, Trish immediately realized that he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the request.

Her voice softened at once.

"Oh, bro! Please, just help me this once. Come on, I’m the one who told you about Sasha in the first place! Muah!"

Luca let out a long sigh.

He simply couldn’t deal with this girl’s shameless pleading.

"All right, all right. I’ll see what I can do."

Then he glanced down at his belongings.

"But what am I supposed to have her sign? I don’t have any paper with me."

He usually carried a pen in his bag these days because he frequently had to sign documents while helping Vivienne with company matters.

But he hadn’t thought to bring any paper.

What was he supposed to do, ask Sasha Rain to sign directly on his hand?

Before Trish could answer, the elderly man sitting nearby spoke up.

"Young man, I’ve got something you can use. Here, take this."

The old man reached into his pocket, took out his wallet, and carefully removed a photograph measuring roughly four inches.

He held it out to Luca.

Luca hesitated.

"Sir, are you sure? Wouldn’t it be a little strange to ask her to sign someone else’s photograph?"

"What’s strange about it?" the old man replied cheerfully, waving away his concern. "Just take it."

Seeing how insistent he was, Luca had little choice but to accept the photograph.

"Thank you, sir."

He lowered his eyes to examine what he’d been given.

The moment he recognized the woman in the picture, his expression changed.

It was Sasha Rain!

The very celebrity currently surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic fans just a short distance away.

Luca stared at the photograph for a moment before looking back at the elderly man.

Then, unable to contain his surprise, he blurted out, "Holy crap! Gramps, you’re a fan of celebrities too?"

He looked at the photograph again, then back at the old man, his expression becoming increasingly incredulous.

’Seriously? Is Sasha Rain really that popular?’

Even an elderly man who had lived for nearly seventy years was carrying her photograph around in his wallet!

Now that was something Luca hadn’t expected.