Chapter 7

By the time Sophie arrived, the summit was more than halfway through.

She found an empty seat. Beside her, a few women were whispering.

“Look at Adrian Pierce. He’s so handsome. Do you think we could get a picture with him afterward?”

“Calm down. His wife’s sitting right next to him.”

“How do you know that’s his wife? You couldn’t see her face in his post.”

One of the young women lowered her voice, looking utterly certain.

“I can just tell. You can’t hide it when you’re into someone. Look at the way he looks at her. There’s definitely something going on.”

She tapped Sophie lightly on the arm.

“What do you think? Don’t those two look like a couple? They have so much chemistry, right?”

Sophie followed their gaze.

Adrian was in the front row, speaking softly to Savannah as he handed her some water.

Sophie’s eyes dimmed.

“Yes. They do.”

The woman grinned. “See? Anyone can tell!”

Sophie stood. She needed some air.

Then a rich, low male voice came through her earpiece, interpreting the speaker’s words into fluent English.

She stopped dead.

The young woman beside her clearly kept up with industry gossip. She lowered her voice, barely containing her excitement.

“Do you know who the Quinn Corporation hired to interpret?

“Lucas Quinn! Sophia Shaw’s star partner!”

The excited whispers behind Sophie faded.

Everything seemed to go quiet except for that familiar voice.

Calm. Measured. Completely in control.

All the pain she’d buried came rushing back.

She couldn’t keep it buried anymore.

Long after he finished speaking, she was still standing there, unable to move.

“Adrian’s up next!”

“Who’s interpreting for Summit Group? They can’t afford to look bad next to their rivals at Quinn Corporation.”

“Do you think they actually got Sophia Shaw?”

Sophie snapped back to the present. Her gaze hardened, and she headed straight for the interpreting booth at the back of the hall.

Whoever Savannah had brought in as “Sophia Shaw” should be inside.

She looked through the glass and froze.

Adrian was already onstage.

The booth was empty.

Then she heard Savannah’s frantic voice, thick with tears.

“What am I going to do? Sophia isn’t answering! Is she still not here?”

She clutched her phone, her eyes red as she called again and again.

Sophie raised an eyebrow and gave a cold little smile.

She’d expected Savannah to produce an impostor, at least. Apparently, even that was beyond her.

She’d certainly managed to screw Adrian over, though.

Sophie looked toward the stage. Adrian stood ready, his attention fixed on the presentation ahead.

She didn’t know what to feel.

He’d spent the past two weeks working late into the night for this summit. With his abilities, he should have been able to finish on a high note and take Summit Group to new heights.

She looked away and turned to leave.

Owen suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Sophie! You studied interpreting, didn’t you? Adrian’s interpreter isn’t here yet. Can you fill in?”

She frowned at him in disbelief.

“You didn’t even arrange for a backup?”

Savannah was too frantic to keep her composure.

“Spare us the smart remarks! I know you’re just here to laugh at me!”

Sophie could only stare at her.

Adrian had chosen to put all his faith in his precious friend. If it blew up in his face, he had only himself to blame.

She shook off Owen’s hand.

“Sorry. I’m half-deaf, remember? I can’t help.”

“Sophie, what’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded. “I apologized yesterday. Are you trying to get back at us? You’re really going to stand by and let all of Adrian’s hard work go to waste?”

She smiled. “Am I the one who put him in this position?”

Owen wasn’t listening. He shoved her into the interpreting booth.

“This place is full of Summit Group’s competitors. None of them will lend us an interpreter. Your right ear still works, doesn’t it? Just translate whatever you can hear!”

The door slammed shut.

The thick soundproof glass blocked out the noise of the hall. Inside the small booth, all she could hear was the faint hum of the equipment.

Sophie steadied herself. Her gaze drifted to the console.

Two chairs sat side by side at the interpreting console. A pale gray nonslip mat covered the desk, with a control panel set into its center and a microphone within reach.

Everything was exactly as she remembered.

Perhaps it was muscle memory that drew her forward.

She put on the headset, adjusted the audio, and selected the speaker’s channel.

The movements came as easily as if she’d never stopped. Only when the sensitive microphone picked up and amplified her quiet breathing did she snap back to herself.

No. She couldn’t do this.

Not with her hearing the way it was.

The ringing in her left ear could start at any moment.

She couldn’t do it.

Panicking, she reached to pull off the headset.

A warm hand settled over her icy one.

She looked up into a pair of dark eyes and froze.

Lucas stood beside her, tall and straight, his black suit tailored to his broad shoulders and lean waist. He was strikingly handsome, but there was a cool restraint about him.

Light caught his sharply defined profile, shadows emphasizing the contours of his face. Even standing in silence, he had a presence that made it difficult to meet his gaze.

He said nothing. He simply picked up the other headset, put it on, and sat beside her.

Then, just as he had years ago, he opened the glossary and touched his pen to the page, making only the briefest notes.

With him there, her panic began to ease. A familiar, unspoken understanding settled between them.

Sophie closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, the uncertainty was gone.

She pressed the headset firmly against her right ear and focused on Adrian’s voice, shutting out everything else.

Her clear, steady voice alternated with Lucas’s calm baritone. They worked together seamlessly.

The audience listened in rapt silence as the interpretation kept perfect pace with the speech. No one knew what was happening inside the glass booth.

For those forty long minutes, Sophie forgot Adrian. She forgot Savannah. She forgot her damaged hearing and everything that had hurt her.

She wasn’t someone’s wife. She wasn’t the half-deaf woman they mocked.

She was an interpreter.

And here, in this small space that belonged to her, she was finally shining again.

As Adrian’s speech drew to a close, Sophie let herself breathe a little easier.

She was just beginning to relax when his voice softened in her headset. He’d departed from the prepared remarks.

“There’s someone I need to thank for everything Summit Group has achieved.”

She held her breath.

“She’s been my closest, most trusted partner for years.

“Without her, Summit Group wouldn’t be what it is today. Neither would I.”

His quiet laugh came through with painful clarity.

“Thank you, Savannah.”

Sophie’s mind went blank.

The hurt and disappointment hit so hard she could barely breathe.

Around her, the hall erupted.

She clenched her hands. Her face remained expressionless as she translated his words, her voice steady and exact.

“Merci, Savannah.”