"Boss, is everything okay?" Liam’s concerned voice cut through her chaotic thoughts.
Snapping out of her trance, Emily forced her gaze away from the man in front of her. She gave Liam a curt nod, her lips pressing into a tight line.
"I’m fine," she murmured, her voice steady but devoid of warmth. She straightened her posture, as if erasing the encounter, and walked away as though she hadn’t recognized him.
Nicholas had received an invitation to be a judge at the competition but had initially declined. However, at the last moment, something compelled him to change his mind. He had barely arrived when his world tilted off its axis.
Among the bustling crowd, his gaze locked onto a figure he had convinced himself he would never see again. His usually unshakable composure wavered, and his towering frame stiffened with disbelief. His sharp, dark eyes, which had long since dulled over the years, widened with a surge of emotion that hit him like a tidal wave.
Is this another illusion?