Adrian’s POV
The hall was too quiet for comfort. Hundreds of eyes fixed on me, the kind of scrutiny that would unnerve most. For years, I’d thrived under it, on the operating table, in boardrooms, even in courtrooms when my surgical decisions had been challenged, but this silence was different. It wasn’t the sterile quiet of a surgery suite. It wasn’t even the wary hush of shareholders awaiting a verdict on profit margins. This silence carried expectation, curiosity, judgment, and something heavier still, hope.
I shifted slightly at the podium, fingers brushing the edge of my notes though I knew I wouldn’t need them. Prepared speeches had always felt like shields. Today, I wanted none. Today, for once, I refused to hide behind controlled phrasing.
The moderator had asked a question, on
