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“Are you ready?” he asked.
Once they told the world, there wasn’t any going back.
“Yes. I’m ready,” she confirmed.
Sophie pulled out the ring from her purse and slid it on her finger.
When they arrived at the party, they were directed into a grand room, which looked like it hosted royal balls. No wonder the venue had been so expensive. Noah had been a guest here before but never a host.
They made rounds for the first thirty minutes until they were sure that most of the party had arrived. They wanted to make the announcement early to give time to celebrate. And before anyone noticed the ring on Sophie’s finger.
They made their way up onto the stage and waited for the room to quiet before Noah launched into his speech. At first he talked about the company and all the hard work that had been done over the last quarter. Eventually he pivoted to talking about his personal achievements and celebrations, bracing for the crowd’s reaction.
He announced that Sophie and him had been dating secretly for some time and were now officially engaged. Noah wrapped his hand around Sophie’s waist and pulled her close to him, waiting for the response.
He hadn’t expected to feel so nervous. Despite their engagement being real, it felt like they were lying to everyone. His heart pounded inside his chest.
Confused looks were exchanged for a moment, the guests caught off guard by the announcement, before the room exploded into enthusiastic applause. Relief poured over Noah.
A few camera flashes went off and he and Sophie smiled at each other, doing their best to look in love. Sophie held up her ring in excitement.
As they stepped off the small stage, Noah locked eyes with his father across the room.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” he told Sophie. He made his way through the small crowd; coworkers patted him on the back and he stopped to accept congratulations where necessary.
Finally, Noah reached his father, who led him into the hallway. Noah couldn’t tell how his father was feeling so he stayed silent, unsure what to say.
“I’m proud of you, Noah,” his father told him.
Noah beamed. “Thank you.”
“I was surprised to hear that you took my advice… and so quickly.” The suspicion in Richard’s voice was palpable.
“Yes well, you told me I needed to settle down and I did. I wanted you to see how serious I am about the CEO position.”
It wouldn’t matter to Noah if his father knew of his ruse but some part of him didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to admit that he was like him, that he had followed in his father’s footsteps. That he had done the exact thing he promised himself he would never do.
Richard’s tone remained stern. “Getting engaged is one thing, Noah, but you have to actually follow through on marrying her, especially now that it will be in the press.”
“I wouldn’t have proposed to her otherwise,” Noah bit out. Did his father not think him capable of commitment?
“Good. Then I guess I will see you at the wedding. I’m heading down south next week. Once I see that you’re fully committed to the family image, we can discuss your promotion.”
Noah felt sick to his stomach. Committed to the image, not to Sophie.
“Do you want to meet her?” he asked.
“She will be at the wedding, will she not? I’ll meet her then.” Richard left without another word.
Noah grimaced. Was he truly no better than his father? Only moments ago, everything he’d ever wanted had seemed in reach, but what about Sophie? Was he taking advantage of the fact that she wanted children?
Noah went back out to the party. It was an effort to appear happy now.
His eyes snagged on Sophie from across the room, laughing at something that Olivia said to her. Olivia grabbed her hand, admiring the ring that shined from across the room.
Sophie blushed, and even though Noah couldn’t hear what they were saying, he knew that she was creating some romantic story about them.
As he neared their voices were audible, Olivia gushing about how lucky Sophie was, how beautiful the ring was, and how shocked she had been by their relationship. Sophie smiled widely but Noah could tell that some part of it didn’t meet her eyes.
