Gone Quiet, Gone Love novel Chapter 19

Reid glanced toward the ward and felt his words get stuck in his throat. The gaunt and hollow-eyed Nester lay inside, kept alive by nutritional drips and memories.

…

A year later, Sabrina was reassigned to Crisea by headquarters for her outstanding performance. She was to serve as an interpreter for an important international conference.

The conference was set to be hosted at the city's top-tier convention center.

Nester was in the middle of a meeting when he heard the news. After Reid leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear, his hand holding a pen paused. The tip of the pen dragged a long line across the document.

He said nothing for a long time before waving his hand to indicate that the meeting should continue, but he was clearly distracted for the rest of it. His gaze repeatedly drifted toward the window.

After the meeting, he locked himself in his office and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. Then, he had his men quietly pay off a staff member at the conference venue.

On the day of the conference, he sat in the last row, tucked into the farthest corner. A cap and mask hid most of his face in the shadows.

He dared not get close or disturb Sabrina. All he did was steal a glimpse of her from afar.

When the conference began, Sabrina was seated in a glass-walled interpretation booth as one of the simultaneous interpreters.

She wore a smart navy-blue shirt with her hair neatly tied up. With a headset on, she listened intently to the speeches on stage.

As her fingers flew across the keyboard, her lips moved in fluent, precise translations spreading through the venue via the speakers. She looked incredibly calm, confident, and radiant.

Nester stared unblinkingly, as if he was trying to etch her image into his soul. Sharp waves of pain flared in his chest. It was agonizing, yet it carried an almost masochistic satisfaction.

He never knew Sabrina could be so brilliant. It turned out that even without him, she was doing more than fine.

The conference lasted the entire day. By the time it ended, the city lights were already on.

Sabrina walked out of the venue, laughing and chatting with her colleagues. They parted at the exit before she headed toward the parking lot alone.

Nester followed from a distance, for he dared not get close. All he could do was watch from afar as her slim silhouette disappeared into the dim lights of the parking lot.

He walked to his car and had just opened the door when a short, sharp cry came from deeper within the parking lot—it was Sabrina's voice.

Nester's heart seized. Without a second thought, he sprinted toward the source of the sound and turned past a parked car to see her backed into a corner by a man in a cap and mask.

The man held a knife that gleamed coldly in the dim light.

"Nester!" Sabrina cried out.

But he seemed not to feel the pain. Instead, he locked his arms around the man, pinned him down with his sheer weight, and roared over his shoulder at Sabrina, "Run! Get help!"

As Sabrina stared at the bloody scene before her, it felt as if an invisible hand was clenching her heart, but her trained composure soon washed over her initial shock and fear.

Instead of running away, she swiftly took off her coat, rushed forward, and pressed it hard against Nester's heavily bleeding wound. With her free hand, she pulled out her phone and dialled the emergency services before calmly reporting their exact location and the situation.

Security arrived within minutes and subdued the still-struggling man. An ambulance and police car followed almost immediately.

By the time Nester was lifted onto the stretcher, his consciousness was fading. He struggled to keep his eyes open and search through the swaying figures and blinding lights for Sabrina.

When he finally found her standing there unharmed but pale, he tugged the corner of his lips in an attempt to smile, only to spit out a mouthful of bloody foam.

His voice was faint and barely audible as he murmured, "Don't be afraid… This time, I didn't make the wrong choice…

"All that matters is that you're safe…"

With that, everything went dark before his eyes, and he completely lost consciousness.