For a long moment, Elise simply stood there, frozen under the bright stage lights. Her lips trembled as she stared at Aiden, then at the crowd, then back at her notes as if she might magically find Vietnamese written somewhere.

The hall stayed painfully silent.

Then she cleared her throat, forced a tight smile, and attempted to say something.

"Y-Yes," she stammered. "The, um… design. It was… difficult, of course. But we handled it with… professionalism and… experience."

...