Everyone present was stunned into silence. That included not just the heirs gathered around the tables, but also the staff stationed along the edges of the vast room.
The manor's staff had always been hand-picked, chosen by Fred himself, each one screened carefully so that no rumors or whispers would ever leak out. Most were tied by bloodlines of their own, distant relatives, long-serving family connections, people bound by loyalty to the Sterns and rewarded with employment inside the manor's walls. They were meant to be invisible, silent shadows watching from the corners.
But even they could not hide their shock now. In all their years of service, through banquets, ceremonies, and countless tense meetings, not once had they seen what they had just witnessed.
A member of the Stern family, one of the heirs themselves, had been physically shoved back by a guard.
