The morning sun was soft over Shen Palace, spilling golden light over its towers and gardens.
The palace and the vast private estate that felt like a city of its own, had numerous domestic servants moving about quickly through the halls of Shen Palace, each of them were seen carrying out their duties with quiet precision.
But in the east wing, Rachel, the jewel and heiress of the family, was still inside her private chambers and no one knew what she was doing there.
To know, one would have to enter her room themselves.
For now, Rachel remained inside her own world in Shen Palace, unaware of the storm of preparations gathering in her name.
At the heart of Shen Palace, in one of its many luxurious living rooms with— grand velvet sofas lined with gold trim, crystal lamps pouring light into corners, and tall glass doors opening to a manicured courtyard — Erica, the matriarch of the Shen family, entered with purpose.
Walking at her side was Susan, not as a companion, but as her Personal Assistant, her right hand woman, and the Incumbent Chief General Secretary of the Office of the Chairwoman, CEO, and President of Shen Group.
And Erica herself was that Chairwoman, CEO, and President — the current owner of the office, the bearer of those titles, and the supreme head of the Shen Group Conglomerate empire.
Susan followed Erica closely while holding her tablet and every detail of her posture were sharp, precise, and loyal.
Any order Erica gave, Susan executed and any where Erica envisioned, Susan planned and brought into reality.
Their partnership had long become the axis around which the vast Shen Group Conglomerate turned.
Erica sat gracefully, her posture commanding without effort.
With a light motion, she touched the jewel-studded device beside her — the Matriarch's Bell.
But this was no ordinary bell, it was Selina, an advanced artificial intelligence built years ago by her late son, Gabriel Shen, together with the elite engineers of Shen Artificial Intelligence.
Selena was a birthday gift from Gabriel to his beloved mother, so he ensured he made Selina to be an advanced artificial intelligence system that was unlike any other system in the world.
Selina's voice was calm, elegant, distinctly female.
It lived in every wall, every hall, every device of Shen Palace and the surrounding estate and It could summon, call, send messages, even slip silently into any phone or screen — as if the entire digital world bent naturally to her will when ordered to do so by Erica.
"Good morning, Madam Shen," Selina's voice echoed gently through the living room as Erica touched the device. "Your command?"
"Tell the butler to come into the living room," Erica said. "And tell him to bring Xiranda along with him."
"As you wish," Selina replied smoothly.
The sound left the room instantly, and in the far reaches of the estate, the butler and the head maid stopped what they were doing.
Within minutes that felt like seconds, they entered the living room, bowing respectfully before standing still with their faces slightly bowed as they waited for instructions.
"Sit, both of you," Erica said firmly, her tone brooking no hesitation. "I called both of you here to join me and Susan as we plan Rachel's twenty-first birthday... You are free to speak, to give your thoughts, after all two heads are better than one but remember…" she paused, her dark eyes narrowing with the wisdom of decades, "…the final word will be mine."
Susan glanced briefly at the butler and Xiranda, then nodded. "Let us begin."
The discussion started quickly.
Susan listed options on her tablet: prestigious banquet halls scattered across Norpond, each known for their elegance.
The butler gave practical opinions about security and arrangement.
Xiranda offered insight into decorations, food, and style.
One by one, halls were suggested. Names rose and fell like sparks.
"No," Erica cut down the first.
"Not enough grandeur."
The second — dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"Too ordinary."
The third — rejected without a glance.
"It lacks the soul of this family."
On and on it went.
Opinions flowed, but each suggestion dissolved under Erica's unyielding judgment.
Finally, when silence settled like a blanket, Erica spoke.
"There is only one choice worthy of Rachel."
Her voice was calm, steady, yet filled with a finality that could not be challenged.
"We will use Zephina Banquet Hall," she said. "One of the many banquet halls in Shen Hotel Headquarters… but the grandest of the grand. Citizens of Norpond themselves call it 'the grandest of all banquet halls.' And so it shall be. My most beloved granddaughter — the sole heiress of Shen Group — deserves nothing but the best."
The room fell quiet. No one argued. No one even breathed too loudly.
The decision of the matriarch had been made.
Susan bowed her head slightly. "Yes, Madam Shen. Zephina Banquet Hall it will be."
"Good," Erica said. "We do not need to secure it... It belongs to Shen Group. And Shen Group belongs to Rachel."
Without wasting time, Erica leaned forward and gave her next order.
"Susan, begin preparations immediately. Tomorrow is close... Time does not wait for any man and I won't make an exception for us."
"Yes, Madam," Susan replied, fingers already moving across her tablet as she began sending alerts and messages.
But Erica herself was not idle, she reached again for Selina. "Connect me to Shen Hotel Headquarters," she commanded.
"Connected," Selina answered instantly.
In a matter of seconds, Erica was on a secured video line with the hotel's director.
Instructions rolled off her tongue — lighting, music, table arrangements, security details, every corner of the hall needs to be transformed tonight and before sunrise.
When she was done, she made more calls to Broadcasting Stations then to Shen Event Management, one of the crown jewels of the Shen Group's Conglomerate Empire.
The call was answered at once and She demanded the best of the best — the planners, the designers, the creative heads.
Men and women who had turned ordinary events into spectacles would now bend their genius toward Rachel's banquet.
Then she made a call to Shen Bakery and Confectioneries.
The Managing Director himself appeared on the screen. "Bake her a cake worthy of history," Erica ordered. "And not just one — let it be many."
"Yes, Madam Shen," he said without hesitation.
But she wasn't finished.
"Selina," she said, "connect me to the world's top ten bakers."
One by one, their faces appeared on the screen of her tab.
These faces were faces of legends and artisans whose schedules were booked for years.
Yet when they heard Erica's request — a cake for Rachel Shen's twenty-first birthday — every single one of them agreed without hesitation.
"Baking a Birthday cake for the Shen Group's heiress is an honor," one baker said.
"I will cancel my Estresa schedule for tonight and use tonight to arrange everything," another added.
"Madam Shen, Please tell me the design you want," a third insisted eagerly.
Even at the last minute, none of them dared to decline Erica's request.
And still, her work continued.
Her tablet glowed as she made video calls to kings and queens, to presidents, to magnates and tycoons across the globe.
The numerous official Invitations of Rachel's 21st Birthday/Welcome Home Banquet that seemed countless were quickly digitally designed by Selina and sent to the most powerful, the most wealthy, the most influential.
Erica, with a warm voice spoke with conglomerate chairmen and chairwomen, with the world's top ten trillionaires after her and her family that occupies half the first top-ten list, and even spoke with names drawn from the list of the world's hundred richest billionaires.
As she chatted and spoke with them, her voice was steady, her charm was natural and every conversation ended with agreement with every single invite accepted.
By the time she lowered the tablet, the web of power she had spun stretched across continents.
Rachel's birthday would not be an ordinary event — it would be a gathering of the world itself.
And through it all, in the east wing of Shen Palace, Rachel knew nothing.
She remained in her private chambers, behind closed doors, doing God knows what.
Whatever it was, no one knew — for someone would have to enter her room to find out.
But outside her quiet world, the news of her return, and of the grand banquet being prepared for her twenty-first birthday, was already spreading across the sixty states of Norpond like wildfire in a harmattan season.
The storm was coming.