The music stopped.
The laughter died.
The chatter faded like smoke.
It was like the entire ballroom collectively held its breath.
Liam didn't need anyone to tell him what had just happened—he could feel it in the air, thick and tense, like the calm before a storm. All heads turned, and so did his. He already knew. He knew exactly what this silence meant.
The royal family had arrived.
From the grand staircase at the far end of the massive hall, five figures began descending in synchronized steps. Three of them trailed behind, dressed in sleek black suits and moving with the calculated grace of men trained to kill. Their eyes scanned the crowd with disciplined vigilance.
But it was the two in front that drew every single eye in the room.
Ann walked beside a young man roughly Liam's age, and both were dressed in a stunning, bold red that made them impossible to ignore.
