The Imperial Heritage Foundation's annual banquet had never been an ordinary social gathering. Political dynasties filled the grand ballroom, while old-money families arrived carrying names that had survived through generations of prestige.
Chairmen of global multinational conglomerates shared private tables with celebrated scholars, foreign diplomats, and descendants of the country's most respected houses. Tonight, however, virtually every hushed conversation among the attending guests revolved around a single, enigmatic surname.
The Drerayes.
For several decades, House Dreraye had rarely sent official representatives to public high-society gatherings. Don Alejandro had withdrawn almost completely from formal social circles after losing his beloved wife and, years later, his only child and daughter-in-law.
Eventually, annual invitations addressed to the Dreraye estate became little more than a formal, respectful tradition. Until tonight.
