The cruise ship's banquet hall had a complex layout with many interconnecting passages.
Just behind a screen not far from the two of them, a figure that had been standing silently for some time turned and left after hearing Silas Norwood say, "My wife must be the eldest daughter of the Sterling family."
The hall was too loud, and with their minds still on the raucous dispute, neither Silas Norwood nor Kian Sterling noticed.
But they had foreseen this inevitable outcome long ago.
Neither the Sterling clansmen nor the shareholders were fools. It was a no-brainer who to follow for the greatest benefit. Besides, Franklin Sterling had been in the wrong all those years ago. But even if he hadn't been, the fact that Kian Sterling had single-handedly transformed the beleaguered Sterling Group into the ranks of the super-rich families was enough to earn him the unyielding loyalty of the Sterlings.
