The moment those two words left Emma's lips, Lady Eleanor's entire body froze.
Her eyes widened.
The color drained from her face.
Around them, conversations slowly stopped as nearby guests sensed something was terribly wrong.
Emma looked confused.
"Ma'am... are you alright?"
Lady Eleanor couldn't answer.
Tears slowly filled her eyes.
Twenty-six years earlier, her youngest daughter, Marian Calder, had disappeared during a devastating ferry accident while traveling overseas.
Despite years of investigations, search teams never found her body.
Authorities declared Marian dead.
But Lady Eleanor had never stopped believing her daughter might somehow still be alive.
One thing had vanished with Marian.
A priceless jade pendant passed from mother to eldest daughter for generations in the Calder family.
Only one existed.
No copies had ever been made.
There was no possible way a stranger could own it.
Unless...
Emma wasn't a stranger at all.
Lady Eleanor stared at the young waitress with trembling lips.
The shape of her eyes.
The smile she tried to hide.
Even the way she held the necklace reminded her of Marian.
Her voice cracked.
"You're..."
Before she could finish the sentence, her knees gave way.
She collapsed onto the polished marble floor.
Guests rushed forward in panic.
Champagne glasses shattered.
The orchestra stopped playing.
Emma immediately knelt beside the elderly woman, still unable to understand why simply saying her mother's name had caused such a heartbreaking reaction.
But hidden inside one small jade pendant was the truth of an entire family.
And before that unforgettable evening ended, Emma would discover she wasn't just a waitress serving wealthy strangers...
She was the long-lost granddaughter of one of the most powerful families in the country.