Ethan: Mother, get up off the floor! Everyone is watching you!
Eleanor: I don't care who is watching! Answer me, girl! Where did you get this green jade locket?!
Clara: Please... give that back to me. It's the only thing I have left in this world.
Ethan: Are you alright, Clara? Let me hold you. I am so sorry for what my mother just did to your dress.
Clara: I'm fine, Ethan. I just need my locket back. It's safe, right?
Eleanor picked up the small green stone with shaking fingers. Tears began streaming down her face, ruining her heavy makeup as she clutched the locket tightly against her chest.
Eleanor: This is real jade. Hand-carved with a silver filigree rose on the back. There was only one ever made in the entire world.
Clara: How... how do you know what's on the back of my locket?
Eleanor: Because I had it custom made twenty-two years ago in San Antonio! Tell me the truth, Clara! Who gave this to you?!
Clara: I grew up in the foster care system in Austin. When I turned eighteen, my social worker gave me a sealed envelope. This locket was inside it.
Ethan: Wait a minute... Clara, you told me your biological parents left you at a fire station when you were a baby.
Clara: That's what the police report said! The social worker told me my birth mother left the locket around my neck before she disappeared!
Eleanor: She didn't leave you at a fire station! You were stolen from me!
The entire ballroom erupted into loud hushed whispers. Guests leaned in closer, staring at the wealthy matriarch kneeling on the floor in her burgundy dress.
Ethan: Mother, what are you talking about?! Stolen? You told me my older sister died in the hospital three days after she was born!
Eleanor: That's what your uncle Arthur told me! He told me the baby had respiratory failure and passed away while I was unconscious in ICU!
Clara: I... I don't understand. Are you saying... you think I'm your daughter?
Eleanor: Press the small silver rose on the back of the locket, Clara. Tell me what is engraved inside the hidden clasp.
Clara's hands shook as Ethan helped her step toward Eleanor. Eleanor handed the green stone up to her. Clara pressed her thumb firmly against the tiny silver rose on the back. The locket popped open with a faint click.
Clara: It says... "To my sweet baby Evelyn. Love, Mama."
Eleanor: Evelyn... my little Evelyn!
Ethan: Oh my God... Evelyn was the name of my sister who supposedly died twenty-two years ago!
Clara: My birth certificate from the state foster agency... listed my original infant intake name as Evelyn!
Eleanor: You are my baby girl! You are my daughter!
Eleanor sobbed uncontrollably, reaching up from the floor to wrap her arms around Clara's waist, burying her face into the torn skirt of Clara's wedding dress.
Clara: You... you hated me two minutes ago. You called me an orphan and a gold-digger!
Eleanor: Forgive me! Oh God, please forgive me, Evelyn! I didn't know! I thought you were trying to hurt my family, but you ARE my family!
Arthur: Eleanor! Stand up this instant! You are making a complete spectacle of yourself and this family!
A tall, grey-haired man in a dark tailored suit stepped out from the crowd of guests, his face flushed with anger and panic.
Ethan: Uncle Arthur... stay back. Mother just found out Clara has Evelyn's jade locket.
Arthur: That is impossible! Evelyn died in 2004! This girl is obviously a professional con artist who bought a fake antique at a pawn shop to trick your mother!
Clara: I didn't buy this! I've worn this under my shirt every single day of my life!
Arthur: Security! Remove this girl from the ballroom immediately for disturbing the peace!
Eleanor: Touch her and you're fired, Arthur! Look at her face! Look at her eyes! She has my mother's exact green eyes!
Arthur: You're hysterical, Eleanor! You're grieving a child who died two decades ago!
Ethan: Uncle Arthur, why are you acting so nervous right now?
Arthur: I am not nervous! I am trying to save our family's reputation from a public humiliation!
Eleanor: No... you were the only person in the hospital room that night, Arthur. You were the executor of my husband's estate while I was in a coma!
Arthur: Don't start making wild accusations, Eleanor! I saved this family from financial ruin after your husband died!
Eleanor: If my daughter didn't die in that hospital... then what did you do with my baby, Arthur?!