"It's my mother's," Sofia repeated, softer now, increasingly uncertain about the direction this conversation seemed to be taking. "She passed a few years ago. It's the only piece of jewelry I have of hers."
The woman's expression shifted rapidly, shock spreading visibly across her features as she absorbed Sofia's words, her earlier composed authority collapsing into something far more vulnerable. "What was your mother's name?" she asked again, her voice trembling now, the question carrying a weight Sofia couldn't yet understand.
Sofia glanced around uncertainly at the nearby guests who had begun to notice the strange intensity of the exchange, several conversations trailing off as attention shifted toward them. "Marion," she said finally, hesitant but unable to identify any reason to withhold the information. "Marion Calder."
The name seemed to land with physical force. The woman's breath caught audibly, her hand flying to her chest, her eyes widening with a disbelief so total it seemed to erase every other thought from her expression entirely.