The two guards who stood at the entrance of the event center didn't recognize him it was their first day on the job. They thought he was a homeless man trying to sneak into the party hall. Their voices were harsh, cutting through the noise like broken glass.
The first guard shouted,
"Leave here now! Not everyone here is worthless like you. Look at the way you're dressed! Do you think they'll let you in? You look more like a rat than a man your hair's a mess, your face looks like someone who's given up on life."
Eran stood quietly. He tried to find a way in, tried everything he could but with how he looked, no one would believe he belonged there.
Another guard stepped forward.
"Sir, we don't need beggars here. This is the Mark family's event for their late daughter. You have to leave."
Eran sighed, turned his back, ready to walk away. He didn't want trouble or attention. But just as he was about to leave, another guard the one who had once delivered a letter to him recognized his face. His eyes widened.
"Hey, you fools! Don't you know who that is? That's the son of Mrs. Mark the elder brother of Mr. Kanji!"
The two guards froze, then bowed their heads and apologized again and again.
The guard who recognized him quickly stepped forward and guided Eran through the back entrance the one Mrs. Mark had secretly prepared.
Eran followed, silent. They went behind the building, where a smaller door waited, beautifully decorated. Inside were clothes and shoes laid out for him to wear before entering the main hall.
But Eran only looked at them once before shaking his head.
"No need," he said quietly. "I'll wear what I came with."
The guard was stunned. He had worked for the Mark family for years and had never seen Eran like this humble, calm, broken. Since the accident, Eran had become a different man.
He opened the main door to the party hall. Luckily, no one noticed him all eyes were on the lady of the Mark family, Mrs. Mark, and her son Kanji.
The cameras flashed, the guests laughed, and the hall glowed with light. Eran lowered his head, whispering to himself,
"Good. No one's watching. I'll just walk straight ahead."
The guard followed closely behind, but Eran turned to him.
"Stay back a little. Don't walk too close."
The guard nodded, obeying.
But the party wasn't done surprising people. A sudden hush fell when the lights dimmed and a single spotlight shone from above. A woman appeared on the stairs graceful, radiant, dressed in a silver gown glimmering with gold and diamonds.
Clara Eran's younger sister.
She had never been close to the family, always far away, chasing music and freedom. Yet here she was the pride of the Mark name. Cameras exploded with flashes as the journalists whispered,
"That's Clara! The famous singer! She actually came?"
Even Talia's co-workers gasped. Elisha nudged Talia with a smirk.
"Girl, what kind of family did you marry into? Surprises every minute! The only thing your ghost husband ever did right was marrying you into this family. If not, we'd never even get near this kind of event."
Talia smiled faintly.
"She's his sister the sister of the man I've never even seen."
Unseen by everyone, in the far corner of the hall, stood Eran silent as a shadow.
When the lights came back on, all attention still centered on Clara, taking pictures, shaking hands. Eran stayed still. The guard hesitated, then stepped toward Mrs. Mark. She was speaking to a group of CEOs when he tapped her shoulder.
"Madam," he whispered, "your son… he's here."
One of the men beside her snapped,
"Watch your tongue, fool! Don't interrupt important people!"
But the guard continued, trembling.
"Sir, it's your son. Eran."
Mrs. Mark turned sharply. Silence. Then she called a maid over.
"Stop the music."
The maid ran. The music died instantly. The whole hall froze. Everyone journalists, guests, even Kanji turned to her.
Kanji frowned.
"Why did Mother stop the music?"
Clara looked confused too, her golden dress glinting under the dim light.
And Talia standing far in the corner beside Elisha whispered,
"What's happening?"
Then came the sound of glass against glass ting! Mrs. Mark raised her wine glass high.
"Attention, everyone!" she announced. "The moment you've all been waiting for my son has arrived!"
Every head turned. Every camera lifted.
Eran stood at the far end of the hall, under the single white light. The air grew thick with silence. The guests expected a handsome man, clean and shining but what they saw was someone else entirely.
A man in a torn suit.
Long hair.
Eyes dark with pain.
A man who looked like he had already lived his death.
Cameras flashed anyway. Journalists whispered. Mrs. Mark froze but then smiled through her shock.
Kanji rushed forward, arms open, pretending excitement. Clara followed, her eyes glimmering with tears Eran had always been kind to her when they were young.
Across the room, Mr. and Mrs. Kin Talia's parents exchanged a look.
They saw opportunity. The moment they had waited for.
And Elisha whispered,
"That's him… that's the man I saw outside. The ghost husband. If I were you, I'd give him a piece of my mind for abandoning you."
Talia said nothing. Her heart trembled. This was the first time after all these years that she would finally see her husband's face.
The party ended late, deep into the night. The world outside already knew. The "Lost Son of the Mark Family" found.
Back at the mansion, the long dining table gleamed under golden light.
Mrs. Mark sat at the head, Kanji by her side, and Clara beside him. Across from them stood Eran, still quiet.
Further down the table sat Mr. and Mrs. Kin and between them, silent and small, Talia.
Her hands trembled under the table. Her heart raced with fear and hope.
For the first time in her life, she was sitting across from the man she married
the man she had waited seven years to see.