Chapter 5 - THE COLLAPSE OF THE HOUSE OF CARDS: WHEN A 'JOKE' TURNS INTO A TWENTY-THOUSAND-DOLLAR HOTEL BILL
For ten agonizing seconds, nobody in the penthouse breathed.
Victoria stared at Marcus as if he were speaking an alien language. Harrison looked like he was about to suffer a massive coronary event on the spot.
And Julian felt the ground literally drop out from beneath his feet.
“She... she left?” Julian whispered, his voice cracking horribly. “Genevieve left for Seattle? Without telling me?”
“She left a forwarding email for you, Mr. Vance,” Marcus said helpfully, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small printed card. “She asked me to hand this directly to you upon notification of the billing transfer.”
Marcus walked across the marble floor, placed the small card on the dining table right beside Eleanor’s untouched coffee cup, and turned on his heel.
“Have a wonderful rest of your stay, Vances,” Marcus said cheerfully.
The two security guards flanked him, and the penthouse doors clicked shut behind them, leaving the family standing alone amidst their ruined luxury.
Slowly, like a man walking toward an executioner's block, Julian stepped forward and picked up the small printed card.
He flipped it over.
In my clean, precise handwriting, I had written only two sentences:
“Hope you enjoy the condo deposit. Consider this vacation my final contribution to your family’s acting career.”
Eleanor snatched the card out of Julian’s hand, her eyes scanning the words before her face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated venom.
“You absolute fool!” Eleanor screamed, hurling her coffee cup across the room. It shattered against the wall, sending dark liquid streaming down the white wallpaper. “You said she was wrapped around your finger! You said she would hand over the condo deposit without a second thought!”
“I didn't know!” Julian roared back, his panic finally breaking through his shock, his voice cracking into a desperate squeak. “I didn't know she heard us in the hallway last night! She must have heard every single word!”
Harrison clutched his chest, sinking heavily onto a dining chair. “We don't have enough cash between the four of us to cover twelve thousand dollars in hotel bills, let alone the remainder of the week! They’re going to throw us out on the street in three hours!”
Victoria burst into loud, hysterical tears, dropping her face into her hands. “My spa appointments! My private beach cabana! How are we going to face everyone down by the pool when they find out we’re broke?!”
Julian stood in the center of the shattered penthouse, staring at the empty hallway where the security guards had just departed.
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The joke was over.
The seafood tower had been eaten.
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