Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
Back at the Grand Vista Oceanside Resort, the bridal suite on the fourth floor was a vortex of chaos, scented hairspray, and unearned luxury.
Sutton stood on a raised circular platform in front of a three-way gilded mirror, admiring the $18,000 custom lace gown she had forced our father to put on a revolving credit line. Three makeup artists were hovering around her, desperately blending contour cream to hide the subtle redness around her eyes from her morning tantrum.
"Where is Alden?" Sutton demanded, checking her phone for the fiftieth time in twenty minutes. "Why isn't he answering my texts? He was supposed to send his groomsman up with the diamond pendant his grandmother promised me."
Althia sat on a velvet chaise lounge, sipping a mimosa with a trembling hand. "Darling, you know how men get before a big ceremony. He’s probably just nervous. The Montgomerys are very traditional. He’s likely with his father, going over the family toast."
"He looked at me weird last night, Mom," Sutton snapped, turning sharply and causing the seamstress pinning her hem to prick her finger. "Ouch! Watch it! You almost ruined the silk!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Ward," the young seamstress whispered, shrinking back.
"He was angry about Fallon," Sutton grumbled, inspecting her reflection. "Fallon always does this. She’s such an energy vampire. Did you see the way she just laid there on the marble? Like a dead seal. It was so performative. If she had just rolled to the side and laughed it off, the video Briany got would have been legendary. It had over fifty thousand views in two hours before the resort forced Briany to take it down!"
"Don't worry about Fallon," Stellin said, pacing by the expansive glass balcony doors that overlooked the ocean. He looked exhausted, his face gray. "I spoke to the clinic manager an hour ago. She had surgery this morning. Some ridiculous nonsense about pins moving. I left a message on her phone telling her that she needs to have the clinic transport her here in a wheelchair by two o'clock. She can sit in the back row during the ceremony to show the guests there's no bad blood."
"She better not wear that disgusting black brace," Sutton scoffed. "If she’s going to be in the photos, tell the photographers to position her behind the grand piano where the wheelchair doesn't ruin the symmetry."
A sharp knock rattled the double doors of the bridal suite.
"Finally!" Sutton gasped, beaming at her reflection. "That must be the hotel delivering the Cristal for the bridal party toast! Open it, Mom!"
Althia smoothed her champagne-colored mother-of-the-bride gown and pulled open the heavy double doors with a practiced, regal smile.
Standing in the hallway was not a room service attendant with an ice bucket.
It was Mr. Sterling, the General Manager of the Grand Vista, flanked by two large, imposing security officers in dark suits, and an austere woman carrying an electronic tablet.
"Mr. Sterling!" Althia exclaimed, her smile wavering slightly. "We were wondering when the champagne service would arrive. We’re running slightly behind schedule on the hair and makeup."
Mr. Sterling did not smile. His expression was as rigid as a tombstone.
"Mrs. Ward," he said, his voice clipped and entirely devoid of the hospitality warmth he had displayed the previous afternoon. "I need you, your husband, and Miss Sutton Ward to step out into the corridor immediately."
Stellin hurried over, his brow furrowed with irritation. "What is the meaning of this? We are three hours away from a three-hundred-thousand-dollar wedding. You do not address my wife in that tone."
"Mr. Ward," the manager said, holding up a laminated document with an official blue seal stamped across the top. "At 8:30 this morning, our corporate accounting department received an emergency wire fraud notification from American Express Global Commercial Risk, accompanied by a formal freeze directive issued by the United States Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General."
Stellin blinked, his face draining of color. "A... a what?"
"The master folio for this suite, along with the fifty-thousand-dollar banquet banquet authorization charged last night at 8:14 PM, was processed using a corporate card belonging to *AeroTech Logistics Solutions*," Mr. Sterling continued, his voice cold enough to freeze water. "The registered owner of that corporation, Miss Fallon Ward, has formally executed a fraudulent charge affidavit. The authorization signature provided on the digital terminal was forged."
Sutton froze on her pedestal, her reflection turning ghostly white beneath three layers of foundation.
"That's a lie!" Sutton screeched, stepping down from the platform, trailing six feet of hand-stitched lace. "Fallon gave me that card! She said she wanted to contribute to the wedding! She’s my sister!"
"Miss Ward," the woman with the tablet intervened, "we have reviewed the security camera footage from the bridal suite lounge at 11:15 AM yesterday. The footage clearly shows you removing a corporate credit card from Miss Fallon Ward’s travel briefcase while she was sleeping on the sofa, typing the sixteen digits into your personal iPad, and returning the card to her bag."
Althia gasped, pressing a hand against her throat. "This is an outrage! This is an internal family misunderstanding! Fallon has always handled our travel expenses! My husband will settle the balance right now!"
"Very well, Mrs. Ward," Mr. Sterling said calmly, gesturing to the portable card terminal held by the assistant. "The total outstanding balance for the wedding venue buyout, the bridal suite, the rehearsal dinner, and the pending catering contract is eighty-four thousand, six hundred and twenty dollars. How would you like to settle that today?"
Stellin stood frozen. A cold sweat broke out across his upper lip.
"I... I can put twenty thousand on my Visa," Stellin whispered, his voice cracking. "And the rest... Alden’s father, Richard Montgomery, is covering the master reception bill through their family account—"
"Mr. Montgomery’s accounting office contacted us at 7:00 AM, Mr. Ward," Mr. Sterling interrupted, his gaze piercing. "The Montgomery family has officially severed their billing line from this event. They have revoked all authorizations and formally canceled their sixty-guest room block."
"What?!" Sutton screamed, grabbing a crystal perfume bottle from the vanity and hurling it across the room. It shattered against the wall, filling the air with the suffocating scent of gardenias. "What do you mean they canceled?! Alden is marrying me today! He loves me! Call him! Call him right now!"
"Mr. Alden Montgomery has already checked out of the resort," Mr. Sterling stated, stepping aside as the two security guards moved into the doorway. "And pursuant to resort policy regarding active felony financial fraud investigations on property, all services for this event are immediately suspended. You have forty-five minutes to vacate this suite."
"You can't do this!" Althia shrieked, her voice reaching a shrill, hysterical pitch. "Do you know who we are?! Do you know how many prominent people are flying in for this ceremony?!"
"I know that local law enforcement is currently downstairs in the administrative offices reviewing grand larceny charges, Mrs. Ward," Mr. Sterling said, without a trace of mercy. "If this room is not empty by eleven-fifteen, our security staff will pack your belongings into disposal bags and escort you off the premises in handcuffs."
He turned on his heel and walked away down the carpeted hallway.
Sutton collapsed onto the unmade bed, her pristine white gown crushing beneath her, screaming until her voice cracked into jagged, ugly sobs.
May you like
And on the marble floor by the vanity, Stellin’s phone began to vibrate violently with incoming calls from confused, angry guests who had just received automated reservation cancellation notices from the front desk.
***
