Chapter 5 - Stranded in the Sun
Four thousand miles away, in the sun-drenched lobby of the Grand Cabo Resort, Ethan Collins was experiencing his own private circle of hell.
He had spent the morning trying to explain to the front desk manager that his American Express black card error was a "temporary banking glitch" that would be resolved within the hour. By afternoon, when the manager realized Ethan had no alternative payment method and a running tab of nearly two thousand dollars for room service, minibar charges, and spa treatments he had recklessly booked on day one, security was quietly called.
Ethan was escorted to the lobby desk like a common deadbeat tourist. His luggage—or what was left of it after he had dumped the used baby items into the resort trash bins in absolute fury—was sitting in a plastic hotel cart beside him.
"Sir, you must settle your balance immediately, or we will have to confiscate your passport until the debt is cleared," the manager said politely, his smile entirely devoid of warmth.
"I told you, my wife is wiring money from the States!" Ethan lied, his face slick with sweat despite the powerful air conditioning in the lobby. His designer polo shirt, which he had worn for two days straight, smelled faintly of stale airplane cabin air and panic.
"Your wife’s attorney called our corporate office twenty minutes ago, Mr. Collins," the manager replied, sliding a printed email across the marble counter. "She notified us that you are legally separated, your accounts are frozen, and the resort will receive no further compensation from your marital assets."
Ethan stared at the paper as if it were written in ancient hieroglyphics.
"That’s... that’s impossible," he muttered, pulling out his phone. For the fiftieth time that day, he tapped on my contact card and pressed call.
The number you have dialed is no longer accepting calls from this subscriber.
I had finally blocked his personal number.
Desperate, Ethan dialed his mother. Linda picked up on the first ring, her voice shaking with rage.
"Ethan! Did you speak to that ungrateful little witch?! She locked me out of the house! She called the police when I banged on the door!"
"Mom, I don't care about the house right now!" Ethan shouted, pacing back and forth across the shiny lobby floor while tourists in swimsuits stared at him. "I am stuck in Cabo! They are holding my passport at the front desk! I have thirty-four dollars in cash in my wallet and my flight home isn't for another twelve days! You have to wire me money—pay the hotel bill!"
"I can't, Ethan!" Linda cried, her voice cracking. "Your father checked our portfolio this morning. Clara’s lawyer filed an emergency lien against our family trust because Ethan used shared LLC funds to pay for your flights! Our accounts are frozen too!"
Ethan stopped dead in his tracks. The marble floor seemed to tilt beneath his feet.
"A lien?" he whispered, the blood draining completely from his face. "On the trust?"
"She’s destroying us, Ethan," Linda sobbed. "You need to fix this right now. Get on a plane, come home, and beg her for forgiveness, because if you don't, your father and I are going to lose everything we built."
May you like
Ethan lowered the phone slowly from his ear.
He looked around the glittering, sun-lit paradise that had cost him his marriage, his career, his savings, and his family’s financial security. The tropical breeze blowing through the open doors suddenly felt less like a vacation and more like a tomb.
