Chapter 2 - Margaret Cancels What She Still Controls
Margaret held Tiffany’s gaze and lifted the phone to her ear.
“Mr. Alvarez? It’s Margaret Bennett.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes.
Daniel finally looked up.
Margaret continued.
“Please cancel every remaining charge on my event account that has not
yet been earned or contractually committed.”
The wedding planner near the dance floor went pale.
Tiffany laughed.
“You can’t cancel my wedding.”
“I’m not.”
Margaret’s voice remained calm.
“The ceremony happened. The food has been served. Vendors will be paid
for work they performed. I’m stopping the extras you added to my card
without asking.”
That included the midnight fireworks.
A second champagne tower.
A luxury after-party suite.
And transportation for thirty guests Tiffany invited three days earlier.
Nearly eighteen thousand dollars remained unearned.
Margaret would not punish vendors for Tiffany’s behavior.
She would simply stop paying for new indulgences.
Tiffany’s smile disappeared.
“You promised to pay for everything.”
“I promised forty-five thousand dollars.”
“You’re rich.”
“That isn’t permission.”
Daniel whispered:
“Mom.”
Margaret looked at him.
He still had not asked whether she was hurt.
That mattered more than the slap.
Then Mr. Alvarez said something through the phone.
Margaret’s expression changed.
“Repeat that.”
The ballroom watched.
“Yes. Send it to me.”
She lowered the phone.
Daniel looked nervous now.
“What?”
Margaret opened the email that had just arrived.
Her card had not been charged forty-five thousand dollars.
It had been charged sixty-eight thousand four hundred.
Several transactions had been approved through a digital authorization
bearing Margaret’s initials.
She had never signed them.
Tiffany stopped breathing.
Margaret looked at her.
“Did you use my authorization code?”
Tiffany answered too quickly.
“No.”
Margaret turned toward Daniel.
May you like
His face told her the answer before his mouth did.
He knew.
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