My mother-in-law hijacked my elite VIP account to fly her friends to the Maldives, bragging, “My brilliant son will cover the $50K bill.” I didn’t argue. I didn’t even look surprised. I just took a slow sip of wine… Then I leaned in and whispered one sentence. And suddenly… she wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Good god, Elena. I am so terribly sorry,” Marcus said, his polite demeanor replaced by lethal efficiency. “I am locking down your master account right this second. I am initiating a hard chargeback on the $48,500 authorization. All funds are being yanked back from the resort.”

“Cancel the return Emirates flights. Cancel the yacht charters,” I instructed. “Do not authorize a single bottle of water on my dime.”

“Done and done,” Marcus confirmed. “The resort’s financial department will receive the fraud alert and the immediate hard-decline of the primary card in approximately thirty seconds.”

“Thank you, Marcus.”

I hung up the landline. I picked my iPhone back up and flipped it over to watch the FaceTime feed.

The scene in the Maldivian villa had devolved into utter chaos. Beatrice’s three friends were aggressively shoving their belongings into luxury suitcases, shouting at each other.

“I am not going to a foreign prison because of your lies, Beatrice!” one woman shrieked, slamming a suitcase shut. “You told us Julian paid for this! You told us the jet was his!”