My brother, who runs a hotel in Honolulu, called me and asked, “Where is your husband?” I replied, “He’s on a business trip in Manhattan.” He responded, “No, he’s at my hotel in Hawaii with a beautiful lady, and he’s using your ATM card.” With my brother’s help, I made a revenge plan. The next day, my husband called me in panic.

“You lied to me, you used my money without permission, and you humiliated our marriage,” I replied evenly. “I will not finance your affair.”

He made a sound of disbelief before lowering his voice and saying, “If you do not send funds, we cannot even check out properly.”

“You will need to solve that problem independently,” I answered before ending the call without raising my voice.

Over the next hour Bradley called repeatedly while I ignored each attempt, because I wanted him to experience the uncertainty he had imposed on me so casually.

At two fifteen in the afternoon Cameron texted me to say that Bradley and his companion were arguing loudly in the lobby because they lacked sufficient cash to secure another reservation or even arrange immediate transportation to the airport.

Eventually Bradley called again with a hoarse voice and said, “They forced us to check out and we are sitting in the lobby with our luggage, so please reconsider and wire money because we cannot afford new flights.”

“You did not express concern about finances when you reserved a premium suite or ordered champagne service,” I replied steadily. “You only discovered caution after the consequences arrived.”