Noah didn’t question me after that. He nodded, lowered his voice, and said, “Since you’re the cardholder and primary guest on the reservation, I can separate your room and remove the remaining nights from the others. But once I do that, they’ll need a valid payment method by checkout tomorrow if they want to stay.”
“Perfect,” I said.
My tone was calm, but inside I was buzzing with anger and adrenaline.
He worked quickly, tapping through the system while I stood with my arms crossed. A printer hummed behind the desk, producing itemized receipts, reservation confirmations, and cancellation notices. When he handed them over, I slipped every page into a folder from my tote—the same folder I had used to organize the entire trip. That detail almost made me laugh.
“Would you like to keep your current room?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “But can you move me?”
His eyebrows rose slightly.
“To a different floor,” I added. “Preferably far from them.”
He gave a faint smile. “I can do that.”
Ten minutes later, I was in a quiet corner suite on the twelfth floor, with a city view, a king bed, and enough distance from Ethan’s family to finally breathe. I showered, changed into a hotel robe, and sat on the edge of the bed staring at my phone as messages poured in.
Diane: Where are you?
Megan, Ethan’s sister: Okay, you can stop sulking and come upstairs.
Ethan: Don’t make this weird.
I didn’t reply.
At 12:43 a.m., Ethan called.
I let it ring twice, then picked up. “What?”
He sounded irritated, not sorry. “Where the hell did you go?”
“You left me in the lobby.”
“It was a joke, Claire.”
“Explain the funny part.”
He exhaled sharply. “You always do this. You can’t take a joke, then you play the victim.”
I almost laughed. “The victim? Ethan, I paid for this entire trip.”
“Which no one asked you to do.”
That hit like cold water. No one asked me to do it. As if I had thrown money at them for attention. As if I hadn’t paid because Ethan had promised it would help his family and because he had looked me in the eye and said, I’ll make it up to you.
“You know what?” I said. “You’re right.”
He paused. “What does that mean?”
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