Chapter 3 - The Public Humiliation
At the high-end boutique row in Scottsdale, Gwen Vance stood at the marble register of an exclusive designer showroom, her sunglasses pushed up into her bleached-blonde hair. Behind her stood two of her socialite acquaintances from the regional garden club, watching with polite admiration as Gwen had three silk dresses, two designer handbags, and an Italian leather trench coat rung up.
“Put it all on this,” Gwen said smoothly, handing the sleek black auxiliary card to the young cashier. “My daughter-in-law handles my monthly allocations. She knows better than to keep me waiting.”
The clerk swiped the card. A shrill, discordant beep echoed from the machine.
The clerk frowned, swiped it again, and hesitated. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Vance. It says ‘Card Revoked – Contact Issuer immediately.’”
Gwen’s face tightened. “Nonsense. Try it again. It has an unlimited line of credit.”
The clerk tried a third time. The machine flashed red. “It’s declining, ma’am. System code indicates the primary cardholder cancelled the account twenty minutes ago.”
The two socialites behind Gwen exchanged amused, sidelong glances.
“That’s impossible!” Gwen’s voice climbed into an octave that caused other wealthy patrons to turn around. “Do you know who I am? My son is Christian Vance! Run it through the manual override!”
“Ma'am, we cannot override a terminated line of credit,” the manager said, stepping forward diplomatically. “Do you have another method of payment? The total is twelve thousand four hundred dollars.”
Gwen furiously pulled out her personal debit card—the account where Sienna’s thirty-thousand-dollar monthly allowance was supposed to have landed that morning. “Use this one.”
The manager ran it. Another beep.
“Insufficient funds, Mrs. Vance.”
Gwen turned beet red. Her balance was less than two hundred dollars; she spent every dime Sienna sent within days of receiving it, utterly confident that the golden faucet would never shut off.
“This is an outrage!” Gwen shrieked, snatching her plastic cards back. “My daughter-in-law is playing petty games because she’s emotionally unstable! You keep those dresses on hold! When I speak to my son, she will be crawling on her knees to pay you double!”
She stormed out of the boutique, her heels clattering furiously against the terracotta tiles, whispers and suppressed laughter trailing in her wake. She dialed Christian, trembling with outrage.
“Christian! That insolent bitch cancelled my cards! I was humiliated in front of Eleanor and Beatrice! Where is she? Drag her back to the house right now!”
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“Mom, stop screaming!” Christian’s voice sounded thin, frantic, and hollow through the speaker. “My personal card is suspended too. I tried to pay for gas and the pump rejected it. And Mom... there’s a courier standing at our front gate right now with two Scottsdale police officers.”
***
