Chapter 2: The Ambush at the Marina
The Miami sun was a physical weight, blindingly bright as I stepped out of my SUV at the VIP Marina. I was thirty minutes late, delayed by a mandatory emergency board call regarding our international expansion. I expected to find Marcus waiting by the pier, perhaps with a single rose or a look of begrudging appreciation.
Instead, I stopped dead in my tracks. The salt air suddenly felt like lead in my lungs.
Standing on the private pier, surrounded by a mountain of designer luggage, were four people. Marcus stood in the center, looking like a prince in his linen suit. To his left was his mother, Barbara, whose primary occupation was being disappointed in me. To his right was his father, a man who had spent forty years being a silent passenger to Barbara’s cruelty.
And then there was the fourth person.
Chloe. Marcus’s ex-girlfriend from college. The woman he always compared me to when he wanted to remind me I lacked “traditional grace.” She was laughing, her hand resting familiarly on Marcus’s forearm, looking impeccably dressed for a tropical getaway that I had paid for.
Marcus spotted me and jogged over, not to hug me, but to intercept me. He looked annoyed, his brows knitted in a frustrated line.
“Listen,” he said, adjusting his $800 sunglasses. “Chloe has been going through a devastating breakup, and Mom and Dad haven’t had a proper vacation in years. I decided to invite them. It’s an island, Eleanor. There’s plenty of room.”
“You invited your parents and your ex-girlfriend on our anniversary trip?” I whispered. The audacity was so loud it felt like a siren ringing in my ears. “This was supposed to be about us saving our marriage.”
“Don’t start with the ‘hysterical CEO’ routine,” he commanded, his voice dropping into that low, condescending register he used to silence me. “It’ll be fine. In fact, it’ll be better. You can handle the cooking and the household logistics at the villa while we enjoy the beach. It’ll be good for you to unplug from your masculine career and do some actual wife duties for once. It might remind you of your place.”
