"I... I can't," Brandon whispered, his voice trembling with sheer panic. "My personal limit is ten thousand. I don't have twenty-eight thousand dollars, Chloe."
"What do you mean you don't have it?!" Chloe shrieked, grabbing the lapels of his tuxedo. "You told me your family had unlimited money! You told me your mother was going to cover everything!"
"She was covering everything!" Brandon shouted back, snapping under the pressure as the four hundred guests watched their fairytale collapse into a public brawl. "Until you cut her face and told her to get out!"
"You stood there and let me!" Chloe screamed back, tears of rage ruining her mascara as she struck his chest with her fists. "You're the man! You were supposed to handle her!"
Act IV: The Dawn of Truth
Chapter 7: The Empty Ballroom
By 11:30 PM, the Grand Ballroom of the St. Regis was completely empty of guests.
The four hundred high-society attendees, embarrassed and uncomfortable, had quietly slipped out through the side doors, leaving their half-eaten dinners and untouched champagne glasses on the tables under the dim emergency lights.