Chapter 3 - "Ask Avery"
The dock went terrifyingly quiet.
The soft lapping of ocean waves against the wooden pylons was the only sound left in the morning air.
Richard’s face flushed a deep, mottled red. He stepped up to the rope, his voice dropping into a harsh, angry whisper. "Captain, I don't know what kind of clerical mistake your booking department made, but you need to lower your voice right now. We have very prominent members of society standing on this dock. My prospective in-laws are legal executives!"
"There is no clerical mistake, Mr. Hayes," Captain Miller replied calmly, opening the leather file in his hands. "At 11:47 PM last night, the primary account holder for Charter #9042 executed an immediate lock-out enforcement order under Maritime Commercial Code Section 4."
"Primary account holder?!" Evelyn snapped, pushing her way through the crowd of guests, her pink Chanel suit rustling. "My husband is the head of our household! He authorized this event!"
Captain Miller didn't even flinch. He adjusted his reading glasses and looked directly at Evelyn.
"Is your husband's name Avery Hayes?" Captain Miller asked.
The name hit the family like an electric shock.
Riley gasped, her eyes widening in horror. Evelyn froze, her phone slipping an inch in her hand. Richard opened his mouth, but no sound came out for three agonizing seconds.
"A-Avery?" Riley stuttered, her voice suddenly sounding small and panicked. "What does Avery have to do with this?!"
"Avery Hayes is the sole individual who executed the master contract," Captain Miller explained, pulling out a signed wire transfer confirmation document. "The eighty-five thousand dollars was paid in full via a direct wire from the corporate account of Hayes Capital Holdings LLC—an entity owned exclusively by Ms. Avery Hayes."
Arthur Sterling stepped forward, his sharp lawyer eyes narrowing as he glared at Richard. "Richard... I thought you told me at dinner last week that you funded this entire event from your personal private equity portfolio?"
Richard began sweating profusely, pulling at his stiff collar. "Well... Arthur... you see, Avery is my eldest daughter! She manages some of our family's liquid assets! It's an internal family arrangement!"
"It is not an internal family arrangement, sir," Captain Miller interrupted firmly, pulling out a second document stamped with a red legal seal. "Included in Ms. Hayes's midnight directive was an explicit affidavit of financial independence. She has formally revoked all third-party authorization for this charter."
"She can't do that!" Riley shrieked, her hands trembling so violently her champagne spilled over the side of her glass onto her white lace dress. "It's my wedding party! She ruined my day! Call her right now! Tell her to fix this!"
"Ms. Hayes made her position entirely clear," Captain Miller said, looking directly down his nose at Riley. "She informed us that late last night, she received explicit written notice from the host stating that—and I quote directly from the logged legal record—'Only real family belongs here.'"
A heavy, suffocating gasp echoed through the crowd of sixty-eight guests.
Several of Brandon’s wealthy friends began whispering to one another, pointing at Riley and Evelyn.
"Did you hear that?" "Wait, so Richard didn't pay for the yacht at all?" "Their eldest sister paid for everything and they uninvited her?!" "How tacky! They're living off their sister's money!"
Victoria Sterling, Brandon’s mother, took a slow step backward away from Evelyn, her face morphing into an expression of absolute, cold disgust. "Evelyn... is this true? Did you disinvite your own daughter from an event she paid eighty-five thousand dollars for?"
"No! Victoria, wait! It was just a misunderstanding!" Evelyn panicked, trying to grab Victoria’s arm, but Victoria pulled her silk shawl away, avoiding Evelyn's touch. "Avery is... she's very emotional! She takes things the wrong way! She’s jealous of Riley!"
"Jealous?" Captain Miller asked, a dry, sarcastic edge entering his voice. "Ma'am, the owner of this vessel, Mr. Vance, is a personal business partner of your daughter Avery. When she called him last night, he personally authorized the full forfeiture of the departure window just to accommodate her request."
Captain Miller closed the file with a loud THUD.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen," the Captain announced to the entire crowd. "The Ocean Sovereign will not be leaving this dock today. Furthermore, by order of the vessel's primary client, all individuals associated with the Hayes-Sterling party are instructed to vacate Slip 42 immediately. If the dock is not cleared in ten minutes, marina security will escort you off the premises for private property trespass."
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"You can't do this to us!" Richard roared, his face turning purple with humiliation. "I'll sue you! I'll sue this charter company! Do you know who I am?!"
"I know who you aren't, Mr. Hayes," Captain Miller said coldly, turning his back on them. "You aren't the person paying the bill."
