He swallowed. “I was trying to make the check-in smoother.”

Maya almost laughed. Three years of being told she didn’t belong, and he’d still been willing to use her name the moment it opened doors. That was the shape of the marriage, laid bare.

He didn’t respect what she’d built. He simply expected access to it.

Helen’s tablet chimed softly. The final folio had generated. The charges were due. The reservation status had changed. The Mercer family’s stay would continue only under ordinary guest terms — no private villa, no corporate hospitality account, no executive courtesy attached to Maya’s name.

Linda stared at the numbers as if arithmetic had personally betrayed her. Ashley sat down on a hallway bench. Ryan looked at Maya.

“Maya, please. We can talk about this.”