The sealed envelope contained revised booking notices.
Because I had paid for the trip, the hotel suite, private tours, anniversary cruise, and airport transfers remained under my name. My parents had managed to change one airline ticket, but they had no authority to replace me on the reservations connected to my account.
The driver was there to collect the person listed on the booking.
Me.
When the hotel representatives checked their passports, they explained that Kyle was not an authorized guest and the suite could not be transferred without my approval. Every private activity had also been canceled after my attorney documented unauthorized access to the travel account.
Mom called immediately.
She said they were exhausted, stranded, and humiliated. Dad insisted I fix the problem because they had already flown across the Atlantic. Kyle shouted that I had ruined the only good thing to happen to him all year.
I calmly reminded them that I had not canceled their return flights. I had simply withdrawn the luxury vacation I purchased for myself.
They paid for one night in a small airport hotel and returned home the next morning.
Two weeks later, I flew to Paris with my closest friend. We stayed in the suite, visited the bakery from Mom’s magazine clipping, and took the dinner cruise beneath the city lights.
My parents believed they could replace me while keeping everything I provided.
By the time they landed, they learned the trip had never belonged to them.
