At breakfast, my dad said: “We’ve booked a trip to Italy. Just the five of us. You understand, right?” I nodded: “Yeah, ok.” That night, I got a bank alert. $9,600 charged from Rome, Venice,… So I shut everything down. And everything collapsed in 48 hours.

robe, looking pale beneath her expensive moisturizer. “The hotel emailed. They said payment was reversed.”

Mason marched in. “My outlet order got canceled.”

Claire snapped, “The tour company says our booking is under investigation.”

Lily stared at me. “Did you freeze the card?”

I sipped my coffee. “Yes.”

Dad clenched his jaw. “Unfreeze it.”

“No.”

The single word struck harder than shouting.

Diane gave a sharp, artificial laugh. “Excuse me?”

“No,” I repeated. “You charged $9,600 without permission after excluding me from the trip you expected me to fund.”