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There was a pause. Then she laughed.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked, already knowing I wasn’t going to like the answer.
A laughing woman talking on her phone | Source: Pexels
“Oh, come on,” she said. “He’s retired. He has savings. It’s not like he’s struggling.”
I didn’t say anything.
She kept going. “We figured he could treat us. He’s not supporting the family anymore. This was like… a thank-you trip. From him to us.”
“You figured?” My voice got tight. “You figured it was okay to dump a twelve-thousand-dollar bill on a seventy-four-year-old man without asking?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she said. “You know Grandpa. He’s happy just to see everyone together.”
I stared out at the road in front of the hotel. My grip on the phone tightened. A valet wheeled someone else’s luggage past me. Laughter drifted from the pool.
“Let me make this real clear,” I said. “He’s not the fool here. You are.”
An annoyed man talking on his phone | Source: Freepik
Click.
I stood there for a second, breathing slow. I could hear Grandpa’s voice behind me, still trying to explain things to the front desk, still apologizing—for their mess.
I turned and walked back inside.
A serious man looking into the camera | Source: Pexels
“Don’t worry,” I told Grandpa, loud enough for the staff to hear. “I’ve got this.”
He looked nervous. “It’s a lot of money. I don’t want you to—”
I held up a hand. “It’s handled.”
A hotel manager | Source: Pexels
She nodded. “Of course.”
“I also want names, timestamps for each check-in and check-out, and copies of every signature.”
She didn’t ask why. She just said, “I’ll email it all to you within the hour.”
