“I surprised my parents with a luxury trip to Europe—only to find out they decided to take my unemployed sister instead of me. My mom smiled and said, ‘Your sister really needed this break.’ I stayed quiet. They had no idea what awaited them once they landed.”
The morning our long-planned European vacation was supposed to begin, I pulled into my parents’ driveway with the car packed and ready. My mother stepped outside with her suitcase. A second later, my sister Lily followed—cheerfully waving her passport like she’d just won something.
Before I could even turn off the engine, my mother leaned toward my window and said softly, “Sweetheart… we’ve decided Lily will go with us instead.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
This trip had taken months of planning—an elegant journey through Switzerland, Italy, and France. A gift I had saved for and carefully arranged to thank my parents for everything they’d done for me. And now Lily—unemployed, always “exhausted,” always needing rescue—stood beside them, smiling as if this were her victory.
“What about me?” I finally asked.
My father stared at the ground. My mother answered lightly, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. “Lily’s been under a lot of pressure. She needs a change of scenery.”
Pressure from what, I wondered—scrolling her phone on the couch?
I didn’t argue. I didn’t beg. I didn’t protest. I helped load their luggage, wished them a good flight, and watched Lily climb into their car, clearly pleased with herself.
I drove home with a heavy ache in my chest—but underneath it, something steadier was forming.
Because what none of them realized was this: every reservation was under my name. The hotels. The tours. The transfers. The restaurants. Every single experience required my presence and my ID.
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