Stolen Prize Money

I pushed open the door to the next room.

My father, Wayne Whitmore, was covering his mouth, laughing into the phone.

"Don't worry, Kelsey. Your uncle's got this. I already sent you the redemption code, so hurry up and register it.

"I'll talk to Elise. What does a girl like her know? She probably wouldn't even know where to find the baggage carousel after landing. Letting her go abroad would just embarrass us all.

"Exactly. Giving you that ticket for your honeymoon is putting it to good use."

I walked over with a cold expression and snatched the phone out of his hand. The call screen was still lit.

My father jumped, startled, and sprang up from the bed. "What are you doing? You don't even knock before coming in? Where are your manners?"

I ended the call and tossed the phone back onto the bed. "So while I was in the shower, you went through my phone, stole my redemption code, and sent it to Kelsey? Did you even ask me, Dad?"

My father didn't look guilty in the slightest. Instead, he lifted his chin and glared at me as if he were completely in the right.

"I'm your father. I gave you your life. You think I don't get a say over one lousy ticket?

"When Aunt Janice and I were little, she used to carry me on her back. Back when the family was poor, she saved the only piece of cornbread for me. I owe her for that for the rest of my life.

"Besides, instead of letting you take that ticket and go show off on some pointless vacation, it might as well go to Kelsey. At least it won't cost the family anything."

At the words "go to Kelsey", it felt as if a knife had lodged in my throat.

Years ago, when my mother needed chemotherapy for stomach cancer, my father had taken the only $30,000 our family had left and given it to Kelsey to study abroad.

He said Aunt Janice's family had it hard, and they couldn't let Kelsey's bright future be ruined.

In the end, my mother endured the pain and rage until it killed her.

Now he was the one with severe heart disease. The doctor said he needed bypass surgery by the end of the month at the latest. To save up for his surgery, I had been working three jobs a day for years, running myself into the ground.

I'd won the European vacation by filling out a survey while working a flyer promotion at the mall.

After I won, the only thing on my mind was how to cash it out to pay for his treatment. How could I possibly leave him behind and go traveling on my own?

I took a deep breath and forced down the anger burning in my chest.

"Kelsey is already twenty-nine. If she wants to impress her in-laws by pretending she's wealthy, why should she get to do it with what's mine?"