I stood alone in the hotel lobby, suitcase at my feet, staring at the text from my husband: “Relax, it’s just a prank.”

I stood by myself in the hotel lobby, suitcase at my feet, staring down at the message from my husband: “Relax, it’s just a prank.” A prank? After I had paid for every room on this so-called “family vacation”? My hands trembled, but my voice stayed steady as I leaned toward the front desk and murmured, “Cancel them.

All of them.” By sunrise, they’d wake up laughing—until they understood I had already made my next move…

I stood alone in the hotel lobby, my suitcase beside me, reading the text my husband had sent just ten minutes earlier.

Relax, Claire. It’s just a prank.

A prank.