Will rarely spoke about his parents, but one night, he told me they kicked him out at 16. “They said I was a burden because of my younger brother’s heart condition,” he explained. Despite understanding their financial needs, they pushed him away emotionally, with his mom even claiming he was “draining their capacity to care.”
Will survived on his own, working through college, while his parents ignored him. “They’re obsessed with my brother,” he said. “I’m the IT director, but they treat me like nothing.”
After years of attempts to reconnect, we invited them to our wedding, though they didn’t RSVP. To our surprise, they showed up, acting superior and insulting us.
Later, at our honeymoon villa, Will’s parents and his brother showed up uninvited. They claimed they’d been sent tickets by my parents, but I knew they had manipulated the situation. Will played along, smiling, and said, “What’s mine is yours.”
That night, Will set his plan in motion. He called the management, arranging for his parents to get the full bill for their stay — about $50,000. The next morning, they freaked out, and we left for a cheap motel. By the afternoon, they were gone.
Later, I learned my parents had unknowingly funded the trip, but Will wasn’t upset. “For the first time, I didn’t let them walk all over me,” he said.
On our last night, I asked if his parents would ever change. Will shook his head. “No, but I have. I’m not that scared 16-year-old anymore.”
We both smiled, knowing the best revenge was living well.
