I Booked Her Luxury Post-Exam Trip; She Chose Birth Mom

My adopted daughter didn't do well on her SATs, so I booked a luxury tour for two to help her clear her head.

I also spent three million dollars in sponsorship fees to get her a study-abroad spot.

But the day before the trip, she grabbed my hand while I was packing and glared at me, impatient.

Are you out of your mind? I finally get to reunite with my real mom on this trip, and here you are horning in. You control me at home, and now you want to watch over me out there too?

"I'll tell you the truth. I turned in two blank exams on purpose to get back at you. You obviously had the connections to send me abroad, yet you forced me into tutoring classes every single day. Are you some kind of sicko?"

"My real mom is the best. All she cares about is whether I'm happy, not like you, who only knows how to push me! You're not coming on this trip. Stay home and think about what you've done! My real mom has never been abroad, so this is the perfect chance to show her the world."

I didn't argue. I turned around and canceled the luxury travel package.

Then I called the school and pulled back the three-million-dollar sponsorship fee.

Since her real mother was so wonderful, she probably wouldn't want my money either.

...

Fifteen years ago, Hazel Harding was abducted by traffickers, and I was the one who rescued her from an abandoned warehouse.

A moment later and they would have broken her legs and thrown her out onto the street to beg.

After I brought her home, I cared for her like my own daughter while searching everywhere for her family.

But there was never any news.

A friend advised me to send her to an orphanage.

My son was only eight at the time. He took my hand and said, "Mom, the little sister is so pitiful. Let's keep her."

From that day on, Hazel was cherished by the whole family and had everything she wanted.

When she was little, she said she wanted to go to Harvard or Yale.

Seeing her struggle with her studies in high school, I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on six-to-one sessions with top tutors, and finally her grades came up.

But on the day of the SATs, she underperformed and didn't even clear the lowest admission line.

I thought she was just too nervous.

Afraid she'd be upset, I booked a luxury cruise for two, over a hundred thousand dollars, to help her clear her head.

And through sponsorship, I secured her a spot to study abroad.

But now, less than a month after finding her biological mother, she was already in a rush to air all her grievances against me.

My head buzzed, and I almost couldn't stay on my feet.

Hearing the commotion, my son, Reuben, hurried out to smooth things over.

"Hazel, what are you saying? Mom loves you and was worried you'd feel bad about the SATs, so she wanted to take you out to relax."

He shot Hazel look after look, trying to signal her.

"Are you only saying this because you're afraid Mom's too busy with work to spend time with you?"

Hazel glanced at him and gave a cold snort.

"Reuben, you don't have to take Mom's side. Everything I'm saying is exactly how I feel."

As she spoke, she turned and dragged two suitcases out of her room, snapping them open.

Inside were brand-new clothes, skincare products, and travel supplies.

My expression eased a little.

So she was all bark and no biteshe'd already packed.

But the next second, Hazel's words hit me like a bucket of ice water over my head.

"These are all for my real mom."

I stared at the two suitcases, my fingers going cold.

Hazel had never put this much care into anything for me, not even once.

Seeing my face fall, she grew even more impatient.

"Mom, I didn't do well on the SATs, and I'm already feeling terrible. I wanted this trip to relax."

"If you come with me, there's no way I'll be able to relax."

"For as long as I can remember, you've been like my homeroom teacher, controlling everything."

"What clothes to wear, when to get up and go to bed, what to eat, how long I can be on my phoneI'm about to crack!"

"I just want to be a normal kid. Is that so much to ask? Just give in to me this once."

Bitterness welled up in my heart.

I controlled her diet because she was overweight, and the doctor had warned that if it wasn't managed she'd develop a fatty liver.

I limited her phone time because her nearsightedness was severe, and if it kept going she'd need surgery.

I never told her any of this, because I felt she was too young to carry such worries.

But now all she felt was that I was controlling her.

Hazel got more and more worked up as she spoke, her eyes reddening.

"I've lived eighteen years, and it wasn't until a month ago, when my real mom found me, that I understood what a mother's love is!"

"She doesn't care how high I fly, she only cares whether I'm tired, whether I'm happy!"

"Not like you, so obsessed with control, only wanting to use me as something to show off!"

I clenched my fists.

Her real mother? The woman who lost her?

Then Hazel added one more thing, her voice full of resentment.

"If you hadn't taken me away back then, my real mom would definitely have found me and rescued me!"

"You're the one who tore us apart! Making it up to us now is the least you can do, isn't it?"

My heart went utterly cold. I walked to the study, dug an old folder out of the bottom drawer, and slammed it down in front of her.

"Your real mom, looking for you?"

"Hazel, open your eyes and look carefully! You didn't get lost by accident back then!"

Hazel Harding's parents favored sons over daughters.

To have a boy, her mother deliberately took her to a crowded market and watched, doing nothing, as she was carried off.

I never told her all these years because I was afraid of hurting her.

But now, here she was, romanticizing that road she'd never walked.

Fine, then. I wouldn't mind laying the bloody truth right in front of her.

Hazel picked up the documents, her fingers trembling.

I thought she would break down, cry, ask me whether it was real.

But to my surprise, she laughed after reading them, her face full of scorn.

"You'd fake documents like these just to smear my real mom? AI-generated, right?"

"You're afraid I won't support you in your old age, so you're deliberately trying to turn me against her. Let me tell you, I'm not falling for it!"

I was so furious I laughed.

"Hazel, these documents are all stamped and on file with the police. If you don't believe me, go check!"

"If your real mother truly loved you, would she have stood there and watched you get taken by traffickers? Would she have never once cared all these years?"

Hazel completely lost it.

"You just can't stand seeing me get along with my real mom!"

"I already announced it in the family group chat. If you won't let my real mom go and you make me lose face, I'll never come back to this family again!"

"I'll tell you the truthI didn't choke on the SATs at all. I turned in two blank tests on purpose, to get back at you! You wanted to show off my scores, didn't you? Well, I made sure you couldn't!"

Learning the truth left me reeling.

My husband and son stood by, trying gently to talk her down.

"Hazel, stop this, your mom isn't feeling well."

"Yes, whatever it is, let's talk it over calmly."

Hazel wouldn't listen at all. She dragged her two suitcases and rushed out of the house without a backward glance.

I stood there, everything went dark, and I passed out.

When I woke again, I was already lying in a hospital bed.

My son sat beside me, his eyes red.

"Mom, you scared me half to death."

"Hazel's just going through a rebellious phase. She'll grow out of it."

I shook my head, my voice weak.

"She's eighteen. She's an adult."

"For her to say things like that, she must have been holding a grudge for a long time."

I struggled to sit up and dialed the travel agency right away.

"I'm Hazel Harding's parent. The luxury cruise trip for two tomorrow eveningcancel it."

My son tried to persuade me.

"Mom, Hazel just acted on impulse. Please calm down."

"I'll call her right now and ask her to come see you."

"If she knows you're sick, she'll definitely be worried."

But when the call connected, Hazel sneered.

"I think she's faking being sick on purpose, pulling a sympathy act to keep my real mom from going!"

"I'm not falling for it!"

My son wanted to say more, but the call had already been hung up.

I closed my eyes, chilled to the core.

Without hesitating any longer, I dialed the number of that overseas school.

"I'm the parent sponsoring Hazel Harding's study abroad. That three-million-dollar sponsorship feeI'm taking it back."

There was a pause on the other end.

"Ma'am, if you take back the sponsorship, Hazel's study-abroad spot will be gone."

I gave a cold laugh.

"Then let it be gone."

"She has her real mother. Why should I, her adoptive mother, worry about it?"

Once all that was done, I was discharged and went home.

The moment I stepped inside, a post from Hazel's real mother popped up on my social media feed.

In the photo, she had her arm linked through Hazel's, the two of them smiling like the closest of friends.

The caption read: "My daughter is so devoted, insisting on taking me abroad on a luxury cruise to see the world. What good did all those years of raising her do her adoptive mother? She still isn't close to her at all."

Hazel liked it instantly and commented.

"Only after finding my real mother did I learn what it feels like to be loved by family."

"Without blood ties, we're strangers in the end."

Her biological mother replied right away:

"If your adoptive mother hadn't hidden you away so carefully, I would have found you long ago, and you wouldn't have had to suffer so much."

I stared at the screen, my fingers trembling.

Hidden her away so carefully?

Back then I filed police reports, ran notices in the newspaper, put up missing-person flyersI searched for two whole years!

She was the one who never wanted to be found!

My son couldn't stand it and called Hazel directly.

"Hazel, delete that comment right now and apologize to Mom!"

On the other end of the line, Hazel's voice turned shrill.

"Reuben, Mom has trained you into obedienceyou have no idea what real motherly love is! Real motherly love doesn't control her children!"

My son was so angry his face went white.

I, on the other hand, was strangely calm. I called my lawyer.

"Attorney Simmons, all the money I've spent on my adopted daughter over the yearscan I get it all back from her biological mother?"

Attorney Simmons was quiet for a moment.

"It can be done, but only on one condition: you'd first have to dissolve the adoption with your adopted daughter."

My heart ached.

A daughter I'd raised for fifteen yearsit would be a lie to say I didn't care.

But when I thought about the things she'd said, the anger made my chest hurt again.

Just then, a spending alert popped up on my phone.

The shared payment account I'd set up for Hazel had just been charged thirty-eight thousand dollars.

I tapped it opena purchase from some high-end brand.

I refreshed her feed again. Hazel had posted new photos.

She'd taken her mother to the mall to buy clothes for the trip, bags and bags of them.

The caption read: "From now on, I'm going to repay my real mother properly."

I was so angry I shut off the shared payment account on the spot.

Right then, the school abroad called again.

"Ms. Dickerson, we'd like to confirm with you one last time: the three-million-dollar sponsorship feeare you sure you want to take it back?"

I took a deep breath.

"I'm sure."

Hazel's SAT scores were terrible; by rights she should only have qualified for a community college.

It was I who tracked down an old administrator at my alma mater and secured that study-abroad spot for her, with a sponsorship of three million dollars a year.

For that spot, I pulled every string and talked myself hoarse.

I told myself she shouldn't lose her whole future over one setback.

But only today did I understand that all of it had been nothing but her revenge.

She'd deliberately turned in a blank exam and tanked it, just to watch me panic, run myself ragged for her, and get played for a fool.

Thinking of all the tutoring sessions I'd sat through with her over the years, all the nights I'd stayed up, I felt it had all been for nothing.

Since she thought her real mother was better in every way.

Then let her real mother take her on trips and pay her sponsorship fees to study abroad.

Early the next morning, Attorney Simmons brought over the agreement to dissolve the adoption.

I signed it without hesitation.

Then I had someone throw everything out of Hazel's room.

All these years, she'd lived in the best bedroom in the housesouth-facing, with its own private bathroom.

There was no need for that anymore.

Once it was all done, I felt light as air, and went to the salon for a treatment.

I'd just lain down when Hazel's newest post came up in my feed.

She was on her way to the airport with her biological mother.

Selfies from every angle, captioned: "The luxury trip begins! Thank you, Mom, for giving me life. Now it's my turn to pay you back. Some people can only sit there and be jealous!"

I let out a cold laugh and blocked her right there.

Less than ten minutes later, my phone rang.

It was Hazel calling, her voice both angry and frantic.

"Mom! The travel agency says the luxury two-person package has been cancelled! What's going on?!"

I had a face mask on, and my voice was calm.

"Little girl, I think you've got the wrong person. Isn't your mother right there next to you?"

There was a beat of silence on the other end, then she blew up.

"Quit the act. My real mom and I are already at the airport. You're doing this on purpose to mess with me, aren't you?"

I smiled.

"Think whatever you want. If you're so capable, go take your trip on your own money."

Hazel choked, and the next second came the sound of a failed payment.

"You shut off my shared payment account too?"

"You're pulling all these stunts just to force me to apologize, right? Fine, I apologize. Now hurry up and turn the shared payment account back on! There are so many people watching."

I was calm.

"Didn't you say your real mother is the best, and all I ever do is control you?"

"Since you don't have any money, then let your real mother pay for it."

Hazel started to panic.

"This is a tour I booked. What gives you the right to just cancel it like that?"

"The fact that I paid for it," I said.

"Whoever pays the money calls the shots."

A jumble of noise came through the phone, someone cursing off to the side.

"So you've got money, big deal? Who wants it!"

"She's kept my daughter from me all these years, and I haven't even made her pay me back for my losses yet, and she's the one putting on airs!"

It was Hazel's biological mother.

Hazel covered the mouthpiece and hissed at her.

"Mom, stop talking!"

Then she started crying at me again.

"Mom, I know I said some harsh things yesterday, but you can't take it this far."

"How about this: you have the travel agency put the trip back on first, and after it's over we can talk, okay?"

I sat up, my voice ice-cold.

"No. Hazel, I already gave you a chance, and you're the one who didn't value it."

"And another thing, I've already signed the papers to dissolve the adoption. From now on you can go live your good life with your real mother."

There was dead silence on the other end.

Then Hazel suddenly changed her tone.

She stopped crying, and her voice was full of hatred.

"You'll regret this!"

"I'm posting on my social media feed right now, so everyone can see just how vicious you are as an adoptive mother!"

I laughed.

"Go ahead."

"But before you post, you'd better think it through. I've got the adoption records from back then, and every last dollar I've spent on you over the years."

"If you want to make a scene, I'll play along."

"I don't mind letting everyone see how I ended up raising such an ungrateful girl."

That shut her up.

A few seconds later, she said through gritted teeth, "You'll regret this."

I hung up immediately and blocked her.

Attorney Simmons sent a message.

"Ms. Dickerson, the legal process to dissolve the adoption is underway. It should take effect within a week."

"Also, I dug up something. I've sent it to your email."

I opened my email and found a security camera clip from two weeks ago.

I clicked play.

Hazel's biological mother, Julia Lambert, was crying to Hazel that they didn't have the money to buy a house for her younger brother's wedding.

Hazel patted her chest and promised she'd handle it.

Then she turned around and asked me for two hundred thousand dollars, saying it was for her graduation trip.

Was she treating me like an ATM?

The last bit of reluctance in my heart vanished.

My phone buzzed again. It was a travel payment link from Hazel.

"Pay it quick, and I'll bring you a gift when I get back."

I let out a cold laugh and ignored it completely.

Then I sent Attorney Simmons a message:

"Do the math for me."

"Every expense on Hazel over these fifteen years, including tuition, tutoring, living costs, medical bills, and travel."

"Make me an itemized list. I'm going to claim back every last cent of it!"