Chapter 2 - The Gate Ambush
Dad stood frozen in the hallway, his jaw slack. The coffee mug in his hand wobbled slightly, dark liquid sloshing over the rim.
"You wouldn't," he choked out, the word escaping him like a burst of air from a punctured tire.
I pulled the phone away from my ear for a fraction of a second, covering the microphone with my palm. "Japan was Lily’s dream, Dad. Eleven years of my life. And you and Claire treated it like a free travel agency."
"They’re already at the airport!" Dad hissed, his voice rising in panic as the reality of the situation crashed down on him. "They’re standing at the gate right now! They’ve been up since four in the morning to drive down to LAX! Claire posted pictures on the family group chat an hour ago!"
"I know," I said coldly, putting the phone back to my ear.
"Mr. Nguyen?" the agent’s voice chimed through the speaker. "I have flagged the entire reservation set as fraudulent. All fourteen PNR records are being un-ticketed and purged from the departure manifest immediately. The security protocol requires us to notify airport station managers and local terminal security when active boarding passes are revoked due to security and fraud flags."
"Please proceed with the full security protocol," I instructed her. "And restore my 340,000 miles to my account immediately."
"Processing the mileage reinstatement now," Sarah said. "It will take effect within a few minutes. Additionally, I am locking your SkyMiles account behind a multi-factor authentication wall that requires a voice biometric and a physical ID verification at a corporate service desk to unlock. No one will ever touch this account again without your face and fingerprints."
"Thank you, Sarah. You saved me."
"Just doing my job, sir. Have a good day."
The line clicked dead. For a second, the hallway was dead silent except for the faint hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Then, the symphony began.
Six minutes. Exactly six minutes after I hung up with the airline fraud department, my phone started vibrating violently in my hand.
The screen lit up with a flashing banner: Claire (Sister) is calling.
I didn't answer. I swiped it away and slid the phone back into my pocket.
Two seconds later, it vibrated again. Mom.
Then came Aunt Denise. Then a string of random, frantic numbers belonging to cousins and uncles who were currently standing in a bustling, crowded terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, watching their dreams of a luxury Bali getaway dissolve into thin air right before their eyes.
Dad’s phone started ringing in his pocket. It didn't stop. It buzzed, chimed, and played ringtones in a relentless, synchronized rhythm. He pulled it out with trembling fingers, staring at the screen where Claire's name flashed relentlessly. He looked at me as if I had just grown a second head, his face a mask of absolute horror and disbelief.
"What... what did you do?" he whispered, his voice trembling. "They’re at the gate, Mark. Boarding was about to start. They scanned their boarding passes, and the gates slammed shut in their faces. The screen flashed red. Security guards came out of nowhere. Claire is crying hysterically. People are staring at them. They’re being escorted away from the jet bridge!"
I didn't feel a single shred of remorse. Not an ounce.
"They tried to board a flight paid for with stolen property using a stolen account and a stolen credit card," I said calmly, stepping past him toward the living room. "In the eyes of federal law enforcement, that’s wire fraud and identity theft. They should be thanking me that I only called the airline and not the LAPD."
"They're your family!" Dad roared, finally losing his composure, his face turning a deep, angry crimson. "How could you humiliate your own sister like that? Over some stupid points? You have a good job! You can buy more points!"
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around, staring him straight in the eye with a fury so cold it burned.
"You have no idea what those points cost me," I said, every word dripping with ice. "You weren't there when I missed Lily’s first dance recital because I was stuck in a Dallas hotel room trying to close a client contract so I could earn double-segment status. You weren't there when I worked eighty-hour weeks for months on end just to keep my job during the corporate restructuring. Those miles weren't 'unused.' They were earned through my absence. Every single mile represented a bedtime story I didn't get to read to my daughter. And you and Claire treated them like a free buffet."
Dad opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. He just stood there, clutching his phone as it vibrated endlessly against his thigh, the harsh electronic ringtones filling the quiet morning house.
Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket again.
I pulled it out, expecting another frantic call from a disgraced relative. But it wasn't a call. It was a notification banner from the airline app.
Your 340,000 SkyMiles have been successfully restored to your account.
I let out a long, shuddering breath of relief. The digital gold was back where it belonged. My daughter’s dream of seeing Kyoto was safe.
But right underneath that notification, a second banner popped up on my screen. This one didn't come from the airline. It came from my banking app.
May you like
Alert: Three additional international travel charges totaling $4,280.50 were processed on your credit card ending in 4418 this morning.
I stared at the screen, my heart skipping a beat. Airline tickets weren't the only thing they had bought.
