My Kids Listed My House on Airbnb While I Was in the Hospital — I Found a Way to Teach Them a Lesson
Mariah had been feeling less than healthy lately, causing her to admit herself into the hospital so that she could have a check-up. But in her absence, her children decided to rent out her house as an Airbnb, ready to pocket the money for themselves. When Mariah found out, she decided to teach her children a lesson.
“Mariah,” my friend Liz said on the phone, “why on earth is your house listed as an Airbnb?”
A phone opened to an Airbnb app | Source: Pexels
“What?” I asked, completely confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Denise was looking for a house to rent for the weekend because it’s her bachelorette weekend, and she came across your house. Aren’t you still in the hospital?” she asked.
A group of women | Source: Midjourney
“Liz, I truly have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, looking at the IV drip away into my bloodstream. “Send me the link to the site Denise saw.”
This is how I taught my children a valuable lesson:
Recently, my blood pressure had been all over the place, causing me to faint at odd moments.
A close-up of an IV | Source: Midjourney
“Mom,” my son, Liam, said, “you need to get it checked out. There’s no point in going to the pharmacy and getting medication over the counter just because you think it’s going to help. You need to get everything assessed properly.”
“And you need to start eating better,” Leah, my daughter, said. “Having oats in the morning, toast during the day, and soup at night isn’t a balanced diet. You’re playing with your health. It’s time to take things seriously.”
A counter at a pharmacy | Source: Midjourney
Leah moved around my kitchen, slicing vegetables to make a salad to go along with the grilled chicken she had been marinating.
“And what about your constant headaches? It’s time to get everything checked out. You should go into the hospital and do a full check-up,” Liam said.
A plate of grilled chicken and salad | Source: Midjourney
“But I feel fine, other than the headaches and dizziness; I’m good!” I retorted.
Both my kids snorted and rolled their eyes at me.
“Do it, Mom,” Leah said, pointing her finger at me.
A young woman pointing and smiling | Source: Midjourney
I had to agree with them. I had been downplaying my health lately. I still walked every second day and did as much yoga as my body would allow during the week.
But still, there was a nagging feeling that something could be wrong.
Women at a yoga class | Source: Midjourney
“Just go to silence that feeling,” Liz said when we met for smoothies after our yoga class one day.
“But what if we find something?” I asked, suddenly nervous to be speaking my thoughts out loud.
“Then, we’ll deal with it together. I know that Paul isn’t here anymore, but I’m here,” Liz said. “And anyway, we need you up and running for Denise’s wedding. I don’t know how to do the mother-of-the-bride things.”
A close-up of smoothies | Source: Midjourney
“I’ll go to the GP and take it from there,” I said. “If he thinks that it’s the way to go, then I’ll do just that.”
“Yes, Mariah,” the doctor said. “I think it’s a great idea for you to go for a full-body check-up. There’s nothing wrong with just knowing your health and body. And I’ll recommend a CT scan for your headaches, too.”
A doctor putting on gloves | Source: Pexels
Which is how I ended up at the hospital, and how my children chose to take advantage of the situation.
“I’ll bring your lunch soon,” the nurse said, smiling at me. “You just rest after your CT scan.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m just going to call my best friend and catch up with her.”
A smiling nurse holding a clipboard | Source: Midjourney
Catching up with Liz meant that hearing that my children had let my house out as an Airbnb for the week that I was scheduled to be in the hospital.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Liz asked me when I called her back after I confirmed that it was my house on the site.
A woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I want to teach them a lesson. Leah and Liam should have known better. But Leah and her husband are always looking for ways to make extra money. I’m sure that Andrew has a gambling problem, too.”
“Tell me what you want me to do,” Liz said, chewing something into my ear.
A couple playing poker | Source: Pexels
“I want you to tell Denise to book it,” I said. “But they’ll recognize that it’s her, so she’s probably going to need to create a new account. Do you think she’ll be okay with that?”
“Of course, she will!” Liz said. “Anything for you. But then what?”
“I’m getting discharged tomorrow,” I said. “But the kids think that I’ll be here until the end of the week. So, let them think that they’re going to make some money off the place.”
A close-up of a woman’s IV and hospital band | Source: Midjourney
“You want Denise to rent the place, but you want to mess it up?” Liz chuckled. “That’s devious.”
“No, my children are devious,” I said.
I hung up the call, and the nurse brought my lunch to me, ready to leave me alone to eat while she did her rounds.
A tray of hospital food | Source: Midjourney
If I was being honest, I didn’t know how I felt about my children’s betrayal. But it hurt me to imagine that while I had been away at the hospital, my children were perfectly fine with having strangers take over my home.
“What were they thinking?” I asked myself.
They hadn’t given a second thought to people using the mugs I had hand-painted, or people sitting in their father’s worn armchair. Paul has been deceased for a few years now, but it still felt like his chair.
An armchair in a living room | Source: Midjourney
“No,” I said to myself. “I’m going to get back at these kids.”
The next morning, I was discharged with a clean bill of health, despite warnings to keep my stress down.
“And keep an eye on your cholesterol, Mariah,” my doctor said. “Eat lots of green leafy vegetables.”
Leafy vegetables on a countertop | Source: Midjourney
I drove myself to Liz’s house, where I was going to wait for Denise to meet me with the keys to my house.
“Are you sure about this?” Liz asked, making me a cup of tea and buttering a lemon and poppy seed muffin.
“Yes,” I said. “And this way, they’ll truly have to feel accountable for their actions.”
A cup of tea with a muffin | Source: Midjourney
I went home a few hours later. There was something different about the house. The smell was different, and I knew for sure that someone else had been staying there.
There was a sweet perfume scent that took over my usual woody-scented house.
I had a long shower, ready to wash away the scent of the hospital that clung to my skin. I was ready for a long sleep in my own bed.
A comfortable bed | Source: Midjourney
For tomorrow, the fun began.
The next morning, I made myself some breakfast and dutifully took the array of vitamins and supplements that the doctor had given me.
Then, I began to pack away all of my appliances.
Appliances in the trunk of a car | Source: Midjourney
“Where are you going to put everything?” Liz asked me when she came over.
“I’m going to put some into the trunk of my car, and we can hide the rest in the garage for now,” I said.
Together, Liz and I emptied out the house, leaving only the old toaster behind.
“Come on,” Liz said, linking her arm in mine. “Let’s get you out of here.”
An old toaster in a kitchen | Source: Midjourney
I waited until Friday, staying with Liz. And then I drove myself home that afternoon.
“Hi Mom!” Leah said excitedly when she saw me pull into the driveway.
“Hi, honey,” I said, taking out my bag from the backseat.
We walked into the house, and there were entirely new appliances all over my kitchen.
A kitchen with new appliances | Source: Midjourney
“What’s all this?” I asked, pretending to be shocked.
“Liam and I thought that you deserved new things!” Leah said, looking at the floor as she spoke.
“No, you didn’t,” I said. “You came back to my home when your guest was supposed to check out and you found everything gone.”
Leah stared at me with her mouth open.
A shocked young woman | Source: Midjourney
“You know?” she said.
“Of course, I do!” I exclaimed. “I took everything! You needed to be taught a lesson. Why would you let my house out?”
Leah blinked slowly.
“Mom,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry. Andrew and I thought that it would be a good idea because it seemed like a great opportunity to make some extra money. Liam said that it was okay as long as nothing was broken.”
A close-up of a young woman | Source: Midjourney
“Darling,” I said, hugging her. “You can’t do this. If you and Andrew need money, you come and talk to me about it. Don’t do things like this. It’s going to ruin our trust.”
My daughter smiled and took my bag from me.
“Come,” she said. “I’ll make you some tea with the new kettle. I’ll return everything else tomorrow. And the money is all yours.”
A fancy kettle on a countertop | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
I Accidentally Answered My Husband’s Work Call — The Voice on the Other End Exposed His Double Life
When Julianne answers her husband’s phone, the furious voice on the other end reveals a devastating secret: her husband has been living a double life. Now, she’ll have to act fast to protect herself and her son from the fallout of her husband’s deceit.
If you’d asked me that morning if I was happy, I would’ve said yes. Maybe not convincingly, but I would’ve said it. That was before the call.
A silhouette of a woman | Source: Midjourney
I spent my days juggling the roles of wife, mother, and school volunteer. My husband, Raymond, was the breadwinner, a mid-level manager who came home late too often these days, citing work stress.
My eight-year-old son, Ethan, was my anchor, and the reason I kept pushing through even when Raymond’s distant eyes gnawed at me.
But I didn’t have time to dwell. Life kept moving, and I was good at keeping up.
Close up of a woman’s face | Source: Midjourney
I’d already seen Ethan off to school on the bus and was leaning in to kiss Ray goodbye when he whirled away from me and grabbed his briefcase.
“I’ve got to rush. Today’s going to be crazy and Mr. Richards must be waiting for me already,” he muttered as he rushed out the door.
I didn’t even notice he’d left his phone on the kitchen table. When it started ringing a few minutes after he left, I answered automatically, thinking it was mine.
A cell phone | Source: Midjourney
“Raymond,” snapped a woman’s voice, sharp and angry. “I warned you! If you don’t get rid of her, I’ll tell everyone I’m pregnant with your child.”
My throat closed up. I knew that voice… it was Vera, my sister!
“I’m done waiting, Ray. This is your last warning. Tell her today, or else!”
Before I could scream or demand answers, the line went dead.
A woman holding a cell phone | Source: Midjourney
I stood there, frozen, the phone clutched so tightly in my hand that my knuckles turned white. Vera had always been the storm to my calm. Beautiful, reckless, and magnetic, she flitted through life, bringing chaos and charm in equal measure.
And now she was pregnant with my husband’s child. They’d been cheating on me… for how long?
A strange, detached instinct kicked in, like my body was operating on autopilot. My thumb hovered over the screen before I unlocked Raymond’s phone, the password I’d seen him type a thousand times burning in my mind.
A woman standing in a kitchen | Source: Midjourney
My fingers trembled as I scrolled through the messages. And there were dozens of texts, a thread of secrets I was never supposed to uncover.
Vera’s words were insistent, pleading: When are you going to tell her? I can’t keep doing this, Ray. She’s clueless.
Then Raymond’s careful, measured replies: I just need more time. I want to do this right. We can’t risk her finding out — it’ll ruin everything.
The bile rose in my throat as I pieced it together. They had a plan, and it was cold, and calculated.
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
They’d leave their marriages in such a way that nobody would suspect their affair. Vera was ready to leave Jack, and Raymond had been weighing how to drop me quietly and cleanly, ensuring his finances remained untouched.
She won’t get a penny, one of his messages read. I’ll make sure of it.
My knees buckled, and I slid to the kitchen floor.
A woman sitting on a floor | Source: Midjourney
The phone slipped from my grasp and clattered onto the tiles, but I didn’t care. I sat there, shaking, the weight of betrayal pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket.
Vera’s voice replayed in my head, layered over Raymond’s careful lies. The two people I trusted most in the world had conspired against me, trading whispers behind my back while I set the table for family dinners and kissed Raymond goodnight.
The betrayal didn’t just sting; it consumed me, a fiery, unrelenting ache that made my vision blur.
An emotional woman | Source: Midjourney
I pressed my hands to my face, trying to block it all out. But it was burned into my mind now. My husband and my sister were plotting my destruction.
For the first time in my life, I felt entirely untethered. But I wasn’t going to let them destroy my life. And I wouldn’t let Ethan suffer for their selfishness.
Anger fueled me, sharpening my focus as I grabbed my keys and headed straight for Vera’s husband’s office.
An office building | Source: Pexels
Jack was the kind of man who could turn chaos into order. He was everything Vera wasn’t: level-headed, meticulous, and about as far from impulsive as a person could get. If anyone could help me, it was Jack.
The office building was quiet. Jack’s secretary wasn’t even there yet; her desk sat empty as I marched past it, my sneakers squeaking against the polished floors.
My heart pounded in my chest as I reached his door and knocked harder than I intended.
A door | Source: Pexels
“Come in,” Jack called, his deep, calm voice carrying through the door.
I stepped inside, and he looked up from his desk, his brow knitting in confusion when he saw me.
“Julianne?” He stood, concern flashing in his sharp, gray eyes. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
I didn’t bother with pleasantries. My hands trembled as I crossed the room and set Raymond’s phone on his desk.
A cell phone on a desk | Source: Pexels
“I have something important to tell you, Jack. It’s about Vera and…” I faltered, my voice catching. “You’ll need to see it for yourself.”
He gestured for me to sit, but I stayed standing. His gaze didn’t leave me as he picked up the phone and scrolled through the messages. With each swipe, his face darkened. His jaw tightened, and his grip on the phone grew rigid.
“Goddammit, Vera,” he muttered under his breath, his calm veneer cracking.
A stressed man | Source: Midjourney
He set the phone down with more force than necessary and pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. I thought he might explode, but instead, he grabbed a notepad from his desk and flipped it open. His movements were precise and deliberate.
“We need a plan,” he said, his tone clipped and businesslike.
I blinked at him, startled by his composure. “You’re not… shocked? Hurt?”
“No, I’m furious,” he said, meeting my eyes.
A furious man | Source: Midjourney
His voice was calm, but there was a dangerous edge beneath it. “Vera’s always been mercurial, but this time she’s gone too far.”
He tapped his pen against the notepad, his jaw set. “I’m filing for divorce. And I’m going to help you do the same. With evidence like this, they don’t stand a chance.”
I sank into the chair across from him, my earlier fury replaced by something steadier.
“Jack,” I said, my voice soft. “Thank you.”
A grateful woman | Source: Midjourney
His lips pressed into a thin line as he began scribbling notes. “Don’t thank me yet. This is going to be messy. But they’ve left us no choice. We’ll have to move fast, even if it means I have to pull some strings. This is what we’re going to do…”
Jack continued taking notes as he outlined his plan. My resolve solidified as I took it all in. I was a little awed by how quickly he calculated each step, but mostly, I was relieved.
I wasn’t alone in this fight. Jack and I would make sure Vera and Raymond paid for their betrayal, and that neither of us would be left picking up the pieces alone.
A lawyer in his office | Source: Midjourney
That evening, Vera and Jack joined Raymond and me for dinner. I’d texted Vera the invite the minute I got home. I’d then called Ray’s office to tell him he’d left his phone at home.
“Oh my God,” he muttered, a hint of panic in his voice. “Just… switch it off and put it in my nightstand drawer, okay?”
“Sure, honey,” I replied. “By the way, Jack and Vera will be joining us for dinner tonight. Could you pick up a bottle of wine on the way home?”
A woman speaking on her cell phone | Source: Midjourney
Next, I arranged for Ethan to sleep over at a friend’s house. By the time we sat down to dinner that evening, all the pieces of Jack’s plan were in place.
I poured a large glass of wine and set it down in front of Vera.
“Oh, no wine for me, Jules.” She pointedly stared at Raymond. “I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I replied. “The first trimester is rough and pregnant women aren’t supposed to drink, are they?”
Wine glasses on a table | Source: Pexels
Vera’s fork clattered against her plate, and Raymond’s hand tightened on the edge of the table.
“Oh, don’t act surprised,” I said. “I know about the affair, the baby, and your little plans to leave me with nothing.”
Jack, who had been waiting for his cue, produced two folders and rose from his seat.
“These are your divorce papers,” he said, slapping one folder down in front of Vera before placing the other in front of Ray. “And these are yours.”
Divorce papers | Source: Pexels
Raymond turned to me, panic flooding his eyes. “Julianne, please…”
“You don’t get to talk!” I snapped, my voice trembling with rage. “You’ve destroyed everything, and for what? Her?”
Raymond looked at Vera, who was openly crying now, then back at me. He didn’t answer. He just stared at the table, defeated.
An emotional man | Source: Midjourney
In the weeks that followed, Jack and I worked like a team. He was relentless in court, helping me secure a settlement that ensured Ethan and I would be fine.
Raymond lost his assets, his reputation, and whatever shred of decency he thought he had left. Jack filed for full custody of his children, and Vera was left scrambling.
The scandal tore through our small town. Everyone knew what had happened, and neither Raymond nor Vera could walk into the grocery store without whispers trailing them.
People in a grocery store | Source: Pexels
One evening, as I watched Ethan play in the yard, I felt a strange sense of peace. My life wasn’t what I thought it was. It was messy, complicated, and painful. But it was mine, and I was free to shape it into something new.
Here’s another story: Mia’s thrilled when her unruly son, Jack, returns from a weekend at Grandma’s house as a model of discipline, but his strange transformation leaves her uneasy. Determined to uncover what happened, Mia’s questions lead her to a dangerous revelation.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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