A Bottle of Water Ruined My Life

My cousin, Lexie Wood, showed up in Cedarbrook over the Memorial Day weekend without making a reservation. She had nowhere to stay, so she practically begged me to let her stay at my bed-and-breakfast. At the time, I couldn't bring myself to turn her away. I thought I was doing her a favor. To my dismay, she refused to pay a single dime when it was time for her to check out. Worse still, she left me a nasty one-star review. "What kind of dump doesn't even provide bottled water? Yet, you still have the nerve to charge people to stay here?" I was furious, but I swallowed my anger and let it go. I thought that would be the end of it. Little did I know, the worst had yet to come. Lexie came storming back into my B&B three months later, pointing an accusing finger at me. "This is all your fault! I would've taken my morning-after pill in time if you'd left a bottle of water in my room! Now, I'm pregnant. You've ruined my life! I want compensation for emotional distress, child support, everything! You owe me three million dollars!" Of course, I refused to give her a single cent. Alas, Lexie didn't back down. Instead, she took her accusations straight to our family group chat. She even filed complaints against my B&B, intent on making my life miserable. The constant trouble eventually wore me down, leaving me no choice but to close the business. Losing my B&B meant losing my only source of income, which meant I couldn't afford the medical bills for my seriously ill mother. Not long after, she passed away. I was devastated. I'd lost my business, failed to save my mother, and had nothing left but grief and regret. In the end, I lost my own life, too. I thought everything was over. Suddenly, I opened my eyes again, and I was back on that fateful Memorial Day weekend—the day Lexie first came looking for a place to stay. Somehow, I'd been given a second chance. And there she was, standing right in front of me with her suitcase in hand, wearing that same sweet smile I now knew was completely fake. "Hey, June! Any chance you could squeeze me in at your B&B for a few days?"