Some families show appreciation with thank-you cards or a heartfelt phone call. Others throw you a nice dinner, applaud your contributions, announce your «retirement» from financially supporting them, and then quietly stick you with a $600 bill.

That was the situation here, where one woman had spent a decade acting as her family’s personal bailout fund by covering business leases, medical bills, rent, car payments, and every crisis her brother wandered into. When her family decided she was done paying, they literally threw a party to mark the occasion. It was bizarre, but at least it was over.

Or so she thought.