Activation suggests my permanent license needs to be upgraded to open

[FrankC18]

I only have occasional need to use Parallels so it's been a while since I've tried to use it. When I opened Parallels last night, I was greeted with a message that states that I have a permanent license to Parallels Desktop 18 but then provides a button to upgrade. I don't want to upgrade, don't feel I should have to upgrade since I have a permanent license, yet no matter what I do, it's trying to force me into an upgrade (for another $120, of course). There is a blue "Activate" button but when I click that and enter the key for v18, it suggests that, to activate, I need to purchase v27. Does a permanent license no longer mean permanent? If not, why is it called permanent? If permanent does mean permanent, then how do I get past the upgrade buttons to actually activate v18 ... a version that I purchased just 3 years ago for this same M2 MBP and have never activated on a different machine ... and not be forced into yet another purchase?