When my 16-year-old daughter Rachel saved up every penny from her part-time job to buy her dream sewing machine, she had no idea it would be destroyed out of pure spite. Rachel, full of ambition and creativity, had always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Living mostly with me, she spent weekends with her father and his overbearing wife, Karen — a woman who treated discipline like a weapon.
Despite Rachel’s efforts to please her, Karen found fault in everything. One weekend, after a minor delay in doing the dishes, Karen punished Rachel by throwing her sewing machine into the pool. Rachel called me in tears, and I was enraged. Her father, Mark, stood by and did nothing. That night, I took Rachel home with me and comforted her, but deep down, I knew this cruelty couldn’t go unanswered. And that’s when I decided — Karen was about to learn a lesson she’d never forget…