When my stepmother “accidentally” shattered the television that I had been saving for almost a year to purchase, she believed that she had successfully committed the ideal crime.

But there are times when fate has other plans, and the events that transpired with her a month later reaffirmed my faith in the concept of karma.

My life at the age of 23 is not quite what I had envisioned when I was younger.

I am currently working an entry-level job at an advertising agency, which barely covers for my rent and food, even though I am living in a small apartment with one bedroom across town from the house where I spent my youth.

My dad lives with Deborah, the lady he married two years ago, just twenty minutes distant from where I reside.

A backyard and a two-car garage are included in their home, which is a quaint suburban home.

Although it is the kind of place that I would want to acquire someday, for the time being, my small apartment is perfectly adequate for my needs.

My mother passed away when I was 15 years old. During the course of a difficult two-year battle against cancer, which exhausted our family’s emotions and savings, she passed away.

After my mother died away, my father and I were really close.

It was during those terrible months when I felt as though my sadness was going to draw me under that he served as my anchor.

Dad has always been there for me, and he was completely supportive of my decision to move out at the age of 18 to attend college, despite the fact that I was aware that he was uncomfortable in that large, quiet house.

The college experience was challenging but ultimately rewarding. I spent time studying the media, working part-time jobs to pay for things like books and groceries, and gradually figuring out how to become an independent adult.

My father and I maintained a close relationship by talking on the phone every few days and going out to lunch whenever our schedules were compatible.

I was not prepared for the news that my father contacted me with two years ago.

He expressed his concern by saying, “Sophie, honey, I have something to tell you.” I have been seeing a certain person. Deborah is her name, and we have been dating for around half a year at this point. I am aware that it is unexpected, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware of it first.

When I was breathing, I felt a peculiar lurch in my chest.

After spending so much time alone himself, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that Dad had finally found someone to share his life with. On the other hand, another part of me felt protective of Mom’s memory and worried about how this would change the power dynamic between us.

I was able to coax out, “Dad, that’s… that’s awesome.” “I wish for you to experience joy. It would be great to meet her.

It was then that he said, and I could hear the smile on his face, “Actually, we are considering getting married.” I didn’t believe I would be able to feel alive again after the death of your mother, but Deborah makes me feel alive again.

That was the way that I became aware of Deborah.

They hitched the wedding in a private ceremony at City Hall, with only a handful of close friends and family members present, within a span of three months.

Following the wedding, everything went off without a hitch for the most part. Deborah and I did not have many opportunities for conflict because I was living on my own and we only saw each other on limited occasions, such as during holidays or on Sunday dinners.

She appeared to provide joy to her father, and that was the thing that counted the most.

Until I went out and purchased a television.

The issue is, I had been putting money up for a good flat-screen television for more than a year.

After paying my rent, my bills, and my groceries, I put aside whatever remaining cash that I had at the end of each month. In order to increase the amount of money I had available for my television, I avoided going to café hangouts, cooked at home rather than ordering takeaway, and even sold used clothes and books on the internet.

I had a goal, and I was determined to achieve it via hard work and concentration. Although it was difficult to go without much enjoyment, I was determined to achieve it.

I was finally able to save enough money at the end of the previous month.

Before settling on a sleek 43-inch smart TV that had all of the features I desired, I spent a significant amount of time online researching several models, reading reviews, and comparing costs.

One of the nicest days I’d had in a very long time turned out to be the day I carried it home and arranged it in my living room.

Currently, Deborah is the kind of person who always wants “fairness” to be stacked in her favor.

She has a tendency for making you feel guilty if you don’t offer to help her acquire something if she sees someone else with something wonderful, and she will suddenly need it herself if she sees someone else with it.

Deborah and my father came over for dinner one week after I had purchased my television.

Immediately as Deborah entered the room, her gaze was fixed on the television as if it were beckoning her to come in. In the middle of her sentence regarding the drive over, she simply stood there and looked.

“Wow, this is an impressive piece of jewelry,” she exclaimed as she walked straight to it and ran her hand down the sleek black frame, as if she were inspecting it for imperfections. “Henry, are you looking at this picture? It’s so penetrating.”

He grinned and nodded his head. Sophie had been putting money aside for this for a number of months. It was a result of her hard work.

Deborah remarked, “You know, ours is getting old,” while not paying attention to what her father had to say about my endeavor. “The colors are too muted, and there are instances when the sound is interrupted. I think you should try to persuade your father to get me one similar to this, Sophie.

At first, I thought she was joking, and then I laughed softly. “Yeah, perhaps when you guys discover that you have some extra cash. “These are not inexpensive.”

Deborah gave me a strange half-smile that I had never seen before as she turned to face me.

“Well, you could make a contribution, innit? Let me put it this way: you now have it. Would it be possible for you to assist your father and me in acquiring something similar to it?

I couldn’t help but think that she was joking.

“Deborah, I have been saving for this for more than a year,” I told her. It is difficult for me to pay my own bills. Buying another one is not something I could possibly do.

Instantaneously, her smile faded, and her entire demeanor changed as if a switch had been opened and closed. The friendly and talkative Deborah was disappeared, and in her stead was someone who was icy and acerbic.

She mumbled, “Selfish,” loud enough for both my father and I to recognize her words. After all that your father and I have done for you.

A mixture of humiliation and perplexity caused my face to flush. Can you tell me what she thought they did for me?

Since the time I was in college, I had been living on my own, paying my own rent, and purchasing my own food.

I gently answered, “Deborah, I don’t get what you mean,” while attempting to conceal the pain that I was feeling. “I take care of my own business. I’m not making any requests at this time.”

The father was concerned and shifted his position.

“Let’s just eat,” he said in a frenetic manner. “Sophie, I’m starving,” she said.

I made an effort to disregard Deborah’s remark and concentrate on having a pleasant supper, but the atmosphere had become gloomy. For the remainder of the night, she made sarcastic comments about how “nice it must be” to have new goods and how some people “forget family” after they got what they want. She also made comments about how some people “forget family.”

As they were leaving that evening, Deborah took one final moment to stand by the television.

With that phony smile, she continued, “Enjoy it while it lasts,” and she meant it. “You see, these things don’t last forever,” the speaker said.

At first, I believed she was only talking about the breakdown of electronic devices.

Now I see that she was dropping hints about what she intended to do.

After two weeks had passed, Deborah made another visit to my residence.

Her explanation was that she was delivering mail that had been delivered to their residence by accident. She made advantage of the spare key that I had provided to my father in case of an emergency because the timing was right while I was at work.

I was aware that something was not quite right when I arrived home that evening at six o’clock.

After that, I looked at my television.

The screen was shattered into a variety of pieces. Rather than only a crack in a single location or a scratch caused by a brush.

It appeared as though the screen had been subjected to multiple blows, as evidenced by the spiderweb cracks that stretched across it. It appeared as though someone had cracked it multiple times.

I was there for a few minutes, starring at it, trying to make sense of what was going on.

This was not an accident in any way, shape, or form. At the precise location where I had left it, the television was safely positioned on its stand against the wall.

Despite the fact that my hands were shaking, I grabbed my phone and dialed my father’s number in the hopes of receiving an answer that would make this nightmare make sense.

Considering that I was phoning my father’s mobile phone, it was peculiar that Deborah did not pick up the phone until it had rung three times.

She addressed me with a sweet voice that made me feel uneasy. “Hey, Sophie,” she said. “How was your work?”

“Deborah, where is your father? Now is the time for me to have a conversation with him.

There he is, taking a shower. May I be of use to you in some way?

“My television was shattered when someone illegally entered my apartment. It is imperative that you tell me what took place because you were the only person who had a key.

A brief pause transpired.

“Yeah, that… Sweetheart, I am very sorry. It was a complete accident. An accident occurred while I was attempting to assist you by cleaning your living room. My cloth fell. It’s possible that I accidentally got anything on the screen.

I was thinking the same thing. The screen is completely wiped out. It is not from the cleaning process.

This is not from the cleaning department, Deborah. The screen is completely ruined. And what exactly took place?”

Her tone was abrasive as she stated, “I told you it was an accident.” “Obviously, I am in a terrible mood, but unfortunately, things like this do occur.”

“Are you able to put Dad on right now?”

“In spite of the fact that he is still in the shower, I will have him call you back.”

After I had finished my response, she abruptly ended the call, leaving me to stare at the ruins of something that I had labored so hard to achieve.

When Dad called back an hour later, he sounded stiff and uneasy, as if he was aware that this conversation was not going to go well.

“Sophie, my darling, Deborah revealed the events that took place to me. The accident has left her with a heartbreaking feeling.

“Listen, Dad, this was not a coincidence. I am aware that you have feelings for Deborah, but she intentionally damaged my television. It is impossible for this to be a mistake because the damage is so severe.

“I had to put my faith in my wife because she said that it was an accident. But we will assist you in replacing it, all right? Let’s see if we can go shopping for a new one together the following weekend.

Eyes began to flood up with tears. Dad was more concerned with Deborah’s flimsy story than he was with his own daughter’s legitimate concerns.

“Dad, she came here when I was at work, using the key that you provided her, and she purposefully ruined the one lovely thing that I had purchased for myself. “How is it that you are unable to see that?”

“Sophie, I’m not going to have this lecture right now. According to Deborah, it was an accident, and that is the end of it.

I became aware that Deborah had already provided him with her account of the events after he hung up the phone.

Things continued to deteriorate over the course of the following week.

According to reports, Deborah contacted Dad’s sister, his brother, and a number of other family acquaintances, and she told them her charming story about what had occurred.

Her explanation was that she was trying to be helpful to me by cleaning my flat, but she ended up breaking my television by accident. She felt so horrible about it that she offered to replace it.

However, she went on to say that I was “rude” and “hostile,” giving the impression that she had done it on purpose.

The call came from my aunt and cousins, who wanted to know why I was being so rude. Due to the fact that these were folks who had known me for a very long time, I was surprised by how much it hurt.

How could anyone possibly trust the fabricated story that Deborah told?

I was forced to live with a damaged television and a family that had been persuaded against me by Deborah’s falsehoods for the following month. My financial situation prevented me from purchasing a new one, and each time I looked at the broken screen, I felt both angry and helpless.

This is when things start to become interesting, and this is also the point where I started believing in karma once more.

On the evening of a Monday, a month after my television had been destroyed, my father contacted me out of the blue. He gave off an anxious and irritated manner.

“Sophie, you won’t believe what happened,” he added, steering clear of any idle chatter in the process. The entire laundry area was flooded as a result of the washing machine. The wood flooring were ruined, the walls were damaged, and a number of boxes that were stored in the closet were destroyed. In addition, water made its way into the living room and the kitchen.

In the background, I could hear Deborah having a disagreement with another person.

“How did that come to pass?” I inquired about it.

It has been reported to the insurance company that the machine was left running with the door open after someone tampered with the settings. They are claiming that it was negligence, which means that they will not pay for the repairs.

There was no need for me to wonder who was washing the laundry.

The conversation continued with the father saying, “Deborah was on the phone with her friend Karen, boasting about how she was able to effortlessly juggle five tasks at the same time.” When she went upstairs to clean the bedroom, she forgot that the machine was running, and she left the door open while she was moving around.

In that case, what does this imply for you guys? I inquired about it.

It indicates that we are on the hook for everything. Renovated flooring, wall repairs, and the replacement of everything that was destroyed. In order to cover it, Deborah is using some of the money she has saved for fun.

Her savings for her enjoyment money. It was the same amount of money that she had requested assistance from me in order to get a television similar to mine.

“What a shock, Dad. Quite a challenge. I am sorry that you are having to deal with it.

“Yeah, really nicely. The things that happen, I suppose.

When my father informed me of the overall cost of the damage, I did some rapid math in my head. To clean up her mess, Deborah would have to spend around three times as much as I did on my television.

A smile appeared on my face for the first time in weeks as I hung up the phone and stared at my damaged television.

To say that I was happy that my father had to deal with the stress and expense of significant repairs would be an understatement.

But I can’t deny that it seemed as though the universe had brought things to a more even-keeled state.

Sometimes the law of karma operates in peculiar ways, and other times it strikes exactly how you would think it would.