My daughter Emily's university scholarship was our only hope, our ticket out of our struggling life.
Then the email arrived: she didn't get it.
Instead, the scholarship, her dream, was awarded to my ex-husband Rick Thompson' s mediocre stepson, Kyle.
I knew instantly this was Rick's manipulation, a blatant act of corruption for his own political gain and social status.
Desperate, I confronted him at his public campaign BBQ, bringing my Medal of Honor father's cherished military case as a symbol of integrity.
But Rick, his new wife Brenda, and his mother Eleanor didn't listen to reason.
They publicly shamed me, mocking my struggles and dismissing my father's heroic legacy as a "sob story."