I’m Lydia, and I’ve been married to Alan for three years. He’s amazing but his sister, Rachel, has treated me like trash from day one. She thinks I’m beneath their family because I work as a waitress while pursuing my dream of being an artist. So imagine my shock when Rachel suddenly invited me to her son Ashton’s birthday. She’d never invited me to anything before. I stupidly thought maybe she was trying to make peace. Wrong.
As soon as I walked in, she dragged me aside and said, “I told the moms you’re an artist. You’ll be doing face painting and maybe some balloon animals.” I was stunned. She wanted me to buy my own supplies, work for free, and entertain her guests like I was the hired clown. When I tried to say no, she humiliated me in front of the other moms, saying I should “finally contribute something meaningful.”
I almost walked out but then I saw Ashton smiling. He didn’t deserve the fallout. So I agreed… and plotted. I bought supplies, returned, and gave the kids the best face painting they’d ever seen. Everyone raved Rachel soaked up the praise like she’d hired a pro. So I offered to paint her face, too. She eagerly agreed. With the moms watching and phones recording, I gave her a masterpiece: full clown makeup, complete with a red nose, glitter, and rainbow dots. When she saw herself, she screamed. Her humiliation? Priceless.
I handed Ashton his gift, gave Rachel a sweet smile, and said, “Next time you try to humiliate someone, make sure they don’t have more talent in one brushstroke than you have in your whole body.” As I left with my husband, I looked back at Rachel still covered in glitter, shrieking in her driveway. And I thought, Never mess with the artist especially not one with a sense of justice and a bag full of paint.