I bought my dream car—a Porsche—but the very next day my dad snatched the keys, saying it was his right because he had “paid for my education.” When I confronted him, a few hours later he called my office and coldly said, “I burned your car. Don’t come home.” I rushed over in panic, but then burst out laughing because the car he burned was actually…

I bought my dream car—a graphite-gray Porsche 911 Carrera—and for the first time in years I felt like my life was finally mine. I’m Luca Moretti, thirty-two, an operations manager in Newark, and I’d spent a decade doing everything “responsible”:…