My Dad and Stepmom Took Their Daughter on Vacation Without Me — I Made Sure They Had No Home to Return To

When my dad remarried, I told myself I could live with it. He deserved to be happy after my mom passed away. But deep down, I knew something about his new wife, Vanessa, didn’t sit right with me. Maybe it was the way she smiled too sweetly when he was around, or how she looked at me when he wasn’t, like I was a piece of clutter left behind by his old life.

At first, I tried to make it work. I was fifteen when they got married, still trying to figure out how to exist in a world without my mom. Vanessa had a daughter, Mia, who was eight at the time. She was quiet and shy, always hiding behind her mother’s legs when I tried to talk to her. I didn’t blame her. Divorce, remarriage, and new homes were confusing for kids.For a while, things were… tolerable. We weren’t a happy family by any means, but we were functional. Slowly, Vanessa began to change the rules.