“Stay out of it, youre not family,” the girl snapped, turning her back.
“Emily, have you picked a dress for the prom yet?” Sarah asked, spreading bridal catalogues across the kitchen table. “Maybe we could go shopping together?”
The fifteen-year-old stepdaughter lifted her eyes from her phone and fixed Sarah with an icy glare.
“Why do you care? I already have a mum to take me.”
“Of course, I just thought” Sarah felt the familiar sting of rejection. “Maybe the three of us could go? It might be fun.”
“No. Mum can handle it.”
Sarah sighed and pushed the catalogues aside. Outside, rain drizzled against the windows, casting a dreary gloom over the flat. She checked the clocksoon, Daniel would be home from work, and the endless tightrope walk between husband and daughter would begin again.
“Emily, what do you want for dinner? I could make your favouritesteak and ale pie?”
“I dont care. Im going to Mums. She made beef stew.”
The girl stood, grabbed her coat from the rack.
“Emily, wait.” Sarah moved toward her. “Lets talk properly. Why do you hate me? What have I ever done to you?”
Emily stopped at the door and slowly turned. Her eyes burned with a fury far beyond her years.
“You really dont get it? Or are you just pretending?”
“I dont. Honestly.”
“You tore my family apart!” the girl spat. “Dad left Mum because of you! And now you act all sweet and caring like youre some kind of saint!”
Sarahs breath caught. She sank onto a chair, legs unsteady.
“Emily, thats not true. When I met your dad, he was already living separately. They divorced long before”
“Liar!” Emily shouted. “Mum told me everything! How you stole him, how you schemed behind her back!”
“What schemes? Emily, I just worked with your dadwe only talked”
“Stay out of it. You dont belong here.”
The words hit Sarah harder than a slap. *Dont belong.* After three years of marriage, after every effort to bridge the gapshe was still an outsider.
The door slammed. Sarah was alone in the empty flat. Tears shed held back for too long spilled over.
When Daniel came home, he took one look at her red-rimmed eyes.
“What happened?” He sat beside her on the sofa, hand on her shoulder.
“Emily again.” Sarah wiped her nose with a tissue. “Dan, she hates me. Really hates me.”
“What did she say this time?”
“That I destroyed your family. That I stole you from her mum. Called me an outsider.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead, exhaling slowly.
“Sarah, weve been over this. Shes just a kidshe doesnt understand”
“A kid? Dan, shes fifteen! At her age, I was working part-time to help my mum. Your daughter acts like some spoiled princess!”
“Dont talk about her like that.” His voice hardened. “The divorce was traumatic for her.”
“That was four years ago! Four, Daniel! When does it end?”
“Sarah, pleasejust give it time. Shell come around, see youre not the enemy.”
Sarah stood, pacing the room.
“Time? How much more time? Im human too, Dan! I have feelings! Ive tried so hard to love her, and she”
“And she what?”
“She despises me! And you refuse to see it!”
Daniel moved toward her.
“Sarah, I know this is hard. But Emilys my daughter. I cant abandon her.”
“But you can abandon me?” she asked quietly.
“What? Thats notyoure an adult, you understand”
“So Im supposed to just take the insults? Because Im grown?”
“Sarah, dont twist this. Emilys not insulting you, shes just”
“Not insulting me?” Sarah let out a bitter laugh. “Did you hear what she said? You dont belong here. Thats not an insult?”
“She was upset”
“And Im not? It doesnt hurt me?”
They stood facing each other, and Sarah realisedhe would never choose her. His daughter would always come first.
“You know what?” She walked to the bedroom, pulled a bag from the wardrobe. “While you figure out your priorities, Ill stay at my sisters.”
“Sarah, dont be ridiculous! Where are you going?”
“To Claires. I need to think.”
“Over one argument? Youd throw away our marriage?”
Sarah stopped in the doorway.
“Dan, this isnt one argument. Its every day. Every single day, I feel like an intruder in my own home. And you do nothing to change that.”
“What am I supposed to do? Punish my daughter for loving her mother?”
“You could make it clear you chose me. That Im your wife. That she has to respect that.”
“Sarah”
“No, Dan. Im done apologising for loving you. For marrying you.”
She packed essentials into the bag and headed for the door. Daniel followed.
“Sarah, stay. Well work this out.”
“Work it out?” She turned. “Weve been working it out for three years. And whats changed? Emily still hates me. You still defend her.”
“Im not defendingIm trying to understand”
“Understand what? That your daughter has the right to disrespect your wife? That she gets to treat me like dirt and I just take it?”
Sarah pulled on her coat, grabbing her keys.
“I cant live like this anymore, Dan. I cant spend every day proving I belong in my own house.”
“What about our plans? The baby we talked about?”
Sarah froze, hand on the doorknob.
“What baby, Dan? In a house where your daughter hates me? Where Im an outsider? Can you imagine how shed treat our child?”
“Shed come around”
“To what? That Im never leaving? She doesnt want that! She wants you back with her mum!”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Sarah, I dont know what to do. I love you both.”
“You cant love us the same. Ones your daughter. Ones your wife. Its different. And if you cant see that, we dont have a future.”
She opened the door, but Daniel caught her wrist.
“Wait. Lets talk to Emily together. Explain”
“Explain what? That she has to love me? Love isnt something you explain, Dan. You earn it. How do I earn love from someone who blames me for everything?”
“Sarah, please”
“I need time, Dan. To figure out if I can keep living like this.”
She stepped into the rain, leaving him standing in the doorway.
On the bus to her sisters, Sarah stared at the grey streets of London, wondering when everything had gone wrong. When she met Daniel, hed seemed perfectkind, thoughtful, a devoted father. Shed been ready to embrace his daughter as her own.
But Emily had made it clear from day oneshed never accept a stepmother. The coldness, the distance, then open hostility. And the worst part? Daniel refused to see it.
Claire opened the door, eyes widening.
“Sarah? Youre soakedwhats wrong?”
“Can I stay? Maybe longer than just tonight.”
“Of course. Did you and Dan have a row?”
Sarah dropped onto the sofa.
“Worse. I think our marriage was a mistake.”
“Dont be daft. You love each other.”
“We do. But its not enough when theres a third person in the way.”
“Emily again?”
“Always Emily. Claire, I cant do it anymore. Today she told me I dont belong. And the worst part? Shes right.”
Claire sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Have you tried talking to her mum? Maybe she could help?”
“Are you serious? Her mums the one poisoning her against me! Telling her Im some homewrecker who stole Daniel away.”
“What really happened?”
Sarah stood, moving to the window.
“Daniel was honest from the start. Said hed been separated for months, that the divorce was final. I believed him. Turns out his ex still hoped theyd reconcile.”
“But he didnt go back?”
“No. Divorced her, married me. But Emily thinks if Id never existed, theyd be back together.”
“Maybe they wouldve.”
Sarah spun around.
“You think this is my fault too?”
“No! But for a kid, divorce is devastating. Especially when a stepmums involved.”
“I tried, Claire. Three years of gifts, cooking her favourite meals, helping with homeworkand all I get is contempt!”
“Maybe she just needed more time?”
“How much more? Another three years? Five? Ten? I want a family, Claire. But how can I bring a baby into a house where Im hated?”
Claire sighed.
“What does Dan say?”
“To be patient. Says shell adjust. But shes only getting worse.”
“Have you ever talked to her alone? Without Dan?”
“Tried. She wont even listen.”
Sarahs phone buzzedDaniel.
“Dont answer yet,” Claire said. “Take a moment.”
But Sarah already picked up.
“Hello?”
“Sarah, where are you? Im worried.”
“At Claires. I need space, Dan.”
“How long?”
“I dont know. A day, a week. I need to figure out if I can live like this.”
“What do I tell Emily?”
“The truth. That your wife wont tolerate being disrespected.”
“Sarah”
“Dont, Dan. Not now.”
“I love you.”
“I know. And I love you. But love isnt enough without peace.”
She hung up, looking at Claire.
“You know what hurts most? I really wanted to be a mother to her. Not replace her mumjust be there for her. But she wouldnt let me.”
“Maybe shes scared?”
“Of what?”
“That if she loves you, shes betraying her mum. Kids think like that sometimes.”
Sarah considered it. Maybe Claire was rightEmilys anger was just armour.
“But what can I do if she wont even talk to me?”
“I dont know, Sarah. Its complicated.”
They sat at the kitchen table late into the night, Claire sharing stories of friends whod struggled with stepfamilies.
“My mate Lucy married a bloke with two kids,” Claire said. “First few years were hell. The kids rejected her, the husband was torn. But it got better.”
“How?”
“Lucy had a baby. The older kids realised she wasnt going anywhere. Stopped hoping their parents would reunite.”
“And if that doesnt work?”
“Then you choose. Accept it as it is, or walk away.”
Sarah slept on Claires sofa, but rest wouldnt come. Memories flickeredmeeting Daniel, falling for him, dreaming of a happy family. Now that family was crumbling because of one girls unforgiving heart.
The next morning, her phone rangan unknown number.
“Sarah? Its Helen, Emilys mother. Can we talk?”
