My mother chose a man over me: how she betrayed me for a stranger
My name is Valentine, Im 17, and Im from Marseille. I kept this story hidden for years, silent, but now Im ready to tell it. Maybe someone will see themselves in it, maybe someone will rethink their actions, or at least a mother will think twice before betraying her own daughter, as mine did.
My parents split when I was ten. I cant say we were a happy family beforearguments, accusations, a cold distance lingered even when I didnt understand everything. After the divorce things got worse. My mother and father seemed to fight over my attention, not out of love but out of obligation. I was shuffled from one apartment to another, like a suitcase with no clear purpose. My fathers place was cramped but calm; my mothers house was spacious, yet each year the atmosphere grew more suffocating.
Everything collapsed when a new man entered my mothers life. His name was Christian. He was in his thirties, almost ten years younger than my mother, and he immediately acted as if he owned the house, while I was merely a nuisance. At first he wore a polite smile, pretending to be interested in me. Soon enough the façade fell. He didnt want me living with my mother. He resented my mother spending money on me. He had no problem loudly declaring that my father was irresponsible, that I was a burden, and that I should already walk on my own.
He manipulated my mother, coaxing money from her, convincing her that she didnt need a teenage daughter, that she needed freedom and to look after herself. And my mother she listened. She no longer noticed my nighttime tears. I would gather my books silently in the kitchen just to avoid crossing their paths. I would lock myself in the bathroom for an hour, sitting in the silence.
The final straw came one night when I heard them arguing again. The shouting was so fierce the windows trembled. I left my room and placed myself between them, trying to protect my motherI feared he would strike her. Instead, he stared at me with such rage that my heart clenched. I shouted, Enough! Dont yell at her! and immediately received a hard, crushing blow. He struck my face so fiercely I fell, hitting the corner of a wardrobe. Everything blurred. I only remember my mothers scream and then silence.
I thought he would leave. That my mother would usher him out, hug me, call a doctor, tell me how much she loved me. I hoped for that. I stared into her eyes, searching for a rescue. She whispered, You ruined everything. An hour later she told me I had to go live with my father.
I packed my things in silence, my heart torn from its roots. I didnt cry. I didnt scream. I simply left, realizing I no longer had a home.
Now I live with my father. He does his best, but we lack the closeness I desperately craved with my mother as a child. I no longer expect her to call, apologize, or visit Yet deep inside I remain that little girl waiting for her mother to open the door and say, Forgive me, my child. That moment will never come. She chose a manshe chose him, the one who hit his own child.
I wish her no harm, but I know one day he will leave her. He will find someone younger, prettier, more compliant. He will abandon her. Perhaps then she will remember me. By then I will no longer be the one who forgives everything, because a mothers betrayal is a wound that never heals.
I say this to all parents: dont have children if you arent ready to be there for them, if you cant place them above your romantic dramas. We children are not responsible for the choices of your hearts. We never asked to be born. But if you chose to bring us into the worlddont betray us.
Mom, if you ever read this know that I survived. I got back on my feet. I am strong. But I will never come to you crying, as I once did. You are no longer my mother. You are just a woman who gave me life once.
My Mother Chose a Stranger Over Me: How She Betrayed Our Bond for an Outsider
