“You are not my father.” As he recalls years of attempting to mend the rift with his stepdaughter, those remarks continue to
haunt him. He has supported her through every step of the way—until now—despite being excluded from her life. “No more,” he’s finally saying, with a bill on the table. How do you feel about his difficult decision?
When my sons were four and eight years old, my wife di:ed.
I got married again after that, and I’ve been married to my new wife for eleven years. She was previously married and has a daughter from that union. The tale of her ex-husband is a long one, but let’s just say that he is still alive but no longer involved in their lives.
My stepdaughter was twelve and my biological children were nine and thirteen when we got married. I made an effort to build some bridges for eleven years; I would give her presents and make sure she always received what she wanted. I tried my hardest to make her happy.
I paid for the best private schools I could find for her, and I would accompany her to school and her extracurricular activities. In addition, my wife selected to become a housewife after she willingly left her marketing career, so I worked day and night to provide her with the lifestyle she deserved. She still detested me despite my best efforts to treat her the same as my sons.
Approximately five years ago, when my stepdaughter graduated, this reached a breaking point.
