sbandChapter 3
, David, was a divorcee.
Brittany was his daughter with his ex–wife, Michelle, who ditched them when Brittany was three.
Michelle was already knocked up by some other dude.
She didn’t want custody; she just wanted David’s fancy SUV.
She didn’t take the house because it was in
く
David’s parents‘ name.
When David and I got married, Brittany was in
second grade.
She was being raised by her grandma and always had a dirty face and snotty nose.
She was kind of a mess, and the other kids at
school bullied her.
I came into the picture, and because I
couldn’t get pregnant, I started treating her
like my own.
Slowly, she started to blossom.
<
I signed her up for expensive tutoring, art
classes, riding lessons, summer camp.
I helped her with her homework and practiced
sports with her.
She went from failing grades to landing in the
top of her class by fifth grade.
I poured my savings into her, but David’s
family never asked how much the music
lessons cost.
Her grandma just said I was showing off.
I was just trying to show off, huh?
<
Three years after the wedding, I finally got
pregnant.
David was ecstatic.
His mom was thrilled, too.
But Brittany, playing with her toy cars, drove one right under my feet and sent me sprawling with a pot of hot soup in my hands.
I miscarried and burned my arm.
Brittany cried and said she was sorry, that it was an accident, that she didn’t see me coming out of the kitchen when she hit the remote control.
<
She was ten years old, sobbing, terrified.
I believed her.
But I never got pregnant again.
I didn’t push it, though. I still had Brittany.
Back then, she loved me, clinging to me, calling me “Mommy” a million times a day.
She’d rest her chin on my shoulder and look up at me while I did chores.
But Aunt Carol and Grandma would always bring up Michelle, at the worst moments.
<
They would share some story about how
much her real mom loved her as a child.
Then Michelle started showing up to visit Brittany for weekends.
Slowly, Brittany started to hate me.
By the time she was in middle school, that
hate turned to pure rage.
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