My Stepdaughter Locked Me out of the House – Then I Found Out Why

At night, I listened for her footsteps, terrified she might drown in grief.

I became her only parent overnight… but never legally.

I didn’t adopt her. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t want to take something that wasn’t mine to claim.

Her mother was still out there somewhere.

And I told myself love didn’t need paperwork to be real.

Lily grew up. Graduated high school with honors. Got a part-time job at a bookstore.

Started talking about college.

She wasn’t the little girl who used to fall asleep on my shoulder during movies anymore.

We were close, but different. She was building her own life, and I was proud of that. Proud and a little heartbroken in the way every parent is when their child stops needing them quite so much.

The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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