My mother passed away five years ago. Afterward, my father married a woman who has three children, each from a different father: a 3-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl, and a 17-year-old boy. It was never a problem for me, but it was a difficult situation because I was still hurting from my mother’s death, though I never said anything.
I was studying medicine abroad, but the problems began when I went back home for vacation to see my father. My brother, who also lives abroad, came along as well. When we arrived, we discovered that my stepmother didn't want us in the house; she felt we should have booked a hotel. This made no sense since no one in our family had ever done that when visiting, and the house is very large.
Later, my sister-in-law told me that my stepmother had been saying a lot of bad things about me. She excluded my brother and me from everything—she took no photos with us and didn't want us to go out with them. Since I wanted to quit medicine anyway, I saw everything as a sign to move back and live with my father again. That is what I did, but she hated it.
Even though I barely leave my room, she still makes comments about me living with my father at my age (I’m 27). The thing is, I went to study medicine but had to stop for two years to care for my mother while she had cancer. I went back to my studies after she passed, but I struggled with severe depression and eventually quit. Now, I don’t have a job and have just started a new course at university, so I don’t know exactly what she expects me to do.
Everyone in our family has started to dislike her because of how she treats my brother and me. My father does everything he can for her children; since he is retired, he takes care of them at home all day while she works. He also pays for everything and even helps her with her job. She wants a "perfect" family consisting only of herself, my father, and her three children. She doesn't want my brother and me in the picture, which is why she can't stand me living there.
I’m serious when I say I stay in my bedroom 99% of the time. My father actually has to ask me to come out and "live a little." I don’t even speak to her, yet she still can’t stand it. In conclusion, my father is now filing for divorce.
u/Apprehensive_Hand221
u/Apprehensive_Hand221 — 14 days ago