My New Husband’s Daughter Insulted Me In Front Of My Family. When I Confronted Her, He Humiliated Me And Said, “She’s Not Your Daughter. Don’t Correct Her.” I Just Smiled And Said, “Fine.” The Next Morning, Her Car, Tuition, And Allowance Were All Gone.

Part 6

The following Tuesday morning, my doorbell rang.

Sloane stood on the porch with a small suitcase. Her eyes were red, and the morning wind lifted strands of hair across her face.

“My dad changed the locks,” she whispered. “He said if I chose you, I could live with the consequences.”

I looked at the suitcase.

“No,” I said. “You’re finally living with his.”

I did not immediately invite her inside.

Kindness no longer meant abandoning common sense.

Sloane’s mother agreed to take her temporarily, and Michael drove her there. I paid for nothing. I did, however, give her Marcus’s number and copies of the emails she had brought me.

That Friday morning, I stood before my bedroom mirror fastening the pearl earrings Andrew had given me on our twenty-fifth anniversary.

My fingers ached.

Sloane waited in the hallway.

“You don’t have to attend the luncheon,” she said.

“Yes, I do.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”