My future stepmother told my orphaned little brothers that they would soon be “sent to a new family” – so we gave her the toughest lesson.

We were slowly building a family from the ashes of the fire that had taken my parents. However, there was one person who was determined to destroy us.

A woman looking out of a window | Source: Pexels
A woman looking out of a window | Source: Pexels

Joyce, Mark’s mother, hated my brothers.

Joyce always acted as if I were using Mark.

I have a stable job, yet she accuses me of “using her son’s money” and insists that Mark “save his resources for his REAL children.”

She saw the twins as a burden that I had conveniently placed on her son’s shoulders.

A frustrated older woman | Source: Pexels
A frustrated older woman | Source: Pexels

“You’re lucky Mark is so generous,” she commented one day at a dinner party. “Most men would have given up on such a wealth of experience.”

She described as baggage two traumatized six-year-old children who had lost their entire world.

An elderly woman holding a cup | Source: Pexels
An elderly woman holding a cup | Source: Pexels

“You should focus on designing your own children,” she once said.

I told myself that she was just a horrible, lonely woman, and that her words had no power.

She acted as if the boys didn’t exist during family dinners, while giving Mark’s sister’s children hugs, small gifts, and extra dessert.