«Keep out, youre nothing to me,» the daughter snapped before turning away.
«Emily, have you picked a dress for prom yet?» asked Charlotte, spreading out bridal catalogues on the table. «Maybe we could go shopping together?»
Fifteen-year-old Emily glanced up from her phone, her expression icy.
«Why do you care? I have a mum wholl take me.»
«Of course, I just thought» Charlotte caught herself, knowing she was treading on thin ice. «Maybe we could all go? It might be fun.»
«No thanks. Mum can handle it.»
Charlotte sighed and set the catalogues aside. Rain drizzled outside, casting a gloomy mood over the flat. She checked the clocksoon, Daniel would be home from work, and the endless balancing act between wife and stepdaughter would start again.
«Em, what would you like for dinner? Maybe your favourite shepherds pie?»
«Whatever. Im going to Mumsshe made soup.»
Emily stood, grabbing her jacket from the hook.
«Wait,» Charlotte stepped forward. «Lets talk properly. Why do you hate me? What have I done?»
Emily paused at the door, slowly turning back. Her eyes burned with an anger far beyond her years.
«You really dont get it? Or are you pretending?»
«I dont. Honestly.»
«You ruined our family!» Emily spat. «Dad left Mum because of you! And now you act all sweet and caring!»
Charlottes breath caught. She sank into a chair, legs trembling.
«Emily, thats not true. When I met your dad, he and your mum had already split. It was years before»
«Liar!» Emily shouted. «Mum told me everything! How you stole him!»
«Stole him? We worked togetherthats all! Id never»
«Stay out of my life. You dont belong here!» Emily turned and slammed the door.
The words stung worse than a slap. *You dont belong.* Three years of marriage, three years of tryingand she was still an outsider.
Rain blurred the windows as Charlotte wept, the flat silent around her.
When Daniel came home, he took one look at her red-rimmed eyes and sat beside her. «What happened?»
«Emily again,» Charlotte wiped her nose. «She hates me, Dan. Truly hates me.»
«What did she say this time?»
«That I destroyed your family. That I stole you from her mum. Called me an outsider.»
Daniel rubbed his forehead. «Shes just a kid, Char. She doesnt understand.»
«A kid? Shes fifteen! At her age, I was working part-time to help my mum. She acts like a spoiled princess!»
«Dont talk about her like that,» Daniels voice hardened. «The divorce hurt her.»
«That was four years ago! How long does she get to punish me?»
«Just be patient. Shell come around.»
Charlotte stood, pacing. «Patient? Im human too, Dan! Ive tried to love herbut she despises me! And you ignore it!»
Daniel reached for her. «Ira, shes my daughter. I cant abandon her.»
«But youll abandon me?»
«Thats not fair. Youre an adultyou understand.»
«So I just endure the insults because Im *grown*?»
«Emily doesnt mean»
«Did you hear her? *You dont belong here.* Thats not cruelty?»
They stood locked in silence until Charlotte turned, pulling a suitcase from the wardrobe.
«Where are you going?» Daniel grabbed her arm.
«To Sophies. I need space.»
«Youd leave over one fight?»
«Its *every* fight, Dan. Every day, I feel unwelcome in my own home. And you do *nothing*.»
He pleaded, but she was done.
Rain soaked her coat as she hailed a cab, watching Londons grey streets blur past. Shed thought Daniel was perfectkind, devoted, a loving father. Shed welcomed his daughter as her own.
But Emily had rejected her from day one. Coldness turned to cruelty, and Daniel, blind or unwilling, never intervened.
At Sophies flat, her sister hugged her. «Whats wrong?»
«I cant do this anymore,» Charlotte whispered. «Emily called me an outsider. And shes right.»
Sophie sighed. «Have you talked to her mum?»
«Her mum *fuels* this! Tells Emily I wrecked their marriage.»
«But you didnt?»
«Dan was already separated. But Emily believes theyd have reconciled without me.»
«Kids cling to that hope,» Sophie said gently. «Maybe shes scaredif she accepts you, she betrays her mum.»
Charlotte stared out the window. Three years of gifts, help with homework, patienceall met with scorn.
«Love isnt enough when theres no peace,» she murmured.
That night, Daniel called. «I love you,» he said.
«I know,» she replied. «But love cant fix whats broken alone.»
**Life isnt about forcing belonging. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, some doors stay closednot because youre unworthy, but because they were never yours to open. Charlotte closed her eyes, the phone still pressed to her ear, rain tapping gently against Sophies window.
She thought of all the dinners cooked and ignored, the quiet words offered and thrown back, the love poured into a cup that had no bottom.
«I need to find my own peace,» she said softly.
And when the call ended, she tucked the phone away, unclenched her hands, and breathedreally breathedfor the first time in years.
