“Wow, stop with this foolishness! I have taken care of you for a long time, provided a roof over your head, and bought anything you desired. And in what way do you show gratitude? By holding onto a piece of old trash that needed to be tossed in the garbage ages ago?”
I wept silently, completely incapable of preventing the water from falling down my face. “It serves as the final part of her I can grasp…”
“Quit crying, Riley! I am the person running things here. I function as your parent, do you understand? And you must follow my orders. You will put on the expensive dress I bought, the item that proves you belong to my circle. Do not touch that sad clothing.”
As you can probably tell, my stepmother exclusively valued how things looked to others.
During that evening, I sobbed while holding the wrinkled gown against my chest, muttering apologies to a mother who was unable to listen. However, I reached a firm conclusion. I was going to put it on regardless of Kendall’s opinions. I refused to allow her to wipe Eliana’s existence from our property. Not completely, anyway.
Once Owen arrived from work, I chose not to inform him about Kendall’s harsh words or the massive fight we had just experienced.
He said sorry, explaining that he needed to complete extra hours on the date of the dance. Owen worked as a district boss for a storage corporation, and the busy shipping season required his attention.
