Yeah, that woman cannot stand me.
It all started 7 years ago, after my mom passed away from a cold that just wouldn’t go away. Before I knew it, my dad was seeing Carla, and a year later, he married her.
“Your father doesn’t waste any time, does he?” my aunt sniffed on the day of the wedding. “And who is Carla anyway? She’s nothing compared to your mom!”
Carla was fine at first. I mean, she tried hard to get me on her side. But slowly, the passive-aggressive jabs started piling up. I remember once, I caught her staring at me.
“You look too much like your mother, Emily,” she said. “It actually pains me to look at you. No wonder your father gives Mason more attention. He’s closer to Mason right now, isn’t he?”
I sighed and ignored her, trying not to let her words get to me.
My dad, of course, didn’t notice a thing. It was like he couldn’t—or just wouldn’t—see how Carla treated me. And she loved that. She loved being the only one ready to taunt me.
Anyway, fast forward to prom season. Like every other girl in my class, I was dreaming of the perfect night. I saved up enough babysitting money for months to buy a gorgeous violet dress.
I couldn’t help but wish that my mother was around to spend these moments with me.
But that’s why I chose the violet dress. It was her favorite color.
Prom was going to be my night. I just knew it.
Whenever I thought about it, I just felt like something magical was going to happen at prom. To make myself feel even better, I booked a hair appointment at a fancy salon. All my friends were going there too.
Everything was set.
But then the big day came, and Carla made sure to ruin it.
I went to the salon, all excited, but when I got there, the receptionist looked at me, confused.
“Emily? Are you sure?” she asked, looking at her computer screen. “Zelda told me that you canceled?”
“I didn’t!” I exclaimed. “Why would I? Prom is this evening!”
“Calm down, honey,” the receptionist said. “I’ll get Zelda.”
I waited impatiently while she went to get the hairdresser. Finally, they returned.
The hairdresser looked uncomfortable.
“I got a call earlier today saying that you wanted to cancel your appointment, Emily. I assumed that it was your Mom?”
My heart dropped. Canceled? How? I didn’t cancel it! What mom?
I was still processing everything when I looked over and saw her.
Carla.
Sitting there, getting her hair done. Of course.
She saw me and just smirked, her eyes cold as steel. Carla had canceled my appointment.
“Is there any way that you could still schedule me in?” I asked Zelda.
She shook her head sadly.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “When your appointment was canceled, a woman called in and booked her own. All of our slots are taken. I’m sorry, honey.”
I stood there in shock. So, Carla had called pretending to be me? Pretending to be my mom? And then she took my appointment so that she could watch me be disappointed?
Sick.
I barely managed to keep it together as I ran out of the salon, my head spinning. I felt nauseous.
My perfect prom? It was just falling apart around me. By the time I got home, I locked myself in my room, tears pouring down my face.
I sat at my dressing table trying to fix my hair on my own, but nothing looked good. I felt stupid for telling Carla my plans in passing.
See what had happened?
I looked at my dress, hanging off a hanger.
I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to go to prom anymore.
I sat there, looking at my makeup sitting on my dressing table and wondered if it was even worth it. I mean, what was the point? I was already upset and didn’t feel like anything good was going to come from this.
Suddenly, I heard this loud honking outside. I ignored it at first, thinking it was just a random car.
A teenage girl’s dressing table | Source: Midjourney
A teenage girl’s dressing table | Source: Midjourney
But it didn’t stop.
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and dragged myself to the window, fully expecting to see commotion on the road. But when I looked out, my jaw dropped.
A glossy black limousine was parked in front of our house.
I thought it was some sort of mistake. There was no way that the car was for me. My friends’ parents had said no when we first talked about it months ago. But still, I ran downstairs.
I stood at the doorway, waiting for something to happen. The driver stepped out and walked up to our front door. My dad, who had been as clueless as ever during all of this, stood on our porch, looking as confused as I felt.
“I’m here for Miss Emily, sir,” the driver said, holding out a small card.
Miss Emily? Me?
“She’s right here,” my dad said, nodding to me.
I hesitantly took the card from my dad’s hand and opened it. Inside, written in neat handwriting, were the words:
To my beautiful sister, Emily. I know you’ve had a rough time lately, but you deserve the best night ever! Enjoy the limo, and don’t worry about a thing. I’ve been saving all my birthday and Christmas money.
Have a magical night, sis.
Love, Mason.
Mason? My 11-year-old brother did this?
I burst into tears all over again, but this time from pure shock and gratitude. I ran upstairs to find Mason in his room, grinning like he’d just pulled off the ultimate prank.
“I heard Mom on the phone this morning,” he said, shrugging like this wasn’t a big deal. “I knew that it wasn’t fair at all.”
Turns out that he had overheard Carla canceling my hair appointment, and in true little brother fashion, took matters into his own hands.
“But did you really use your money?” I asked him, feeling horrible.
“Not really,” he grinned. “See, Mom has been saving up money to buy some fancy diamond necklace. She’s been showing Dad the necklace, hoping that he would get it for her. But he said no.”
Good for you, Dad, I thought.
“Anyway, after I heard her phone call, she left home. So, I took some of the money from her stash, and went to Mr. Johnson next door. He owns the limo company, remember?”
But Mason didn’t stop there.
“There’s more, Em,” he said. “Mrs. Evans, from across the road? Her daughter is a stylist at the mall. She’s coming here to do your hair and makeup soon.”
Just as the words left his mouth, the doorbell rang.
“That should be her!” Mason said. “Go wash your face, I’ll send her up.”
When did Mason grow up? I wondered as I did what he said.
Twenty minutes later, I went from crying in my bedroom to looking like a princess. I just wished my mom was around to fuss over me. To take endless photos and tell me how proud she was of me. I wanted a hug from her more than anything.
But still, Mason had saved prom!
When Carla drove into our driveway, I was already outside, stepping into the limo like a movie star. Her jaw dropped. And she got out of the car and just stood there, stunned.
Her face? Oh my God. I wish I had a picture of her expression. I would have stuck it on my mirror!
“Richard? Did you do this?” I heard her shriek to my father before the driver closed the door.
Moments later, the driver whisked me away.
Prom was everything I had hoped for. When I arrived at the hall in the limo, heads turned. I was glowing, and I knew it. For the first time in a long time, I felt like my mom was right there with me.
The whole night was pure magic. Dancing, laughing with my friends, and just forgetting all the drama at home.
As for Carla, I hope she learned a lesson. You can’t mess with someone’s joy and get away with it… especially if your son is going to come in and save the day!
What would you have done?
My Mom Promised Me Our Family’s Lake House – After I Paid for Renovations, She Gave It to My Sister Instead
Katie’s mom PROMISED the family’s lake house would be hers one day. When she handed over the keys, Katie spent a year fixing the place, pouring her life savings into every detail. Months later, when she finally saw her dream come to life, her mom JUST RIPPED IT AWAY and gave it to her sister.
Have you ever been stabbed in the back by the people you thought you could trust the most? Not just hurt, but BETRAYED. The kind of betrayal that leaves you questioning everything — your memories, your worth, and your place in their lives. That’s exactly where I found myself, standing in the kitchen of the lake house I’d poured my heart and soul into.
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
For as long as I can remember, the lake house has been a symbol of promise and hope for me. Mom always told me it would be mine one day.
It wasn’t just a house — it was an integral part of our family’s history, our summers, and my dream of rebuilding a life after everything with my ex-husband fell apart.
So when she finally handed me the keys a year ago, I was over the moon.
“Katie, honey,” Mom had said, pressing the old brass keys into my palm. “This house… it’s always been meant for you. You were the one who truly loved it, even as a little girl.”
A scenic shot of a stunning lake house | Source: Midjourney
I can still remember how excited I was, walking through the dusty rooms and imagining what it could be to live here. I dove in headfirst, patching the roof, painting the walls, and scrubbing every inch of that place until my hands were raw.
I spent weekends scouring antique stores for furniture to bring it back to life.
Every spare dollar I had went into making it a home. MY HOME.
A woman standing on a stepladder and painting a wall | Source: Pexels
But all of that came crashing down with one conversation.
“Katie,” Mom said softly, her hands folded in front of her like she was delivering bad news to a stranger. She couldn’t even look at me. “You need to move out. Sarah needs the lake house more than you do.”
The paintbrush slipped from my fingers, clattering against the hardwood floor. “Move… out?” My voice came out as a whisper, like all the air had been sucked from my lungs. “Mom, what are you talking about? This is my home. You PROMISED me this house.”
“I know what I said, Katie, but things have changed,” she added, smiling. “Sarah has the kids, and you don’t… You’re not in the same situation.”
An older woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
Her words hit like a punch to the gut. I didn’t have kids… not because I didn’t want them, but because I couldn’t. My ex-husband left me over it, blaming me for something I couldn’t control.
And now, the one place I thought I could rebuild my life was being ripped away and handed to Sarah — my older sister, the golden child. She hadn’t lifted a finger for this house, let alone spent her savings and taken out a huge loan to fix it up like I did.
“Not in the same situation? Is that what we’re calling it now? Because I can’t have children, I don’t deserve a home? Is that what you’re saying?”
A woman arguing | Source: Midjourney
“Katie —” She reached for my hand, but I jerked away.
“Don’t.” Tears burned in my eyes. “Just don’t. Do you have any idea what this place means to me? The nights I stayed up planning every detail? The overtime I worked to afford the renovations? I put everything I had into this house, Mom. Everything.”
She looked away, her shoulders tense. “Katie, you know that’s not what I mean. You’re young, you have time to —”
“To what? To start over? Again? Like when Tom left me? Like when I had to rebuild my entire life while you and Sarah stood by and watched?”
An older woman staring grimly | Source: Midjourney
Her jaw tightened, and she let out a slow breath, like I was the one being unreasonable. “It’s not like that. Sarah needs it more than you do. She’s raising a family, Katie. You’ll understand one day.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “No, Mom. I understand perfectly right now. I’ve always understood. Sarah gets everything she wants, and I get whatever’s left over. Isn’t that how it’s always been?”
“That’s not fair —”
“Fair?” My voice echoed off the walls I’d painted with my own hands. “You want to talk about fair? I spent a year of my life fixing this place up. I poured my savings into it because you PROMISED me it was mine. And now you’re just… what? Handing it over to Sarah because she has kids?”
I wiped angrily at my tears. “You know what the worst part is? You didn’t even have the decency to tell me the truth from the beginning. You let me believe in this whole lie.”
A woman feeling defeated and shattered | Source: Midjourney
I spent the next few hours packing in stunned silence, every breath feeling heavier than the last. It was like I was moving through a fog, my brain replaying her words over and over: “Sarah needs it more than you do.”
Every time I thought I couldn’t be hurt more, I found a deeper wound. I carried the first box out to my car when I heard Nancy’s voice calling from across the street.
“Katie, wait! Please!”
Nancy, my neighbor, was one of those people who always knew what was going on. She jogged over, glancing nervously toward the house. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I just returned from my mom’s place this morning.”
“What is it, Nancy?” I asked, my voice flat. I didn’t have the energy for small talk.
A woman waving her hand | Source: Midjourney
She grabbed my arm, her eyes filled with concern. “Katie, honey, there’s something you need to know. I overheard your mom and Sarah talking last week. I wasn’t eavesdropping… they were outside, and I just happened to be gardening.”
She then dropped the bombshell. “They’re planning to turn the lake house into a hotel.”
“WHAT??”
“They’ve been planning it for months. Sarah and her husband…” Nancy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s why your mom let you do the renovations… it saved them a fortune. Sarah was laughing about it, saying how perfect it was that you’d fixed everything up for them.”
The box slipped from my hands and hit the driveway with a sickening thud. My legs felt weak, and I had to lean against my car to stay upright. “They… they planned this? All of it?”
A stunned woman | Source: Midjourney
Nancy nodded, her eyes full of pity. “I’m so sorry, Katie. I should have told you sooner, but I just… I couldn’t believe they’d do something like this. Not to you.”
A strangled laugh escaped me. “I can’t. God, I can’t believe it.” I slid down until I was sitting on the ground, not caring about the gravel digging into my legs. “You know what the worst part is? I actually believed my mother.”
Nancy sat down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Oh, honey…”
“I thought she meant it when she said the house was mine.” My voice broke. “I thought maybe, just once, I mattered as much as Sarah does.”
I didn’t bother confronting them. What was the point? They’d lied to me for months without a shred of guilt. What could I possibly say that would change anything?
A depressed woman | Source: Midjourney
As I packed the last box, I found an old photo album tucked away in a drawer. Inside was a picture of me as a little girl, standing outside the lake house. I remembered Mom telling me to smile as she clicked the picture.
“We were happy once, weren’t we?” I whispered to the photograph. “Or was that a lie too?”
I left the picture on the kitchen counter with my keys.
Months fleeted by. I was angry… at them, at myself, and at the whole damn situation. I blocked their numbers, ignored their emails, and cut them out of my life entirely. It wasn’t easy, but it was the only way to protect myself.
A key beside a photo frame on a kitchen counter | Source: Midjourney
Two years later, I met Ethan. He was kind, funny, and had this calm way of making the world feel less overwhelming. I wasn’t looking for anything serious, but he walked into my life and slowly became my safe place.
“You don’t have to tell me about your family,” he’d said one night after I’d dodged another question about my past. “But when you’re ready, I’m here.”
And when I finally did tell him, he just held me while I cried.
“They didn’t deserve you,” he whispered into my hair. “And their loss? That’s on them, not you.”
A man looking at someone | Source: Midjourney
We got married a few months after that, and one of the biggest miracles of my life followed: our daughter. Turns out, the infertility issues were on my ex’s side all along. My life wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than I could’ve imagined.
One evening, I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. Ethan had just put our daughter to bed, and I was wiping down the counters when I noticed a stack of papers in the corner. Among them was a property deed.
I picked it up, curious, and FROZE when I saw the address.
“Ethan!” I called, my heart racing. “Why do you have THIS?”
A stunned woman holding a document | Source: Midjourney
He walked in, a sheepish grin on his face. “Oh, that. I meant to tell you — I bought it. It’s an investment property. There used to be a hotel there, but the owners ran it into the ground. Tons of complaints, lawsuits. They went bankrupt, so I got it for a steal.”
My hands trembled as I stared at the paper. “Ethan… this is the lake house. MY LAKE HOUSE.”
“What?” His brow furrowed, then his eyes widened with recognition. “Wait… THAT lake house? The one your family…” He trailed off, understanding dawning on his face.
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
I nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks. “I can’t believe this. After everything… Ethan, I —” My voice broke as the weight of it all crashed over me.
He crossed the kitchen in two strides, pulling me into his arms. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Let it out.”
“I never thought I’d see it again,” I sobbed into his shirt. “I tried so hard to forget about it, to move on, but…”
“But it was your home,” he finished softly, running a hand through my hair. “And now it can be again.” He pulled back slightly, wiping my tears with his thumb. “Well,” he said with a gentle laugh, “looks like karma’s finally doing its thing!”
A man comforting a woman | Source: Pexels
When we visited the lake house a few weeks later, I hardly recognized it. The charm I’d worked so hard to restore was buried under years of neglect. The paint was peeling, the porch sagged, and the yard was overgrown. But as I stood there with Ethan and our daughter, I didn’t see the mess. It was still my beloved lake house.
“Mommy?” My daughter tugged at my hand. “Why are you crying?”
I knelt down beside her, brushing her hair back from her face. “Because sometimes, sweetheart, life has a way of giving you back the things you thought were lost forever.”
“This is yours now,” Ethan said, slipping his hand into mine. “No one can take it from you again. We’ll make it beautiful together, just like you did before.”
I squeezed his hand, watching our daughter chase butterflies across the overgrown lawn. “No,” I corrected him softly. “We’ll make it even better.”
Grayscale shot of a woman holding a man’s hand | Source: Unsplash
For the first time in years, I felt at peace. The lake house wasn’t just a house anymore… it was proof that I’d survived. That I’d rebuilt a life full of love and happiness, despite everything they’d done to me.
As for Mom and Sarah? I heard their hotel venture failed spectacularly. The lawsuits alone wiped them out. Maybe it was karma. Maybe it was just bad luck. Either way, I don’t think about them much anymore.
The lake house is mine again. And this time, it’s staying mine. Forever.
An old lake house | Source: Midjourney
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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