Being a stepmother is never easy, especially when your stepdaughter sees you as the enemy. No matter how hard I tried, she refused to let me into her life. But one frigid afternoon, while we were stranded in the snow, everything changed. I thought things between us couldn’t get any worse—but I was wrong.
Starting a new family is difficult. Starting a new family when your husband already had a child was twice as difficult. And when that child is a teenage girl who hates you, it seems almost impossible.
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Roy and I had been married for three months. Before that, we had dated for two years.
Those years had been wonderful, filled with love, laughter, and dreams of a future together. But there was one thing we couldn’t understand: Kris.
Roy’s daughter didn’t just hate me. She hated me with all the stubbornness of the teenager she was.
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No matter what I did, how kind I was, or how much space I gave him, nothing seemed to change.
If I asked her about her day, she rolled her eyes. If I tried to make conversation, she ignored me. If I paid her a compliment, she assumed I was faking it.
I knew I could never replace his mother, and I never wanted to. But I had hoped—really hoped—that over time, we could build something real.
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A connection. A friendship. A sense of trust. Instead, Kris treated me like I was the villain in one of her books, the wicked stepmother who had swooped in to steal her father.
And that’s how we argued. All the time.
One evening, Kris came to Roy to ask if she could go to another city with her friends to attend a concert.
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“I don’t even know what to say,” Roy told him. He looked at me. “What do you think?”
“I don’t think this is a good idea for me-“? I started, meaning to say that I didn’t want to interfere with Kris’s education, but she cut me off.
“She has no say in this!” Kris yelled, arms crossed over her chest.
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Roy exhaled. “We’re a family now, and we make decisions together,” he said before turning back to me. “So tell me what you think.”
“Will there be any adults with you?” I asked.
Kris rolled her eyes. “No, but Eliza and Stacy are sixteen, so we’ll be riding in their cars.”
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“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re only thirteen,” I said.
Kris’s face crumpled. “But everyone else is allowed to go!” she shouted.
“It’s not really up to me to make that decision,” I said, keeping my voice calm.
“I think Leslie is right. You’re too young for such a trip,” Roy said.
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Kris’s hands clenched into fists. “Of course! Leslie is always right! No one cares what I think!”
“We’re just worried,” I said.
“Oh, stop pretending! I know you don’t care! You just want to look like a good mom in front of my dad!” Kris snapped.
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“I care. That’s exactly why I don’t want you to go. You’re thirteen, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to go on trips like this,” I said, raising my voice.
“Ugh! You’re the worst!” Kris shouted.
“Stop!” Roy’s voice was firm. “I’ve had enough. We’re all going on a family trip to the mountains.”
Kris and I stared at him.
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“WHAT?!” we exclaimed at the same time.
“Yes. This weekend. No discussion,” Roy said.
“I hate you both!” Kris shouted and stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.
That weekend, early in the morning, Kris and I were already on the road, heading for the mountains.
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Snowflakes floated in the air, dusting the windshield. The further we drove, the heavier they became. The road stretched out before us, covered in a thin layer of white.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. The thought of mountain roads in a snowstorm made my stomach churn.
Kris sighed loudly. “I don’t understand why I have to be with you.” She leaned against the door, arms crossed.
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“Roy had an emergency at work. He’ll be leaving later.” I focused on the road. “I’m not thrilled either, seeing as it was his idea.”
“Yeah, sure,” Kris scoffed. “You just follow whatever he says. And he does it all for his precious Leslie.”
“That’s not true. Well, not quite.” I kept my voice steady. “We argue too, you know. And if your father ever had to choose between us, he’d choose you.”
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Kris let out a dry laugh. “He already hasn’t chosen me.” She turned her face toward the window.
I wanted to tell her she was wrong, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me.
The road ahead blurred as the snowfall thickened. The tires struggled to grip the road. I pressed the accelerator, but the car refused to move forward.
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Kris sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re stuck.”
She threw her hands in the air. “Great! This is exactly how I wanted to spend my weekend: stuck with you.”
“I’m not thrilled either, in case you were wondering.” I pulled out my phone and called the towing service. The conversation wasn’t promising.
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“They said it would take at least two hours for a tow truck to get here,” I told him.
Kris sighed. “Nice.”
Silence filled the car. Snowflakes pattered against the windows.
I finally spoke up. “Why do you hate me so much?”
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“Because you’re horrible,” Kris replied bluntly.
“That’s not true. And I think you know that.”
“It’s true!” His voice rose. “You ruined our lives! We were fine without you!”
“If everything was going well, your father wouldn’t have been with me.” The words came out sharper than I’d intended.
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“I was fine! We had our life, and you destroyed it! You made him betray my mother!”
My heart was pounding. “You can’t betray someone who’s already gone!” The words came out before I could stop them.
The moment they left my mouth, I regretted them. I covered my lips with my hand.
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Kris’s face fell. Her eyes filled with tears.
Without a word, she pushed open the door and stormed out into the snow, slamming it behind her.
I thought Kris would stay outside for five minutes, maybe ten, and come back once the cold got to her.
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But she didn’t come back. I kept glancing at the clock. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. My stomach tightened.
I opened the door and a strong gust of wind hit me. Snowflakes stung my face.
I could barely see a few meters ahead. The snowfall had thickened, covering everything in white.
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“Kris!” I called. My voice was swallowed by the wind. I took another step away from the car. “Kris, where are you?”
No answer.
Panic seized me. My heart was pounding as I walked through the snow.
Then, finally, I heard it—a faint voice. “I’m here.”
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I turned toward the sound and saw a dark shape in the snow. Kris was half buried and shivering.
“My leg is stuck,” she said through chattering teeth.
I got down on my knees and began digging. The snow was tightly packed. His foot was wedged between the roots of a fallen tree. My fingers burned from the cold, but I kept working. Finally, I freed his leg.
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She leaned on me and we struggled back to the car. Once inside, I turned the heater on full blast.
“For what…”
“I…”
We both started talking at the same time.
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Kris sighed and looked at his hands. I hesitated before asking, “Can I go first?”
She gave a small nod.
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for what I said about your mother. I shouldn’t have said it. I was frustrated, but that doesn’t excuse it.”
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Kris didn’t answer. She kept her eyes fixed on the floor.
“I keep trying to befriend you, but you push me away,” I admitted. “I don’t want to replace her. I never have.”
She still didn’t say anything. Then, after a while, she asked, “Why did you come looking for me?”
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I met his gaze. “Because I was worried about you. Because I worry.”
Kris scoffed. “No, you were afraid something would happen to me and you’d have to explain it to my dad.”
“That’s not true.” I shook my head. “I really do care. Kris, I know I’ll never be your mother. No one can be. But I love your father. And I love you.”
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Her jaw clenched. “You don’t love me,” she said flatly.
“Of course I do.” I paused, observing his expression. “Look at you, you’re amazing. Well, when you’re not yelling at me.”
Kris let out a small, shaky laugh.
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“Even so, I love you,” I added. “Roy says you remind him of your mother.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but I continued. “I know you feel like Roy abandoned you for me, but he didn’t. He loves you more than anything in the world.”
Kris wiped her nose with her sleeve. “It was just the two of us for a long time.”
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“I know,” I said softly. “But change isn’t always bad. I want to be there for you, support you, love you. But you have to let me.”
She swallowed hard. “What if he stops loving me? What if he gives you all his love?”
I shook my head. “It’s impossible. Love doesn’t work like that. The only thing that’s changed is that now two people love you instead of one.”
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For a moment, Kris didn’t move. Then, suddenly, she threw her arms around me.
I froze, shocked. Then, slowly, I hugged her. I held her carefully, afraid she’d pull away.
Two hours later, the tow truck arrived and took us to the cabin we had rented.
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When Roy arrived, Kris and I were sitting by the fire, drinking tea, still trying to warm up.
“Wow,” Roy said, putting down his bag. “I was expecting a full-blown action scene when I got here.”
Kris glanced at me, then smiled. “We decided to save that for later.”
I smiled back and gently squeezed his hand.
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