Growing up with my stepmother was never easy. From the start, she made it clear I wasn’t really part of her picture. I was often treated like an outsider—given extra chores, spoken to harshly, and constantly made to feel like I didn’t belong.
My dad, unfortunately, never stood up for me. He seemed more afraid of conflict than interested in resolving it, so most of the time, he just stayed silent.
Things reached a breaking point the day I came home to find all my belongings packed up and left outside. My stepmother told me I wasn’t welcome anymore—and my father, standing quietly behind her, just said, “Maybe this is for the best.”
I was heartbroken. I ended up staying with my best friend, trying to hold myself together while everything I knew seemed to fall apart.
Then, three days later, I received a phone call that changed everything.
“Miss Alaya Brooks?” the voice on the line said. “This is regarding the estate of your late grandmother, Mrs. Lorraine Ellis.”
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