What my mean stepmother had been hiding since my dad died I found out. She will get what she deserves.

After Ellie loses both parents, years apart, her stepmother Janice takes over caring for her. She controls Ellie’s whole life and makes her live in the shadows of her stepbrothers. Ellie has to do something when her Aunt Jody tells her a secret.

I lost my mother when I was three years old, and my father became the most important person in my life. I didn’t have any grandparents on either side, so my whole world fell around him.

Aunt Jody, my dad’s sister, was still around, but she had moved to a different country a long time ago and lived thousands of miles away.

Therefore, I only knew my dad.

When I first started school, though, my dad brought Janice home with her two sons. They would become my stepmother and step-siblings.

At first, everything seemed fine. Janet was nice to me and brushed my hair every night until it was smooth and shiny. There was even talk of me going to her and Dad’s wedding.

“Oh, Ellie,” she would say, not calling me Eleanor, “you have to be my flower girl!” Jackson and Avery will carry the rings, but I need you, my sweetheart, to be my flower girl.

Janice kept me involved as she and my dad got ready for their wedding. She showed me the colors she liked and the flowers she liked. She also let the boys and me try different flavors of wedding cake.

“I like the peanut butter cake,” Avery said as she wiped my dress clean of frosting.

“And what do you like, Ellie?” It was Janice.

“Chocolate,” I said, enjoying her attention.

As scared as I was to share my dad with our new blended family, I was glad Janice wasn’t as bad as I thought she would be. In the end, all I felt was missing my mom.

After my sixteenth birthday party, though, my dad started to complain about chest pains.

He said, “Oh, Ellie,” one day as we walked through a grocery store getting everything on Janice’s list.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I watched him hold his chest tight.

When we got home, he told me, “I’ll be fine, El.” “I’ve just been overdoing it lately.”

After a few weeks, my dad died at home. He had a heart problem that didn’t show up until that day at the store. But my dad wouldn’t go to the doctor.

Janice turned into the mean stepmother I had been worried about for years after that.

Although she was making breakfast for Jackson and Avery one morning, she told Eleanor, “No, I’ve decided that Jackson needs your bedroom.” It is a lot bigger, and he needs room for his gym gear. I’m going to use the inheritance money that your dad left me to fix up the boys’ rooms.

I had no other choice. Janet would never let me finish my sentence, no matter how hard I tried to defend myself. For keeping me in the house, she would tell me I should be thankful. Certain days were polite, while others were loud and full of arguments.

It was two years of letting Janice run my life. She changed everything about the house to suit her tastes, so there were not many things that reminded me of living with my dad.

Some morning, I asked Janice, “Where’s the clock from the living room?”

I cherished that clock. When I was younger, it scared me, but my dad told me that it had been passed down for generations.

“When it chimes,” he stated, “You must remember your family.”

Someday, though, it was just gone.

Janelle said, “I sold it,” while drinking a smoothie. “It wasn’t cute with the rest of the decorations.” Proceed. If I remember correctly, today is the last day of school.

Somewhat of myself was missing when I got to school. I thought I would feel the same way about a clock when my parents died, but I didn’t think I would at all.

Sending you a text message because I’m thinking about you. Janice is now in charge of everything. Shortly, I need to get a job.

Because of the time difference, I didn’t think she would answer.

But Aunt Jody called me right as the closing bell rang.

First she said hello and then asked, “Are you alone?”

“I’m still at school,” I answered.

“I looked over your writing. “You need to leave before they figure out the truth,” she told him.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“They have kept it from you. You got everything from your dad, Elle. Surprisingly. The inheritance is yours by rights. You haven’t heard this from Janice because she wants to be in charge.

It was like a freight train hit me. I was the rightful heir to my father’s estate the whole time I lived with Janice and her sons, but I had no idea it. I felt cheated.

“How could she do that?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I got it done.

“Don’t be anxious,” Aunt Jody told her. “I’m going to talk to our attorney.” “I’ll start the party and lock the estate so that only you can get in.”

Even though I knew she couldn’t see me, I nodded.

“Get out of the house tonight,” she told him. Janice will soon find out how hard my lawyer worked. I need to be sure you’re not in the house when I call. It will be as soon as I can get you a ticket to see me.

It was something I said I would do. I was going to get ready at home, pack my things, and leave right away for my friend Mariah’s house.

I wrote a note to my stepmother and stepbrothers in the kitchen right before I left the house where I grew up. I didn’t do it to be mean, but to show that I was strong for what was to come.

My inheritance is what you’ve been keeping from me and using to control me. Please take this as my last goodbye. It’s up to you if you agree to my leaving to claim what’s mine.

I left the note on the kitchen table to show that I was leaving and to take the first step toward living the life my dad wanted for me again.

Whatever Aunt Jody wants to happen, Janice will be leaving my house soon. Staying with Mariah for now while I decide what to do next.

How would you handle things if you were me?