I should have known better than to invite my stepmother to my wedding. But for my dad’s sake, I did—and she repaid me by reading my childhood diary in front of everyone.
Diane had always been cruel in subtle ways. She’d comment on my weight, my clothes, my social life—always with a smile, always making sure my dad never saw the real her. I coped by writing everything down in a pink diary, never imagining she’d one day use it against me.
At my wedding reception, she stood up for her speech—and instead of toasting our happiness, she pulled out my diary. Page by page, she read my most private thoughts aloud, laughing as my face burned with shame.
But then my dad did something I never expected. He stood up, took the diary from her, and told her to leave. “I’ve failed you for years,” he said to me later, tears in his eyes. “But I’m here now.”
Three weeks after the wedding, he filed for divorce. And when Ethan and I got home from our honeymoon, I found a new journal waiting for me—a gift from my dad, along with a promise: “No one will ever hurt you like that again.”
Sometimes, the people who are supposed to protect us take too long to see the truth. But when they finally do, it changes everything.
