My Stepdaughter Returned Every Birthday Gift I Sent for 12 Years – In the 13th Year, I Stopped, and a Huge Box from Her Arrived at My Door, and I Went Pale When I Opened It
Not for Thanksgiving.
Not for Christmas.
Not even during summer break.
“She got a job on campus,” David told me.
“For the entire summer?”
“She probably needs the money, Al. Don’t guilt her.”
So I didn’t.
Year after year, I told myself I was respecting her boundaries.
Meanwhile, there were things I noticed but chose not to question.
David always checked the mail.
Every single day.
Rain or shine.
Even when he was sick.
Once, a Christmas card arrived from one of Chloe’s college roommates.
The envelope had already been opened.
David said the mail carrier must have damaged it.
I believed him.
Another time, shortly before Chloe left for college, I heard the two of them arguing loudly in the garage.
Chloe was crying.
I distinctly heard her say,
“That’s not fair.”
When I asked David about it, he told me they were arguing about her grades.
Later he said it had something to do with changing majors.
I should have noticed the story had changed.
I didn’t.
His phone often buzzed late at night.
Whenever it did, he turned the screen away.
“Spam,” he would say.
Or, “My brother.”
I never checked.
Love can make you trusting.
Guilt can make you even more so.
