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Our mother has always been manipulative. For as long as I can remember, she controlled everything and everyone around her including our father. Her constant nagging, bad behavior and emotional games eventually pushed him into the arms of another woman. But because she cleverly turned us against him, we never gave him a chance to explain his side of the story.
We believed every word she said about him. To us, he was a weak man who abandoned his wife and daughters for another woman. We saw him as a failure, exactly how she painted him. The last time Dad tried to reach out to us, my sisters and I told him off so badly that he quietly said, “I only hope it won’t be too late by the time you realize the kind of person your mother truly is.” After that, he left and never looked back.
My youngest sister, Medley, was always a daddy’s girl. No matter how hard Mom tried to poison her mind, she still had a soft spot for him. I even suspected that she secretly kept in touch with him but I had no proof. I considered her a traitor, unlike my other sister and I, who were loyal to our mother.
One thing about our mother was that she loved to meddle in everything we did, especially our relationships. I used to think it was her way of showing love and concern but looking back now, I see it for what it truly was, calculated selfishness and manipulation.
Mom loved the good life, expensive clothes, fine dining and luxury. She often funded this lifestyle through the men her daughters dated. She encouraged us to go after men who had money, not necessarily those with character or commitment. Their looks, age or marital status didn’t matter as long as they could spend on us. Sometimes we dated more than one man at once and she would even help us cover our tracks.
She liked to get close to these men too, sometimes too close for comfort. I always brushed it off, thinking she was just being her usual friendly self.
Then I met Dr. Mark and everything changed. Dr. Mark’s father owned the hospital where I worked as a medical laboratory technician. I’m an attractive woman and I’m used to men paying attention to me but he was different. He barely noticed me and that made me determined to get his attention. For over a year, I worked hard to impress him. I started working longer hours and performing beyond expectation. After six months of winning Staff of the Month consecutively, I received a special gift from the boss, Dr. Mark himself.
I went to his office to thank him and that was how it all began. We had a light conversation, mostly me doing the talking and from that day, I would casually stop by his office, pretending to have one thing or another to say.
Then came the day I took things further.
I knew Dr. Mark’s routine, so one evening, I positioned myself at the car park just before his closing time. When I saw him walking towards his car, I pretended to be crying. He stopped, concerned and asked what had happened. I faked a story about a painful heartbreak and he took pity on me. From then, he began checking up on me to make sure I was okay.
After a while, I went back to his office to thank him for his kindness. That day, I shared more personal stories with him and carefully chosen stories that made him feel trusted and needed. I gave the impression that I found him easy to talk to and I could see him as a safe space. Gradually, the conversations became more personal and more intimate.
One evening, in a moment of weakness, Dr. Mark let his guard down. Desire took over and he couldn’t resist. It was not accidental for me. This was the outcome of months of planning between my mother and I. Our mission had finally succeeded.
Dr. Mark was shattered afterward. It was the first time he had ever broken his marriage vows. He apologized to me and begged that we forget it ever happened. He said it was a mistake that would never repeat itself. But just when he thought it was over, I told him I was pregnant.
The news hit him like thunder especially because his wife had just found out she was finally expecting a baby after six long years of waiting. The confusion and devastation that followed was indescribable.
My mother, of course, jumped into the matter immediately and made everything worse. She threatened to go public with the pregnancy if Dr. Mark didn’t marry me. She knew his family name, the Mark Ade-Phillips was built on reputation and integrity and that scandals were their worst nightmare so she used this as leverage to torment him.
The situation nearly destroyed his marriage. His wife was heartbroken and humiliated. But my mother didn’t care. She kept pushing and insisting that her daughter couldn’t live far from her baby’s father. Not long after, my mother and I moved into the doctor’s house. She acted as though she owned the place. If anyone thought Dr. Mark’s wife would walk out, they were mistaken. She was angry but she was also wise. Her husband had mentioned me to her a few times and she always suspected that I was up to no good. She saw through our games and decided to stay strong until the baby was born and a DNA test was done or until the next line of action taken.
My mother became a constant pain in everyone’s neck, I thought she was overbearing and out of control most times but I couldn’t do or say anything. She was milking the situation and making outrageous demands, constantly reminding Dr. Mark of his family name and the importance of protecting it from scandal. She was proud and boastful, certain that her daughter had finally “hit it big.” She often bragged that soon, we would be part of the movers and shakers of society.
As fate would have it, both I and Mrs. Mark were pregnant around the same time. But while she carried hers with quiet dignity, my mother and I made life miserable for her. We taunted her, mocked her and threw cruel words at her. She ignored us completely and went about her daily life with calmness.
Under my mother’s influence, I began to act nastier towards Mrs. Mark. But then, everything took a tragic turn.
At six months pregnant, I began to experience sharp abdominal pains and bleeding. We thought it was a threatened miscarriage until a scan revealed it was an ectopic pregnancy. The fetus had to be evacuated to save my life. I almost died and there were complications that would affect my ability to conceive.
When I recovered, I was filled with regret and anger. I realized too late that my mother had ruined not just my life but all of ours.
Dr. Mark, exhausted and disgusted gave us an ultimatum to leave his house. My mother pleaded, begging him to give us a chance to redeem ourselves. She even asked him to help me get my job back but he threw us out without a moment’s hesitation… finally glad to be free from the trouble my mother and I had brought to his family.
While this drama was unfolding, my younger sister got into trouble. She was hospitalized after being beaten up by thugs sent by the wife of a man she was dating. She knew he was married but our mother had encouraged the relationship because of the man’s wealth.
Then we got the biggest shock of all, our youngest sister, Medley, had moved in with our father and his new wife in another state.
His new wife was a beautiful widow who gave him peace and happiness. You could see the difference because he looked younger, healthier and truly content.
Medley loved her stepmother deeply because she was everything our own mother wasn’t… gentle, kind and full of wisdom.
That was when the truth hit us all. Our mother’s manipulative ways had destroyed everything good in her life and in ours. Her greed and control had pushed away everyone who ever loved her.
Dr. Mark and his wife eventually recovered from the storm. Their marriage grew stronger after the pain. They learned forgiveness and patience and they became even closer.
As for us, we learned the hardest lesson of all: that manipulation, greed and deceit always come at a cost.
In the end, my mother lost everything she thought she had gained. And we, her daughters, were left picking up the pieces of our lives, finally seeing her for who she truly was.
