Inspirational
While her Husband Was at work, She Fed Her Stepdaughter Cat Food, And One Day, When He Came Home Early
While her husband was at work, she fed her stepdaughter cat food, and one day, when he came home early, he found a terrible thing
Aaron said in the car was a bad mood. He didn’t want to talk or even listen to anyone. He just wanted to drive away from here as far as possible, to leave everything behind and go on vacation. But instead, he had to stand outside the daycare, waiting for his daughter from his first marriage.
But there was no one else at the daycare. As he was getting angry, responding to another message, he noticed the activity around the daycare. Parents were picking up their children. Finally, his daughter was brought out, all dressed up.
Aaron got out of the car, took her hand, and placed her in the car seat. He didn’t say anything to his own daughter. In fact, he would gladly leave her in daycare for a few more days because if he didn’t bring her home, there would be no argument. And right now, he was tired of these constant arguments.
“The most – dead,” the girl asked, looking hopefully at her father. He glanced at her briefly and saw tears welling up in her eyes. “Just don’t start crying. All these manipulations won’t work with me. I’ve told you before that you should call Aunt Kayla ‘mom.’ Why do you always cry, saying that she mistreats you? What does she do?” the man asked, irritation evident in his voice.
“She hits me, feeds me cat food, makes me stand on the balcony barefoot… lots of things,” the girl said, barely holding back her tears.
“Don’t talk nonsense! I would never have married such a woman. You just cry all the time, saying that you don’t get enough attention, and it’s everyone else’s fault,” Aaron almost shouted, refusing to believe his daughter. She fell silent because it was impossible to prove anything to him. She simply looked out the window, feeling tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. When her mother was alive, she thought her father loved her, but as soon as her mother died and her father remarried, he only loved the other woman.
Donna understood that she couldn’t compete with her for her father’s attention. She tried to explain to him that Kayla treated her very poorly, but her father always believed his wife. Donna saw as they drove through the city center, they turned into a residential area and approached a high-rise building. The tall new construction where they moved a year ago never became a home for her.
Aaron helped his daughter out of the car seat. She stood up and looked around. There were moms with their children everywhere. All these women noticeably loved their kids. Donna envied all these little ones very much because she didn’t have a mom herself. She only had a father who didn’t care about her at all.
Aaron pulled the girl’s hand and led her into the entrance. He was much more irritated than when she saw him earlier today. She tried not to say anything, not to make a sound. She was afraid of angering her father and being subjected to his hot temper. Finally, they rode the elevator to the correct floor and approached the apartment, and Aaron opened the door for her.
She walked inside, sat on a bench, and started taking off her boots. Kayla, who demonstratively entered the hallway, ignoring the girl completely, kissed Aaron and beckoned him to follow her. They closed themselves in the bedroom, and Donna was left alone.
This repeated over and over again lately. Nothing changed in Donna’s life. She quietly surveyed the room, tiptoed to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, made herself a sandwich, and went back to her room. She didn’t want to hear the sounds coming from the bedroom. She sat on her bed, placing the plate on her lap, inserted headphones into her ears, and tried to distract herself, at least a little.
“I want us to have our own child,” Kayla said when they were already getting out of bed. “We’ve been married for two years, and we still don’t have children. I really want to give you a baby.”
“I don’t know, Kayla. I think it’s not the right time. Besides, Donna is growing up. You already ignore her, and when our own child appears, you will forget about her completely,” Aaron said, taking a cigarette from the pack. He lit a cigarette, leaning back on the bed. There was no concern in his voice, rather a warning.
He continued, and his voice sounded with characteristic melancholy. “I don’t know what to tell you. I also want a child together, but I already wanted a child in my life, and when she was born, I realized that everything only got worse. You don’t understand, Kayla. I love you, but I don’t want to ruin our relationship by having a baby.”
“And why do you assume that it will be ruined? If your ex-wife couldn’t take care of the child properly and all the responsibility fell on you, it doesn’t mean that I’ll be the same. I’ll take care of all the child’s needs. You won’t even have to change diapers. You will be the breadwinner, like a real father, and just enjoy our little girl. All the responsibilities will be on me,” she said, looking at Aaron, her husband.
Aaron shrugged, and she knew that his defense would soon crumble. She laid back on the bed, resting her head on his chest. They lay like that for almost an hour, discussing the possibility of having another child. They talked about the near future, their plans, and his work. Kayla herself didn’t work, and that condition was set by her at the beginning of their relationship. Aaron accepted her position.
They got up and went to the kitchen for dinner. Neither of them bothered to call the little girl, who had been hungry for a long time after her sandwich. But she hoped that at night, she would be able to sneak into the refrigerator and take something for herself.
The next day, when her husband picked up the girl and took her to daycare, Kayla was once again alone in the apartment. She was waiting for a friend who was about to arrive for a conversation. She nervously stood by the window, smoking and looking down. Finally, a dark blue car pulled up, and her friend got out.
Caleb quickly rushed to the door to answer the intercom when it rang. She was more eager than ever to see her friend because she just wanted to pour out her emotions on someone. The friend entered the apartment, and by her appearance, it was clear that she wasn’t in the best mood.
“I had a fight with him today. It’s just been problems with him lately. Did you at least make coffee? I haven’t even had a crumb since morning. I simply asked him to help me open the salon, and he got all worked up, saying it’s just a passing idea of mine that will fade in a couple of days,” the friend exclaimed, and Kayla nodded in agreement.
“In fact, Kayla, I was just waiting for a chance to speak up. He’s just showing off now, but eventually, he’ll give in. You have a unique talent for persuading men. If I had that talent, I would make my husband get rid of that girl,” Kayla said continuing from where we left off:
“Yeah, make her want to leave on her own. As far as I know your husband, he won’t tolerate her constant tears. Make the girl literally beg him to send her somewhere. Let him take her to some relatives. We have foster homes, after all,” her friend shrugged.
Kayla suddenly thought it was a great idea. If she could make the girl herself plead with her father to leave, he would give in. They chatted, smoked, drank coffee, and indulged in candy. They discussed possible options for making the girl want to be as far away from home as possible.
When her friend left, and Kayla was alone, a clear picture had already formed in her mind. She imagined how she could make the girl ask her father to take her to her grandmother’s village. She called her husband and said that she would pick up Donna from the daycare herself. He was happy about it, mentioning that he would have to stay late at work.
Kayla was even more pleased with this news because she would have time to carry out her plan. She walked to the daycare, picked up the girl, and brought her home. She tormented her all evening, making her eat scraps and cat food, giving her hard slaps, verbally humiliating her.
“Do you think your dad will stand up for you? He will never stand up for you because he doesn’t love you. He hates you. When he comes home, you will ask him to take you to your grandma’s. And if you don’t do it, what happened today will repeat every day, and it will only get worse,” Kayla declared, trying to frighten the girl.
She looked at the little girl and hated her. She didn’t want to have someone else’s child; she wanted her own. Every word and every gesture of the girl irritated her. She wanted to hit her so hard that a mark would be left on her cheek, but it was too risky.
The little girl sat at the table, crying, while Kayla continued to torment her. The child couldn’t understand why she was being treated this way. She had actually decided to ask her dad to take her to her grandma, but she had already asked him several times, and he had refused.
In reality, Aaron didn’t want to take her to her mother’s former wife because he thought it would make him a bad father. Out of his own pride, he was willing to sacrifice the girl to his current wife rather than simply take her to her grandma.
“Your tears won’t help,” Kayla said with a voice filled with contempt. “He will come, and even if you beg on your knees, he won’t take you to your grandma. I don’t want to see you here, not a single day. Do I want to see you here? I hate you. You ruin our lives. Your dad and I want our own child, and you are a stranger to us.
When you grow up, you’ll understand. Even if you hate me now, this world is created for man, and if you’re a woman, you’ll literally have to find a man who will make your existence easier. And when you find such a man, you’ll literally fight for him just to make your life a little easier. Right now, you’re too young to understand me, but someday, I’m sure you’ll understand. I could poison you, I could send you to an orphanage, but I’m making concessions. I simply ask you to persuade your father to take you to your own grandmother,” Kayla stepped aside, watching the girl sobbing.
She couldn’t tell if she had achieved her goal or not. She looked at the girl but knew that tears didn’t mean anything yet.
“But what if I don’t tell him?” the girl said, staring at Kayla.
“It won’t get any worse. I’ve asked him a hundred times to take me, but he doesn’t want to!” The girl almost screamed, her words drowned by tears.
Kayla felt anger boiling inside her, hatred rose from the depths of her abdomen and hit her head. She couldn’t remember much after that, but what happened next would forever remain in Aaron’s memory.
Meanwhile, Aaron was stuck in traffic, deciding to leave work early. He cursed the idea of staying in the city for over half an hour. Finally, the traffic started moving, and he headed home. In just 10 minutes, he was already standing near the high-rise apartment building where he had bought a flat less than a year ago. He went up the floor, opened the door, and didn’t expect to see what he saw.
He stood in the corridor, taking off his shoes. He heard his daughter scream, rushed forward, and witnessed a horrifying scene. His wife was forcibly undressing the little girl. She dragged her by the hair onto the icy balcony and locked the door. When Kayla looked up, she saw her husband’s furious eyes. She instantly burst into tears, falling to her knees before him.
“Dash, she said you don’t love me,” she said, “You only love her mom, that you take her to other ladies. She said you’ll never have a child with me because you told her so. And she also said that every time you take her home from daycare, you stop near some house and leave her alone in the car for a whole hour,” Kayla said, choking on her tears. She screamed, swallowing her words.
He believed her because he couldn’t fathom such manipulation. He rushed towards her, embracing and kissing her, swearing his love. While the adults indulged in each other’s affection, the little girl stood naked on the icy balcony. She cried, tears freezing on her cheeks. When the door opened, she was abruptly pulled back into the room. She saw Kayla weeping, and her father looking enraged.
Donna quickly hurried to her own room to get dressed, avoiding provoking the already angry parent. She overheard the conversation that took place in the living room.
“I was just scared. I couldn’t control myself,” she kept saying. “She kept saying that you were cheating on me, that you didn’t love me, Aaron. You know how much I love you, how madly I love you. Could I listen to that every time without showing any emotions? I’ve endured for too long already. I simply have no strength left,” Kayla continued crying, displaying all the pain she could muster. It seemed incredibly genuine.
Aaron sat next to her on the couch, embracing her with one arm. He pulled her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder, gradually coming down. He didn’t know what to do, but one thing was clear—they had to get rid of the girl.
He stood up from the couch and paced around the room. He measured the room with his steps, then stopped. A velvet silence hung in the air, adding to the tension. Kayla looked at her husband, squeezing out the last drops of tears. He cast a fleeting glance at her before walking to the window. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and cracked open the window for some fresh air. He felt his wife approach from behind, embracing him with her arms. He felt the soothing effect, her head on him.
“Dash, I’ll get rid of her today. Enough with tormenting you. I’ve been delaying this decision for too long,” Aaron said, speaking to his wife despite her presence.
Dash he didn’t see her smile as she pressed against his back. She had achieved what she wanted, nearly driving herself insane and putting in all the effort to stage the scene. As soon as her husband left, she would immediately call her friend and vividly recount the whole incident. She could already imagine her friend praising her, congratulating her on achieving her goal.
Aaron went into the girl’s room, then came out and retrieved a suitcase from the large wardrobe in the hallway, carrying it into the girl’s room. He returned to the living room, looked at Kayla, and was relieved to see her feeling better. He embraced her again, and she clung to him.
When little Donna packed her things into the suitcase, he closed it and took it to the car. When he came back for the girl, she was crying, and Kayla had gone into the kitchen. He led the girl to the car and put her in the child seat. Kayla stood by the window, watching as the car drove away. It wasn’t just her husband’s departing car; it was her new life.
She dialed her friend’s number, and they immediately launched into an enthusiastic conversation. Aaron drove the car along the empty road. It was getting dark, and he focused as much as possible on the highway. He didn’t want to talk to his daughter. In fact, he wanted the time it took to drive to the village and back to pass as quickly as possible. He wanted to get rid of the girl, just so Kayla could calm down.
An unpleasant feeling bubbled inside him, causing him pain. He knew he was doing something wrong. He also knew that of the two stories told by the girl, one was much more believable. If he had to choose between the girl and Kayla, he would always choose Kayla. He loved Kayla deeply, and the girl, the girl was simply his past, a past he didn’t want to return to.
That’s when he saw lights in the distance. He knew they were approaching the village. Aaron parked the car near a fairly large and beautiful old house. The house, though old, was well-maintained. An elderly woman came out of the house, looking relatively young. Even from here, Aaron could see the surprise on her face. She descended the steps and walked towards the car, genuinely looking surprised.
He didn’t even call her or warn her that he was coming. Aaron silently got out of the car, took the girl out, and handed her over, almost like passing her from one set of hands to another. He first took out the suitcase, then handed the folder with documents to the elderly woman. He silently got back into the car, and soon his car disappeared.
The elderly woman didn’t need any explanations at all. She understood that Aaron had simply gotten rid of his daughter.
“Well, let’s go inside,” the woman said warmly.
For the first time in a long time, Donna felt safe. She held her grandmother’s hand tightly and walked with her towards the house. She wished her father would never come back because if he did, she would have to go back to life with Kayla. First and foremost, her grandmother bathed her, changed her clothes, and they sat together in the kitchen for a long time. Donna ate normal food for the first time. Occasionally, she managed to get by with a sandwich or sneak something from the refrigerator at night. But most of the time, Kayla literally fed her cat food. The daycare she attended also provided terrible meals, and her grandmother’s food seemed like a true paradise to her.
In the evening, she told her grandmother everything that had happened to her during these days. Donna could see that her grandmother wasn’t at all surprised. She was terribly upset, wiping away tears, but she wasn’t surprised.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get through this,” the grandmother said, addressing the girl. “Everything will be fine for you and me. I’ll arrange for you to go to the local daycare where they feed children well. It’s fun there, and there aren’t too many kids. Then, you’ll go to our school, and we’ll see what comes next.
Tonight, you’ll have to sleep in the living room, but tomorrow we’ll make you your own room. You know, I still have your mom’s room from when she was little. I’ll ask the neighbors to move the furniture to the room next to mine, and we’ll set up a real children’s room there for you. Everything will be fine for us.”
Grandma didn’t lie. Since Donna moved in with her grandmother, everything really became good for her. She ate delicious food, and no one hit or mistreated her. She no longer feared beatings and humiliation. She returned home without fear. She enjoyed being in the new daycare and made friends.
She eagerly helped her grandmother with chores, feeding the chickens, ducks, and even enjoyed petting the cow. While her grandmother melted one evening as the sunset was approaching, Donna sat on the windowsill, gazing at the spring yard. She enjoyed observing nature awakening, as if everything around was filled with life.
As she sat there, taking in the scene, she overheard a conversation happening in the kitchen. For over a year, she had been living with her grandmother and had become accustomed to her grandmother’s friend visiting every evening. They would sit in the kitchen and chat about everything under the sun. While they usually discussed TV shows or programs, today the conversation shifted to her father.
“Can you imagine? She fed his own daughter cat food, beat her, and left her naked in the cold. And he didn’t just stand up for the girl, he simply got rid of her, brought her to me, and abandoned her.
Don’t get me wrong, Viola, I’m very happy that the girl is with me. I initially wanted him to leave her with me, but his own pride prevented that. And now, they have another child, a happy one. He’s all caught up with that child. Everything is fine for them. He has a daughter, but he has completely forgotten about her existence,” said the elderly woman.
“Well, don’t worry, Viola, there are men out there who see children as mere toys. They play with them initially, taking no responsibilities, and when the woman becomes unwanted, the child becomes unwanted too. Everything in life comes back like a boomerang. You know that yourself. He’ll abandon her along with the child, and then he’ll start a new family and have another child there,” said the friend, and her voice sounded strangely.
Donna was too young to detect the contempt in the tone.
“Maybe you’re right,” said the grandmother, pausing for a moment before speaking again. “I never approved of my daughter’s choice and always thought that he wasn’t the right person to be with her. But she loved him so much that I gave up. And now, my daughter is in the afterlife, and my granddaughter is emotionally scarred. And you know what’s the scariest part? He’ll never realize what he’s done. He sees himself as the king and God, and he couldn’t care less about anything else.”
Donna no longer listened to the conversation because she realized she had nothing to fear. She turned her gaze forward again, looking at the blooming trees. She wished to stay in that moment forever. The whole world seemed to stand still, and she breathed deeply, having learned to live without fear.
Occasionally, she still had dreams of Kayla, who would pull her by the hair and force her to eat cat food. Sometimes she dreamed of being exposed naked on the icy balcony. But these dreams occurred less and less frequently. She had almost completely calmed down, realizing that her life would never be the same.
From a very young age, she would remember that even the closest relatives could be the most wicked people in her life. Now her father had a new child, and Kayla had a new victim. She sympathized with that little child and secretly hoped that they wouldn’t experience the same horrors she endured while living with Kayla.
Donna climbed down from the windowsill and went to the kitchen to have tea with her grandmother and her friend. They warmly welcomed her into the kitchen, and the conversation shifted to a completely different topic. They talked about plans for the future, dreams, and the beauty of the surrounding countryside.
As the years passed, Donna grew into a strong and resilient young woman. Her grandmother provided her with the love and support she had always longed for. Donna excelled in school, determined to create a better life for herself. She pursued her passions and dreams, always remembering the lessons learned from her past.
She became an advocate for children’s rights and worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the importance of a loving and nurturing environment for every child. Donna’s experiences fueled her dedication to making a difference in the lives of those who had suffered like she had.
Over time, she found healing and forgiveness within herself. She forgave her father for his neglect and abandonment, understanding that his actions were a reflection of his own shortcomings. She even forgave Kayla, recognizing that her cruelty stemmed from her own insecurities and lack of empathy.
Donna’s journey led her to help others who had experienced similar traumas. She became a mentor, guiding children who had gone through difficult circumstances, offering them the support and encouragement they needed to overcome their challenges.
Through her resilience and determination, Donna created a new path for herself, one filled with love, compassion, and a deep sense of purpose. She vowed to break the cycle of abuse and neglect, ensuring that every child had the opportunity to thrive in a safe and nurturing environment.
In her heart, Donna knew that her past didn’t define her. She had risen above the pain and emerged stronger than ever. With the love and guidance of her grandmother, she had reclaimed her identity and found the strength to create a bright and hopeful future.