My mother chose a man over me: how she betrayed me for a stranger
My name is Poppy, Im 17, and Im from Brighton. Ive kept this story to myself for so long, silent, but now Im ready to share it. Maybe someone will see themselves in it. Maybe someone will rethink their choices. Or perhaps at least one mother will think twice before betraying her own child, like mine did.
My parents divorced when I was ten. I wouldnt say we were a happy family beforethe arguments, the blame, the distance between them were obvious even when I didnt understand everything. But after the divorce, it got worse. My mum and dad seemed to fight over my attention, not out of love, but obligation. I was shuffled between flats like a suitcase no one knew what to do with. At my dads, it was small but peaceful. With my mum, there was space, but every year, the tension grew heavier.
Everything shattered when a new man came into my mums life. His name was Oliver. He was in his thirties, nearly a decade younger than her, and immediately acted like he owned the place while I was just an inconvenience. At first, he put on a polite smile, pretending to care. But soon, the mask slipped. He hated that I lived with my mum. He hated her spending money on me. He had no problem saying out loud that my dad was useless, that I was a burden, and that I should stand on my own two feet by now.
He manipulated her, took her money, convinced her she didnt need a teenage daughterthat she needed freedom and to focus on herself. And my mum she listened. She stopped noticing my tears at night. How Id quietly grab my books from the kitchen just to avoid them. How Id lock myself in the bathroom for an hour just to sit in silence.
The final straw was a night I heard them screaming again. The walls shook. I stepped between them to protect my mumI was afraid hed hit her. But instead, he turned on me. The look in his eyes made my heart drop. I shouted, Stop it! Dont yell at her!and then came the blow. A real, proper hit. He struck me so hard I fell, slamming against the edge of a cupboard. Everything blurred. The last thing I remember is my mum screaming then silence.
I thought hed leave. That shed kick him out, hold me tight, call a doctor, tell me she loved me. I hoped for it. I searched her eyes for any sign of that hope. But she just whispered, You ruined everything. An hour later, she told me to pack my things and go live with my dad.
I gathered my belongings in silence, my heart torn out. I didnt cry. I didnt shout. I just left, realising I no longer had a home.
Now, I live with my dad. He tries his best, but we dont have the closeness I desperately wanted with my mum growing up. I dont hope anymore that shell call, apologise, or come back. Though deep down, Im still that little girl waiting for her mum to open the door and say, Forgive me, love. But it wont happen. She chose himthe man who hit her child.
I dont wish her harm. But I know one day, hell leave. Hell find someone younger, prettier, easier. Hell abandon her. And maybe then, shell remember me. But I wont be the girl who forgives everything. A mothers betrayal is a wound that never heals.
To every parent: dont have children if you wont be there for them, if you cant put them above your own mess. We didnt ask to be born. But if you brought us into this worlddont betray us.
Mum, if you ever read this know I survived. I picked myself up. Im strong. But Ill never run to you crying again. Youre not my mum anymore. Just the woman who gave birth to me.
