When I married Ben, I knew he was a widower with a young son, Lucas, and I was okay with it. I respected Ben’s love for his late wife, Irene, and was ready to start a new chapter as a family. For months, everything went well, and Lucas even started calling me “Mom.”
One night, while tucking him in, Lucas whispered, “My real mom still lives here.” I thought it was just a child’s imagination, but strange things began happening around the house. Toys would reappear in the same place, and items I’d moved, like Irene’s photograph, would be back where they were.
Then Lucas told me, “Mom says you shouldn’t touch her things.” It made me uneasy, so I investigated. In the attic, I discovered a hidden room where Ben’s sister, Emily, had been living for years, unnoticed by anyone. Emily, unable to cope with Irene’s death, had been pretending to be Lucas’ mother.
I confronted Ben, who admitted he’d been hiding Emily, hoping to protect her. We decided to set up a camera to confirm Emily’s involvement with Lucas, and the footage showed her feeding Lucas these illusions.
Ben eventually explained the truth to Lucas, and we got Emily the help she needed. Though difficult, the experience brought Ben and me closer, and we began to heal as a family.
Leave a Reply