Her Stepmother Bought Her Own Daughter a Car—Then Told Her Stepdaughter to “Be Grateful” for Bus Money

Ava knew the graduation dinner was really for Chloe.

Nobody had to say it.

The decorations were Chloe’s favorite colors.

The cake had Chloe’s university logo on it.

Most of the photographs on the display table were of Chloe.

That didn’t bother Ava as much as people might expect.

Chloe was her stepsister.

They were only eleven months apart.

And although they had grown up in the same house for nearly seven years, they had always lived very different lives inside it.

Chloe was Sandra’s daughter.

Ava was Mark’s.

Mark and Sandra married when the girls were eleven and twelve.

From the beginning, Sandra insisted she loved both girls.

She said it constantly.

“We don’t use the word step in this house.”

“We’re one family.”

“Everything is equal.”

Ava learned early that saying something and living it were not always the same thing.

Still, graduation was supposed to be different.

Both girls had finished high school within days of each other.

Both were starting college in the fall.

And Mark had told Ava several times:

“We want to celebrate both of you.”

So Ava tried to believe him.