Stepmother Mistook Me for Her Husband’s Mistress

My college graduation and my fathers wedding fell on the same day.
Hed even booked the university quad for the wedding, wanting everyone to be there to celebrate with us.
That morning, I posted a photo of my father and me online, my arm hooked through his, a brand-new Chanel bag on my shoulder.
His fiance mistook me for his sugar baby.
She stormed my graduation ceremony with her wedding security in tow.
"You know why I set the wedding here?" she shrieked, her voice venomous. "So I could rip you to shreds in front of everyone!"
"Barely out of your teens and youre already a professional gold digger. You must have a death wish! If I don't ruin your life today, then I've wasted the last five years of my life!"
The senior art projects set up for display at the ceremony were smashed to rubble.
In front of everyone, my stepmother-to-be tore my graduation gown to pieces and threw a bottle of acid on me.
The camera of her phone, still live-streaming, zoomed in on my dissolving flesh.
Just before I blacked out, my dad arrived with the police.

1
After two years studying abroad, Id timed my flight home perfectly, landing just in time for my graduation ceremonyand my fathers wedding.
It had been ten years since Mom passed away. Id lost count of how many times Id urged Dad to move on from his grief. Now, hed finally found someone he loved. I was genuinely happy for him, and as his daughter, I couldnt miss his big day.
After landing, I rushed straight to my dorm to change into my cap and gown. I was hoping for a quick nap before the ceremony, but the moment I opened my phone, I saw that my stepmother-to-be, Sophia, was live on social media.
I figured she was sharing her wedding prep with her followers, but when I clicked on the stream, that wasn't what I saw at all.
Her bridal makeup was flawless, but her eyes were red-rimmed and brimming with tears.
"Thank you all for your support," she sobbed into the camera. "I just never thought a college girl these days could be so powerful even forcing my fianc to hold our wedding at her beck and call!"
I watched as the comments in the chat went off the rails, shifting from congratulatory messages to calls for violence against a "homewrecker."
There has to be a misunderstanding, I thought. I knew my dad. In the ten years since Mom died, he hadnt so much as looked at another woman, aside from his colleagues.
I typed out a comment urging everyone to calm down, but it was instantly buried under an avalanche of insults.
Sophias shoulders shook with heart-wrenching sobs. "Today is my wedding day," she cried, "and she sends me a picture of them together, all lovey-dovey, telling me shes the only one my husband truly loves. That where we get married, if we get married, is all up to her. She said this wedding is just something she didn't want, a little scrap my fianc is throwing to me. I tried to stand up for myself, and then she"
She choked on her words, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Then she threatened to cancel my wedding and make me the laughingstock of the entire city!"
The audience in the live stream was so stunned they forgot to type. After a moment, the comments section exploded with rage.
"These college girls are all the same! I see them on TikTok doing their little dances. They might as well just pin a price tag on their videos!"
"Stay strong, Sophia! Youre way better than some clueless little girl!"
"How can they let a homewrecker like that graduate? She's going to destroy so many families. Someone needs to nip this in the bud, now!"
"My brother goes to that university, and he says it's a total mess! Especially the rich kids who study abroad, God only knows how messed up their lives are!"
"Don't be scared, Sophia, we've got your back! Go teach her a lesson today!"
I quickly backed out of the stream and sent her a private message, but it was like sending it into a void. No reply.
Id been abroad for two years; Id never even met her. Everything I knew about Sophia came from the occasional phone call with Dad. But the gentle, quiet woman he described was impossible to reconcile with the hysterical person Id just seen on screen.
The viewer count was climbing by the second. I had to call my dad.
Dad, is everything okay with you and Sophia? There must be some kind of misunderstanding. You wouldnt cheat on her, would you? You need to go talk to her and explain!
Lily, what are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?
It doesnt matter what kind of person you are, it matters what people think you are! Shes live-streaming to thousands of people about catching you with another woman, dont you get it? What have you been doing? Did the company hire any new college interns recently? Dad, it took you ten years to find someone, you have to take this seriously! Youre killing me!
I was about to give him a crash course on how to de-escalate things with a woman, but a furious pounding started at my dorm room door. I had to hang up.
The second I opened the door a crack, a massive force sent me flying backward onto the floor. A group of men in security uniforms barged into my room, hoisting me into the air, my feet dangling uselessly above the ground.
My glasses were knocked off, and the world dissolved into a blur. My sense of security vanished with them.
I stared, wide-eyed, at the woman in the wedding dress standing before me. The phones camera was shoved right in my face.
Sophias voice was sharp as glass. "Take a good look, everyone. This is the little college tramp whos been sleeping with my fianc! She doesnt even look like a good person! Look at that rainbow-colored hair. I guess college really taught you a thing or two!"
"What kind of parents raise trash like you?! Today, Im going to teach you the lesson they never did!"

2
Staring at her face, I couldnt believe this was how we were meeting for the first time.
I tried to explain, but Id barely managed to utter a single syllable before her palm cracked across my cheek.
Stars exploded behind my eyes as my head snapped to the side. Before I could even process the blow, another one came from the opposite direction. The sharp, throbbing pain in my face robbed me of the ability to think.
Her friends and family, who had followed her in, pointed at me, their voices a cacophony of rage.
"You could have learned anything, and you chose to be a cheap whore, seducing a married man! You think were just going to let that slide?"
"And youre wearing a cap and gown? You don't deserve it! You should be covered in chicken feathers! That would suit you better!"
The commotion drew my neighbors out of their rooms. In seconds, a crowd had formed, blocking the doorway to my dorm.
It took me a moment to catch my breath. Rage burned in my chest, tight and suffocating. I glared at Sophia, my teeth clenched.
"Sophia, I think you've made a terrible mistake. I am not the homewrecker you think I am. And you have no right to talk about college students that way. Show some respect!"
This was the woman my dad had spent ten years choosing. I had wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, to let this slide and sort it out quietly. But my words were met with a sneer.
She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the luggage Id brought back from my trip. "If you're not the other woman, who is? Let me guess, that suitcase is filled with all the luxury gifts my fianc bought for you, right? You've really cashed in these last four years, haven't you? Are you going to deny you posted that picture online?"
She shoved her phone in my face, showing me the post Id made that morning. It was the photo of me in my new Chanel bag, arm in arm with my father.
The caption read: [No matter what happens, we'll always be the most important person in each other's lives.]
In that instant, it all clicked. I was the source of her entire paranoid fantasy.
The fury in my chest evaporated, replaced by sheer disbelief.
"You've got it all wrong!" I said, my voice desperate. "I'm not his mistress! Didn't my dad ever tell you he had a daughter in college?!"
Sophia looked me up and down, a cold, mocking glint in her eyes. "You? Don't make me laugh. My fianc's daughter has been studying abroad. Who the hell do you think you are, trying to impersonate her? Youre just a cheap whore pretending to be a student. You dont deserve to be here."
She jabbed her finger into my chest, her nail digging into the fabric of my gown. "You know hes old enough to be your father!" she screamed. "And you still did something so shameless!"
I couldn't believe it. The surprise Id plannedreturning from my two years abroad for their weddinghad twisted into this nightmare. My patience was wearing thin.
"If you don't believe me, just ask my dad!" I pleaded. "Our house is filled with my photos. Have you never seen them?"
For a split second, a flicker of panic crossed her face. "What photos? Stop making things up! The apartment I live in doesn't have a single picture! My fianc told me his daughter hates having her picture taken!"
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course. Dad had never taken her to our family home.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. I was trapped, with no way to prove who I was. After Mom died, Dad had changed my last name to hers, so now even our names didn't match.
Sophia saw the panic in my eyes, and a triumphant smirk spread across her face.
"Nothing to say now, huh? You little bitch! You're about to learn what happens when you cross me!"
At her command, the security guards swarmed my room, smashing everything in sight. Sophia turned back to her live stream, aiming the camera at the wreckage.
Someone in the comments must have pointed out they were destroying school property, because she suddenly announced, "Oh, thank you for the reminder, everyone! I almost forgot about this little tramp's luggage!"
Ignoring my screams, she ripped open my suitcase, its contents spilling onto the floor. She took a pair of scissors to my designer clothes, reducing them to scraps. The strap of my Herms bag was torn off, my collection of rare, limited-edition perfumes shattered against the wall. The cloying scent of a thousand flowers filled the air, and her eyes turned bloodshot with rage.

3
Outside my door, my classmates had their phones out, recording the whole thing, their gasps and whispers filling the hallway. The videos spread like wildfire across the campus forums. My dorm had become the epicenter of a vicious scandal.
As I watched my belongings become a pile of ruin at her feet, I bit down so hard I could feel the veins bulge in my neck. But destroying my things wasn't enough for her.
She ordered the guards to drag me out. My disheveled figure was captured by her phone, the camera zooming in for a close-up of my terrified face.
Privacy was the last thing on my mind. My horrified screams echoed down the corridor. "What are you doing?! Where are you taking me?!"
She held her phone with one hand, the other planted firmly on her hip. "What am I doing?" she said, her voice dripping with ice. "You claim to be a college student, right? Well, Im going to give you a graduation ceremony you'll never forget! And a little warning for all the other sluts like you! Think twice before you go after another woman's man!"
As they dragged me through the women's dorm, other students stared, their eyes wide. Sophia's gaze swept over them, growing colder by the second.
"Is this a university or a brothel?" she sneered. "Your skirts are shorter than my underwear! It's disgusting. What kind of trashy school is this? Just wait until I expose your filthy behavior to the school board. We'll see if they change the dress code then!"
Id used up all my strength struggling in my room. Now, hearing her vile, cutting words, I had no energy left to fight back.
The graduation ceremony was already underway, with students and faculty filling the seats. Sophia and her guards dragged me straight onto the main stage.
One of the guards let go, and I collapsed in a heap on the platform.
She pointed at my crumpled form, snatched the microphone from the podium, and roared, "This is the 'fine student' your university produces! A homewrecker who preys on engaged men! Where are the leaders of this school? Get them out here! I demand an explanation, now!"
With that, she grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked, the pain so intense it felt like my scalp was tearing. My face twisted in agony. She had the guards point the live-feed camera at me, and my contorted features were instantly broadcast on the massive screen behind the stage.
"Take a good look!" Sophia bellowed into the microphone. "This is the price you pay for destroying someone's relationship!"
"I'm going to teach all of you so-called 'college students' a lesson today, so you finally learn your place!"
"You think a few years of school makes you special? You don't even know how to be a decent human being! What right do you have to graduate? None of you deserve it!"
The students in the audience stared in horrified silence. The university administrators, alerted to the chaos, rushed to the scene. The dean, his face pale and slick with sweat, tried to intervene, but Sophia completely ignored him.
I lay on the stage for what felt like an eternity before I could muster the strength to push myself up. I stood, trembling, and met her crazed gaze with a cold stare of my own.
"You do this," I said through gritted teeth, "and you're willing to ruin your own wedding?"
She laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "This university's reputation is already ruined because of you! And you think you can threaten me?"
She turned back to her live-stream audience, her tone sickly sweet. "Did you hear that, everyone? These college girls are something else, aren't they? I wonder what they really teach them here! This is exactly how she threatened to cancel my wedding before. And this is just what you're seeing in public. You should have heard how arrogant she was when she contacted me privately!"
"Don't you think she deserves to be taught a lesson?"

4
At her signal, two security guards lunged, pinning me to the stage floor. Another produced a bottle and began to slowly pour a clear liquid over my graduation gown.
A sizzling sound filled the air, and the fabric began to smoke. The hair on my arms stood on end. My own innocence no longer mattered; all I could think of was survival.
"Wait!" I begged, my voice cracking. "I admit it! I admit I seduced your fianc, okay? Just make them stop! Please, stop pouring!"
A cold, cruel smile played on Sophia's lips. She watched, enjoying the show. "Scared already? I thought you college girls were supposed to be tough. It's just a little acid. Can't handle that? Then you have no business seducing other women's men! I'm going to make sure you remember this lesson for the rest of your life!"
"You worthless thing, raised with no mother to guide you! I'll teach you the lesson she never did!"
My pleas had only made it worse. The guard tilted the bottle further, the acid flowing faster.
Hearing her insult my mother, my hands clenched into fists. "Aren't you afraid I'll call the police?" I snarled. "Everyone here is a witness!"
Her eyes scanned the crowd. Not a single person dared to move.
Sophia let out a wild, triumphant laugh and slapped me hard across the face. As she moved, the hem of her wedding dress brushed against the liquid on the floor and instantly turned black.
"Who do you think you are?" she screamed, her face inches from mine. "How dare you threaten me?! I'm the one marrying into the Crawford family!"
She whirled on the guard holding the bottle, who was now trembling. "Didn't you eat today?! Get out of the way!"
She snatched the bottle from his hand and emptied the remaining contents all over me. When it was empty, she shook it violently, a look of pure hatred on her face.
The guards holding me down scrambled back, terrified of being splashed.
An agony I had never known erupted across my skin. I couldn't stop myself from screaming, writhing on the stage in sheer torment. The louder I screamed, the more frenzied Sophia became.
She hiked up her wedding dress and ran towards me. Grabbing my hair with both hands, she dragged me to the edge of the stage, forcing me to face the audience. A piece of my scalp tore away, and the pain brought hot tears streaming from my eyes. My ruined skin and the melted fabric of my gown were fused together; the slightest movement sent waves of excruciating pain through me.
Sophia's eyes were bloodshot. "Are you ever going to be a homewrecker again?" she shrieked. "Answer me! You worthless bitch! Today, you learn who youre dealing with!"
"If you ever send my fianc another message, I will tear your face apart!"
Just then, the campus security my dean had called finally arrived, clashing with the guards Sophia had brought. A full-blown brawl erupted on stage. The senior art projects that had been set up for display were trampled, destroyed in the crossfire.
The pain was becoming unbearable. My vision started to blur at the edges. But Sophia wasn't finished. She held me up by my hair, pointing her phone's camera at the raw, bloody wounds on my body. The gruesome images flashed across her live stream. The viewers went wild. Likes poured in. She gained a million followers in a minute.
Suddenly, my phone, which had fallen from my pocket, began to ring.
She snatched it up, glanced at the screen, and then hurled it at my face. The impact broke my nose, and blood gushed down my chin. The pain was so intense I felt numb.
Sophias voice was a raw, uncontrolled shriek. "You dare to keep calling him, you bitch! I'll destroy your face so you have nothing left to seduce him with!"
I never save numbers in my phone. The call from my dad, displayed only as a string of digits, was the final straw that shattered her sanity.
The phone rang until it went to voicemail. I didn't have the strength to even think about answering it.
Sophia threw herself on top of me. Shed forgotten all about the live stream. Her hands were like steel clamps on my head, and she tried to force my face into the pool of corrosive acid still shimmering on the floor.
I used every last ounce of strength I had to resist. My face turned red, my lungs screaming for air. We were locked in a stalemate, but her strength was beginning to fail. Enraged, she started pummeling my head with both fists. The diamond on her engagement ring tore deep scratches across my cheeks.
I was done. I had nothing left. My consciousness began to fade into a dark, swirling fog. She took a deep breath, preparing for one final shove to push my face into the acid.
In that last second, a commotion erupted from the back of the auditorium. A voice, frantic and familiar, cut through the chaos.
"Lily! Lily! Dads here!"

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