My names Andrew. When my mum passed away, my dad remarried a woman who had two daughters.
Years went by, and we all grew up together. Tragically, my dad had an accident and died.
My stepmother turned out to be a truly honourable person. She willingly gave me the flat, saying, That flat belonged to your mum. It should be yours now!
The only thing she asked was for her daughters to stay in my flat until they finished their studies, while she went back to her hometown. I thought it was a fair request and agreed.
Her daughters, Alice and Harriet, were quite different from each other, but they shared one aim: they both wanted to marry a man who already owned a flat.
For a while, I enjoyed a rather pleasant life. Alice made breakfast every morning, and Harriet would iron my shirts. Each tried to win my favour in their own way.
Then, just two months apart, Alice and Harriet each gave birth to a daughter. When my stepmother found out, she flew into a rage. Still, Alice and Harriet refused to end their pregnancies; they decided to keep the children.
I thought it over, and realised that paying a third of my salaryabout £600 a monthfor child support over eighteen years would ruin me. So, I decided to purchase a flat on a mortgage.
I exchanged my old flat for two studio flats, then used the remaining money as a deposit for a flat of my own, bought on mortgage.
I gave each studio flat to Alice and Harriet, asking them to sign a waiver for alimony payments, which they did. For a few years, life felt peaceful.
But four years later, out of nowhere, I received a court order at work stating I owed a huge amount of child support.
I went to speak with them, and they simply laughed. It turned out they never meant to legally waive child supportthe contract was intentionally flawed.
So, I was left without my parents flat, stuck paying a mortgage and hefty child support. Life became incredibly tough.
Meanwhile, my stepmother seemed delighted: Serves you right! You deserve it, shed say.
Alice and Harriet even banned me from seeing my daughters. I borrowed money to pay off arrears and went to court to fight for visitation rights. Thankfully, I won.
At work, I had a frank chat with my manager and arranged to be paid most of my salary off the books. Now, the official child support claims are much lower.
I collect my daughters every Friday and drop them back on Sunday. I buy them whatever their hearts desire, and take them out for all sorts of adventures. Alice and Harriet continually moan, insisting Im spoiling the girls.
I also pay two mates to keep an eye on my sisters and remind them that looking after someone elses children might make future marriage prospects harder.
Once, with a social worker as witness, I took my daughters from my stepmothers house, claiming their mothers had abandoned them. I then filed for child support myself, and my daughters came to live with me. Im a devoted dad. My daughters dash to hug me whenever their mums visit, frightened they might be taken away. Its not for nothing that I read them fairy tales about wicked mothers.
By the time Alice and Harriet realised what was happening, I was already happily married.
I offered them a dealreturn my flats to me, and Id return their daughters. They quickly agreed.
Now, life is comfortable. I rent out both flats, and the mortgage on my own place is fully paid.
In the end, I managed not to let myself be cheated and taught my scheming sisters a clever lesson. The experience taught me the importance of standing up for myself, and that fairness, in the end, will triumph over selfishness and deceit.
