{"id":116452,"date":"2025-03-07T10:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/?p=116452"},"modified":"2025-03-07T10:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:28:14","slug":"my-daughter-started-coming-home-from-school-in-tears-and-stopped-talking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/my-daughter-started-coming-home-from-school-in-tears-and-stopped-talking\/","title":{"rendered":"My Daughter Started Coming Home from School in Tears and Stopped Talking&hellip;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>My Daughter Started Coming Home from School in Tears and Stopped Talking to My Wife&hellip;\n<p>My daughter Demi is 13, and yeah, I know people say this is the age when kids get \u201cdifficult,\u201d but what we\u2019re dealing with is way beyond typical teenage mood swings.\n</p><p>Recently, my daughter has been coming home from school with red, swollen eyes like she\u2019s been crying, and she just seems so down all the time. I\u2019ve tried talking to her, but she keeps brushing it off with, \u201cDad, it\u2019s just school stuff!\u201d I know when my kid\u2019s lying, and this was definitely a lie.\n</p><p>But what really threw me was how she started acting toward my wife Nora. They\u2019ve always had the closest bond\u2014my daughter loves her mom more than anyone. So, when my wife asked her what was wrong, and she snapped, \u201cDon\u2019t touch me, don\u2019t talk to me, just leave me alone!\u201d then ran to her room and locked the door, I knew something was seriously off.\n</p><p>The next day, I decided to go to the school and figure out what was really going on.\n</p><p><img fetchpriority='\"high\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"aligncenter' size-full wp-image-116466 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/justmetalking.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2025%5C/03%5C/daughter-in-tears.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1080\"' height='\"1350\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/daughter-in-tears.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'><br>\nI couldn\u2019t believe my eyes when I spotted Demi. She was talking to another girl. What surprised me was that the girl resembled her so much. The same dark hair, the same height, and the same facial features. It was like looking at two versions of my daughter.\n</p><p>A car pulled up next to them. The other girl waved to Demi and hopped into the passenger seat.\n</p><p>When I glanced at the driver, my heart skipped a beat. It was Todd \u2013 a man I hadn\u2019t seen in years.\n</p><p>I called out, \u201cTodd!\u201d but instead of acknowledging me, he quickly looked away and drove off.\n</p><p>Then, I remembered Nora telling me years ago that she\u2019d had a falling out with Todd and stopped talking to him.\n</p><p>I focused back on Demi, \u201cHey, sweetheart! Come, let\u2019s go home!\u201d\n</p><p>As we drove away, I decided to ask her about the other girl.\n</p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s Sierra,. She\u2019s in my class\u201d Demi said casually.\n</p><p>\u201cYou two look so alike,\u201d I remarked. \u201cIs something wrong?\u201d I asked.\n</p><p>She turned to me, saying. \u201cNothing, Dad. You don\u2019t want to know what I\u2019m thinking.\u201d\n</p><p>Her words sent a chill down my spine.\n</p><p>\u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cIt means\u2026\u201d she hesitated, then shook her head. \u201cNever mind.\u201d\n</p><p>I let it go, thinking it was just another one of those cryptic teenage moments.\n</p><p>But as I drove her home, the image of Todd and that girl lingered in my mind.\n</p><p>That evening, I sat in the living room, waiting for Nora to come home. She walked through the door at around 6:30 p.m.\n</p><p>I motioned for her to sit down. \u201cWe need to talk.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d she asked.\n</p><p>\u201cI went to Demi\u2019s school today,\u201d I began. \u201cI was hoping to find out what\u2019s been bothering her. But I saw something strange.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cStrange?\u201d Nora repeated. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cI saw Demi talking to a girl who looked almost identical to her. And then a car pulled up to pick up that girl. Guess who was driving?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cWho?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cTodd,\u201d I said flatly.\n</p><p>At that time, her face turned pale.\n</p><p>\u201cOh, really? That\u2019s\u2026 that\u2019s surprising,\u201d she stammered. \u201cI, uh, I haven\u2019t seen Todd in years.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cYou know what\u2019s stranger?\u201d I asked. \u201cHe ignored me and drove away the moment I called out to him. It felt like he didn\u2019t want to be seen. Isn\u2019t that weird?\u201d\n</p><p>Nora avoided my gaze.\n</p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe he, uh, maybe he didn\u2019t see you.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cNora, stop,\u201d I said. \u201cSomething\u2019s not adding up. Why would Todd drive away like that? And why does that girl look so much like Demi?\u201d\n</p><p>At that point, Demi walked into the room.\n</p><p>She crossed her arms and said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just tell him, Mom?\u201d\u201cDemi, what are you talking about?\u201d Nora asked with eyes wide open.\n</p><p>\u201cYou\u2019ve been hiding this for so long!\u201d Demi shouted. \u201cI know the truth, and it\u2019s time Dad knows too!\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cSweetheart, what truth?\u201d I asked Demi. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cThat girl you saw today\u2026 Sierra?\u201d Demi said as her eyes welled up. \u201cShe\u2019s my sister.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cWhat?\u201d I shouted. \u201cHow is that possible?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cA few weeks ago, her father, Todd, came to pick her up from school,\u201d Demi began. \u201cI was waiting for you, and he\u2026 he walked up to me. He said something weird, like, \u2018You\u2019ve grown so much. You look just like your mom at your age.\u2019 I thought he was just being creepy at first, but then he pulled out a photo.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cIt was a photo of him and Mom,\u201d she said. \u201cThey looked young and Mom\u2026 she was pregnant. He told me this was taken before I was born. He said he\u2019s my biological father.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cDemi, please!\u201d Nora protested. \u201cHow could you believe him? What if he was lying?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cI thought so too, Mom,\u201d Demi said. \u201cI thought he must be lying but then I heard you on the phone the other day. You were talking to Todd, telling him not to bother you. I heard you say his name, Mom. That\u2019s when I understood he was right. Sierra even told me her father says we look alike because we\u2019re sisters.\n</p><p>I turned to Nora. \u201cTell me the truth, Nora. Tell me the truth!\u201d I yelled. \u201cIs she Todd\u2019s daughter?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cI-I\u2019m so sorry, Billy,\u201d she said between sobs. \u201cI cheated on you. Years ago. With Todd. Demi is his daughter. \u201cIt was a mistake. I regretted it the moment it happened. I cut Todd out of my life because I didn\u2019t want him to ruin what we had. I didn\u2019t want you to know.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cYou lied to me,\u201d I said as I stood up. \u201cYou lied to me, and you lied to Demi. For 13 years!\u201d\n</p><p>Demi started crying. I immediately pulled her into a hug.\n</p><p>\u201cNone of this is your fault. I love you, and I always will.\u201d, I said softly.\n</p><p>She clung to me, sobbing into my chest.\n</p><p>\u201cI hate her,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI hate her for lying.\u201d\n</p><p>Once Demi had calmed down, I walked her to her room.\n</p><p>Then, I returned to the living room.<br>\n\u201cHow could you do this to me?\u201d I asked Nora . \u201cHow could you lie about something so big?\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cI was scared,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI thought if you knew, you\u2019d leave me. I didn\u2019t want to lose you.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t just lie to me,\u201d I said. \u201cYou lied to Demi. She\u2019s been living with this confusion because of your selfishness.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cPlease, Billy, don\u2019t leave me. We can work through this.\u201d\n</p><p>I shook my head, \u201cIf you had told me back then, maybe I could\u2019ve forgiven you. But hiding this for 13 years? Letting me believe a lie? I can\u2019t forgive that. We\u2019re done, Nora.\u201d\n</p><p>She begged and pleaded, but my mind was made up.\n</p><p>A few months later, Demi and I moved into a new place. I filed for divorce and gained full custody of my daughter.\n</p><p>Though it wasn\u2019t easy, we started rebuilding our lives together, one step at a time.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"</p><p>My Daughter Started Coming Home from School in Tears and Stopped Talking to My Wife&hellip; My daughter Demi is 13, and yeah, I know people say this is the age when kids get \u201cdifficult,\u201d but what we\u2019re dealing with is way beyond typical teenage mood swings. Recently, my daughter has been coming home from school\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[818],"class_list":{"0":"post-116452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moral-story","8":"tag-moral-touching-stories"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/daughter-in-tears.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116467,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116452\/revisions\/116467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</p></strong></p>