DEAR DEIDRE: AS soon as I moved in with my boyfriend the cracks in our relationship began to show.
We had been together for just over a year when we started to live together.
I’m 32 and my boyfriend’s 34. Before the move I got on well with his 12-year-old daughter who he has full custody of.
But over the last few months she has started to turn on me, as well as her dad.
I knew she was verbally abusive towards her dad, swears and steals money from him but I hoped we would be able to maintain a friendly relationship.
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Her behaviour is so awful it has taken its toll on me and my depression is suffering as a result.
Now my partner and I argue non-stop about her and the final straw came when she stole my money.
She denied it at first and then both my partner and his daughter blamed me for it all. I ended up moving out temporarily.
A week later he asked me to go back but in secret.
He doesn’t want the rest of his family to know because of the awful arguments we had.
I have this gut feeling he’s just leading me on. I feel used.
DEIDRE SAYS: It’s tough for kids when their parents split up. His daughter is faced with the new set up and competing for her dad’s attention.
She shouldn’t get away with this sort of behaviour.
If you decide to stay with him you need to agree boundaries. My support pack on stepfamilies will help.
You cannot stay a secret forever. Trust your gut instinct and don’t be fobbed off.
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