Nothing feels more disingenuous than getting sideswiped by a pre-scripted family moment. 

This young woman had spent 7 years dealing with her stepmother’s feigned motherly devotion and found her acts of love very performative. Luckily, over the years, she’d grown a tough skin to keep her stepmother at arm’s length, but when she and her dad decided to do a backyard vow renewal ceremony, there was a little more family love than she’d signed up for. 

Cornered by the prying eyes of their friends and family, this young woman refused to take part in the fake circus of flattery, turning her stepmom’s ‘family pledge’ moment into a revelation of the blended family’s deep-seated distrust. Perhaps their family bond was weaker than this stepmom thought, because cultivating relationships based on obligation never goes as planned…