My Daughter Stopped Calling Me ‘Mom’—Then I Found Out She Was Talking to Someone Behind My Back

One morning, my stepdaughter, Lily, called me by my first name, making me feel like a stranger. I didn’t know it yet, but someone I thought was long gone had quietly reentered her life.

Mornings in our house used to be filled with noise and small moments I didn’t realize I’d miss. That day, like any other, I called out, “Lily! Breakfast!” but got no answer. I set her bowl on the table, grabbed her backpack, and turned around as she walked in.

“Olivia, where’s my backpack?” she asked.

Confused, I replied, “It’s right here.”

She took it without a word, barely acknowledging me, and sat down with her tablet, ignoring me completely.

I’d raised Lily since she was three, after her birth mom, Jenna, left her behind with a note saying she couldn’t handle motherhood. I stepped in and became the mom Lily needed. For years, she called me “Mom,” and we had a close, loving bond. But things changed when she turned 10—she became distant, less affectionate, and started calling me “Olivia.”

It hurt, but I thought it was just a phase. But when I asked her about it, she coldly replied, “You’re not the only woman who raised me.”

Later that night, while making tea, I found Lily’s tablet on the counter. It buzzed with a message preview from someone saved as “Mama .” I opened it and saw hundreds of messages—photos, voice notes, all from Jenna, the woman who had abandoned Lily years ago.

One message said, “I’ll come get you soon, okay? Mommy loves you.” I couldn’t believe it. Jenna was back in Lily’s life.