You Take Up Too Much Space’: My Stepmom Kicked My Little Sister Out of the Home She Inherited

After Mom passed, Dad remarried quickly. His new wife, Monica, pushed my 16-year-old sister Emma out of our childhood home—but she didn’t expect me to fight back.

Monica moved in, polished and controlling, and erased Mom from the house. Family photos were boxed, quilts gone, and Emma felt invisible. Then Monica announced she was pregnant with twins. Dad beamed, Emma cried herself to sleep.

Yesterday, Monica told Emma she had to leave. Dad barely spoke. Emma called me, sobbing. “She kicked me out… there’s no room for me anymore.”

I drove straight there. The house was sterile, unrecognizable. I told Monica, “I’m here to pack”—her things, not Emma’s. “This house belongs to me. Mom left it to me.”

Two days later, Monica was gone, raging and threatening lawyers. Emma returned, the house finally ours again. We hung Mom’s photos back, lit her favorite candle, and made grilled cheese like she used to.

The house felt full again—not with things, but with the space we were finally allowed to claim as our own.