Donna, the Wicked Stepmother

Alex was not able to remember any memories of her mother. What she just knew was that she died when Alex was just three years old. It was a tragic death.

Based on what was told her, Molly, her mother, was inside her office in the restaurant she owned when a bomb exploded. It was of a coincidence that only her and her trusted cashier was inside so only the two of them died from the incident.

So it was only Alex and her dad, Tom, left in their home by then.

Six months after her mom died when a mother-and-daughter pair, Donna and Lucy, came to their lives. Alex learned that Donna was a former girlfriend of her dad before her mother. They broke up when his dad knew that some random guy got Donna pregnant. She was insisting by then that it was Tom's but he knew with all his heart that he was not the father.

He remembered that after he learned about her pregnancy, he disgustfully shoo her away and cursed her to never come back. But she still did it on a state that his emotions were so so low. He was grieving with the loss of the person he loved the most. Molly might not be Tom's first love but she was his greatest.

He thought it won't work out with an arranged marriage like theirs but he slowly found out that Molly was the missing piece of her life he'd been trying to find in Donna. They'd had a happy married life. They both felt perfect when Alex came into their lives. The family of three had been an ideal family for everyone.

But she died.

Donna suddenly came into the picture with an eight-year old daughter named Lucy. She tried to console Tom. She took care of him. She showered him all her love when he felt so lost. He didn't know how to start living again but Donna helped him get back on his feet. He wanted to commit suicide and just follow Molly wherever she was. Donna was so patient on him and tried very hard to help him forgive whoever had done this to his late wife and forget the things that could not be undone.

She was always telling Tom, "You still have Alex. Just focus on her because she's all that you have. This is the time that she needs you the most."

Those were her consoling and motivating words. Days, weeks and months gone by and Tom was coping up with what happened to her late wife. He was able to run their businesses well again. Though he felt disappointed with the slow progress of the case, he still had hopes that it would be resolved soon.

Seeing Alex grew up, he thought that he needed a mother by her side to guide her especially on things only girls understand. Since he already knew Donna and even had a relationship with her back then, anyway, Tom decided to propose to her.

Donna thought that all her efforts to win him back paid off but, truthfully for Tom, it was only for Alex' convenience. He saw how she attended to Alex' needs and how she took care of Alex when he was so down.

He just wanted to somehow still portray a complete family image. Although, seeing Donna would sometimes remind him of her infedility, he set that aside so Alex would not feel incomplete and be burdened missing her mother. He wanted someone to portray a mother figure for Alex which he felt he could not successfully fulfill. Perhaps it would not give them a harm if he gave her another shot. After all, she looked like serious in her efforts to be forgiven.

With Donna being already there, he decided to propose a marriage to her which she did not decline for it was a dream come true for her. But to her disappointment, they just had a simple civil wedding, unlike Tom and Molly's grand wedding which became the wedding of the year back then.

However, who would have thought that it would be the worst decision Tom had ever made?

Five years after their wedding, she bore their child and everything had changed. Her attitude badly changed. He found out how she was mistreating Alex when he's not around.

He felt horrible and could only be sorry for Alex. To compensate for Alex and prevent further maltreatment, he decided to cut Alex' home schooling and enrolled her to the best school where she can be busier and have more friends.

Was he too busy in their company that it was way later when he knew that another person in the house was bullying her precious Alex? How come he was blinded all those years?