After my messy divorce from Roger, I thought life would improve. We had two daughters, Veronica (14) and Casey (12), and I was eager to find love again. However, every time I introduced a boyfriend to them, things went wrong. They’d meet my daughters, and then, the men would mysteriously vanish.

The most recent incident involved David. He seemed great at first, but during dinner with the girls, he suddenly bolted. The next morning, I received a cold text: “It’s over, Melinda.” This wasn’t the first time it happened; Shawn and Victor had also disappeared after meeting my daughters.

Determined to understand why, I asked my friend Jose for help. We devised a plan where Jose pretended to be my new boyfriend. When I introduced him to Veronica and Casey, their behavior was off. After dinner, Jose left quickly, and I asked him what happened. He revealed that my daughters had been sabotaging my relationships, hoping Roger and I would get back together. They’d even told him lies about me.

I confronted the girls, and after some prodding, they admitted they just wanted us to reunite. I explained that while I understood, lying and chasing away my boyfriends wasn’t the way. We needed to move forward.

That night, I called Roger. I told him about the girls’ feelings, and we agreed to meet. Over coffee, I explained that they still hoped we’d reconcile. Roger was shocked but agreed that counseling could help. We decided to give it a try for the sake of the girls.

Weeks later, after tough counseling sessions, we started making progress. One evening, we sat down with the girls and told them we were trying to work things out. They were thrilled, and we promised to give it our best shot.

As time passed, our communication improved, and our home felt peaceful again. At dinner one evening, Veronica smiled and said, “I’ve missed this.” I smiled back, feeling a spark of hope. We still had a long way to go, but for the first time in years, I felt like we were heading in the right direction.