**I (currently 23M) have to warn you that it's pretty long, but there is a TL;DR at the end you can read.**

During my freshman (14Y) year of high school, my father met a woman (Currently approx. 55F) through Eharmony apparently. I was introduced to this woman several months later, but I never knew the harm she caused my family for so long until a couple years ago. For the sake of understanding the story better, I will call this woman Parasite.

Before my dad met and dated Parasite, my parents were divorced for eight years, and they fought with one another whenever they were in the same vicinity. I was on very good terms with both my parents despite them not being on good terms with each other. My dad had some anger issues while mom was unorthodox in her lifestyle and parenting methods, which further set dad off. They both loved me unconditionally though.

Parasite always had an ulterior motive and probably used my father as a stepping stone for her own selfish gain. Looking back on it, I could see that she would leave some of her stuff at his house each time she visited. I could tell she was ready to move into Dad's house. The final thing she moved in was her cats who my naive dumbass thought would be cute to have.

In my sophomore year (15Y), Parasite fully moved into my dad's house and stayed there until my early senior year. During all that time, she brought in more dogs and cats which I again didn't think much of. I did realize though that living there became more unbearable over time. I was too naive and stupid to see it then because I thought having a lot of pets was cool. I idiotically thought this was normal, but especially for the dogs, she was apparently okay with them defecating on the floor in the garage. This was because neither Dad nor Parasite wanted to install a doggie door to the backyard. After Parasite left in my senior year, me and dad had to clean the entire garage floor with bleach to get rid of the shit smell.

Even so, I soon deluded myself into thinking that Parasite could be my new stepmom and even called her as such around my few friends. I thought that they could happily marry and start a new life together.

In the end of my sophomore year (16Y), Dad told me he had colon cancer. I didn't feel too devastated at first though. This was because my naive and ignorant mind thought that he would inevitably beat it since it was stage 2 at the time. He planned to have a surgery that would remove part of his color and have his fecal matter pushed in a bag attached to his stomach while the colon healed. I thought that would be the end of it. Also, Parasite was there with him when the surgery happened.

After the surgery, that was when Parasite made several moves against me and my family. She pulled my indisposed Dad away from everyone else in his side of the family (with the exception of me), tried to make everything in the house hers (even dad's stuff), and dragged us along on her own family's special occasions like weddings and baby showers. Dad once had no choice but to babyproof his house just because her 3 or 4 year old granddaughter was coming for a week. Just a week for one fucking time. I couldn't see it at the time, but Dad's life was being absorbed by Parasite's and I thought I could blindly forgive Parasite's red flags over time.

In my junior year (16Y) I attended a parent meeting for this SAT prep course. I invited Dad, Mom, and Parasite thinking that they could all behave in a friendly and civil manner. I thought Mom and Parasite could get along. I rode with Dad and Parasite to the meeting, so I was riding back with them and followed them after the meeting ended. Mom then wanted to talk with me, but my father and Parasite wanted me to just leave without talking with her. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there for a few seconds looking at both of them. This was before Parasite did something that, looking back on it now, I couldn't stand for at all. She threatened my mother with violence. At the time, my father despised my mother due to his anger issues and short temper, and Parasite further drilled that onto me. I deluded myself into thinking my mom was the enemy, and that Parasite was to be the new mother figure. I didn't see it as a bad thing at the time, but once I got home, I immediately made a beeline to my room and didn't talk with my father or Parasite for the rest of the night. I cried myself to sleep that night because I could finally see just how much more broken Parasite made my family. On both my parents' sides. I knew that I couldn't trust her after that. My delusions were slowly but surely fading.

I still thought I could confide in Parasite's daughter about her and Dad shouting at me and reprimanding me for doing something I don't remember. Several minutes later, the daughter calls Parasite and tells her everything I said. This understandably pissed me off that night.

I wanted to also keep a secret between Parasite and me, partially as an experiment, but some time later, she went ahead and told my Dad behind my back. I couldn't trust Parasite at all after that, and started to fully realize that she was the biggest rat in a family of rats.

After a few more months, Dad's colon cancer came back. Parasite knew this too, but she was a cook. Her cooking consisted of lardy dishes and food smothered in butter while Dad was unable to cook due to the cancer. I of course had no problem with it, but Dad was working to lose weight to qualify for an experimental procedure to potentially save his life. Because of Parasite's cooking though, he didn't lose enough weight and wasn't eligible. He was at stage 3 or 4 at this point, but I blindly and ignorantly thought that he could still make it.

My early senior year (17Y) was when Parasite put the final nail in the coffin. She sucked my father dry of his time, health, and money so much over the years and saw that there was nothing more for her there. From what dad told me, Parasite told him that she wanted to move to Paris, France, so they split. I didn't know how to feel about it due to my still delusional mind, but I wished her the best of luck. Like the naive and clueless dumbass I was.

Unfortunately, the extensive and irreparable damage was already done. The 3 dogs and 4 cats she adopted were left as a "parting gift" due to some bullshit international airport pet policy. She also further rifted the relationship between my parents, and pushed away everyone else in my family. The most significant of all her damages though, was being partially responsible for my father's possible death.

By the time I graduated high school (18Y), I could still think that everything could go back to normal with Parasite gone. Now that I was in college, I could fix some things and have more freedom to do so. Dad would be free of his cancer, he could talk and learn to forgive, and not fight with mom again. I could also make a career for myself that he could be proud of while fixing up the house from Parasite's damages.

My blindly optimistic desires came to a brutal stop though. My father was dying and soon passed away from the cancer early on in my freshman year of college. He didn't tell anyone he was dying, so it came as a sudden shock to me. I grieved for so long, and went to the funeral, but never saw Parasite there. I could conclude later on that she never did love him.

For the years following his passing, I was told by other family members and their friends more about all the horrible things Parasite did to them and my father that I never knew about. How she pushed other family members away, how dominating she was, and the pathetic manipulative lengths she'll go to to keep my father by her side. As I understood more of what happened, I grew more hurt, upset and angry. I could see that she was nothing but a lying evil piece of shit. I deluded myself into thinking she and her family of rats could be new members of OUR family. I realized I could never forgive her for her actions and what she did to me and my family. Especially because she was partially responsible for my father's death.

I have regrets about this too. I could have saved my father and cooked more healthy food for him instead of Parasite's cooking, leading him to losing enough weight and getting that chance to possibly live. I also regret not seeing the red flags sooner because I didn't know what constituted as "normal" for adults back then. I wish I could have seen the signs sooner and warn dad about her, but what power did I have? More importantly, what knowledge did I have? I was a teenager in high school, the bottom of the family totem pole, and it was partially because of her that my high school home life was so shitty.

It's also for this reason that I'm partially afraid of finding genuine love, as almost every woman I've ever met (beyond family) is either greedy, shallow, not interested, taken, or manipulative. I don't want to get hurt like how Parasite (and other girls before her) hurt my father. Either by what Parasite did, or something more simple like wanting money. For me, I just want to find a good soul who can love me for who I really am. Not for what's in my wallet or career.

If I ever see Parasite again, I don't really care if she's a lady. To me, she lost her lady status when she sucked my father dry of his time, money and resources before leaving him to die and moving to another fucking country. If I see her again, I want to tell her every single thing she did and brutally remind her of just how much of a manipulative evil scumbag she really is.

She is a prime reason why I have major trust issues and relationship problems that I can't get over to this day.

**TL;DR: A woman I'll call Parasite was responsible for so much damage that happened to my father and my family. Including myself. She threatened my mother with violence, kept several dogs and cats in the house while barely taking care of them, pushed other family members away from my father, and kept cooking meals for him that prevented him from qualifying for experimental cancer treatment that could have potentially saved his life. I deluded myself into thinking that she could be a new mother figure in my life and be better than my mom, but I was too naive, stupid, ignorant, and clueless to see what was really going on. I should've seen it sooner. I believe that Parasite was second or third handedly responsible for my father's death. All those things and more are why I can never truly forgive her. It is also why I'm afraid of finding love because Dad had dated more women after mom, but before Parasite, who were only after his money too. I also have regrets about back then because I'm always thinking that I could have saved him or I could have seen more red flags and warn him. It comes back to haunt me every now and then and I feel horrible about it. Because of that, I have trust issues and relationship problems from that time in my life to this day.**