I proposed a deal to Mary and Natalie: they return my flats, and in exchange, I’ll bring their daughters back to them

My name is Andrew. After my mother passed away, my father remarried a woman who had two daughters of her own.

Years rolled by, and we all grew up together. Then tragedy struck againmy father was in an accident and died.

To my surprise, my stepmother turned out to be a truly decent person. She said to me, That flat belonged to your mother, and now it’s rightfully yours! She gave the flat over to me without fuss.

The only thing she asked was for me to let her daughters stay until they completed their college studies. She was going back to her cottage in the countryside. I agreed without hesitation.

Alice and Sophie, my stepsisters, were as different as chalk and cheese. But they were united on one front: each wanted to marry a bloke who already had a place of his own.

And so began quite a pleasant period for me. Alice would make me a lovely breakfast every morning, while Sophie always kept my shirts pressed and tidy. Both of them went out of their way to be helpful and considerate.

Then, within two months of each other, Alice and Sophie both gave birth to daughtersmy daughters. My stepmother was absolutely furious when she found out they were both pregnant, causing a real commotion. But neither Alice nor Sophie considered a termination; they were determined to have their babies.

After thinking things over, I realised paying a third of my wages in child support for 18 years would be painfully expensive. I decided to remortgage.

I swapped my flat for two studio flats, and then used the surplus as a deposit on a small mortgage for a flat of my own.

Each one-bed flat I gave to Alice and Sophie, in exchange for them signing away any right to child support. Those contracts, I thought, would keep things tidy. For the next few years, I lived peacefully.

Four years on, though, I got a shock at worka court order arrived, saying I owed a huge backlog of child support. When I went to ask my sisters what was going on, they just laughed to my facesaid Id handed them those flats for nothing, and theyd deliberately muddled up the paperwork.

So now I was out of my childhood flat, stuck paying a mortgage and child support at the same time. Things were really tough.

And, to top it all off, my stepmother seemed pleased: It’s just what you deserve, Andrew! Just what you deserve!

Alice and Sophie wouldnt let me see my girls, either. I had to borrow money to pay off my child support arrears and took the matter to court just for the right to see my daughters. Thankfully, I won.

I had a stern word with my boss and arranged to have most of my wages paid off the books. That way, I only paid a much smaller amount in child support.

Now, every Friday, I pick up my daughters and bring them back on Sunday. I buy them toys, treats, and take them out for all sorts of fun. Alice and Sophie complain endlessly, shouting at me not to spoil the girls.

On the side, I even paid two lads to go out with Alice and Sophie, and to wind them up about how having children would put off any future husband.

Once, when a lady from social services was there, I took my daughters from my stepmother’s house, claiming their mothers had left them behind for good. I put in for child support myself, and now my girls live with me. Im actually quite a good dadmy daughters rush over to hug me whenever their mothers call, terrified theyll be taken away. I read them bedtime stories about wicked mothers, not that it takes much to convince them.

By the time Alice and Sophie realised the tables had turned, I was already happily married to someone else.

I made Alice and Sophie an offer: return the flats, and Id let them have their daughters back. Of course, they agreed.

Now, life is grand. I rent out both of those flats, and have finally cleared the mortgage on my own place.

I refused to let myself be conned, and in the end, I outsmarted my cheeky sisters quite neatly.