My (44M) wife (45F)'s son is gonna make me crazy. He suddenly started treating me and my daughter like crap.

I (44M) have been married twice in my life.

My first wife, Lara (43F), and I married when I was 25. We were married for a bit over 5 years and we had a daughter, Elena (18F). The divorce was amicable. We simply understood we didn't love each other anymore. There was no drama or arguments.

I met my second wife, Veronica (45F) around 9 years ago and we got married 6 years ago. Veronica has a son from her previous marriage, Mark. He is 17 but he is only a couple of months younger than Elena ( she was born in January, he was born in May).

Mark's father is still part of his life but, according to Veronica ( and, from what I could witness, I agree), he isn't exactly the most reliable person ever. He is not a bad man but he is a mess.

I have a good relationship with Elena. I was lucky enough to have good parents and grandparents, so I had a solid base to begin to understand how to be a good dad. My daughter knows she can talk with me about anything and I will always help her.

I admit I had no idea what my relationship with Mark would be. I have been in his life since he was 11. I know step-parent and step-children relationships are often uncomfortable so I tried being present in his life without looking like I was trying to take his father's place. I didn't push any rule on him but I made sure he followed Veronica's rules and let her deal with him if and when he broke them. I tried to be there for him in case he needed to talk about something and didn't want to confide with his parents ( He confided few things with me (nothing serious) and I promised to never tell those things to Veronica.). All in all, I think we had a good relationship

My daughter and my step-son have a good relationship. They are friends and I'm happy about it.

Regarding college, me and Lara made a college fund for Elena ( we contributed 50/50).

Few years ago I asked Veronica if she had any plan for Mark's college and she told me that, while she has been saving money for his college, she doesn't have much and the chances of her ex husband contributing to the fund are less than 0. So, while I can't put as much money as I did for Elena, I decided to contribute to his college fund. He will probably have to work part time to pay for his living expenses but he should be able to go to college and graduate without any debt.

Now I don't know what happened in the past few months but Mark suddenly started hating me. I can't talk with him because he either ignore me or answer rudely. Before, whenever I went out with Elena, I invited him to come with us and we all had fun whenever he did. Now he acts as if I don't exist and he treats Elena in a similar way.

Veronica tried talking with him but she got no result. I'm a calm person, so I'm trying to keep the peace around the house. Veronica decided that if he doesn't start getting better and talk about what happened to him, she will force him to go to therapy and/or ground him. Elena inherited her mom's warrior personality so she is about to snap at him.

I need advices on what to do.

TL;DR : my step-son suddenly started acting rudely toward me and my daughter. I don't know what to do.

Submitted March 26, 2023 at 04:04AM by nosyar_GkciD https://ift.tt/C9GvSE8