I looked after my ex’s daughters for two years

DEAR DEIDRE: THE little girls I helped to bring up are slipping away from me – and I’m so upset.

I was a stepmum for two years to girls of seven and five after I met their dad online and moved in after six months.

I’m 30 and he’s 35. The children’s mother had left him. She had mental health problems and was violent.

The girls were beautiful and very well-behaved. I got used to being in a happy family.

But cracks began to appear when my partner became secretive over his phone. After a big argument, he asked me to leave.