Hi faithnhope - im sorry this situation has become so out of hand. The best thing really is to tell the truth, maybe tell your husband only and explain that you were so lonely and unhappy growing up this was the only thing that helped you through it - if you take the time to properly explain im sure that, as your husband, he will understand. I think its better to stop using the imaginary friends altogether - if you tell yourself you'll only be the imaginary friend of your step daughter you might end up being tempted to maintain contact with your husband as his imaginary friend too and the whole thing will continue to spiral out of control. A word of caution though - if you cease using these imaginary friends of your husband and daughter within a short space of each other they may well become suspicious - even if you say you've tried contacting them yourself and you've heard nothing they may well figure out whats going on. This is why telling just your husband might be the best way to go - you may then feel more confident to tell your step daughter that her imaginary friend has lost their internet access or something along those lines. This hopefully shouldn't be too overwhelming as you would only have had to come clean to your husband. You won't have to make up some sort of excuse for his friend as he will already know whats going on. Another benefit of having him know will be that he'll avoid bringing up the subject of his friend and will help play down the loss of his step-daughters, so that in time the subject will be forgotten and you can all move on with things. I hope ive been of some help. I wish you all the best.