Reddit Stories - Betrayal at the Ivy Gates_ DECEPTION, INHERITANCE, and the Ultimate DISCOVERY_

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #ivygates #deception #inheritance #discoverySummary:In the gripping tale of "Betrayal at the Ivy Gates: Deception, Inheritance, and the Ultimate Discovery," secrets unravel, trust is shattered, and a shocking truth emerges. Follow the journey of betrayal and revelation in this captivating story.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, ivygates, deception, inheritance, discoveryBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse and stepchild deceived regarding a prestigious university and took the inheritance funds I provided for education. I discovered them utilizing it to pursue a fantasy instead. Now I'm leaving and taking back every penny. I, 40F, came into quite a lot of money after my aunt passed away and left me everything a couple of months ago. She passed away six months ago and three months ago.

I received all the money that she had left for me and inherited her. house as well, which I had been planning to sell, but now I'm living here. My aunt and I had always been close and even in her last few days. I was the only person who was regularly visiting her and taking care of her. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a couple of years ago and I had tried my best to be there for her. So it was no big surprise that she had left everything to me since she did not have any family of her own. She never married and never had any kids. She left a couple of other things to my mother, her sister, and a couple of other family members, but most of it came to me. And I will forever be grateful for it. I am an art teacher in middle school so naturally,

I don't get paid much. I also conduct classes for elderly people in my free time, but that also does not generate enough revenue for me. Lately, I have been saving up to buy a car, something that I have wanted for a long time so that it can make my commute easier. I have to take the bus to school every day and I did not have a problem with it earlier, but recently, I have been having a lot of problems with my back and the bus seats are really uncomfortable, so I can't deal with that sort of discomfort anymore. Besides, I'm in my 40s, I think it's about time that I get a car of my own. I thought I would buy it with the money that I got from my aunt. But then, my husband told me that he wanted me to invest that money in my stepson's education. My husband, Sean, 43M, and I have

been married for two years, together for five. I had never been married before, this was my first. I have had relationships in the past, but Sean has been the person that I have connected with on most levels. He and I matched on a dating app and that's how we got together. He is a widower, his first wife passed away 12 years ago, leaving him with her stepson, Mitch, 17M. I didn't really have a problem with the fact that he had been married before and had a from his previous relationship as well. but after we got married, I learned that I was not only expected to be his wife, but also a stepmom to Mitch. And I meant that in a financial sense of the word, not emotionally. Because when we met, Mitch was already kind of mature, he was 12 and he was old enough to make up his mind about whether

he wanted me to be his mother or just his father's wife. And he picked the latter of the two options, which was fine by me because he did not really try to connect with me anyway. We were cordial, he was nice to me, and I was nice to him because he's a kid and I am used to teaching kids around his age. But there was always a line, a boundary that was not supposed to be crossed, and I kept that in mind whenever I was interacting with him, that I was only going to be nice to him, but I would not try to replace his mother. He had made it very clear to me that I would always be Tanya, my name, to him, but not his mom. And I respected that, I was not going to overstep. What I thought was kind of unfair was that Sean never really tried to build a relationship between the two of us, but when it came to

helping out with the finances, I was always expected to contribute to things that had to do with his son. So it felt kind of weird that Mitch did not consider his mother, he did not treat me like he would have treated his mother and Sean did not even seem interested in trying to build that sort of relationship between us. But then, I was expected to contribute to his tuition and everything. It did not make sense to me and I don't know if I'm just being a little too touchy about this, but it was like I was being forced to UT and raising a child that was not even mine, and I knew for a fact that this boy would grow up but never treat me like part of the family. And it wasn't as though I had not tried to build a mother-son relationship with him,

but he was really shut off, and I could understand that, but I just did not feel that it was fair for me to contribute to his expenses, since I was already not earning well enough. I had even discussed this with Sean in the early stages of our marriage, I had told him that I wanted him to speak to his son, and at least make sure that he put in an effort to build a relationship with me, or I would find it very weird to contribute to his expenses when he treated me like a stranger. And he got really pissed at me,

he told me that if I could not accept the fact that he had a child and if I could not split the expenses equally with him, then we probably shouldn't be married at all. And I did not want to lose him, so I stayed with him. I thought that maybe I was being unreasonable and I really did not want to be the kind of mother who tries to create drama between a son and his father, so I just kept my mouth shut. So that was how things went on for the last few years.

When Sean asked me to contribute to his college fund, I was not surprised because we had been discussing this back and forth, and I had told him that I would think about it. I had been planning to say no to that because a college fund is a big deal and I'm not getting any younger, I need to save for my own retirement as well. I can't put aside everything to contribute to the life of a kid who is not going to treat me like family.

I just found it very disrespectful and had made up my mind that this time, if Sean tried to guilt-trip me into contributing to the fund, I would fight back and not just accept whatever he said. But after I received my inheritance when we had the discussion, he did not try to guilt-trip me, but he told me that Mitch had been accepted into Yale and even showed me a very legitimate-looking email and letter. He told me that he had put off this discussion for long enough, but he wanted an answer about whether I would be willing to contribute to the college fund or not because if I did not do so, then Mitch probably would not be able to go to Yale. And he would be losing out on a pretty big opportunity since an Ivy League school is a big deal,

and since he had been accepted, he hadn't stopped talking about it. Sean had apparently already promised Mitch that he would make sure that he attended, by hook or by crook. But honestly, he did not have that kind of money and he could apply for a student loan, but then it would take ages to clear the debt and he didn't want that. So he pretty much requested me to consider it and I ended up saying yes, not out of pressure, but just because it was a big deal. And even though Mitch and I were not close, I would want him to take up this opportunity.

So I said, yes, and Mitch left for college a couple of weeks ago. I think it has been almost two months since he left, or so I was told. Both Sean and Mitch were over the moon when I had agreed to put off buying the car, just so that I would be able to contribute to the college fund, and both of them thanked me from the bottom of their heart. I had even started to believe that maybe Mitch was going to turn over a new leaf and genuinely start appreciating me as a person instead of just treating me like an acquaintance. I wanted us to have a relationship because it had been really weird to live in the same house for so long,

but then not have anything to talk about, since he did not seem interested. Also, I just really wanted him to be able to go to the college of his dreams, so that was my intention. But all of that had been a lie, and I only had been. found out about it last week. My friends and I went to a restaurant that was a little distance away from my workplace and the places that I usually visit. It was a new restaurant and there was a fancy high-rise apartment building kind of place right opposite that restaurant. It was a very posh and rich neighborhood, that was for sure. My friends and I kind of treated ourselves to a girl's day out, but I received the shock of a lifetime. As we were leaving the restaurant, I saw Mitch

coming out of the high-rise opposite. And he was not alone, he had his arm around a girl whom I recognized from his circle. It was not much of a task for me to put two and two together, but nevertheless, when my friends pointed that out to me, I still went up to him to confront him about it. He seemed shocked to see me and was about to run the other way, but I told him that the jig was up anyway, so he might as well come clean to me now. If he was not at Yale, I knew that my money was not going to the place that I had intended for it to go, so I knew that he had been lying and he and his dad were in a lot of of trouble anyway. So he might as well not bother to run and tell me the truth. Thankfully,

I did not have to do much convincing, he ended up telling me everything right there. Apparently, he had no intention of going to college anyway, he just wanted money so that he would be able to rent an apartment and move in with his girlfriend. But if that's what he and his father had told me, I would have flipped out and would never have given them the money. My husband would not be able to support the two of them on his own anyway, since they wanted to live in. together in a fancy place and didn't want to struggle since they were planning on starting a YouTube channel and they needed an aesthetic-looking place with a nice view for that kind of stuff, not just any old and dingy apartment, which is the only thing that they would be able to afford

the kind of money that they had. So they had to lie to me, and I was never meant to find out about any of this until they were successful, and then, they would have returned the money back to me. But now that their lie had been caught, there was no running away from it. I went back home immediately, and I confronted my husband about it. And he broke down, telling me that he had just wanted to support Mitch, but it had been a stupid idea and he was regretting it all now. He claimed that he had wanted to tell me the truth last month when he realized that Mitch wasn't exactly going to blow up with YouTube

and they were just wasting my money. He was scared of how I would react. So he didn't even tell me and just kept trying to convince Mitch to come back and then they could tell me the truth and face the consequences. Well, now they are facing. the consequences and I have left the house after the confrontation with my husband. I just had nothing left to say to him anymore, and he kept begging me not to leave, but I just packed my stuff as hard as I could, and then I left. I am living in my aunt's house. They don't know the

address to that so they can't find me. Both of them have been trying to text me and get to me, but I haven't replied to any of them. Mitch kept texting me to say that this was all his idea and that he was the one who had coerced his father into doing this, so I should not blame him, since he was just trying to support his son. I love the intention behind him taking the fall, but it doesn't help the situation. I am pissed and I really don't think that what happened was right. Before I had left the house, I had told Sean that he had to return the money to me immediately, or I would make sure that everybody got to know how dishonest he and his son were, and that would end Mitch's career as a YouTuber before it even began. The fact that he is involved in

wouldn't reflect well on him either since if his co-workers got to know about it, he would be in a lot of trouble at work since he was the guy who handled the accounts. And I don't think anybody would want their accountant to be a dishonest man. They are begging me for forgiveness, especially Sean, because there is a lot at stake for him. He's begging me to come back so we can sort things out and also because he doesn't have the kind of money right now to return it to me. I don't care, I just want my money back, but I feel guilty about the way that I'm acting since I'm really not as money-minded as I'm coming off right now but what they did was unacceptable. I know what I'm doing is necessary, but I just feel kind of weird. I'd offer demanding my money back from my husband after I found out that my stepson

is not actually going to an Ivy League school. Update 1, hey, thank you so much for all the comments on my post for taking the time to explain to me that I am right and I have no need to feel guilty about anything, especially because I'm demanding my own money to be returned to me. I would just like to explain that I grew up in a home talking about money and finances was considered vulgar and so, I'm kind of weird and iffy when it comes to such things. But, now I know that it's okay for me to demand that they return my own money back to me. I don't have to feel bad about it. There were also a lot of comments that called me a doormat for putting up with Sean,

but honestly, I really loved him. and maybe I still do, I'm not sure right now. My emotions are all over the place, but at one point in time, I was certain that I loved him more than anything in this world. So naturally, I wanted to be with him, and I was ready to do whatever it took to stay. Also, even though Mitch treated me like a stranger, I could not bring myself to do the same to him. In case you guys have forgotten, I am a middle school teacher, and I was used to dealing with kids around his age when I first met him, so I knew

how he was thinking, and I wanted to be able to make that space for myself and his heart on my own. That's why I guess I was trying to help out and contribute to his life and raise him, but I guess it never worked out. He just decided that he was not going to accept me as part of the family and continue to treat me indifferently. All I can say is that I tried my best and maybe it did not yield any good results, but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I did what I had to do. I did everything right and now the fact that they took advantage of it, just shows the kind of people that they are. It does not reflect badly on me. I'm going through a tough time. I would just request people to be gentle and mindful of the words that they use. That's all I had to say about this.

Anyway, it has been two weeks since I found out the truth and I have blocked both Sean and Mitch because their messages were really messing with my head. I don't need that right now. I have spoken to a lawyer and we are going to file for a divorce in a couple of days. I had been putting it off for so long because I'm not emotionally ready for that kind of thing but now I know that it has to be done and it has to be done soon. We are preparing for it and we are going to start the proceedings soon enough. In the meantime, I really need my money back, so I decided to speak to my mother-in-law about this instead. And I don't have a particularly close relationship but from what I know, she's a bit reserved but has always been there for anybody who has needed her help. I told her that I wanted

to talk about something that Sean and Mitch had done and she told me to visit her since this sounded like something that was very personal and sensitive, so she did not want to discuss it on the phone and wanted to meet me in person. I decided to take a leap of faith and agree to what she said, so I'm going to visit her this evening and I will let you guys know what happens. So far, I have no idea what to expect. I'm just hoping that she doesn't talk to Mitch or Sean about what I said to her and I don't have to meet them when I get there, because that would be really awkward. I just don't know what's going to happen. So I'm just trying to keep my mind off of it. Update 2. Hello. I just came back from my mother-in-law's house and no, nobody was waiting there for me

to ambush me. Before I get into what happened, I just really have to say this because I don't know who else to talk to about this. My mother-in-law is really an exceptionally nice woman. I hope everybody has somebody like her and their family. Even when I told my parents about the reaction that she had to do what I told her, they were quite surprised that she was ready to go against her own son just because she wanted to do the right thing. So anyway, when I visited her today, I told her everything without even pausing while narrating the story to her because I just wanted to get everything out since I was scared of how she would react. After I was done talking, she was quiet for a while, and then she told me that she would handle everything, I did not have to worry about any of this.

She told me that she would make sure that I got the money back, and even said that if she had cash at the moment, she would have returned the money to me herself, but she would have to withdraw the exact amount and that would require her to come back and it would take since she was old and was just generally exhausted every day. So, she told me that I could come back in a couple of days and she would have the money ready for me and that was a promise. She promised me that she would make sure that her son did not cause too much trouble for me during the divorce since he had done enough. I almost had tears in my eyes because she was being so supportive and I really hadn't seen this coming. So she even comforted me and told me that

she was going to try her best to be there for me, even though we were not close. But she knew that what her son had done was really messed up, as well as what her grandson had done. When I told her that I had been talked into covering the expenses for Mitch so far as well, she was really outraged and told me that that shouldn't have been the case. Because as far as she knew, Mitch never treated me like family. Even Sean had spoken to her about it and said that he didn't want to get into it because he did not want to make it seem he was taking my side over his own sons and did not want to get into the drama. But making me feel guilty and then talking me into contributing to the family expenses, even though Mitch did not even treat me like a family member, did not seem fair either.

She assured me that she would try her best to fix things and that gave me a sense of hope that maybe things were not going to be as bad as they are right now. If not for anything else, I would would at least get my money back soon. Update 3. Hey, it's been a big week for me. I don't even remember how many days it has been since I left my house, probably a little over a month. This week I filed for divorce. Sean is going to be served with the papers in a couple of days. And I also got my money back, thank God for that. My mother-in-law told me that Sean had refused to send her any money since he had to look out for himself as well and he is not contractually obliged to give anything back to me, it was just my words against his, so he was not scared. I can't say that I was surprised,

but I'm thankful that my mother-in-law was nice enough to return the money to me from her own pockets. She did not need to do that, but she did, and I really appreciate that. Sean and Mitch stopped trying to reach out to me after I blocked the numbers, even though they could have emailed me or something. But they did not try anymore, and I don't know if I should be relieved or upset that Sean has not bothered to reach out to me. I'm still confused about how I feel right now, but I don't have time to think about these things because I still have to go to work and do all the work around the house myself. My aunt used to live in a considerably spacious house, so there's a lot of cleaning that I have to do. I also have to cook for myself,

which takes up a lot of my time and energy, and then there's laundry and so many other chores, all of which I have to do on my own. But at least with this freedom comes the same. But at least with this freedom comes the sense of knowing that I'm going to be able to do it eventually, and I don't have to rely on anybody, especially Sean. I was a little intimidated by the idea of living on my own after so long, but it's been relatively easy so far. And since I come back home from school really tired and then I have to get to cooking and cleaning almost immediately, I don't even have time to think about Sean because as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm fast asleep. I guess I would say that I'm lucky because I don't think I would have been able to handle over thinking at night.

But the divorce is finally happening, it's real and in a few days, he is going to be aware of it as well once he gets served with the papers. Truth be told, I don't know how to feel. I don't know how he's going to take it. Whatever the case is, and whatever his reaction is, I know that I have to get through this on my own. I have been planning to take a few days off of work and then go back to my parents because I've been feeling really lonely.

And once he is served, I might just do it to avoid interacting. with him. Update 4. So it has been two full months since I filed for a divorce and the proceedings are ongoing right now. He did not contest the divorce or stir any drama after he was served, which came as quite a shock to me. But then I received a call from my mother-in-law. She told me that she was the one who had spoken to Sean and told him that he was not going to contest the divorce or cause any more trouble for me because after what he had done, he owed this to me. He disagreed at first and said that he was not going to agree to the terms of the divorce because he thought that I was asking for too much, even though I don't agree with that.

I had just asked for all our joint purchases to be sold so we could split the money and I didn't even ask for anything that would be unfair. But I did ask for a settlement. I have also contributed a lot of money, more than I should have, especially because of Mitch. And I wanted my money back, I wasn't even asking for it all back, just the bare minimum. I felt like I had deserved it. In my head, I was being completely fair because I had been cheated out of a marriage. There was no other woman involved, but there were a lot of lies and cover-ups involved, so I think I was entitled to what I was asking for. And even if I wasn't, we could come to a settlement. That's why the entire negotiation process was even happening.

However, my mother-in-law made sure that he did not contest anything and did not try to fight with me so that our divorce could happen as smoothly as it could. I'm glad that she's taking my side, not a lot of people have such nice mothers-in-law like mine. I did go back to my parents to visit them for a couple of days after he was served, and I lived with them for a while, so if he tried to get up to anything in those few days, I was not aware of it. Anyway, we have had two mediation sessions so far and I think we are going to be able to wrap everything up by the next one. Wish me luck, you guys. Update 5, hello, it has been six months since my last update.

Lots of things have changed in my life. First off, my divorce came through a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, my husband and I have been separated for a really long time, it just became official. I have absolutely no contact with either Sean or Mitch after our last mediation session together. They apologized to me once we were out. It did not seem very heartfelt, but at least they said that they were sorry about everything. It felt like more of a formality than anything else, but I told him that did not matter anymore, I was moving on with my life. I got a lot of money

from everything that we had sold. I also sold my aunt's house and moved into a smaller apartment since now I was going to be on my own. Also, I brought a car for myself. It's a pretty nice car and I have to admit, it was more expensive than I had initially intended to buy, but you only live once, right? So why not? Besides, I don't have to save money or think about anyone else before I buy anything. I might as well treat myself to something. I've been through a lot, I deserve this. I am still continuing with my teaching job and also I have taken up more classes outside of school as well, so I can make more money. I hadn't done that earlier because I used to be really tired after school. and I also wanted to spend time with Sean when I came back, but now I think I'm going to

conduct classes from home or online. I'm going to figure out a way, but I've already told my friends to get the word out. I'm going to stop restricting myself. I'm going to live life for myself and on my own terms. So far, I've been worried about so many things, like my family, my husband, my stepson, my future, and whatnot, but eventually, nothing went according to plan. So now, I'm going to try and not plan stuff and see how it goes for a while. Thank you so much for caring about my life. I hope I have a much better update for you guys in a couple of months.