Reddit Stories - BETRAYED by Blood_ From BUILDING a Thriving Eatery with My Spouse to Losing it All to His UNRELIABLE Sibling_

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #familydrama #betrayal #business #relationships #drama  Summary: A tale of betrayal in a family business as a spouse loses everything to an unreliable sibling.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, familydrama, betrayal, business, relationships, drama, family, siblings, marriage, entrepreneurship, loss, trust, deceit, struggle, heartbreak, redemptionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. I established a thriving eatery with my spouse and now my partner transferred ownership to his unreliable sibling. I, a woman aged 50, truly require an external perspective on this matter, as it has been quite challenging for me to cope with. Feel like I am being gaslit by my husband Marcus, 53M, and his family. It all revolved around a restaurant that Marcus and I started together in our local town, which ended up becoming a super successful location and was even recommended in a national travelogue.

It was an integral part of our lives together, kind of like our own baby, and Marcus and I made the perfect team. He handled the business end of things, while I used culinary expertise and my friendly nature to become the face of the restaurant. There was never a lean period for our business and we slowly began to win more and more accolades. We even did a cloud kitchen during Rona, the first of its kind in our area. It kind of became a must-visit location for travelers and a frequent haunt for locals. However, on the personal side, I had quite a few tiffs with Marcus, and they mostly related to how much of a pushover he was when it came to his family.

I guess it mainly boiled down to him not being able to say no. If his parents wanted to borrow our truck, even though we needed it, Marcus would lend it. If his uncle wanted us to comp all his meals at the restaurant for months on end, Marcus wouldn't say anything. Guess I tried my best to make sure that it wasn't like we were being taken advantage of, but of course that made me the villain in his family's eyes, and they often talked about me behind my back. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and understand the importance of sticking out for family and doing favors for our loved ones, but it was just way too excessive with Marcus' family. Try as I might, nothing worked, but my husband was still a wonderful man.

I guess it wasn't the worst thing in the world that his fatal flaw was. was his overbearing generosity, right? It wasn't, until a couple of years ago when my husband suddenly brought his sister on to work at our restaurant. My Sylvath, F-40, has been dealt the short end of the stick when it comes to life. She got pregnant when she was 30, and her long-term boyfriend couldn't handle the responsibility and ended up skipping town. After that, she's been invested in raising her child and was working a soul-crushing corporate job. So, when our business was picking up pace, Sill expressed an interest in joining me on the restaurant manager slash marketing side of things. I was immediately reluctant, as Sill had not worked in this field before,

and to be honest, had never bothered building a bond with the local community as I had. I mean, I'd often invited her over for our restaurant's outings at farmers' markets or stalls, if she was genuinely interested in becoming a part of the business, but she always ended up flaking at the last moment. Sill ended up quitting her job due to the lack of excitement. it generated in her during the pandemic, and eventually began to push Marcus more and more for a chance to work with the restaurant. I was dead set against this idea, but my husband felt that we should do it to ensure the financial safety of our niece. I do love Sills kid, but I don't think there was any chance of ruination if her mom was out of work for a year or so.

There were savings, and I wouldn't even mind chipping in to help her out. My main issue with bringing her to work at the restaurant was her complete lack of passion for the food, the people, and everything that made a tick. In fact, after a point, I even relented and asked if Marcus would be okay taking his sister on in a more clerical or business-wide role, but he said no, she doesn't want to get back into the same boring work that she was doing. After that, he ended up going over my head and appointed Beth as basically an equal partner in the business. I was annoyed, but since we had started everything so informally, I couldn't do anything legally, and to be honest, that's not what I wanted to do anyways.

It wasn't like me to bicker in court with my husband, and I just voiced my frustration at not being treated like an equal partner. The two years when Beth was on board with me, was mind-bogglingly frustrating. She never considered the tastes of local people and tried to get rid of staples on the menu based on whatever fusion dish seemed trendy, and people were put off by it until I tweaked the recipe and put out the fire she had caused. It was getting a little too much for me, and I told Marcus that I would be retiring from the restaurant. We had more than enough money to do so, even well before bringing Beth to work at the

restaurant. But I kept going because of how much the business meant to me. However, with my sill there, the fun was sucked out of everything and I just couldn't find it in myself to go on. Marcus said that he understood my perspective and was okay with that, and he too would retire with me. Obviously, this raised alarm bells in my mind about who would take over our business, and I asked so, will we sell it off to an investor? Shut it down? What'll happen with our restaurant, Marcus? And he nonchalantly replied,

Oh, I was thinking we could make Beth the owner. Keep it in the family, you know? Hell no, this was the worst idea ever. I wasn't shy about voicing how inept Beth had been during her time at the restaurant, and how that was directly contributing towards my decision to retire, but my husband just waved it off. I was furious, but also too tired to keep fighting him on this. So I eventually just, rolled over.

As much as it hurts, I am enjoying my retirement right now and things are going really well in my personal life. Marcus has also been a great husband without the business in the way. But, every time I pass by our restaurant, I see how badly it's doing, and some evil part of me ends up gloating at that. One night, Marcus sheepishly brought up the same issue and asked me if I would be open to working again to show Beth the ropes. I told him that I'm more than happy where I am, and he didn't push me on it any further. However, the very next day, Beth called me and basically ended up groveling and ranting about how much money it costs to run the business.

She basically said that she'd be forced to sell unless I could come in and bring the restaurant back to its old self. Part of me was swayed by her call, but I don't think I should put in all this work, because I know it'll just be a temporary fix unless Beth learns how to run the business. On the other hand, it's clear that if things go on the way they are, Beth will have to sell the restaurant for peanuts and basically erase our legacy. Ida for not jumping into help. Update 1, I read through your comments, and I think the best one was somebody saying I should get back in there as a consultant.

Not only would I not go down with the ship, if Beth doesn't listen to me, but it also allows me to set my own pace when it comes to work and improvements. The thing is, my sill is a nice person, just not good at this business, so I guess if I really explain the situation to her, she might be open to change. I am a little hesitant, though, because when I did work with her, any advice given to Beth went in one ear and out the other. I told Marcus about my idea of coming on as a business consultant and he said that it was a fine idea, and Beth was invited over for a drink in discussion. When I told Beth about my idea, she was open to it, and from tomorrow, I'm going to shadow her on her daily routine to see what needs to be fixed.

It kind of reminds me of the show, Kitchen Nightmares, ha-ha. My husband and I love watching that show, and thankfully we've never felt like our business would end up on the receiving end of Gordon Ramsey's wrath. But, I guess I'll have to get it back in shape before things start going downhill. Update 2. Oh boy, I just finished my first. first day following Beth around, and then we discussed her management style and plans for the business. I think her more global perspective on cuisine is cool, but she hasn't realized that the townsfolk here

aren't open to that. We then reworked the menu and decided to shut the restaurant for a few weeks and get a grand reopening in place. I spoke to every contact I've built in my eight years in the business, and they're all hyping up the relaunch. At the same time, I told Beth about the ins and outs, rivalries, and a alliances that drives small-town business, and that helped her realize the importance of building connections. It's just a small step forwards, but hopefully, it'll help her make our restaurant more profitable and keep it a staple part of the town for years to come. Update 3. The reopening was a success. I guess word got out that I was back and that drove the crowd in, but then the food made them stay. I delivered a speech that praised my lovely sill for learning, growing, and taking my input,

and even revealed that one of the top selling dishes of the day was her idea. It doesn't seem like much, but it sure left an impression on everyone and helped her get her foot in the door in terms of goodwill. Definitely, there's still a lot of work to be done, but I think we're on the right track, and Marcus has been extremely grateful to me for stepping in. With a little more work, I can re-retire, ha-ha, with my mind at ease about the future of the restaurant. Now on to the next story. Story 2 My best friend didn't invite me to her wedding after years of friendship and now I'm questioning everything

My 28F colleague 30F didn't invite me to her wedding and it's completely unraveled our friendship. One of my work colleagues is a lifelong friend of mine. We lived on the same street growing up, went to the same school and when I needed a job after graduating university, she made me aware of an opening at the company she worked at. I applied, got the job, and it's been quite a few years since and we still work together. It's a pretty small company, and quite male-dominated, so after we started working together we became really close. We take all our lunches together, we regularly stop by each other's desks for a chat, and we quickly became known round the office as inseparable. A year ago she got engaged to her

long-term partner, and I was ecstatic for her. She had a really tough time a couple of years ago, two family deaths close together, and I did everything I could to be a good friend to her while she was in the worst stages of grieving. She cried with me daily for weeks and I made sure she knew I was always available to listen. I also took about a third of her workload off her voluntarily, so she could take days off when she needed to without stressing about her work building up. So now that life has gotten better for her and she's always smiling and excited, it's really nice to see. Ever since she got engaged, as expected, she's He's talked a lot about wedding plans, especially at our lunches.

I know basically every detail. When she booked her venue she was really excited, but she refused to tell me where it was going to be, saying that she wanted it to be a surprise when the invitations came out. The wedding is two weeks away now, and I've long since stopped waiting for my invitation to show up. I know when they were sent because she told me all about delivering them, and shows me every day the gifts people have started to buy off their registry. I feel silly for saying it, but the more I think about it, the more hurt I feel that I haven't been included. It's a big

wedding, and she has invited some other people from work that I didn't know she was even close to. She hasn't mentioned the reason why I'm not invited, and at this point I feel too awkward to ask. I guess it's just a slap in the face because I really thought we were close, and now I'm realizing that maybe we're not. The trouble is, since all of the this I've started to really examine our friendship, and I'm wondering if she even cares about me at all. I can think of a hundred examples of where I've helped her work through decisions, listened to her vent, stood up for her when she's had issues with colleagues, etc. Even tons of little things, like if anyone brings in cake and she's out of the office I always

save her a slice so she doesn't miss out. But I can't remember a time that she did anything for me in return. Now when she talks to me, I've realized she doesn't even listen to me. When I'm finished talking she just carries on with what she was saying before, almost as if I'd never spoken at all. If we're ever talking about me or something I've been doing, she never has anything to say. She just kind of nods and then switches the conversation back to herself. I'm starting to think she couldn't care less about me, she just likes having someone around who she can talk at, and whoever that person is doesn't really matter to her. I've invested so many years into this friendship, it's really cut me deep.

I feel used. It's also made being at work incredibly lonely, because she was my only friend. I've stopped having lunch with her and any time she tries to chat I politely bring the conversation to a quick end and go back to work. She doesn't appear to have even noticed. I do still wish her well, I'm still glad for her that life has turned around and she's so happy, but I'm a bit lost. I'm not sure if I'm being too harsh because I'm hurt, or if I even have the right to feel

heard in the first place, as I know weddings have a finite number of guests and you have to leave people out that you would invite in an ideal world. But I'm not sure there's any way back from this either. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Am I being unreasonable or over-dramatic? Should I just let the dust settle and see how I feel then? Edit 1. Just to clarify things that have been asked a lot or requested to be put in an edit, 1.

She hand delivered the invites to other people at work so I know it hasn't been lost in the post, I haven't asked her about it because I'm a total doormat and scared of difficult conversations and three, I invited her to my wedding, but that was years ago so it's possible she thinks things have changed since then. Edit 2, this has got a lot more attention than I expected, and my first ever gold from a kind stranger, thank you. I have read every single comment. Thank you all so much for taking the time to give me advice.

You have given me a lot to think about. opinion seems to be divided over whether or not I should confront the wedding invitation issue or just let it go. I am definitely going to make sure that it isn't a mistake, but as for getting an explanation why she didn't invite me, I'm undecided. I'm going to have a think about that and the best way to proceed, but your thoughts have all been really helpful. In terms of our friendship in general, I'm not going to be too hasty to write it off. I'm going to try and put my feelings aside and see if I'm right about it being one-sided. If it is then I will have learned a good life lesson, and if I see it as worth saving then I'll have to deal with that the best way I can. It does seem the bigger issue here is my non-confrontational approach to my relationships.

Some of your comments were hard to read but only because I know you're right and this is something I have to change. I've withdrawn from friendships before because they've hurt me and I've felt unable to say anything, and that's not really fair. It's a general problem I have with uncomfortable conversations. Whenever I have to have them I basically descend into a panic, my mouth goes dry, I shake and I can't find the right words to say. If it's a bad enough problem that I can't ask a good friend a simple question, then I can't ignore it anymore and I need to work on this. Thank you for pointing this out to me as a real problem. I'm going to find a way to get better at it. I will post an update of what happens. Thank you again. Update, so it took me a few days to decide the best way to approach this,

but yesterday I had lunch with her again and had the conversation. I started by saying, So you've set all your invitations out now, haven't you? She looked immediately panicked by my question and I knew right away that she didn't want me to go down this road. When she said she had sent them all, I asked if that meant she could show me her venue now. She showed me the website of it,

including the photo gallery, and talked me through all about where everything was going to happen, all the flowers and decorations she was going to add, etc. It's a nice enough country hotel with some pretty gardens, but I'm not sure what all the secrecy was for. I probed a little more, asking who she's invited from work. The list didn't include me, said I was looking forward to seeing the photos so I could see how everything looked. She didn't correct me that I would see it on the day, and then I was completely sure that my lack of invitation wasn't an accident. She looked so relieved when I switched subject and asked if she's excited about her honeymoon and having a rest from all the wedding stress.

So I'm definitely not invited. I thought it over carefully and I have decided not to ask why, for three reasons. One, the reason is already fairly obvious. She clearly doesn't think were anything more than colleagues and I've misread the situation. There were some other theories suggested, for example, jealous husband to be, associating me with her past grief, but considering everything I know about her and our history I'm sure it's not that. I'm not sure why she didn't cool it on the wedding talk with someone she had no intention of inviting, or even just bring it up with me and explain why I'm not invited, but never mind.

Two, having an awkward relationship at work is the last thing I want. I'm worried that if I push this and turn it into an issue that I'll look pathetic and needy, or it will just be unprofessional. I also run the risk of her bad-mouthing me to colleagues and mutual friends, and I will find it much easier and less messy to handle my own feelings quietly. 3. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, and I don't want to be the source of drama that dampens her spirits at all. I'd rather just let her enjoy her wedding, make good memories and not bring her down. And you know, I'm fine with not going. It was never really

about getting invited to a wedding, it was more having to face the fact that I'd been naive and taken for granted, and I felt silly that I'd invested way too much in this relationship. That's not all on her, because she was never obligated to be my friend. Talking it through on my previous post actually really helped me work through my feelings. When I went back to work on Monday, I felt much calmer and more detached from it emotionally. I have looked back on our whole relationship and honestly she's always been self-involved, entitled and narcissistic. Being a bride has just made it more obvious, but it's always been there. She's also never given back to me, besides helping me get my job, which of course I'm grateful for, in that she's never been willing to talk me through any problems I've had,

and although I help her happily with her work, she says no if I ask her for help and return. She has a few office enemies and even though I saw her negative traits that caused her to be disliked by some people, I overlooked them and defended her anyway. Now I have put a little distance there it's quite apparent that she's not a very nice person, and I'm genuinely okay with just moving on. She hasn't really noticed the distance between us so far, or she has noticed and doesn't care slash is relieved that I'm giving her space, so I intend to just continue with doing that. If she eventually asks why, or I get the sense that she's trying to rekindle our friendship, then it will be time to clear the air with how I've been feeling. If she doesn't and we just continue drifting, then that's probably for the best. It's sad to lose a friend, and it will probably take me some time to get over it and to become comfortable with the change in our relationship.

But I have other genuine friendships, and plenty of colleagues who are lovely people who I can get to know better now. The main thing I really took from my original post, and I'm so glad I did post because I needed some tough love on this, is that my fear of confrontation really needs dealing with. If I can learn how to better speak my mind as things are happening, that will stop things from building and building until I have to have a serious conversation and it makes what should have been a molehill into a mountain. I also need to figure out how to have difficult conversations without how to have. having an anxiety attack, which not only weakens my message but is extremely distressing and puts me off dealing with things and being honest with people. I had a couple of books on

assertiveness recommended to me, so I bought them to start me off. I'm also looking into going to a coach, or maybe a couple of therapy sessions at least, to try and better myself. I don't want to hurt other people by doing this, so this has become top priority for me. Thank you so much everyone who pointed that out to me. I was aware of it, but I didn't think it was a problem and figured I'd just be that way all my life. Now I know better. Thank you for being so honest with me. Also, thank you to those who talked me through the one-sided friendship issue. I'm a good listener and have always attracted people who need to vent, but I only ever noticed the one-off conversations, and didn't think I was being taken advantage of as a long-term listening ear. I have been examining my

other friendships in the last few days, to see if anyone else is using me in the same way, or if I've even been doing this to others and not had the self-awareness to realize. There are a couple of changes I need to make, including a friendship that I need to set some boundaries in, and another one where I've not been giving back to the other person as much I should have. I have learned a really valuable lesson from this about maintaining healthy relationships, and I'm very grateful for that. Edit, a few people have been asking about the books I was recommended. Nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosenberg when I say no I feel guilty by Manuel J. Smith Why Men Love Bishes by Sherry Argoff.