Reddit Stories - BETRAYED by GUARDIANS_ Rejected for EDUCATION Funding, Embraced for Care_

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayed #guardians #rejected #education #funding  **Summary:** In a poignant tale of betrayal and redemption, a student is rejected for education funding by their guardians but finds solace in unexpected care.  **Tags:** redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayed, guardians, rejected, education, funding, care, redemption, student, family, support, financial, struggle, acceptance, forgiveness, kindness, relationshipsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Guardians declined to fund my university education, asserting I should be self-reliant, but subsequently volunteered to take care of all my sister's costs, hence I departed. However, currently my father desires my presence. Back after a big family fight. So two years ago, my parents told me that it was time for me to start becoming independent. I had just recently turned 18 and was about to start college. I already started applying to places when they sat me down and gave me their little speech about

how important it was to learn the value of money and independence and so, they wanted me to fund my own college tuition and learn how to do everything for myself. They said that they would support me occasionally if I really needed it, but they would really prefer for me to find out how to live life on my own now. To put it politely, they pretty much showed me the door as soon as I turned 18. It was kind of unexpected since my parents and I had never had a particularly best of bad relationship. But I did not argue with them because I thought it would be better for me to find out how to figure things out on my own. So I decided to agree with their terms and started thinking of ways to pay through college for myself. I had saved up a certain amount of money by

doing part-time jobs for the last couple of I was not that worried either. After I got accepted into the college of my choice, I decided to work through college to be able to pay off my tuition and other expenses so that's how I've been covering all expenses for the past two years. It's been difficult, I'm not going to pretend, and it's been all sunshine and rainbows because I'm always really exhausted after classes. But after that, I still have to work and it's kind of difficult because I don't get paid all that much either, so I end up living very frugally and working really hard so it's quite overwhelming for me.

Sometimes, I do ask my parents for money and they help me out with the more mundane and small expenses, but I mostly try to avoid it as much as possible since I just keep thinking about how they had told me that it's important to be independent back when I turned 18. But now, after what I learned recently, I don't know if they meant any of that or if it was just a way to get out of paying for me to go to college. I have a younger sister, and she just turned 18 a couple of months back. So she's around the same age as I was when I got that it's important to have your own independent speech from our parents and is going to start college in a couple of months as well. I figured that they would take the same route as her, but instead, a

couple of days ago, my sister contacted me to tell me that my parents had actually offered to cover all her college expenses, and she was shocked because she knew that things had not been the same for me. I was very confused as well because my parents had said that they were doing well, but they were not financially well off enough to send both of us to college and cover all our expenses as well, so they wanted me to be independent and were probably going to go the same way for my sister as well. So what had just happened was very confusing. My sister told me that she was pretty confused. as well and had even talked to our parents about it, but they had told her not to worry about these things. After that conversation with her, she told me that it would be better for me to speak to

our parents directly about this, and I called my mother upright after I hung up. I didn't waste any time and I got straight to the point and asked them why they had offered to pay for all of my sister's college tuition and expenses while they had encouraged me to be independent and pay for myself. I was pretty pissed off because, honestly, I was not having a good time and it had become very difficult for me to balance my work in my academics as well. My GPA was not where I wanted it to be and I was still struggling with money, so all of it seemed really pointless. In there, my parents were offering to cover all my sister's expenses, leaving me to fend for myself. I found it very unfair so I was pissed off and when I confronted my mother, she put me on speaker

and my dad also joined the conversation. They started trying to come up with excuses. At first, initially, they said that they had believed that they might not be able to pay for both of us to go to college, but recently, they realized that they wouldn't actually have a problem with it, which is why they had offered to pay for my sister to go to college and they didn't think that I would take it personally. But I wasn't going to buy that. My mother was literally an accountant. There was no way that she couldn't have known that they would be able to afford this so this was definitely something that they had planned and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. After a lot of beating around the bush, they finally told me that they had offered to pay for my

sister to go to college because they thought she was a better student and it was safer to bet on her than on me. I honestly didn't know what to say to that because even though it was true, it hurt a lot that they didn't even think that I was worth spending money on. Maybe my sister was better than me academically but I was not that bad either. I might have been a mediocre or an average student when I was in school, but for them to decide that I was not worthy of being sent to college and having a comfortable life was so hurtful. I don't mean to come off as entitled, but it felt like they were treating me unfairly and on top of that, they had actually lied to me. I might have even respected their opinion if they hadn't kept this from me. But instead, they had chosen to manipulate me

into thinking that they were looking out for me and wanted me to be independent whereas, in reality, they just wanted a way out of paying for me to go to college. After my parents said that to me, they tried to tell me that they really did want the best for me, but they were not sure if it would be worth it for them, and I don't know what they were trying to do, but I felt like they were just rubbing salt in the wound. They claimed that they had believed that my sister would choose a really expensive college because of her great grades and they had to be prepared for that, so they wanted me to work my way through so that they would be able to support my sister.

The only reason they hadn't been honest with me was because they had to be. did not want to hurt my feelings, but that was kind of pointless. Because now, I knew the truth, and my feelings were hurt anyway and I can tell you for a fact that if they had just been honest with me from the beginning, my feelings might not have been as hurt as they are right now. I did not say anything to them and just hung up abruptly because after what they said, I just lost all interest in speaking to them. And then, I texted my sister and I told her about what I had learned. She and I are pretty close so she deserves to know what was going on. She told me that she was shocked that our parents would do such a thing and said that she was not going to accept a single dollar from them,

but I told her not to be absurd and to let them pay for her tuition since she actually was a bright student and she deserved this. So I convinced her to take the money and attend the college of her choice. I also communicated to her that I would not be keeping in touch with our parents anymore because what they had done was really hurtful and I didn't want to speak to them for a while. We go on Thanksgiving and Christmas break in a couple of weeks, so I had been planning on going home but now, I don't think that's going to be happening. I didn't say anything else, but I guess my sister must have told her parents that I would not be coming home while we were on break and I didn't know where I was going to go, probably stay with my grandparents for a bit, but all I knew was that I just didn't want to see my parents at the moment. But my sister made the mistake of telling them

about it and now, things have gotten really ugly. The day after that conversation, My sister reached out to me and told me that our parents had apparently been fighting after she had told them that I wouldn't be coming back home during the holidays. And she hadn't exactly been trying to eavesdrop on their fight, but they were being so loud that she had been able to hear all of it anyway. Apparently, this had mostly been my mother's idea, and she had somehow convinced my father that they should make me pay for my own college tuition because in case my sister chose to go to college in a different country, which might have been likely since she had the grades for it, and she has always wanted to travel. So it might have been a likely choice. My mother just wanted to keep all the options open for her and save as much money as they could, for my sister's sake, which is how she had convinced my father. But now, after I had finally learned the truth and decided to cut ties with them,

he was more upset about it than anybody else. He was blaming my mother for all of it, claiming that this was all her fault since she was the one who had manipulated him into agreeing with her, and in doing so, they had ended up alienating me, and now I didn't even want to come back home for the holidays to spend it with them. I know that I'm mad at both my parents, but I really don't think that it's fair for my mother to blame my mom because I think he was equally a part of this. Anyway, my sister said that they had been fighting relentlessly, and apparently, my father had even threatened to leave her if she didn't speak to me and somehow convince me to come back

home to them. My sister just wanted me to know about all of this so that I wouldn't be surprised when my mother contacted me and I've got to say that heads up really helped. After she told me this, I went over everything for a while and really thought about what I wanted to do. And I came to the conclusion that even if they were fighting, and even if they were upset, it was not my problem. I was going through a lot on my own and had enough on my plate to worry about, I couldn't take on their marital problems and make them my problems as well. I was not going to go home for the holidays, so I was not going to change my mind, no matter what my mother said. And with that mindset, I answered my mother's phone call yesterday.

I already knew that no matter what he said, I was not coming back home. If my dad actually decided to leave her over that, it was their problem and not mine. Just like I had to deal with my money problems by myself and they had claimed that I should be independent, I was going to give them a taste of their own medicine and claim that they should be independent and deal with these problems themselves. I thought it was fair enough, but after a bit of a conversation with my mom, she said, started accusing me of being heartless and said that I was making a big deal out of absolutely nothing. She claimed that I was not entitled to the money anyway, so I was being a brat by acting like

they had wronged me by not offering to pay for my college tuition. I found that a bit offensive because I was not upset that they had not paid for my college tuition. I was upset that they were treating me and my sister differently and also that they had tried to manipulate me into thinking that this was somehow good for me. If they hadn't gone on and on about how to be independent, I might have gotten a student loan and dealt with this in a much easier way. But then, I would need them to be my co-signer and that's not exactly independence and that was the reason why I hadn't taken that way out. My mother, however, said that the only reason she had been treating me and my sister differently

was because our grades had a huge difference which I thought was more offensive. Huge is a big word. I had mentioned this earlier as well, but I just want to bring it up again. I'm really not that bad of a student. My sister has always been a straight-A student and I cannot deny that and I'm really happy for her but it's not like I'm an idiot. I've been good at things and not so great at certain others, just like any other person. But the major that I have chosen, I've always been good at, and I think my parents should have taken that into consideration before they did such manipulative

and downright mean things. My mother and I ended up arguing for almost 15 minutes and even then, we were not able to come to a decision about what to do. I told her, very firmly, that I was not coming back home for the holidays and that was my final call. She and my father had screwed up big time and I just did not even want to see them right now. My mother thinks that I'm being unreasonable and that I need to grow up instead of being so petty. She still thinks that I'm being entitled and I think she is being manipulative again. So we are in a deadlock right now. I just feel bad because I really don't want my parents to get divorced with this of me,

even though I'm not even sure if my dad is actually going to leave her over something like this. But they have had really bad fights in the past as well, and my dad has never said anything of the thought, so I'm kind of scared. They have been high school sweethearts, so for him to say that he's going to leave her is a very big deal. So I'd for not wanting to go back home to my parents for the holidays after I found out that they had offered to pay for my sister's college tuition after refusing to do the same for me earlier?

Update 1-Has-o, thanks for all the comments on my original post. It's been three days since I spoke to my mother and things have been weird for now. I've kept in touch with my sister, she keeps telling me that I don't need to worry about any of this because she knows that I'm really struggling right now. I also decided to quit my job. I realized that it was the one thing that was holding me back, to be honest. I was spending half my time at work and half trying to make up by studying extra hard and I didn't even realize at what point I started being so consumed by my work and my academics that I had literally no time left to do the things that I really liked. I was living like a zombie for the past couple of years and I've just been so stressed that I don't even think I've gone out with my friends in the last couple of weeks.

But I decided to go out this weekend and even they were surprised because I mostly just stayed in my room. Cooped up all day since I usually work from home. Anyway, I've decided to live a little. I have also spoken to my grandparents, my dad sighed, about all of this, and after a brief discussion, they told me that if I needed a loan or any sort of money, I could take it from them. And since there is just a little time to go before I finally graduate, I have decided to accept their help. So my grandparents are going to cover me for these last few months.

I also have some of my own money set aside, and I'm not really worried about any of that anymore. They also told me that I am welcome to live with them during the holidays because I don't want to go and live with my parents right now. They were also shocked when they found out the real reason my parents didn't offer to cover my college tuition. My grandpa had offered to pay for me as well, but I was the one who had said no, since I wanted to be independent or whatever. Now, I'm pretty much regretting that decision since I lost a lot of things in the process of trying to be independent just because my parents wanted me. I was a total fool and I shouldn't have fallen for any of it. Update 2. So, it's been a week since I last spoke to my mother, and today, since I was not replying or responding to her calls, she decided to show up at my college.

I've got to say, I really wasn't expecting that. The last couple of her messages were her saying that I needed to speak to my father because he was very upset about everything and she also kept trying to convince me that she and my father loved both their kids equally and that they really didn't have any intention of treating me unfairly, but they were just trying to do the more practical thing. That didn't really make any difference to me, I was pissed at both of them, and I didn't want to speak to either of them. So I had been ignoring her but today, when she showed up, I couldn't exactly just ignore she called me a bunch of times and I didn't pick up, but then, she texted me and said that I

needed to come see her because she had driven all the way out here to see me specifically and speak to me in person. And she was not going home without talking to me. I tried to tell her that I really didn't want to speak to her right now because I was not in the right state of mind, but she refused to leave and eventually, I had to go talk to her. We decided to go to the nearby Wendy's and speak there because in case we had a fight or any sort of disagreement at all, I really didn't want to be seen by any folks from my college. And since it was evening, I knew that Wendy's wouldn't have anybody from my college there so the coast would be clear. Once we got there, she ordered some food for me, even though I kept telling her that I didn't want

to eat. But she said that she wanted to make it up to me and got me a lot of things to eat, and then we finally started talking. Or rather, she started explaining herself. She told me that she was really sorry about the way she had treated me and said that there was just no excuse for it. She said that she had kept trying to justify all of this to me and some, to herself as well, but she had realized that what she had done was wrong and there were just no two ways about it. And now, she was here to acknowledge her mistakes and ask me to forgive her and at least consider coming back home for the holidays because we have a lot to talk about, clearly. But I told her that I had already spoken to my grandparents and they had said that I could

live with them during the holidays. I said that I could meet her halfway, and if I felt like it, I would come to stay with them for a couple of days, but not more than that. Since I really needed some time away from them, to be honest, she seemed a bit upset when I said that, but she figured out that this was the best that she was going to get out of me, so she did not argue about it anymore. Then, she told me that my sister had been accepted into a bunch of great colleges, but had been saying that she didn't want my parents to help and that sort of made me feel bad because I knew that she was doing it for me. I told my mother that

she didn't need to worry about any of that, I would make sure that my sister took the money from them and didn't make any sacrifices. I love her and I really don't want her to go through the same things that I did. Because being independent and paying your way through college, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. I know this might sound very spoiled, but I would much rather have parents who paid for everything until I had a job of my own, if I'm being really honest. So don't be fooled, people who have rich parents who are willing to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on them, really have it easy and we are only fooling ourselves by claiming that we are better than them just because we are independent. Life is easier for them and it's just practical.

People may disagree with me yet, but it's true, we all know that. Anyway, I reassured my mother that I would make sure that my sister allowed them to pay for her to go to college because if she tried to work alongside studying, she would definitely flunk because she's not used to that sort of thing. I don't want her grades to drop the same way that mine did. I also couldn't help myself and asked her how things were going between her and my father, since last I heard, he had been threatening to leave her. and my mother seemed a bit surprised by that question, but she told me that things were going fine. They had decided to go for marriage counseling since they had been fighting a lot over the past couple of weeks and it had been over my situation. Surprisingly, my father hadn't even tried

to contact me after the last conversation that we had where I found out the reason they hadn't paid for my tuition. I asked my mother about it and she told me that he had been extremely upset and he had wanted to reach out to me several times, but just kept second-guessing himself and couldn't build up the nerve to do it. She had told him to text me and just get it over with, but he just kept overthinking everything and that's why he hadn't been able to say anything to me so far. My mother actually had tears in her eyes while talking about this and I felt awful about it too because my dad's not a very emotional guy, so I know that things must be really bad for him if he's acting this way. After hearing about my dad's condition from her, I decided to do something very

impulsive and told her to put him on a call right then. Even though she was surprised, I told her that I just wanted to speak to him, I didn't even expect an apology or anything right now, I just wanted to have a conversation with him because I really miss speaking to him. Earlier, before we were fighting, we would get on a call every other day because I was always closer to my dad's so no surprise that he actually stood up for me this time. I know that they screwed up, both of them, but they're my parents and I'm really willing to forgive them and work through this. This might not be a decision that everybody agrees with, but it's my decision so there. Anyway, my mother called him while we were sitting together, and he picked up the phone immediately.

He wasn't on speaker yet, but as soon as he answered the call, the first thing that he asked about was whether I was all right or not, and that made me pretty emotional. I didn't allow my mother to answer and I just said that I was fine and I wanted to talk to him. I then took the phone from my mom and he was quiet for a bit, but I told him that I was still processing things and I didn't know yet I had forgiven them but I wanted to work through things. And if he kept second-guessing himself, he wouldn't even be able to talk to me, and we wouldn't be able to sort things out. Then, to my surprise, he literally started crying and completely broke down on the phone. He told me that he was really sorry about everything that had happened

and he was crying. I could also see that my mother was trying to hide her tears across the table. I was feeling pretty emotional as well, but I decided that all three of us could not be crying at the same time, so I tried to keep calm and spoke to him. He told me that he regretted the way things turned out and he did not have any intention of hurting me, but he knew that both he and my mother had screwed up and they really wanted to make it up to me. I told him that I really needed some time away from them to sort things out inside my own head first, but I was willing to give our relationship a chance and he told me that even that was a huge deal coming from me and even said that he was willing to do anything to make

things up to me now. So all three of us had a brief talk about all of this and we decided that I would be staying with them for at least a week and a half during the holidays so we could all spend some time together as a family. We will also try to get therapy together since we definitely have some things to work out. My parents were already going to try marriage counseling, and now the four of us, including my sister, we're also going to try family therapy together to sort things out. I'm going to have to go back to college after the break, so we're going to have to look for somebody who can have the sessions online. But we are definitely going to have to do this since I don't want my family to fall apart and turn into one of those families who never speak to each

other and have no ties to one another. Anyway, that's what happened when I met with my mother and I'm still trying to process everything that we have spoken about, but I feel considerably better and more hopeful about everything now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, things are going to work out in the Update 3, Hi. So it's been close to a year since I last posted. I've finally graduated and the good news is that I found a job within a few weeks of graduation. I am working now and I am finally not miserable anymore because I don't have to study as well anymore. I can just focus on my work and come back home to my apartment and my roommate and then just chill for the evening.

This is a nice life. I can get used to this. I know a lot of you are wondering about how things have turned out with my parents since many of you had been skeptical about my decision to give my parents another chance to redeem themselves and make this family work again. And I'm quite happy about it because we went through therapy and we sorted things out. So things have been going well between us for now. My grandparents, as they had promised, covered my tuition for the last couple of months, and my sister also decided that she was going to accept the financial help that my parents

were offering because after I told her how done. difficult it had been for me, I think she realized that it would be for the best. And to make it up to me, my parents have offered to cover my rent for a couple of months until I have saved up enough money for my income. I think that's really nice of them and it's sweet that they're trying to make it up to me. Things are going great for now and I honestly don't have any complaints. Thank you so much for checking in and caring about me.