Reddit Stories - BETRAYED by GUARDIANS_ Secretly Funded Sibling's Venture, I Departed Without a Penny for UNIVERSITY_

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #familydrama #siblings #secrets #universitySummary:In a tale of betrayal, a Reddit user shared how their guardians secretly funded their sibling's venture, leaving them penniless for university. Feeling betrayed, they departed with nothing, seeking advice on the AITA subreddit.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, familydrama, siblings, secrets, universityBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Guardians deceived about lack of funds for my university expenses, yet funded my siblings' venture. Consequently, I departed and currently my mother is separating from my father. I don't come back home. Hi, so I am a 17-year-old guy and recently, my parents told me that they would prefer for me to be able to pay for my own college tuition. There are just a few months to go before I start college and I have already been accepted into the school my choice. I had obviously been expecting that my parents would help me out because they are

financially well off enough to do so and they had done this for my brother as well, so I did not think that I would have to pay for college by myself. My dad is an engineer and my mom is a nurse so we are financially stable I would say that they have enough money to be able to afford to send me to college without having to make me work for it or rely on student loans or anything like that. Besides, like I said, they had done this for my brother earlier and I obviously expected them to have a college fund set aside for me as well because I was just judging them by the standards that they had set for me by comparing it to what they did for my brother. My brother is six years older than me and he went to business school a couple of years ago my parents paid for all of it

and I know that because my dad actually bragged about it to a couple of his friends several times. About how he had sent his older son to the best business school in the state and how he was going to get back ten times the amount that he had invested in his son when he was finally a successful businessman in the future. So I just assumed that they would want to do the same for me, even though I was not going to business school and I was actually going to major in psychology. They did not bring up the topic of college tuition with me when I started applying to colleges at first, so I thought that I would hint at it but they never said anything about it until I was finally accepted into the school of my choice and I was forced to bring it up with them and ask about

how I was going to be able to pay for all of it because they had just never said anything about the tuition. And I felt like I had to ask them about it at the very least to make sure that they would pay for it for me, just like they had done for my brother. I expected them to say that it was taken for granted that they would take care of the expenses, but instead, they actually ended up telling me that they would want to encourage me to pay for everything myself and work through college or get a student loan. That was obviously a huge shock for me because I had always assumed that they would pay for college for me.

My first instinct was to get mad at them and I think it was reasonable for me to be upset because I knew that they had paid for my brother to go to college and yet they were not ready to do the same for me and that reeked of favoritism. This whole discussion happened a few weeks ago and when I asked them about why they had paid for my brother to go to college but one not willing to do the same for me, they told me that there was a valid reason for all of it and requested me not to get mad at them before I knew the whole truth. My father explained to me that recently one of his relatives had fallen extremely sick and this was a person who had helped him when he was in the very early stages

of his career. He was referring to one of my dad's uncles who had been diagnosed with leukemia a couple of years ago. He had a decent amount of wealth of his own but he had squandered all of it away with years of gambling and drinking and his children were no good either because they did not have any ties with him anymore and did not even visit him when he was on his deathbed. Naturally, my father felt the need to step up and take care of him because his wife had passed away long before he was diagnosed and after his wife's death, his children stopped speaking to him or even visiting him and pretended like they did not even have a father. He did not have any other family to look out for him because everybody kept their distance from him due to his addictions

and nobody wanted to take a responsibility like that by keeping in touch with him, but my dad was grateful for all the opportunities that his uncle had arranged for him in the beginning of his career and so. He felt the need to pay off his debts by taking care of him after his diagnosis. He had been taking care of his uncle for the past couple of years and had been paying for his treatment out of his own pocket, which had seriously affected his savings because health care is expensive and unfortunately. There was not enough money left for him to be able to pay off my college-ditches.

tuition because he also had to think about his own future and it would be very difficult to make do with the kind of money that they would have after sending me to college and paying for all of it. And that is why he wanted me to be able to pay for myself and he told me that he was really sorry about it but I had a future ahead of me and he knew that I was capable enough to get through it but he was getting older and he needed to think about retirement as well, so he would want to encourage me to look out for myself. I was still upset about it even after he told me the reason but I thought that it was a good thing that he had done and I did not want to hold that against my father. I kind of bought the story that he told me because part of it was actually true and I knew that his uncle had been suffering from leukemia and had a lot of addictions, because of which his family would not talk to him anymore and we were kind of the only visitors that he would have.

So it did not seem unlikely to me that my dad was helping him out with the medical bills and everything. I also knew that it was true that his uncle had helped him find his first job and my dad had actually been very upset when he passed away a couple of months ago and had been devastated at the funeral. My family would also visit him quite often and I had seen the bond that my dad had with his uncle firsthand, so it was difficult for me to hold that against him and be mad at him for spending so much money on his uncle's treatment and not leaving anything for me in my future. It was a difficult choice for me but I managed to forgive my father and told him that I would find a way to pay for college by myself if it came down to it and I really had to get a student

loan then I would expect him to be on board with that and he told me that he would definitely help me out in whatever way that he could. My mother seemed to be the most upset about all of this, but she did not say anything at the time and I thought that everything was normal between her and my dad because if there was any tension between them at the time, I did not see it. I just guessed that she was maybe upset because I would have to work through college on my own while my brother did not have to do the same during his time. She kept apologizing to me for everything, even more than my father, and I could tell that she felt bad about it, but I told her that it was all okay and I did not mind because at least my father did not spend my college fund on something stupid and he was

actually trying to save somebody's life with the money. So I guess that was a noble thing to do especially when he was doing it for a person whose own family had abandoned him. So I tried to convince my mother that it was all fine, but she still seemed disturbed. Anyway, after I realized that my father would not be able to pay for me to be able to go to college, I started looking for other ways and decided to start working in the months leading up to when college would finally start. I had done a few internships before and I did have some money set aside, but that would barely cover anything and this was more of a last-ditch attempt to get some more money, but eventually, I knew that I would have to take out a student loan. Which is something I did not want to do,

because then I would end up having to pay it off for the rest of my career and I didn't even know if I would get a good enough job after I graduated so everything was just really stressful for me for the past few weeks. But then I found out something last week that really changed my perception of everyone because I figured out where my dad's money had actually gone, or rather, where it was about to go. I guess you guys must have figured it out by now that a lot of this has to do with my brother, which is why I was talking about him so much. So before I get into what I found out, I would just like to talk a little about my relationship with my brother so everything makes sense. My brother is a lot older than me so we never really grew up as friends. We were not on bad terms but we were not close, it was all very neutral and I guess my parents didn't care to fix it because it wasn't inconvenient for anyone. We were not always playing together but we were not constantly at each other's throats feel the need to intervene or try to fix our relationship. and that is why my brother and I were always very distant and that's the way we liked it.

But I don't know why something shifted when I hit high school and he started acting like I was his competition or something. We did not have a good relationship before but after high school, things kind of became very weird between us and I would say that it was all because of him. He had just started college at the time and whenever he would come back home from college, it would feel like he was constantly trying to run it in my face that he was back from one of the best business institutes in the state and I don't know how to phrase it better, but he had turned to a kind of a show off. He had also started actively putting me down, which is not something that he used to do before. But he did it very cleverly and always disguised his insults as jokes.

So if I tried to confront him about it then he would just tell me to take it lightly instead of making such a big deal out of a joke and making me seem like I was being petty on purpose. I would say that he turned into a jerk after he started college and I would think that he still is won because otherwise, I don't know why he would do what he did. After he graduated from college, he moved back here for a couple of weeks before he moved into his own apartment and those few weeks were the toughest for me because he would constantly keep picking on me and I just got into a huge fight with him one day. And after that, we just sort of stopped speaking to each other, but he would still make it a point to take digs at me and be mean to me for literally no reason. That guy is literally 26 now, but he still thinks putting me down is going to make him feel better. He had been working at a small firm for a couple of years after he graduated, but I knew that he was not happy there because he thought that he was too big of a fish for such a small pond and he wanted something better. He would constantly keep complaining about how stupid every single one of his co-workers was and insisted that he was so much better than them but the only reason he could not find a better job at this point was only because of the recession and stuff like that.

If you ask me the real reason, he could not find a better job first because maybe just going to a great business school does not make you a good businessman and his attitude was really bad and he was insanely pompous and difficult to work with, but that's just my opinion. He would complain about these things at dinner whenever he would visit us and my dad would feed his already massive ego and tell him that there was something better waiting for him but he just had to pay his dues. Instead of telling him that maybe he would get promoted or find a better opportunity once he stopped being so annoying. Anyway, I had shared with my friends that my parents would not be able to pay for my tuition because I was very upset about it and I am really thankful that I did because otherwise,

I don't think I would have found out that my parents were actually funding my brother behind my back. My brother and I do not follow each other on social media and I actually have him blocked because I have zero interest in his life and I do not want to see him anywhere. But a couple of my friends do follow him because we went to the same high school and they had older siblings in his year as well so they just follow him for fun. And one week ago, a bunch of my friends sent a post to me that my brother had put up and that changed everything for me. So it was a picture of our family but I had been cropped out of it, obviously, and in the caption, my brother was thanking my parents for helping him so much throughout

his life and now they were also the first investors in the business that he was about to start up. All my friends had the same question for me, if my parents did not have any money to be able to pay for my college tuition, then how come they were able to invest in my brother's business. It did not add up and they felt that it was important for me to know about it because they sent that something fishy was going on and there was definitely something that my parents were not telling me. And even I was really taken aback by that post because I had no idea what any of this was about and I first wanted to talk to my parents about it, but then I decided against it because talking to them would be pointless. I already knew what was going on and if I tried to talk to

them then they would just lie about everything and then maybe they would even make my brother take that post down and make him lie to me as well. That day was very difficult for me because I had to make an impossible choice but and I decided that I was no longer interested in living with my parents anymore because they had shown me that I was on my own and they would go to any lengths to support my brother but avoid supporting me because it was clear now that they did have a golden child and it was not me I acted normally throughout the day and pretended that everything was fine but at night I decided to make a run for it I had already been packing throughout the day and I couldn't go out at night, got an Uber, and then headed to a friend's house.

I had already talked to him and his parents and they were okay with letting me live with them for a couple of weeks, at least until college started. They knew about my situation and sympathized with me which is why they had even offered to pay for me to go to college because they were pretty rich and could afford it and I am still considering it because it's going to be weird taking money from a friend and his family but they seem more than happy to help me out. And I have been living with them ever since I ran away from home. So they have already done a lot for me, but I just feel weird asking them to do even more. Even though I am not actually asking them, they are the ones who are offering me help. But anyway, coming back to my parents, they were

pretty torn up about everything the morning after. As soon as I realized that I was not at home and had gone away in the middle of the night they started bombarding me with phone calls and texts, begging me to come back or at least tell them where I was, so they would know that I was safe and sound. The worst part of it was that they even had the audacity to ask me why I was doing this to them. I did not say much, I just forwarded the post that my brother had put up and left it at that. And they knew that there was no point pretending now so they started coming up with excuses to try and explain everything to me. It was quite insulting that they thought that I would actually fall for their stupid and lame excuses. They literally said that they were trying to

protect me, which is why they did not tell me the truth. I don't know who needs to hear this, but I think it would have been better to tell me the truth rather than trying to protect me by telling me a bunch of lies and then breaking my trust and my heart. They tried to say that if my brother's business succeeded, then they would make sure that I would be able to pay off my student loans in the future and I just needed to look at it as an investment and not a sacrifice. But the money was actually the least of my concerns because what really hurt was that they were willing to bet on my brother but not on me, even though it would have been to send me to college than to help fund an entirely new business.

And on top of that, they had lied to me about not having enough money even though they did but they just thought that it would be better to spend it all on my brother instead of me. I was deeply hurt by everything and I told them that I did not want to come back and I definitely did not want to keep in touch with them because it was very obvious to me that they did care about me and I did not want to live in a house with people who did not love or care about me because then I would just be a burden on them and that's the last thing that I wanted. I think that sort of freaked my mother out, more than my father, because she completely threw him under the bus and told me that she had not even been on board with this plan right from the

beginning and knew that this was wrong but she just went along with it because my father insisted upon it. She tried to talk to me for a couple of days and kept telling me that she was really sorry about everything and it had never been her intention to hurt me, but she just kept going with the flow because my father said so and eventually, she was in too deep to tell me the truth, no matter how much she wanted to. She told me that she was ready to help me out with the money and she would arrange it no matter what it took, but I just had to come back to her because she did not want to lose me as her son. I was not answering her call so the only way that she could speak to me was through text. I could tell that she was genuinely upset and sorry about everything that she had put

me through and really wanted to make things right with me, but I did not know how to respond to any of that because I was still hurt that they had all lied to me and thought that they would get away with it. So I was taking my time and getting back to her, but I guess that was a mistake because that led to some terrible consequences for my father. But I can't say that he did not deserve it because, in my opinion, he totally deserved it. What happened was that because he was that because I was taking so much time in responding to her, my mother decided that this was all my dad's fault and I kind of agreed with it and said that she was going to leave him if he did not get me to forgive them and make me come back at the earliest. They have been fighting about this for the longest time now and I don't know why, but my dad thinks that this is my fault, which is kind of ridiculous because if anything, I am the victim here and he has no right to blame me for anything.

He was the one who masterminded this entire situation and if he had just been honest and transparent with me right from day one then I would not feel so betrayed. I guess I would still be mad that they were not going to pay for my college tuition but he was the one who added an extra layer of lies to all of this. What he was doing was bad enough on its own, without all the deception. But I still feel kind of bad because I know that my parents love each other and my dad is really pissed off that I am still choosing to take my own sweet time and coming back home because the longer I stay away from my mother. The more she blames him and their fight just keeps getting

worse. He believes that I have punished them enough and now it's time for me to come back home but I still don't think I am ready to go back and I need some more time to think about everything because what they did was really wrong and I need my time to get over it. One week is just not enough for me to recover from all of this right now and I'm not going to come back just because my dad needs me to save his marriage. He did not stick up for me when I needed him so I don't see any reason for me to do the same for him but at the same time, I do feel kind of bad and responsible for ruining his marriage. I'd offer refusing to go back home even though I know that it can ruin my parents' marriage. Update 1. Hello. So it's been 10 days since I ran away from home and today I finally decided that I was

going to go back to talk to my mother. My father stopped texting me and told me that I was free to do whatever I wanted because he was sick of me and my mom and called us both selfish and inconsiderate, which is pretty rich coming from him. My mother, however, has not yet given up on me and keeps texting me every day. Earlier she would just tell me that she was sorry but now she has started telling me that not only is she sorry but she also misses me a lot and regrets everything that she agreed to. And that now she doesn't want anything except for me to come back home and has even spoken to my brother and has told him that she will not be contributing any money towards his

business because all of it is going to go to me and she is going to make sure that I don't have to worry about where the money comes from. She has been consistent and I really can't stay away from her anymore because I know that she is truly and genuinely sorry for everything. She had been led into this by my father anyway and while it does not absolve her of everything it's a bit of a consolation to me at least. She has told me that several times, that this was never her plan and she never wanted to do any of this but my father convinced her that if they invested in my brother's business then they

would get the money back sooner and would be able to help me pay off my debts if I did end up taking out a loan to complete my education. She bought it and even lied to me to protect my feelings but now she knows that it was all a really messed up plan and since she actually feels sorry about it, I am ready to go back to her and at least try to talk to her and make things better between the two of us. I have mixed feelings about my dad, as of now, so I really don't know what I'm going to say to him when I see him. Update 2. So I am posting this at night right now, and I am in my own bedroom after a really long time. My parents were very surprised to see me today, but only my mother

seemed actually happy. She hugged me and started crying and apologizing as soon as she opened the door and my father just stood there, lurking in the corner of the room, looking grumpy. I don't even care if he was happy to see me or not, I just feel good that my mother was happy to have me back. She told me that, even though she and my father were living in the same house, they had not been speaking to each other for the past couple of days and now that I was back, she did not know what was going to happen. She told me that my brother was extremely annoyed that she would not be investing in the business anymore because now he would have to look for other investors and that would delay the whole process, but she knew that it was the right thing to do

and so she was doing it without any regrets. My brother has not been speaking to her ever since she communicated her decision to him, but she can't help it and she was not going to screw this up once again. My father also did not speak to me even once after I came back home, but I can't help that either. Both of them can stay mad, it does not matter to me anymore. Anyway, at least my mother and I are back on speaking terms and I'm happy about it. He told me that she did not have a lot of money set aside because my dad earned more than she did, but whatever she had. She was going to make do with it and even ask her parents for extra money if she needed it, but she was going to make sure that I did not have to worry about my tuition and that's more than what I could ask for. My friends and his

family were sad to see me go, but they were happy that things were finally looking up for me and I can never thank them enough for what they did during these past few days. Update 3. Hey, so I am finally in college right now and things have been great with my mother. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for my father or my brother. My dad moved out a few weeks after I moved back in and he has been living with my brother ever since then and they have been working on his business together because now he is a partner in it. My parents have been struggling to make their marriage work and have been going to counseling sessions, but I don't know how it's been going because I don't really ask my mother

about it. I have no interest in anything that is related to my dad or my brother and I just want to be happy with the one person that I know I can count on, which is my mother. She stayed true to her word and arranged my college tuition with the help of her parents so I don't have to worry about anything but I do think I will start paying her back once I start earning. For now, I am just going to focus on my grades and having fun in college so that I can make the most of this experience.