Reddit Stories - Family Secrets Unveiled A Betrayal Uncovered ( Over 3 Hour Compilation ) - Episode 88

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #familysecrets #compilation #drama #storytime  Summary: Episode 88 delves into shocking family secrets and betrayals, revealing hidden truths that change relationships forever. This over three-hour compilation showcases various stories that highlight the complexities of familial bonds, trust, and the consequences of uncovering long-buried secrets. Prepare for emotional twists and gripping narratives.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, betrayal, familydrama, secretsrevealed, emotionalstories, storytelling, relationships, trustissues, familyconflict, personalnarratives, lifeadvice, plottwists, trueconfessions, drama, familybetrayal, hiddentruths, podcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6816713/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.

Relax and enjoy the following compilation of stories. I hope you enjoy this story. The sibling spouse solely focuses on her biological child and neglects the three children from his prior union. Thus she became upset when I began accompanying them on holiday getaways. And demanded I bring her spoiled daughter too. So long story short, I, 35F, live and work abroad but am from the Midwest. I grew up with my brother Jason, 43M, and our brother, parents, 70s. We were working class, had what we needed but not well off by any means.

When I was in high school Jason married Tiffany, who is and was and will always be a mess of a person, heavy drinker, partier, God knows whatever else, but she was hot and my brother is a dwee to put it nicely. They had Jace, 19M, Jeff, 17M, and Hannah, 12F. Their marriage broke down before Hannah was born, they tried working it out, but ultimately got divorced. Jason started dating Jenny, 43F, while splitting custody of the kids with Tiffany, 50 to 50. Since Tiff had been a psalm she received child support and alimony, and my brother worked a lot. I liked Jenny at first, she wasn't a complete smoke show like Tiff, but she was kind, had a good job, and was well-educated. I thought, much better match. At first, I know Jenny was

upset that the kids didn't immediately love her and call her mom when they were there, and the divorce was hard on them. Got pregnant somewhat fast with Daisy, 10F, and they got married. Around this time, the older kids started refusing to go back to Tiff's. She was always drinking and having guys around, so all three moved in full-time with Jason and Jenny and Tiff left town and is no longer in the kids' lives. I tried being understanding, I'm sure having a newborn and then three older kids full-time is difficult. But Jenny completely changed. She stopped working, but declared she was only a psalm to her kid. Jason was working 70-plus hours to make ends meet and her parents were helping them out, but she controls the finances.

This means that the three of them, Jason, Jenny, and Daisy, operate as a family unit, going to dinners, events, even vacations and leaving the older three kids at home. I have always thought this was disgusting and voiced my opinion about it, but Jason just said his divorce broke him emotionally and he will do anything possible to keep Jenny happy so that their marriage works out. Gross, yes. And 10 years ago to be frank I was younger, broker, and dumber so it was kind of more like, yes, my brother fucking sucks as a dad, but I live on another continent and all I can do is be supportive of the kids. I know, not a great attitude in retrospect and I'm disappointed in myself. I really did my best when they refused to pay for Jason to learn how to drive.

Even though Jenny refused to drive the kids anywhere, my mom taught him and I bought him a used car. We had to shame Jason to put him on his insurance, and he makes Jason pay for it. Same with Jeff, they share the car and use it for their activities in Hannes. My wife, an only child and we don't want children, have the three of them as our sole beneficiaries in our will, something we did when we found out that Jenny and Jason planned to leave them only the bare minimum amount, everything goes to Daisy. Also, after we got married my wife, six years ago, and I decided that we would start taking the older kids on annual trips with us when we went to the U.S. Nothing fancy, we might be child-free, but we're not billionaires or anything, just well off.

But things like a week in Florida, Utah, California, things like that. They're very outdoors a kid so they've had a blast every year, and we plan it when my brother takes Jenny and Daisy on trips, so they don't care. Normally we vacation in the summer, but Jason got an internship this summer so we decided to move our trip to the fall and are going to Maine, leaves. I let Jason know the dates. They're in line with their fall breaks, no worries, and he basically said we need to start including Daisy. Jenny's parents made some bad investments. They're fine but aren't helping them out anymore and Jenny is looking for a job, but since her parents had always paid for their trips they can't go on one this year. So, even if all was fair, I wouldn't want to take Daisy on a trip.

This is going to shock you with parents like that and I feel so bad saying this about a child but Daisy is a huge brat, spoiled, mean, and constantly bragging about the things she gets that her siblings don't. She once told me they weren't her siblings, they were Tiffany's kids. She throws toddler-level tantrums on holidays if she doesn't get as much and more as the other kids, tells my wife and I we are going to hell, edit, I now feel bad for including this. She said it about five years ago a few times and when Jenny was told it was about the only time I've ever seen her disciplined Daisy. I guess she'd heard it from Jenny's aunt. But it was hurtful and hard to forget with everything else, and since Jenny

waits on her hand and foot she's a total slop. I feel bad saying all this, I hope when she grows up she grows out of it. But there is no way I'd want to take her. on a vacation. So I told him I didn't think we'd be able to handle all four kids and we'd just go the five of us. He said Jenny could come to help out, absolutely not, or our mom could go, love her but she's getting a freaking hip replacement next month and does not want to go. Plus the car we'd need for all these people on a road trip would be stupid, we'd probably need two, and you know what? I don't want two. Anyways, sorry for trauma dumping on you all, this is getting long.

I was worried Jason would not let me take the other kids on the trip, but they decided to go the route of shaming us online. Obviously it's working with their friends and her family, but even my dad told me to stick to my guns. But, my wife came to me the other day and basically said, are we even better than Jenny if we're favoring some kids over another just because we don't like their mom? Before we were evening things out, but now we're obviously favoring the oldest. She told me to think of the long-term health of my family and our relationships.

She said that it's my family, my decision, but wants me to think about it. My gut is saying just take the older three, but Daisy is only ten, she's not to blame. Would it make me an evil aunt to leave her out? Update, hey guys, I posted about a week ago and a lot of people asked for updates but things have gotten yucky. A quick thing, Daisy is not constantly some Varuka salt-esque monster child. She can be a brat but she is also funny and caring. She's the only grandchild who is stuck with the church choir that my mom runs even though I don't think she loves it,

always calls my wife and I on our birthdays, and when their dog was too old to go upstairs, she brought her mattress downstairs and slept next to her every night before she passed away so she wouldn't be lonely. People aren't cartoon villains and please stop attacking a 10-year-old. Sorry I didn't reply to direct messages. I don't feel comfortable doing that. I don't know if that account people were messaging me was Jenny's and honestly it wouldn't change anything. I did change some small things for anonymity, and it would be a shame if there are more than one person out there like her.

Finally, just a reminder that I live half the world, a 15-hour men plane ride, away. I can't just pop over and there are time zone issues. I also do well for myself but don't have unlimited money. So stop telling me to take Daisy on trial trips and buy a four-bedroom house for the oldest three to live in LOL. And keep in mind, I live in remote, mostly rural areas, not bustling metropolises with vibrant expac communities and international schools. It's the nature of my job, I've worked hard for it, and it's not conducive to having kids

slash young adults living with me. I'm not a messy person and I don't do social media drama, so I've been ignoring Jenny and Jason's little vague booking campaign. And honestly, I wasn't even going to update until I got some background information but basically I got a call from my brother last weekend and it was Daisy crying and telling me she would be good and she's sorry for being bad and she wants to go on the trip and promising she'll be quiet and not say anything rude. It was dark, she was saying she was going to find a way to show me and my wife and her parents she was good and not a bad person and everything

would be okay. I tried calming her down. I assured her that both her aunts love her very much and don't think she is bad person at all. My brother took the phone and was just like see what you've done and hung up. I tried calling back, he didn't answer, I texted my mom as well as Jason Jeff to see what was going on. And of course I wake up and there's a post about how cruel people can be to innocent children. Anyways, between my mom and Jeff I got some more background info. I don't know where all their money goes or what kind of bath her parents took but their financial situation is bad. As in asking my fixed, low-income parents for money for Daisy's tuition bad. Obviously they couldn't help them and I guess Jenny and my brother had told Daisy she was going to have to

pick between vacation and her school, and she picked her school, but since it's taken Jenny longer than they expected to find a job they can no longer swing that either. I know you all think she's a little demon but my heart broke for her with that. And yes, I am not getting into it, I'll rage for too long, but yes, the older three have always gone to public school. I do think it was Jenny's parents paying the tuition, though, and according to Jeff, Daisy is getting older and having more of her own opinions and Jenny doesn't like that. When she found out she couldn't go back to her school she asked about a trip, and when my brother told Jenny I'd said no she told Daisy she couldn't go because she was bad. Heartbreaking, and just generally a plus parenting all

around. I don't think this is the end of all of this. Jeff needs to be more discreet but told me Jenny was losing it because of Botox and Ozempic withdrawal. He did say the house wasn't as bad as you'd think, she mostly ignores them and has continued that. He works and Hannah has spent most the summer at her best friend's house. Also one quick thing I know everyone is worried about my nephews and niece and think they live horrible, miserable lives and this vacation is the only bright spot of the year. Yes, their lives are completely unfair and I feel awfully for them but they are happy kids. From what Jace has told me, since she had Daisy they've always kind of just treated Jenny like an eccentric roommate that their dweeb of a dad is sleeping with.

They're not all rude and screaming at one another, more polite indifference. They also do care a lot about Daisy, and would never ask me to leave her at home. It's me that doesn't want to bring her, because she needs a parent with her and as Drill would say I would face God and walk backwards into hell before I ever invited, much less paid for, Jenny to come with us. Next story, male co-worker started making inappropriate comments about me, then sent me love messages at 1 a.m. saying he would find where I live. But when I showed my boyfriend he called me a re and said I must have been leading him. Okay, so I, 26F, and my boyfriend, 37M, of nine months and I have just had a big fight and now I'm home alone and seeking advice from strangers, I guess. I'm going through a bit of an ordeal at work

where a male colleague became slightly obsessive with me. It started with me just thinking he was being nice, but it seems to have accelerated very quickly. We had hardly any contact until he was moved into my team and quickly became friends as he liked a lot of the same things as me, favorite TV shows, musicians, etc. After a few months, I did notice him make some odd comments about my boyfriend, who he's never met but seen on my insta, things like I wouldn't picture you with someone like him, or we'll see how long that lasts, and he's the kind of guy that'll hurt you in the end. I thought he was being very assumptive, but didn't think anything of it, maybe that's my fault. Then the flirting started, or what I think he thought was flirting, where he would compliment me

in really specific odd ways like the way I walked or how nice I smelled. Some of the comments became quite sexual, so I started backing away from him but as we're in the same team they continued and just got more bizarre. He'd compare me to characters in the shows we both watched but would reference specific SEG scenes and how I would do it so much better. Very gross, very inappropriate I know, but I've never been one to cause a scene or get anyone into trouble so instead thought I'd just tell him straight that he was making me uncomfortable and he needed to stop. This was yesterday and he did not take it well, shouting at me, in the office, that I had no idea what the fuck I was talking about

and soon I'd get it, not sure what he meant by that. He was told to go for a walk and cool off by our team leader. When he returned about 20 minutes later, he immediately apologized and said he had some things going on outside of work, and assured me it had never happened again. He even thanked me for raising how I felt and said that he'd never do anything to make me uncomfortable again. This morning I woke up to the longest string of messages I've ever received. It was sent at 1 a.m. and started by him saying that he was in love with me and we were meant to be together. The messages then range from creepy compliments to saying he was going to find out where I live. One part literally reads, I was put on this earth for you and you only,

there is no other option. I won't bore everyone with putting in the whole text, as this post is already too long, but there are some things that I found very threatening. I called my manager this morning and said I wouldn't be coming into work and that I needed to formally complain about him. She was understanding, and we had a long team's call and started the process with HR, etc. So, now my boyfriend's response. This morning when I showed him the message he was supportive and insisted I don't go to work and stay at his. He wanted to call off work too and call the police, but I said I just wanted to focus on informing

work today, et cetera, and think about how to proceed. However, when he came back from work today, his attitudes seemed to have completely changed. He said he thought it was fucked up that I didn't go to the police and that he thinks I have feelings for this colleague. When I assured him that is not the case, he told me that guys don't write messages like that if there's nothing behind it and that I must have been at least leading this guy on for him to end up acting so irrationally. The more I tried to defend myself, the more irate he got and he started saying that he hated how I acted so innocent all the time when he knows deep down

I'm a whore and that he should have known I was a low-value woman. He's never ever called me things like that before, and it was so upsetting. Beyond that he ended up asking me to leave so now I've had to come back to my flat when I'm feeling pretty vulnerable and a little scared. For context, with my boyfriend quite quickly after I moved to the country I'm now living in so my only friends are his friends. All my family and friends are back in my home country so nowhere else to go. I really think that what has happened is not my fault and I'm incredibly disappointed with his reaction, especially when for the past few weeks I've told him how uncomfortable this guy has been making me etc. so he's been kept informed. However, think it's important to note for context

that he was previously cheated on by his ex-fiancee so I know that any hint of cheating is a big trigger for him which may explain his reaction. So, do I break up with him? Sorry for the dragged out tale, but wanted people to have all the context and a bit of a rant to be honest, as I don't want to tell my family all this. It'll just worry them considering they are so far away.

Comment where Op has replied, comment, please go to the police about your co-worker. I think you are underreacting to the danger he poses to your safety. His obsessive behavior is really scary and it sounds like it will only escalate. As for your boyfriend, the low-value woman comment seems like he has been red-pilled. At the heart of his outbreak is probably fear and concern,

but it's really troubling that he is taking it out on you. This might be a good time to leave and visit home, but not without first filing a police report. You are definitely in danger, and stalkers don't take no lightly. Poop, thanks for your advice. I think you're right with the whole red-pilled thing and think I know exactly who he must have spoken to yesterday to have come back with that stuff.

Just very confusing when he's never indicated thinking that way himself before. I'm going to see if he reaches out to talk, but nothing so far. As for the co-worker, I've stayed home again today but have an in-person meeting later with my manager and HR as they've opened an investigation. I've blocked my colleague on everything, which I think some comments said was a bad idea but I didn't realize, so haven't heard anything from him but that almost is making me more nervous and paranoid. A work friend is going to come over later to talk about involving the police, etc. Thanks again for taking the time to comment, it's really appreciated. Update, quite delayed,

it's been a journey, but I had some lovely concerned messages so wanted to post a quick update. Thank you for everyone's comments and messages. You were all bang on and I'm so glad to say I'm out of this situation. Boyfriend update, he came back apologizing, as many of you predicted he would. He confirmed my assumption that he had spoken to a specific friend that day who had gotten him riled up on the idea that it's always the girls who seem innocent that aren't and that I had clearly been cheating with this co-worker. At first he did pretty well at apologizing and taking accountability on the phone, but when we met up I could see he was still angry at me for some reason. Turns out he felt abandoned by me because I wasn't the first to reach out after the

fight. That's when I knew it was over and I couldn't forgive him, how he was making this situation about himself still blows my mind. I left him, received some more red pill abuse and have heard nothing since. Good riddance. Stalker update, things got a little scary. I returned to work while he was suspended under investigation. Only one week later I had gone out for dinner and when I returned home he was standing outside my apartment building. It was dark and he was wearing a hoodie so I didn't realize it was him until I got close enough to see his face. I completely froze, and for a second I stupidly thought he was going to apologize and beg not to get him fired or something. But instead he said he'd missed me. I have no idea how this man found out where I live,

but I think he is very unwell. I backed away into the street, but he grabbed me into a hug or something, not totally sure of his intentions. Luckily some passersby heard me shouting for him to get off and intervened. Forcibly had to get him to let go. He then ran away. I finally went to the police and started the process of getting a restraining order. Even after this, I received sexually explicit emails from weird email addresses and requests from newly made Insta accounts. I have since deleted and remade all accounts. After this experience, I have moved back to my home country. I wish I'd been brave enough to stay, but I was honestly living in fear, not to be dramatic and just didn't have the support of friends and family that I needed.

Anyway, just wanted to thank all you strangers again that made me feel justified in my feelings. I really have learned a valuable lesson to raise the alarm when you feel threatened, and truly hope none of you have to go through this experience. Also, if someone loves you, they should never abandon you in times of crisis. Stay safe out there. Comment where Op has replied, comment, I'm so sorry you encountered such toxic people, felt threatened, abandoned, and terrified. It's awful what they put you through. You are incredibly brave for setting boundaries and sticking to them in such situations. The timeline doesn't matter.

What matters is that you stood up for yourself and took action. That can be particularly difficult at work and in a romantic relationship where they seem to have been a huge part of every aspect of your life in a new country. Please know you are a strong woman for identifying what you need and what is important to you, then following through with the big life changes to make it happen. I hope you feel loved, safe, and supported. Oop, thank you so much, I really appreciate this. It's been hard to recognize myself as strong when I feel like I ran away, but I really believe it was the best choice for me, and to be honest I'm just so happy to be home.

I hope all the best for you too. Final comment from Oop, thank you to everyone for your comments I've showed my mom and you've all made her cry. This was her first introduction to Reddit so now she wants to make an account. It's crazy how much comfort all of you have brought me and feeling justified for leaving. Thank you again, and hope all the best in the world to all of you. I hope you enjoy this story. I took my partner's fresh vehicle to see my folks and fib that it belonged to me. They covertly traded it to finance my unmarried siblings' trip. Now my partner is taking legal action. and I'm cutting ties with my entire family.

So the question suggests that my parents decided to sell what they thought was my car to fund my sister's self-care vacation and buy her a couple of expensive gifts because she just got divorced. I, 26F, drove to my parents' house and my boyfriend's new SUV because it's a pretty sweet ride and I really wanted to go on a long drive in it. My boyfriend, Tyler, 28M, had been saving up for a really long time to buy a new car and he has had this one for almost two months now. He and I have been together for two years and last month, he moved in with me. My parents live quite far away from me. It's usually a six-hour drive

from my place to theirs and we meet maybe just once or twice a month. Last weekend, they had invited me over to stay for a couple of days with them since my dad was not doing well because his heart was acting up again. I decided to take the new car after talking to Tyler about it because my old car was in the shop for repairs. I didn't tell my parents about it being Tyler's car because I didn't think it was relevant. When they asked me who it was, since they seemed pretty impressed by it, I just told them it was mine. I didn't know what it would lead to, I couldn't have possibly thought that they would sell it. Anyway, on the fourth day of my visit, I had gone to meet a friend, and when I came back, the car was gone. I started panicking immediately because I thought

it was stolen, but when I went inside to speak to my parents about it, they told me that they had sold the car. I was shocked and they explained that when I had shown up with the car, they decided to take a couple of photos of it and send it to a bunch of their friends to ask if anybody would be willing to buy, and one of them had found an interested buyer who was willing to pay quite a sum for the car. I honestly don't know what kind of idiot would buy a car without bothering to have the title of the car signed over to them, but I guess they were able to find somebody who was foolish enough or maybe desperate enough to do that. When I asked them what they had done with the money, they told me that they had transferred the funds to my sister so she could take a well-deserved

break because her divorce had just been finalized a couple of weeks back and she needed to indulge herself in some self-care and had even ordered a pair of diamond earrings and a bracelet for her. Online. They asked me not to be mad, but clearly, since I had bought the car, I was doing really well, and my sister had blown a lot of money on the divorce, so she really needed this. They could have paid for it with their own money, but they had to save for retirement as well, so they really expected me to be understanding of this and why they had done it. I was so furious that I didn't even know what to say to them, and I just started screaming in their faces, telling them that they had screwed up a big time because the car wasn't even

mine, it belonged to Tyler, and they would have it from him once he found out about this. My parents had met Tyler a couple of times, but they were definitely not close, so even they received a shock when they found out that the car belonged to him and not me. But instead of being apologetic, they started freaking out and blaming me for not telling them the truth about who the car belonged to. They said that because of my decision to fake it, they had endangered themselves and quite possibly the person who had offered to buy that car. Apparently, they had planned on selling the car without my knowledge, and once I found out about it, they would just convince me not to press charges against them, and that would be it. But now, since they

found out that the car didn't even belong to me in the first place, they were scared of what was going to happen and started bugging me to talk to Tyler and convince him not to press charges. They claimed that they had been fully convinced that I would not do anything to hurt them, and that's why they had sold the car when they thought it was mine which is just insane, I don't even know how to make sense of that. Essentially, they were planning on taking advantage of the fact that I was family and they were going to emotionally manipulate me into letting this slide, but with Tyler, they were not so confident and wanted me to do something to fix the situation.

I told him that they could just contact the person who had bought the car and have him return it as it is, but they said that they had already sold it and transferred the funds to my sister, so that was not going to be possible. The only reason I was even negotiating with them was a reason. not that I wanted to protect them, but because I wanted the car back because I knew how hard Tyler had worked for it and the fact that my parents were still trying to defend the decision of selling the car for my sister's sake was pissing me off. So I told them that if they didn't do what I asked them to, then I would talk to Tyler and make sure that he pressed

charges against them. And then, we were at a stalemate because they thought that I was being too cruel and that my sister had really been through a lot, so she deserved this vacation and the gifts that they had ordered for her so they couldn't just take it all back from her after they had already told her about it. They claimed that she had been really happy when they had transferred the money to her and told her to take a vacation with that money and had even mentioned the gift that she would be receiving once she came back home, and they couldn't take that happiness away by telling her that they had cancelled the gifts. And she would need to return the money as well. So I told them that I couldn't care less about her happiness. I just needed the money back with the car,

and if they didn't do it, I would speak to Tyler and they said that they knew I wouldn't do anything to hurt them. So I got my phone right in front of them, called Tyler, and explained the situation to them while they just looked horrified and told Tyler that I wanted him to press charges against my parents. I was very pissed off, and I could hear that even Tyler was very upset, so he told me that he was going to speak to his lawyer and do something about this. After the phone call, my parents started screaming at me once again and pushed me out of their house, saying that I was a horrible human being and that I did not deserve to be called their daughter anymore. I was fine with that, but then, they started saying that none of this would have even happened

if I had just told them that the car did not belong to me, but instead, I had chosen to lie about it and now, they were in trouble because of me. They said that I was just insecure that my boyfriend had a brand new shiny car, and I couldn't afford to have the same, which is why I was trying to show off in front of them to impress them because they knew that I was just going to amount to a failure and nothing else. They had been right about it that their entire life, and I couldn't stand that. I found that very offensive when I tried to argue that I wouldn't even have brought the car with me if I had known what they had in mind.

But they said that they had only sold the car because they thought that I was family and that I would understand their predicament. But clearly, I was only interested in faking my lifestyle to impress other people. That was almost three days back and since then, I have been living in a hotel, waiting for Tyler to show up here and we have been in touch, but I just can't help thinking that maybe this is my fault because I didn't tell my parents whom the car actually belongs to. So I'd have for telling my parents that my boyfriend's car was mine when I visited them? Edit

Many of you wanted to know more about my relationship with my family. Well, as most of you might have figured out by now, there is a golden child in the family, and it's obviously not me. It's my older sister, she is seven years older than me and I don't have a good relationship with her. We have had no contact for the past couple of years and it's not something that we decided on purpose, it's just something that happened organically. She lives out of state and rarely ever comes back home, and when she does, I don't visit my

parents then because we don't get along. My childhood was not that bad, to be honest. Even though my parents were kind of biased towards my sister, I never felt like I was being sidelined or anything. This car incident just came out of nowhere. I had no idea that they were capable of doing something so crazy. Trust me, if they had treated me badly my entire life, I wouldn't even have stayed in touch with them. Earlier, it was only little things that used to bother me about my relationship with my parents, but they were very kind to me otherwise and were good parents all over. And that's why I stayed in touch with them. That's why I would visit them every month. This recent incident, though, just came out of nowhere. I think they're getting old and

senile. That's why they thought that this would be something acceptable and I would just let it slide because I was family or whatever. They were wrong, though. And even the things that they had said towards the very end of our last meeting, while they were pushing me out of the house, that they had always believed I was a failure and I wanted to prove them wrong. I don't know why that came from either because they have always been very supportive of me. They had never implied that I would grow up to be a failure, maybe they believed it in their heart, but they never let it show and were very good actors because I had been totally convinced that they loved me.

This whole incident was the first one that was completely out of the blue, and I don't know what would have possibly driven my parents to act this. crazy. I mean, I know that my sister's divorce was pretty bad. Her husband had been cheating on her and had still managed to get away with it without paying her alimony and a dismal amount of settlement money. But still, that's not an excuse for my parents to act like this. Anyway, I hope that helps you guys make sense of why I had to stay in touch with my parents and come to a conclusion about what I should do. It's kind of urgent, so I would appreciate quick advice. Update 1, hey, so yesterday after I posted my update, most people told me that I had

absolutely no fault in this. I did not want my parents asking questions about why Tyler had done with his car and stuff, so I just decided to tell them one white lie. There was literally no way I could have known that it would lead to all of this, and I don't need to beat myself up about it. And yes, my parents might have treated me decently in the past, but after what they have just pulled, I don't owe them anything. Tyler showed up this morning and he told me the same thing that people in the comments had been telling me, that I don't need to feel regret or guilt related to any of these. He is going to deal with this in his own way, and all I have to do is testify against my parents.

Because he has had his lawyer draw up papers for a lawsuit and is pressing charges against my parents. And you know what? I'm going to be with him on this. They totally deserve whatever is coming to them, and they can't. cannot dodge the consequences of this. In the evening, we plan on going to my parents' house and talking to them, giving them one last chance to fix their mistake, but I highly doubt that they are going to do it. Their only priority right now is making sure that my sister gets to indulge herself, I already tried reasoning with them earlier, but they were not receptive to it. If anything, I'm pretty sure that they're just going to feed me the same BS this time as well, but Tyler

thinks that it's worth a try because he doesn't want to waste his time fighting. this out in court when he can just settle it outside. Of course, if they don't do as we say, then we will have to take this to court. It has been a couple of days, so even they might have lawyered up by now and I'm pretty sure that they're cooking up some lie against me to make them seem like the good guys here, but I know what happened and all I really need is just the contact number of the guy who bought the car and I will be able to sort this out in a jiffy. Anyway, since I don't have that right now, we are just going to have to suck it up and talk to them one last time so that we can tell them how bad it's going to end up for them if they don't

get back the car at any cost. The one good thing that has happened so far is Tyler is here with me, so I feel much less stressed out about everything. He has been very kind and compassionate towards me because he knows that this is not my fault and if anyone is to blame here, it's going to be my parents. Update 2 OK, so a couple of things have happened. As I said, we went to my parents' house to speak to them and told them that we were giving them money last chance to fix the situation, but just as we had expected, they did not take us up on that offer. When we rang the doorbell and my dad opened the door to see us, he told me that he knew that he could count on me to realize that what we were doing by getting them into trouble was not right and that he was ready to forgive me. They were so delusional

that they had literally assumed that I was there to apologize to them and not give them one last chance to fix the situation and I found it kind of funny. So Tyler had to explain that we were there to talk to them about what was going on and he said that he was here to tell them that he was pressing charges against them so they had better get the car back or else, things would not turn out well for them. My dad got offended and told Tyler that he had no right to speak to him that way when he was standing on his property and asked us to get out of there, but I stood my ground and told him that we were not going anywhere until he had given us the contact details of the person he had supposedly sold the car to because we just wanted the car back. We didn't want

any trouble, neither for us and nor for them. In fact, after this whole debacle was over, I planned on leaving them alone forever and when I said that, my mom came around and said that she didn't care that I was threatening her. She knew that she had another daughter to count on and she was going to make sure that everyone cut me off. After that, Tyler and I realized that there was no talking to them about this, we would just have to go ahead with our threats and do what we had come here to do, so we left because it was pretty pointless. He then contacted his lawyer and said that he was ready to press charges because he had tried to sort this before going a legal way and now, we were going to do what we had to do. So that was that, and then, we returned to the

hotel and both of us were in a pretty nasty mood since my parents were wasting a lot of time and it was affecting us badly as well. We were just discussing demanding some settlement money from them as well along with the car in perfect condition for all the time that they had wasted and also in case the car had any damages, we were going to get that money from them as well. And while we were discussing it, I received a phone call from my older sister. I did not pick up because I couldn't possibly imagine what she would have to say to me, but then she called me a couple of more times, so I finally answered, and then, she started

lecturing me about how I was harassing my parents and it was not right because they had raised me so I need to be grateful to them. I was pissed off. I had already mentioned that and I really didn't want to speak to her, so I told her that maybe she believed that I owed them anything but what they had done. I did not think along the same lines and things had always been different for her so it's not like she would even understand where I was coming from. I tried to hang up, but then she said that it was just typical of me to be ungrateful for everything that has been done for me and I got very pissed out because first of all, I don't even know what she was referring to and secondly. I think what my parents had done was extremely unethical and stupid so they definitely did not

deserve to be excused by me like she believed they did. And then she made that comment, I asked her what she was referring to because I don't remember a single time. I've been ungrateful to my parents, and she had the audacity to say that she was not talking about our parents, but she was was talking about herself. That caught me off guard because I really couldn't recall any incident like that and just as I had expected, she started ranting about something arbitrary that had taken place years ago. She told me that she had decided to go no contact with me, if you guys might remember, in my original post, I had mentioned that neither of us decided that we were going to go no contact, it just happened organically so I don't know where that came from, because of my

ungrateful behavior. Apparently, she believed that back then, I got a really high-paying job because of her. My sister and I work in the same field, but even then, I was really shocked by that claim that she made on the phone because I could not remember anything like that happening and I was very lost. And then she started explaining and you know what? Just hold on, guys, her logic is going to blow your mind as well. Apparently, she believed that she was the one who was responsible for me getting that really

great job back then because she had decided to move away with her husband and had withdrawn. on her application a couple of days after she had applied, after which I got selected eventually. In what universe does that make her responsible for getting me the job, I will never know. Anyway, she believed that she was owed a thank you after she decided to move away and left the job to me. And when I did not thank her for anything, she decided that she was never going to speak to me again until I acknowledged what she had done for me, which never ended up happening. So we didn't speak for the past couple of years. I was so confused because I didn't even know what she was playing at, trying to make it seem

like I was ungrateful when I didn't even know about any of these expectations that she had for me. And even if I had known, I wouldn't have thanked her because they were completely unreasonable. I told her off instantly and I said that she was, in no way, responsible for me getting the job. I am just as qualified as her, and I was just a bit younger at the time, but even then, I'm pretty sure that I got the job because of my own hard work and perseverance, and not because she opted out. I told her that I didn't care if she thought that I was ungrateful, I just wanted her to leave me alone because I had said that I was going to make sure that my parents returned the car to me in perfect condition, and if she thought that it was unfair on my part, tough. Was not going to change my

mind, and she was a fool to think that she could call me, say such stupid things to me, and then try to make me feel differently about this situation. I also told her that obviously she would never find any faults in our parents because she had always been treated like a princess and I had been treated like I was just a normal kid, and even though I had never resented any of them for this, it was about time that I started acknowledging it. Then I hung up and blocked her and now, we are in no contact permanently, I'm making sure of that.

After the phone call, I discussed things with Tyler and we are not sure if our parents put her up to this. But if they did, they just made things worse for themselves. Anyway, it has been an incredibly long day and it's almost one in the morning now. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow as well, so I'm just going to try and get some rest. It was very important for me to vent out my feelings here because even though I did speak to Tyler about it, I just wanted to talk about it some more and get it completely out of my system. And that's why this was such a long update. So thanks for sticking by until the end.

It means a lot to me, for the ones who read it all the way through. See you guys soon, I'll keep you guys updated on what happens next, and hopefully, my parents won't put up much of a fight anymore after this because I'm really sick of everything and I just want to go home to my normal life now. Update 3, hi, so it's around noon right now and as it appears, Tyler and I might not have to go to court at all because this morning, my parents showed up at the hotel and started groveling, trying to get us to stop whatever it is that we were planning on doing. When we got a phone call from the front desk this morning,

I was confused about whether I should let them up or not, but Tyler said that maybe we should talk to them because they might have changed their mind after last night. So we let them up and when they were in our room, they started apologizing profusely, saying that they had thought things over after last night and they really didn't want any trouble so they would really appreciate it if we could settle this out of court.

They told me that they had contacted the man who had purchased the car from them and were talking to him, trying to convince him to come back. Apparently, he was ready to go on a cross-country road trip, but I personally think he might have been planning to run away because I can't think of anybody in their right mind who would have been willing to buy a car that they didn't even have the title to. And this was apparently coming at a really inconvenient time for him, but they were able to manage to convince him, somehow, promising him that they would return two grand more than the amount that they would return two grand more than the amount that they were. had sold the car for. So we might be getting Tyler's car back after all, and we are really happy about it because we are relieved that we don't have to stay here for long, since the guy who bought the car will be showing up at my parents' place in a couple of days to return the car. Getting involved with the court here would mean staying here for several days and we didn't want that, so this is a better option, to be honest. My parents also tried to apologize to me for

for their behavior and said that they had realized how wrong they had been, but I told them that that was completely unnecessary because no matter what they said at this point, I had made up my mind and I was going to cut them off as soon as I went back home. They seemed a bit unhappy about that and said that they really wanted to make it up to me, but I told them that my decision was finally and I really didn't want to speak to them because this had been a terrible experience for me and they had completely humiliated me in front of my boyfriend the day before and had been insufferable since they sold. The car without my consent, so I really didn't want anything to do with them after this. They looked very upset, but at least this nightmare is going to be over now and Tyler and I can

finally go back home. Update 4. Hello. So a couple of weeks had passed and we got the car back. It was in the same condition that we had kept it in. So thankfully, my parents didn't have to pay any damages but they found out about the car just in the nick of time because if the guy had taken it on the cross-country road trip, things would have been much different. Anyway, my parents drove the car down to our place and tried to speak to us, to apologize to me once again and get me to talk to them, but I told them that now that the car had been delivered, we had nothing more to talk about. They were really desperate too, and I could tell that they really wanted to continue being a part of my life because I don't think they are getting any grandchildren from my sister any time soon.

But Tyler and I made it very clear that we did not want them loitering around our house and made them leave by threatening to call the cops on them when they said that they were going to stand around until I forgave them and said that I would keep in touch as I had previously. It was their own rotten behavior that had changed everything for us, and then needed to realize and acknowledge that. Until they did so, nothing would ever change. Anyway, that was two weeks ago and recently, Tyler proposed to me and we are hosting an engagement party at our place this weekend. Invitations have already been sent out, and I have heard from a couple of relatives that my parents and my sister are very upset that they did not receive one,

since they thought that at least something as big as this would make me reconsider our situation and, I would extend a hand of peace towards them to make things right again. I would say it was a pretty unrealistic expectation to have from me because none of them had been kind to me, and Tyler and I were on the same page about whether we wanted them at our party or not we didn't. It's a really important day for us, and if they can't be nice to me, they don't deserve to be around me. Besides, even if I thought about making things right with them and inviting them, then the day would become entirely about us and our family drama and not about our engagement, so we decided to steer clear of that.

And they kind of shot themselves in the foot by talking about this to our relatives because they definitely didn't have any nice things to say about me. They thought that I was being brady and kind of silly by blowing things out of proportion. Well, so maybe I'll just stay this way and keep my distance from them and then they won't have to deal with my brattiness anymore. I hope you enjoy this story. Spouses passing made me a solo father until my longtime chum from the past arrived in our neighborhood with her future husband.

However, she revealed her emotions to me four weeks prior to her wedding. Wedding My point 35M, friend Bree 35F, just told me she loves me four weeks before our marriage. marriage, and I am not sure what I am supposed to do here. I want to know if I am doing the right thing. To give some context, I lost my wife two years ago. I have a five-year-old daughter. I have not dated in the last two years because I have major trauma from losing my wife. I still love her a lot and don't think I am ready to move on. I invested all my time in my daughter, who looks exactly like her mother, and my work to keep my sanity for the last two years.

I have been friends with Bree since we were in elementary school. We lived in the same neighborhood growing up and were best friends. She is an awesome person, and we were inseparable growing up. The weirdest part was we had completely different personalities. She was very outgoing and always had a lot of friends. I am a big introvert and Bree along with a few friends was all I needed. Brie was a serial dater and I don't remember any time since middle school since she was single. Bree and I never dated though.

Bree and I also went to the same college. She never had a stable boyfriend, but just jumped from one relationship to another. I, on the other hand, did not date seriously until I was in my junior year. When I met my wife, she was a freshman and we hit it off instantly. We fell for each other and spent all. our time with each other. This strained my relationship with Bree as I would generally hang out with my wife instead of her. That was the time Bree and I slowly started drifting apart. After college, I moved to a different town for my job, and Bree and I occasionally messaged

each other, but nothing beyond that. Brie attended my wedding and that was the last time I saw her. We kept in touch, but mostly by commenting on each other's pictures or keeping each other updated on significant life events. Bree did reach out to me when my wife passed away and we talked on a phone call. Last year, Bree and her fiancé moved to my city. I was still grieving and both have been amazing support for me and my daughter. My daughter loves dancing, and Bree helped me enroll her in dancing and gymnastics classes and sometimes takes her to them.

I also became good friends with her fiancé, who is indeed an incredibly good man. My daughter also loves Andy Brie and Brie sometimes helps me babysit. Last week, Brie came to my house and asked if we could talk. Her tone sounded serious. She told me that over the last few months, she feels like she has started to develop feelings for me and is not sure anymore if she wants to go ahead with the wedding. She felt I also had started developing feelings for her. I told her that I am not ready for any relationship before I can deal with it.

with my mental health, for which I go to a therapist regularly. She tried to convince me that she loved me, we are soulmates, and she felt that we were meant to be together. However, I do not have the same feelings for her. I love her as a friend, but nothing beyond that. We were both emotional, but she said she was glad we talked about this. She left after that. Brie called me that night and told me not to talk about our conversation to anyone.

I thought a lot about it and decided that I would not tell her fiancé about me and my conversation from last week. I feel it's their relationship, and I do not have the right to ruin their moment if Brie decides to go ahead with the wedding. However, I feel guilty that her fiancé does not know anything about this and is going into a marriage where Brie might not be fully ready for it. Can you guys give suggestions on what I should do in this case? Am I wrong for not telling her fiancé about our conversation? Update 1. The last month has been crazy, and my whole world has turned upside down. Again for context, I lost my wife two years ago and we have a five-year-old daughter. Bree and her fiancé Jason, 33M, moved to our town a year ago, and we have reconnected as

friends and they have done a lot to cheer me up during this year and bring my life to normalcy. After Bree told me that she loved me, I told her that I was still not ready to move on as I still miss my wife. She said she understood, and I did not hear from her or Jason for a few days. The guilt was killing me, as I was not sure if I should tell Jason about what she told me. Thanks to everyone who commented on the post, it helped me think the situation through. I finally called Bree after a few days and asked her to meet me for lunch. I talked to her and asked her if she was going ahead with her wedding. She broke down and told me she was not sure. I told her that she should at least talk to Jason regarding her feelings and not be dishonest with him. I also assured her

that I would not say anything to Jay, but I just wanted her to be happy. She said she understood and left. That night I put my daughter to sleep and was watching TV. Around 9.30 p.m., I heard a loud knock on my door, and it was Jason. I opened the door, and he was in tears. He started yelling at me and asking me why I had to steal Bree out of all the people. I tried to calm him down, but he just kept on shouting. I was trying to get him to sit down on the bench on our porch. I told him my daughter was sleeping upstairs, but he slowly was getting more and more physical. He punched me in the face, and I was able to push him off. I told him. I told him, he was a little. I told him, I told him to get out of my house, and he sat in his truck and drove away.

I immediately called Bree, and she was crying and did not sound well on the phone. She told Jason that she could not marry him, because she had feelings for me. I was really scared for her, after the physical altercation with Jason, and told her to gather some clothes and get out of the house. She did that and came to my place. I just didn't feel she was safe with Jason. I consoled her for almost two hours and was able to get her to sleep. The next morning, we had to call her parents to let them know about what had happened.

Brie kept a brave face, but I could see how much she was hurting. Her parents asked her to take a few days off and immediately come back home, and she did take a flight in the evening to go home. Over the next two weeks, the wedding was called off. Brie and I were talking every day and she was just very exhausted. She talked to Jason a few times and kept on asking her to take more time to think. However, I think Brie just wanted to get out of it and decided to just break it off with Jason. Currently, Brie is staying with us for the last two weeks.

She still has a job here and started going back to work last week. I have talked to Brie in detail about what happened. Brie told me that Jason and her were dating on and off for the last four years. Jason is not very career-oriented, and Bree is very good at her job. She felt he was a nice and reliable person, but was unsure about him from the start. She felt that she was not getting any younger, and hence they decided to get married. When she heard about my wife passing away, she just felt really bad and wanted to be around me to comfort me. When she got her big promotion, which meant she could work in a corporate office, she immediately

chose my city and moved here. Jason also moved here and got a new job. She never had any romantic feelings for me back then. As she started hanging out with my daughter and me, she started feeling the bond we shared when we were growing up. Except, I was the broken one and she was taking care of me. She said that she realized that she was enjoying her time with us, more than with Jason. She realized she made a mistake with Jason, and what she wanted was right in front of her. Since, she slowly started thinking about me in that way and finally told me about it. She knew her relationship with Jason was over the moment she confessed to me. It's a shitty situation, but I am glad that she realized that before getting married versus. After. As for Jason, I feel bad for him.

He is moving back to our hometown closer to his family. He is currently in their apartment and will move sometime next month. I know a lot of you would be curious if we were dating. We are not dating. I don't think I can date anyone right now and neither should Bree. She is my friend and I am happy that she is staying with us and plans to be here until everything is sorted out. My daughter loves having Auntie Bree around too, so that's a bonus.

Plus, it's really nice to see her slowly get back to normal. Thanks again for helping me during my last post. Cheers. Additional information from OOP. One of the comments from the post really stuck out to me when I was trying to decide if I wanted to tell Jason myself about what Brie told me. Following is the comment. I would not share your conversation, but also find a way to pull away from spending any time with her that also also does not tear her out of your daughter's life. Not that she is or ever will replace your

dear wife and your daughter's mother because that is impossible. But your daughter at a young age had already lost her mom and I'd hate to see her traumatized by having another woman in her life abruptly leave. My daughter really loves having her around and I also do not want her to lose Brie. I have thought about the pros and cons and I feel I'm happy she is staying with us at this point. Update 2. November 8th, 2024. I wrote a post nine months ago about my friend Bree telling me that she loved me a few weeks before she was supposed to get married. For context, I lost my wife three years ago, and we have a six-year-old daughter. Bree and her fiancé, Jason, moved to our town a year ago, and Bree confessed her feelings for me just weeks before her wedding. Things went south quickly, and Bree ended up. ended up breaking up with Jason and canceling the wedding. She was staying with us when I last shared an update.

The family members didn't know that Jason had assaulted me, and I had to assure everyone that we were safe and okay. I'm feeling particularly happy this week, so I thought I would share an update. Firstly, the reason Bree moved in with us while Jason was still in town was because I had a temporary restraining order, Tiro, against him. Bree also filed for one but was denied, as he had never directly threatened her safety. She said she felt secure with us because of the TRO, and I agreed. Jason didn't cause any issues after that, though he continued texting Bree, asking her to work on their relationship.

Eventually, he moved back to our hometown in February, and we haven't heard from him since. Bree got her own apartment once Jason left town, but she remained very much a part of our daily lives. I enjoyed having her around, and my daughter loves her. In April, Bree brought up the idea of us dating again. I explained that I wasn't over my wife's death and didn't want to be unfair to her because I still love my late wife deeply. Bree told me she knew she could never replace my wife, nor did she want to. She shared a beautiful analogy, she said my heart is like a big pot. It holds a lot of love for my late wife, but it also made room for more love when my daughter was born.

Loving her wouldn't erase my love for my wife or daughter, it would simply mean there's more room in my heart than I realized. I took a month to think it over, talking to my mom and mother-in-law, late wife's mom, who both encouraged me to give a relationship with Bree a chance. We officially started dating in May, and it's been surprising how quickly we fell in love. I think the strong foundation of our friendship helped a lot. The last six months have been amazing, and I've never seen my daughter so happy. She's a big chatterbox now and insists that Bree comes to all her school events and recitals. Sometimes, I feel a little jealous of their bond and even a bit left out of their little chats. The reason I'm writing this update is because I'm planning to propose to Bree this Christmas.

It's not a surprise proposal, we went engagement ring shopping last weekend and finalized the ring. We also have wedding plans for next summer. I know it seems quick, but I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. Bree deserves to officially be part of our family. My daughter is thrilled, and she and Bree are already shopping for dresses for the engagement. photo shoot. Our families couldn't be happier, and we planned to get engaged at a small gathering of family and friends over Christmas weekend in our hometown. I know some people judged me for taking Bree in after she left Jason, and others judged her for leaving him at the

altar. Life isn't easy, trust me, and things don't always go as planned. But I'm grateful Bree found the courage to tell me how she felt back then. Thank you all again for your support on my last post. Comments where OPP has replied, commenter one, downvoted. Thanks for the update. Glad things worked out and wish you both a great future. Ohop, thanks. We are excited for the next chapter. Commenter two, wait, so why didn't she end her relationship before ever sharing with you that she had feelings for you? OOP, it was such a crazy time, four weeks before the wedding. I know the right thing should have been the right thing to do. However, I am also glad she did not go through with the wedding when her heart was not at the right place.

I feel bad for Jason too, but I think it's better for him it happened, instead of learning about it after getting married. I did initially blame myself for all the pain that I caused Bree. I know she would have been married, happily, to Jason, if I did not exist, but through therapy, I have learned to let go of the guilt. It was something I could not control. Commenter 3, so you explained to her that you were still grieving your wife, and she gave you some stupid analogy to pressure you into dating her. She sounds desperate and dumb, and not a good influence for your child. I feel bad for your daughter.

I seriously doubt your wife would approve of this for her. Commenter 4, her analogy was pure manipulation and you are too stupid, or too horny, to see it. It's been less than a year. Good luck, dear horny man, you are going to need it. Your wife would be ashamed of the damage you are going to end up doing to your daughter and all this. You let a manipulative woman con her way into your bed and home. Next story, dying father finally told me why he hated me entire life. He never wanted a son and wanted me to give me up for adoption, but my mother wouldn't let him.

I have three sisters that I love and a mother I adore, not always though. I hated them when I was younger because while my father would yell at me or belittle me for everything possible, they were the apples of his eyes. I did my best at school in karate, nothing impressed him, not when I earned a full scholarship to a prestigious university, not when I was the valedictorian of my year group, not even at 26 when I managed to start my own small company that has grown considerably since. No matter what I did, I was made to feel worthless, less than a person, good for nothing, useless, a failure. I have lingering issues about it to this day. When I was younger, all I wanted just once was for my father to say, I'm proud of you, nothing even close. He doted on my sisters and mother, though, and I'm not proud to say I hated them for it as much as I hated him. How dare they get away so lightly, how dare they get his smiles and laughter and kind words when all I had to get was

cruelty. It took me a long time to finally begin a relationship with my sisters or mom that wasn't the jealous, angry son. Today we are all very close, I love them to death and would do anything for them. Some time ago my father was diagnosed with cancer, he's had other issues as well, suffered through two heart attacks and a stroke and it seems as if his body can't carry on anymore. He's dying and I don't care, I don't have it in me to care, and if he died I could live the rest of my life having never seen him before he passed or knowing that I won't attend his funeral. He wasn't present at my wedding either, I did not invite him which was very noticeable to many of my family members, but I didn't care, I'd found a woman who loved me and that I loved

and I wanted to share that day with the other important people in my life that I love or strongly like. My uncle was always sympathetic to my cases growing up, my father, his older brother was an asshole to him and he understood why I wouldn't want my father there even while other family members thought I should have still invited him. Here's the thing he wants to see me, he probably has only a few months left and now wishes to see me my wife, mother and sisters all want me to pay a visit to him. While my wife thinks I should go just once, she isn't pressuring me, she knows my history with him and says if I decide not to go, that's it then, my mother and sisters however do think

I should go and have all spoken to me several times in the past month about this. The only person who's laid off bugging me about it is my older sister. I'm the second child, she's 34 and she was the one who say my father be a dick to me from as far back as she or I can remember, my two other sisters are several years younger, 26, 25. We met recently to talk about it, my older sister and I, and for the first time in years I broke down crying, I literally just let it out, I told her I can't do it, I tried to put everything in the past, but I can't, I hate that man and what he did to me mentally. I can't forgive him and she says she understands, she said she'd speak to my mother and sisters,

however my mother and sisters tend to be very pushy. Anyway, do you all think I should go at least once? update, so I went to see my dad and it basically went like shit. I caved, I fucking caved and decided fuck it, I'll see what he wants. Maybe this is something worth hearing. I visited the hospital by myself. No wife. No mom.

No sisters. Just him and I. He looked old and tired and just as I predicted I didn't find it in me to be angry. This wasn't the man I remembered. this was just some old broken man. It would have been a waste of my time to feel angry, and yet I did. I was so pissed off because I couldn't stand across from him eye to eye and let him see that the son he treated like dogs hit had built a wonderful life for himself.

We didn't say anything to each other for around an hour. Then eventually I found my voice and said, you know, this is the last time we'll ever see each other right. No response. Then he replied, I know. So I asked him why now? Why did he want to see me so badly that he had to send a message through my mother for me? And here is where I learnt that my existence was fuck all to him. He admitted that he did it just to give my mom closure, she didn't ask him to do it, but he knew she wanted it.

So I asked him why he treated me the way he did my whole life and he replied, I never wanted a son, never had any interest in one. It fucking hurt, but I kept listening and he kept speaking. He said that in the first few years of my life he tried his best to care about me but eventually he realized he couldn't. Then came the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with that man. I never loved you, but I didn't hate you either. I just didn't care for you because I never wanted a son, I wanted to give you up for adoption when you were younger but your mother would never have forgiven me, so I did my best to push you aside and you would always try and get my approval for stuff. I felt bad at times, but I just didn't care for you by that time I was crying.

Me, a 31-year-old man, left my dying father in his hospital room and went to my car crying. I could have gone my whole life not knowing that. Fuck my mom, my sisters, my wife and my dad. I'm just so pissed right now. There was a part of me that hoped we would bury the hatchet, nope, I just learned he never gave a fuck. I will never speak of my father again. I will not attend his funeral or visit his grave. When he dies I'll be at the bar drinking because the fucker is gone from this world

and I will to be the father he never was. Edit, I just want to say thanks to everyone for your kind words, both in comments and PMS, they really helped a lot. Particularly while I was hung over this morning and laying in bed thinking about life. Also to the stranger who gave me gold, thank you. Never had that before and it was quite unexpected. I've got a ways to go still, I feel like yesterday opened up wounds I didn't even realize had never really healed and I'll be talking to my wife about it and most likely a professional as well. I won't cut my mom or sisters out.

I am not angry at them. Their experiences with my father were different from my own and I do not fault them for that, however, right now, the best thing for me, is just to not be around them as much. So I don't think they'll be seeing slash hearing from me for some time. Once again, I sincerely thank everybody, it was your comments and PMS that made me realize, yeah, it hurts like shit, but I can't let him have any more power over me, I'm in the prime of my life and I've built a nice life for myself. I don't need a dying man's approval anymore because I've done the best I could for so long without it anyway, so here's hoping things will get better soon.

I hope you enjoy this story. I offered an opportunity to my distant father and asked him to attend my wedding. However, he declined to accompany me down the aisle due to the influence of his spouse and favored offspring. Only for them. I, 30F, am getting married in about a month to my best friend, 35M. I did not grow up knowing my dad, 55M, very well as a man. him and my mom divorced when I was an infant. He remarried and had several kids with his new wife,

who hates my very existence. There was a lot of hurtful things done when I was growing up, like not being allowed in her house when I visited that led me to be estranged from my father. He never really made much of an effort, but after I was 18 I completely cut him off from my mental health and stopped answering the few calls he attempted. He tried to get into contact every once in a while over the years, but I honestly just ignored him. I was hurt and angry. About a year ago, I got back into contact with some extended family on his side and have been forging a good bond with all of them. I invited them all to our wedding and they have been amazing. Eventually, I started speaking with my dad as well back around Christmas and it was

tense at first, but I decided to just give him a chance. We have slowly been getting a semblance of a relationship back and I saw him in person with my fiancé a couple months ago. His wife is not pleased at all and apparently their kids, my half-siblings, all adults, are also upset about it. I think there were threats of divorce, but my dad still decided to go to my wedding. After a ton of thought, I asked my dad if he wanted to walk me down the aisle as I have been hopeful for a better relationship, but he turned me down. I wouldn't be as upset if he gave a generic excuse, but he told him.

He told me his wife and other daughter requested he does not walk me down the aisle as that is reserved for his other, daughter and not me. I am super hurt and not even sure what to reply to that with. He offered to stand at the front and give me away instead, but that isn't what I want. My fiancé thinks we should un-invite him and move on, but I'm not sure if that is the best course of action. He is coming from out of state with the rest of his family so he already bought a plane ticket and hotel room. Part of me thinks to just politely turn him down, have him as a regular guest,

and then just stop talking to him again after the wedding. My mom isn't coming to my wedding because she lives really far away, so I don't really have any other immediate family coming. I'm not sure what the best course of action is and the wedding is getting super close so I have to make a decision soon. Edit while this post has blown up, thank you all so much for the advice and comforting words. To answer some common questions I am seeing, know his wife and my half-siblings are not attending the wedding. I invited them but they won't even meet me, let alone go to the wedding. He has two sons and a daughter with this new wife, all in their 20s. I am not sure if my dad cheated on my mom with my stepmom, my mom through all her faults never actually said a bad word about

him. He did marry my stepmom by the time I was two years old though, so there wasn't much time in between marriages. They are also very Christian in the worst way, as in they don't really follow what they claim to believe. My mom cannot fly as she has panic attacks. She also is actually a worse parent than my dad in a lot of ways, believe it or not. I have no male relatives to walk me down the aisle. I also never wanted him to give me away as I think that is dumb, I just wanted my dad to act like my dad for one moment. My fiancé and I have decided to walk down the aisle together as one of you suggested, so that part is settled. I'll update everyone once I decide what to do and if there is any response. Comments, Stellis Dillamaris,

do you want this rude, mean, stranger at your wedding or do you not? He isn't going to suddenly turn into a nice person or good father to you. If you let him come I would absolutely not involve him in the ceremony in any way. Like, he doesn't get a seat at the front, he doesn't get to speak or stand or do anything. Perhaps you and your fiancé would consider walking down the aisle together, or on your own. It does not have to be with a father figure, especially not this one, who doesn't see you as a daughter. Do what is right for you. Your wedding doesn't exist to fix your family. One sweet submarine, yes, all of this. Op, I'd hate for you to look at wedding photos ten years down the road and be sad because this POS is in photos with you. Your

You're a gem for wanting to try and make things work and he's a dick and an idiot for making little to no effort. I'm sorry less than three, Op, that is a great point about the pictures, that is my most important thing for the wedding so having him in a ton of the pictures will just make me sad when I look back. Jealous Bed 1807 Hey Op, I don't have any great words of wisdom for you other than to say that sucks and to send you a big dad hug, it's what your dad should be giving you as he walks you down

the aisle, but, in its absence, please accept a hug from a random internet dad who is proud of you and wishes you a wonderful wedding day. Also, it's not your responsibility that your dad has bought a plane ticket and hotel room. Kids of emotionally unavailable parents spend all their time trying to look after their parents' emotional needs in the hopes that their parents might eventually see them and love them. You don't need to look after your dad anymore. He made his choice. Listen to your fiancé. It's not now and has never been okay for your dad to hurt you. He made his choice to appease his wife rather than being fully with you on your big day.

It's okay for you to make your choice to have your wedding without him. It might feel like it would be nice to have immediate family at your wedding, but really having him there would most likely just be a reminder of the love and support you needed and deserved as a child and that you never received. Ah, thank you so much internet, Dad. I needed to hear this. My mom isn't much better, but I gave up any hope with her a long time ago. Seems like I need to give up hope with my dad as well.

On the bright side my aunt and her family are amazing people so they will be great at the wedding regardless. Update, hello everyone, just wanted to start by saying thank you so much for your kind words and advice to my original post. It made me feel so much better. We had an amazing wedding and honeymoon. Everything went really well. My husband wants to thank everyone who said some form of listen to your fiancé, ha ha. I'll start with what happened right after my 30F last post. I did un-inv my dad, 50M, from my wedding, the whole interaction was too hurtful to let go of.

Before telling him I was uninviting him, I spoke with my aunt slash his sister Sandy, 50SF, who was furious at her brother for what he said to me. She has been such a great support of me and my husband which has been amazing honestly. after I sent my dad an email detailing how hurtful he had been and that he was uninvited, Sandy called him and yelled at him for being an ass. He replied to my email with a bunch of nonsense deflection about how he has to make sure both sides are happy, but apparently told Sandy, not me, he was sorry and that it was a miscommunication.

He claims to Sandy that he was only trying to negotiate with me and that he would have walked me down the aisle if that was what I really wanted. I highly doubt that. My mill, who was extremely conservative and religious, actually said my dad needed to grow some balls, which shocked literally everyone ha-ha. I replied to him that I stood firm in my decision to un-invite and to not contact me again until after the wedding, but that if he did contact me at all it better be with the understanding that he needs to be present in my life the same way he is his other kids, otherwise to not

reach out again. Around this time, right before the wedding, I called my mom and asked her about what really happened with her and my dad when I was a baby, because she never talked about it with me growing up. Unlike my dad and stepmom, my mom never once said anything bad about my dad to me. She was always neutral-slash-positive about him, which I have since thanked her for as it let me come to my own conclusions about what a dead beat he is. My mom and I had a good cry about everything and she let me know how abusive and awful my dad was to her when I was a baby after they split up. I also found out that he married his new wife when I was less than a year old, which is

insane considering my parents were still 100% together the day I was born. Sandy swears up and down that she introduced my dad and stepmom to each other after my parents split, as they, stepmom and Sandy, were classmates in college. I don't really care either way at this point. It is just interesting to see how no one has a clear idea of what happened. My thought is that they were cheating and then used to say, Sandy to introduce them to cover up their behavior. Keep in mind they are all very Christian, even though they clearly don't follow any of their religious teachings. I didn't hear anything from my dad during the wedding and Sandy and her family still came. We all had a blast and everyone

was so happy for us. The pictures turned out great and there isn't anyone in them that I wish I could Photoshop out, so I definitely knew un-inviting my dad ended up being the best decision we could make. I talked to Sandy about my dad over the holidays and she said that him and his wife slash kids were refusing to go to any family dinners or parties because they are upset that everyone else talks to me. I have been in regular contact with Sandy, my uncle Jerry, and all of their kids which makes my stepmom feel betrayed. Sandy is pissed at her because they used to be friends but never understood what her issue was with me. I found out my stepmom treated me like crap the second she had her first kid when I was still a toddler, which probably doesn't surprise anyone. I didn't hear from my dad

all through December, but finally in late January I got a random email from him. He sent a long email blaming me for him not being in my life, telling me his wife and kids are more important, but that we need to still be in each other's lives. It was the most BS email he had sent me so far and completely disregarded my wishes back in October when I told him to not contact me unless he was going to treat me like his actual child. I ended up not responding and just blocking his email. I also told Sandy to not share any of the pictures or videos from the wedding with him and to not talk about me with him. I think this will be the end of the relationship with him, since he clearly is incapable of being a parent to me. I feel a lot more at peace with everything that

happened and I am completely okay with how it all turned out. One commenter on my original post said something along the lines of not knowing if my dad would have been a bad parent since he wasn't around and that really has stuck with me. Thinking about it now, he probably would have been even worse had he actually been in my life. Unfortunately, both my parents are emotionally stunted, but I made a good use of the life that was handed to me and will hopefully break the cycle with my own kids one day. I didn't mention in my last post that my husband and I are going to be moving to the same state as my family in the next year. I was worried at first being closer to my dad, but honestly he and his bitter wife and kids can do whatever they want, I'm just going to

live my life how I want to. We were planning on moving to this state before I ever got back in contact with my family so we will continue to do what is best for us. Anyways, thank you again, kind Redditors, you really help me not feel sad or upset for my wedding day. Latelyl sees I'm so glad that you had a wonderful wedding. I wish you and your hubby the best in the future. Live the best of your life with hope, faith, and love. Best revenge you can have. P.S. something to think about.

Stepmom may have told your step-siblings that Daddy had an affair, and that may be why they hate you. Now on to the next story. Story 2. Peret exposed my wife's affair with her in turn after anger management. fixed our toxic marriage. I caught them on hidden camera and got her fired. I, 32M, was married to my ex-wife, 29F, for three years. We were madly in love, but unfortunately, our marriage couldn't work because of her infidelity. The first time my ex-wife and I met was on a dating site.

As of that time, I was desperately looking for someone to settle down with because I was tired of being lonely, and she came around at the right time. So, after meeting each other physically for the first time, we had more dates, and as we got to know ourselves better, we fell deeply in love. Our relationship started as a very beautiful one. We used to hang out every weekend, spend quality time with each other and do fun stuff together. But after about a year of dating my wife, I noticed she had anger issues. At first, her anger issues started as nagging and making mountains. out of molehills, then it got so bad that she would break stuff whenever she was angry. Then once she became calm again, she would apologize and cry for forgiveness.

When I noticed this bad attribute, I wanted to break up with her, but each time she begged me, I would forgive her, only for the same thing to repeat itself. There was even a time I was so close to breaking up with her because she had an altercation with my mom one time, she came to visit me, but because she had enrolled for anger management classes and I saw a bit of improvement, I forgave her. All this while, I didn't know I was shooting myself in the leg, and marrying her was one of my mistakes. When most people tell stories of how they enjoyed the first years of their marriage, I can't relate to that because the first two years of my marriage were filled with fights and arguments. My wife had multiple personalities.

One day, she would be all loving and lovely. The next day, she would be so angry over little things she shouldn't be angry about. Aside from the anger issues my wife had, she was a sweet and hardworking wife. She took care of me and my needs in the house too. She also worked for a big organization in the town we lived in, so in terms of finances, she was earning more. Despite earning more, we split the bills equally, and we both took care of our responsibilities. I think I kept holding onto my wife and believed she would change because she was putting in a lot of effort to be a better person, and I wanted to support her. I also knew she grew up in a toxic and abusive environment, and how she was raised contributed greatly to her anger issues. Whenever she did

something terrible or broke something, I wanted to leave her, but I couldn't. We had a lot of beautiful memories together, and I didn't want to judge her based on her bad side alone. She also kept telling me that I was the only guy who had stuck with her in both the good and bad times. None of her relationships worked in the past because all the men she dated kept leaving her. I wanted to be the good husband who would stick to his marital vows of for better, for worse, and fortunately, the relationship between my wife and I started getting better in the third year of our marriage. Months after our second anniversary, I noticed that the relationship between my wife and I had

improved so much. She no longer argued and fought over everything, which was a big step up for us. Initially, I thought that she was getting better at controlling her anger because of the new therapy she was getting. Also, it didn't just stop with the improvement in our communication. My wife began to act like a totally different person. For example, she often complained about work when she returned from the office, but that changed. Instead, she would come home and tell me how she was finally getting along with her colleagues in her organization. Aside from that, she became more cheerful, and everything seemed to change about her.

Honestly speaking, all the changes I noticed for months were because of her anger management therapy sessions, and I even went as far as dropping a great review and a five-star on her therapist's website. It felt so good to have peace in my marriage and hold a conversation for a whole day without ditching plates. Out of happiness, I even told my friends about her improvement, and they were so happy for me.

On the other hand, when my wife's anger issues improved, she became so engrossed with work around the same time, which did not allow us to get as close as I wanted. Despite her busy work schedule, I never complained because it was better for her to be calm and engrossed with work than constantly fighting and complaining about work. While I was innocently and wholeheartedly happy for my wife, I didn't know she was doing the unthinkable behind me. The day I found out, I returned home, and my parrot started saying a name I didn't know. Our parrot was good with picking new names or anything that sounded like a name.

So, when I heard that name, I suspected that someone had visited our house and he must have heard someone call the name. When I asked my wife about it, she insisted that he must have gotten the name from the television, and that did not sit well with me. Mainly because when I tried to argue that my parrot couldn't pick the name from a movie, she flipped for the first time in a long while and walked out of me. The moment she walked out of me in anger, I suspected that something was going on. I thought someone must have visited our home, and my wife didn't want me to know about it,

so I decided to find out. In the following days, I bought a small-sized camera and hid it in my parrot's cage to confirm my suspicion. Then the next day, I told my wife I was traveling to the nearby estate to visit my mom, but I was crashing at a friend's house. That same evening, as I stayed in my friend's house to watch my house, I saw something that shattered my heart and destroyed our marriage. I watched as my wife came in with one of her organization's new interns, and they did it on our couch, right in front of the bird and in the camera. Before I found out my wife was cheating on me, I told my friends about my parrot and the strange male name it kept saying, but they said I was paranoid. and my parent might have heard the name from a movie, and my wife flipped and walked out of me because I was annoyed. It would be an understatement to say I was disappointed, shattered,

and devastated. I could not believe that the same woman I tolerated her anger issues, and stood by her on the days I should have been out there breathing fresh air, was cheating on me with an intern. It felt like a bad dream I needed to wake up from, but sadly, it was my harsh reality. About two days after I learned about my wife's infidelity, my broken state turned to anger, and I thought of ways to pay her back. Finally, I had something, and I knew destroying all her years of hard work and commitment to her organization would be a major hit for her, so I sent the video footage to her company, and I was sure they would take action. I returned home a week later because I wanted to cool off and put myself together. When I eventually got home, I met my wife at home.

She had been fired by this time, and the intern had been dismissed. When I asked my wife why she wasn't at work, she said her company was downsizing, so they had to let her go. Immediately she said that, I started laughing and told her I knew why she was fired. She was confused and didn't understand what I meant. Before I went home, I had already contacted a divorce lawyer to start processing our divorce. So, I told my wife I was behind the video sent to her organization. and at the snap of a finger, she flipped and started yelling at the top of her voice. She said she was glad she cheated on me because I was a weak man, and I didn't satisfy her in bed,

so she had to make herself happy. What an excuse. When she said that, my anger level skyrocketed, and before she had the opportunity to start throwing things at me as usual, I pulled her with strength and threw her out of my house. She made a scene outside, and after she was tired of yelling, she took the few things I had thrown out and left. A few days later, she started calling my phone non-stop, and she sent multiple messages saying that she was a changed person and would never cheat on me again. I'd be stupid if I gave her another opportunity. We eventually divorced, and I've been living my best life since then. I never thought I'd say this, but I feel more at peace without my wife. It's almost like I've been let out of an invincible cage, and I feel so relieved.

I do not miss my ex-wife, and I'm so glad things turned out that way, or else I might still be stuck in our marriage, hoping that she would evolve into the kind of woman I wanted. One thing I've learned the hard way is to never try and save people like my wife because you will drown in the process of saving them. As for my precious parrot, I'm glad he helped me get out of that terrible marriage. Now, none of my friends doubt my parrot anymore. I hope you enjoy this story. siblings slept with my partner months before our marriage, mother was aware, and remained silent.

Presently, she appeared expecting a child and in tears over online criticism when I revealed the truth. Age 30. Year old woman here. I have a sister who's just a year older than me. We've always had such a good relationship so finding out about this one hurt. She might as well have just stabbed me in my heart. On top of that, I've been with my fiancé since high school and we've always been with each other through thick and thin. We were going to get married in a few months. I have no idea why on earth they did this to me. What's even worse was that our mom knew and out of fear of getting involved. My sister apparently begged her not to say a word, she didn't tell me anything. Thankfully, my dad wasn't having it and he spilled the beans to me. I've never been so angry

in my life. Not only did I kick my fiancé out and throw out his stuff, some of it in the trash, but I decided to hurt my sister in another way. Why not do the same for my fiancé? Simple, she's my sister. We've always had a good relationship until she decided to ruin it months before my big day, which I allowed her to be a bridesmaid in. You don't do that to anyone, let alone your sister. Your blood. My sister's big on gardening so when she lost her. She lost dog, she made a garden for him. I knocked on her door, she didn't know that I knew, and of course I played nice. I moved on to what she did with my fiancé and I slightly damaged her garden. I honestly just crushed a couple flowers. Am I sorry? No. Her excuse sent me over the edge. What just

happened isn't a reason. Sleeping with my fiancé just happened like that, I guess. I told her I didn't want her speaking to me anymore and that I also didn't want our mom to speak to me. My fiancé won't say a word since I threatened to call the police if he ever went near me again. Yay, I made my sister cry and scream at me, but I genuinely feel like I should be the one crying. She knew how important getting married was to me and now I can't experience that. Pair that with the fact that I had to hear this from my dad, not my bum excuse of a sister or fiancé. Hell, even my own mother didn't say a word to me. It's like she lets my sister run her.

Fuck you, Tia. Fuck you, Logan. If they ever see this, I'd be absolutely delighted. Edit one since many people keep bringing this up. I'm upset that I lost the relationship I've always put 100% into. I was excited to get married, of course, but then this news came out. It really hurt me. I didn't want to believe it at first.

I almost thought my dad was pulling my leg. Later turned out to be true. I swear I have trust issues now. Edit 2 thanks again for all the suggestions, y'all. It's helping me feel more confident in exposing them. I'm just a bundle of nerves right now because I know shit's going to hit the fan again. When I do so, I'll try my best to come with an update. I mean, it's the least y'all deserve, ha ha. Last edit when I say I decided to hurt her, it's because I kind of ruined something so meaningful to her. I feel like for most people, besides on here, that would be a bit far. It's just how I feel, though, I understand it's not what you guys wanted LOL. Clearly worked a bit though since she thought I was so damn

psychotic for that. Like I said, I don't feel sorry about hurting her that way. Forgive my terrible mood, I definitely plan on exposing them sometime today. Comments where Op has replied. comment her, expose them to everyone and ruin them. Boop, I've actually debated on doing this after I got done dealing with my sister, but if anything, I can unblock her Jews to show her what other people in the world think about her trashy-ha. Seriously though, I still can't believe she did me like this. Comment her, expose them. They will try and spin it differently and make you look like the bad guy.

Tell all his family your extended family and mutual friends. Tell them that you have cut all contact with them and you wish not to be around them ever again. Boop, so far, his sister was the only one who reached out to me about this. She was in hysterics. Asking me WTF happened. She fully supports me in this. Not sure about the rest of the family but as of now, the only person I can even trust is my father. Probably her too.

Comment her, this is horrible. When did this happen? I can't believe your mother. Oop, I actually found out over the previous weekend. Under another comment, I wrote how my dad explained it to me. Supposedly, my sister decided to tell my mom. She obviously asked her to keep her lips closed about it. My mom apparently told my dad over the weekend, not right away, and then he told me.

The thing is I have no idea when the hell they even had sex. That wasn't made known to me or my parents, it seems. My sister could have kept this secret for God knows how long until she finally decided to come clean to my mother. For all we know, they could have done it months ago. Maybe even several times. My fiancé denied even sleeping with her more than once, but I'm finding it hard to believe him.

A small part of me keeps trying to justify my mom's actions, but I can't seem to understand. She clearly didn't care. Oop on everyone knowing about the wedding being cancelled via social media. Boop, huh. I did make a post apologizing for canceling the wedding, but I've turned off notifications because I kept getting a flood of messages asking what happened. So far, only his sister and my cousin know.

I couldn't bear to even say anything else to other people. At the time, I felt so sick. These comments are giving me ideas, though, and they're very tempting. Update 1, August 28, 2020. Hey everyone. Things like my other post has been deleted. Thanks again for the comments and support. I found out quite a bit. To start off, I did expose her and my ex on my story. I unblocked them both to tag them. Shout out to one of the commenters who wrote down what I should say. I saved it and wrote it but added some other words of my own. My ex actually blocked me after he saw my story.

I sent my Reddit post to my sister after. At the time, she didn't see but I got a call from my ex's mom. She was furious about everything, but she asked me how I was holding up and if I've heard the news. My heart sank a little because I honestly couldn't bear to hear any more bad news. I asked her what she was talking about. She said, so you haven't? I said no and asked her to tell me. My sister's pregnant.

Apparently, Logan told her in an attempt to make her chill out on my sister. I didn't want to hear anymore, so I told her I needed to hang up the phone. Thankfully, she accepted because I literally burst into tears two seconds later. After five minutes of crying, my sister responded to my story and text with the Reddit post link. She was texting me in all caps begging me to take it down. If I wasn't so upset, I would have laughed a little but I just sat there watching her blow up my phone. I got even angrier when she said I'm coming over and I'm telling mom that you're spreading my business online, all right, you big baby.

Still never responded, though. I felt, frozen. 30 minutes later, she's trying to break my door down, so I opened it in a fit of rage and I started screaming all kinds of shit at her. She kept screaming at me to take it down and I told her that's going to stay up for as long as I want it to. She kept telling me she didn't deserve online hate and she even tried telling me that she's always been there for me through everything and that she would have forgiven me if it was the

other way around. That's when I punched her. A small part of me felt guilty, I'm not the fighting type and that was probably evident in my last post, ha, but she retaliated by saying it's not my fault Logan was tired of you and that's when I told her that I hope she ends up like her dog and that she deserves every bit of hate she's getting for ruining my relationship. I even apologized for not ruining her entire garden and her stupid face at first. I know I'm wrong for for saying this but the entire time, she was playing the victim. She called me evil and told me to rot in hell. Kept saying I was punishing her over a mistake. I said you have no idea what you've put me through and I know you would have done the same thing if you were the victim.

She kept crying and insulting me because all she's ever done was support me through everything and I had the nerve to punch her in the face and allow strangers to bash her on the internet. I told her she deserved it and I don't want her talking to me ever again and if she comes near me, I'm calling the police. She kept saying I was being extremely unfair and that she said she was sorry in her texts but I wasn't having it. I told her to tell Mom I'm not talking to her again either. She asked me if I was really going to cut her off like that and I just wished her good luck with her unwanted child and told her to go home. That was the last time she walked off my porch. Anyway, I had to clean up my favorite base, but it doesn't even matter.

At least they're out of my life. However, it's weird how sad I feel now. It's for my own good but damn, I'll never experience the bond we had again. On the bright side, seems like I've dodged two bullets. Thanks again, though, everyone, maybe I do need therapy. Last edit to say that my dad called not too long ago asking me to take every post down because according to my mother, my bitch sister is bawling her eyes out over mean people on the internet. As if I'm taking anything down. My dad's pissed about her pregnancy, but my mom continues to

defend her by saying we need to chill out on her a little bit. This is why I'm not talking to her. Thanks again, though, everyone. I'm exhausted and I need to worry about other things. Update 2, August 31st, 2024. I've officially decided to go LC with my dad today. day. Surprisingly, he wasn't that upset about it. However, he's still on team take down the posts and that's why I made my decision. My mom wants nothing to do with me because if I wasn't going to respect the family, there's no point in trying to get to you. Well, it's almost like that's what I wanted. My cousin and my ex's sister have been supporting me. Apparently, my sister has had meltdown after meltdown because more people are slowly finding out about the

affair not only in person but on the internet. She actually got into it with my cousin online and according to my cousin, my sister keeps asking her to tell me to take down the posts because she's sorry and she felt pressured into doing what she did. First I even heard about my ex was from his sister. She told me that they did speak and although he's not ready for a child, he doesn't feel comfortable leaving my pregnant sister on her own. He also wants me to stop what I'm doing but oh well, they're made for each other. Anyway, I've done. I've done. I've got to surprisingly been feeling a bit better thanks to my cousin and my new sister, as I like to call my ex's sister now, ha. I've actually gotten some good sleep. Still considering therapy too.

A very tiny part of me feels pretty bad for exposing my sister and ex and I'll always miss the relationship I've had with them, even despite my last encounter with my sister. But they've hurt me and it's what they deserve. If they're not taking it well, that's their problem. Thanks everyone once again. Next story, Brother called me a whore at a barbecue so my husband knocked him out and my parents want me to divorce him or cut me off. But turns out brother was jealous of my happy marriage. Hello everyone. This past weekend me and my husband were over at my parents' house for a barbecue, the day my brother for some reason started to have a go at me, calling me names and belittling me. My husband pulled my brother aside and had a talk with him and the insult stopped.

An hour or so later we were standing around talking with some friends and family members and my brother came up to me and told me I'm a whore. His exact word were, You know you are a fucking whore right. He said it loud enough for almost everyone at the party to hear. All I saw was my husband next to me look at me, then I felt a push to the side my husband stepping in front of me and the next thing was my brother out cold on the ground with blood on his face all I heard is my mother yelling and my husband saying you don't talk to my wife like that I warned you already.

Before I continue, my husband didn't hurt me, he didn't push me hard or anything like that. Don't know how to describe it, but it was like a push that someone will give you when they are trying to pass. I went like one step back, that is all. I am not mad at my husband. I'm mad at my brother the whole day he was demeaning me, insulting me, belittling me don't know where this came from as he has never talked to me like that or to anyone that I know of. The bigger problem I have it that I have to chose. Either my husband or my parents. My parents are pissed and have given me an ultimatum. I either leave my husband and divorce him or they cut me off completely. My husband doesn't give a crap that they are mad, the only thing he is mad about it that he only got one punch in his

words. I love my husband and don't want to lose him, but I also don't want to lose my parents. They have supported me through a lot and have always been there for me. I know they are serious as this is the first time they have ever issued me with an ultimatum. They also threaten my husband with an assault charge, but he doesn't care and welcome them to do it. I'm stuck between a decision that will change my life forever and I'm panicking. I have received messages for friends and other family members that have given me support and condemned my husband,

but they are leaning more on the support side. Any advice will be appreciated? Edit to clarify, I am to choosing my husband. I have never questioned that, but I also have. don't want to lose my family. I am very family-oriented and family to me is everything. I want to find a solution where I can keep both. Comments where Op has replied, Commenter 1. Info, why do your parents think it's okay that your brother called you names? What is their excuse?

Oop, they haven't excused his actions but they are condemning my husband for resorting to violence. Commenter 2. What kind of family does this stuff? It sounds very dysfunctional. What were the circumstances whereby your brother goes off on you like that? Now your parents issue an ultimatum? I appreciate that your husband stuck up for you, but that was a terrible political move. Oop. One thing about my husband, he is sweet and gentle, but he has never cared what someone else thinks about him other than me, and his own mother.

Update, November 5, 2024. First I would like to thank everyone and I want to apologize as well for the way. I worded my post, it's no excuse but my emotional state isn't the best. My husband is my choice and I have no intentions of leaving him at all, never had. I know it's early for an update, but I'm more confused now about what is going on. My parents invited me over to have a talk with them, but they wanted me to come alone as they didn't want my husband at their house. My husband refused to let me go alone and said if he isn't going then he won't allow me to. He basically said with you alone there they will just pile on you and that I won't let happen, so we went together.

My parents wasn't happy to see him and my mother wanted to say something until my husband told her he isn't there for them but me and if he is forced to leave I will leave with him, I agreed with him. Deluctantly they agreed, my brother was there as well. He has a broken nose and chipped teeth and refused to look at me or my husband he just kept looking at the ground even while talking. Apparently what happened with my brother is that he broke up with his girlfriend a month ago. It's more like she broke up with him don't know the reason don't care. I wasn't aware of this as we aren't close like that. According to him, the reason he had a go at me this weekend is because my life according to him my perfect life with my husband kept

popping up on his feeds and he got jealous. Everything on my social media is with my husband. I don't really use it for anything else but his feed was full of my posts and that set him off as I had something that he didn't. It got worse when he overheard me and my mom. I don't. It got worse when he overheard me and my mother talking when I had a discussion with her over children. Me and my husband is currently trying to have a baby and that just made everything worse in his head. His life was falling apart and mine was going perfectly and I had and was trying for have what he wanted with his ex.

He said he didn't take my husband seriously when he pulled him aside and my husband warned him. I seriously don't know why he went after me as nothing he said was true in any sense and I did ask him why he said those things. He refused to answer me. I asked him why the whore comment because he knows my husband was my first in everything and it has only been him all these years he refused to answer. I asked him if trying to have a baby with my husband makes me a whore as it involves sex and he just left the room.

I asked my parents why they didn't step in and tell my brother to leave or stop my dad said he wanted to but my mother told him to leave my brother B as he is not actually hurting anyone. The same with the ultimatum, the wanted to protect my brother, I asked what about me and they were silent. All my father said was the ultimatum was my mother's idea and he went along with it. This is basically where we are at the moment. A lot more was said but I don't think it's matters. My husband did apologize to my parents for what happened but refused to apologize to my brother. When my mother asked him to apologize to my brother, he outright said no. He won't apologize for standing up for me and my brother got what he deserved.

He was warned and didn't listen. My mother said it still doesn't excuse him for hitting my brother. My husband asked my dad what will he do if someone called his wife a whore. My father said I will have a talk with that person, but will never hit someone. My husband laughed and told my dad he is a weak-willed, spineless man if he allows someone to demean his wife like that. That got my mom red in the face I could see her get angry. That is when I told my husband it's time to leave.

I told my parents that I will be going low contact with them and the ultimatum they gave me broke the trust one had in them, I understand they wanted to protect my brother, but in doing that they hurt me. This seemed to take all the anger out of my mother. They asked if I will be cutting them out completely and I told them that is up to them. I don't want anything to do with my brother at the moment as he can't even apologize for what he said to me. I told them if they can respect my wishes we will see. When we got up to leave my husband went over to my parents and actually still greeted them politely but told my dad it's time grow a backbone.

I don't know what I saw, but I think it was shame in my mother's face because my dad looked at my mother and she looked away from him. This is where we are at the moment. My husband on the way back home apologized for possibly escalating things but told me it was time someone told my dad the truth. He said whatever punishment comes he will take and deal with any fallout. I don't need to worry or stress about anything. Edit, brothers ex cheated on him and apparently he begged her to fix things but she

choose the other guy and now he is just pissed and angry at every woman and believe we will all do that eventually. Got a message from my cousin the family had to go at my parents for allowing my brother he did and they came clean as to why he did what he did but couldn't do it when I was over and we talked. They couldn't be honest with me and just refused to answer. Additional information from Oop, Oop, honestly, really thinking about it. The only person I have felt genuine unconditional love and support from is my husband.

There are a lot of thing I just swept under the rug and thought it was siblings things, but looking back whenever my brother had a difficult time at what taken out on me in some way and my parents have never stuck up for me. My husband has had my back around every corner and had never thrown things in my face like my parent or brother has. Oop on her parents' relationship and why they are not hearing her out. Oop, my father just follows what my mother said. On my 26 years of life I have never seen my dad go against my mother with anything.

anything she says or want to do it fine with him no matter the cost. For instance, my dad basically has no friends as my mother didn't like them so he gave them up and hasn't made new friends because when he tried my mother find something she doesn't and he agrees Upp should have gone alone to talk with her parents and brother about her husbands. Behavior Oop, so I should take the way he worded it over the fact that he wanted to be there and make sure I'm not getting gaslight. I took it as he want to ensure I'm safe and what happens doesn't happen again.

My wording is bad as my emotional state isn't the best that is on me and I should have probably double-checked everything before posting but his emotional state can't be any better than mine. He is dealing with everything and on top of that he is trying his best to keep my mood up. I know it sounded bad but I took what he said with all the other actions he took so far to keep me safe. I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse forgot her marriage banned at her mother's residence, so I urge that we retrieve it promptly, as her mother had misplaced our proposal ban during a difficult period and regretted it. Me to T.H. yesterday, but she cried and said I don't trust her mom. So yesterday, my wife, let's call her Ruby, 21F, went to visit her mom like she usually does on weekends.

I, 22M, work weekends outside the house, but weekdays I'm remote, and her mom works Monday to Friday, so it's the only time they really get to see each other. No issue there, Ruby's currently on maternity leave, and our baby is due next week, so I totally get that she wants to spend time with her mom while she still can. Here's where things went off. Ruby came home in a taxi and told me she accidentally left her wedding ring at her mom's place. She took it off because it was hot and her fingers were swollen, pregnancy stuff. I didn't get angry or anything, just asked where she left it and said, let's go back and grab it. I offered to drive us, since I didn't want to wait.

That's when it started getting tense. She tried explaining over the phone that her mom would keep it safe and we could pick it up tomorrow. I heard her out, but I wasn't comfortable with waiting. I was polite, calm, didn't insult anyone, but I insisted we go get it now. I even said I could go alone after helping her go upstairs, but she didn't want that either. By the time she got home, I was already waiting in the car. She got out of the taxi, clearly upset, and pushed me away when I tried to help her with her bag. She gave me the silent treatment while calling her mom to say we were coming back for the ring.

Then she finally asked, Why are you doing this? Why can't trust her? And that's where I lost my cool a little, not yelling or anything, but I stopped sugar-coating. I told her the truth. No, I don't trust her mom. She knows why. Her mom once lost our engagement ring during a rough patch and it magically showed up months later. This same thing happened with many other sentimental items I gave her and some of them did not ever appear back.

Ruby insists it was just a mistake, but to me, there is not a reason to blindly trust Mill. That wasn't the only thing either. Her mom has insulted me, made racist comments about my background, hit me once when I showed up at their place after dark at their doorstep, and has never apologized for any of it. I listed those things out, not to throw them in her face, but because Ruby kept asking why. I asked her why does her mom get all this grace for doing things. She just wished me death yesterday just because Ruby was feeling sick

while I was picking up her meds, but I can't even state the facts without her getting upset. She cried. I comforted her, apologized for being harsh, and made it clear that I wasn't trying to attack her or her mom, I was just being honest. I told her I don't believe her mom would purposely throw away the ring, but based on history, I wasn't willing to risk it getting misplaced again.

If I ever wanted to test whether things had improved, it wouldn't be with something as personal as our wedding ring. We went back. Her mom gave me the usual cold stare, but at this point, I don't care anymore. Later, Ruby and I talked. She said she understood, and she forgave me, but she still felt hurt about the way it all went down.

I didn't yell, I didn't insult anyone, I just acted quickly, maybe too quickly, and didn't give her time to process it. I agreed and apologized for that part, but I still feel down about all this as well in my defense. I just panicked a bit. I value that ring a lot, and when something feels urgent, I move.

Ruby's actually thanked me for being that way in past situations, but after seeing my wife still so sad about this I'm wondering if I should have just let it go. So yeah. I don't know. I feel like I did the right thing but maybe in the wrong way. How do I fix this? Anida, mini update, Baby is born he was completely safe and sound. My wife and son are sleeping R& I'm checking on baby so Ruby can get some sleep.

She did great and apologized for everything. She said she was just nervous about today and wanted all of us to be okay so there wouldn't be any drama at the hospital. Spoiler, there wasn't. I know the woman I chose to spend my life with and she's a great person. She cares about her mom as much as she cares about me, but she did admit she overreacted and wanted to support me more. I know this isn't the end of the story, we already started thinking about some boundaries to make and this is just the start of our lives together. so hopefully when I come back with updates it will be good news. Smile goodnight guys I'll do my best to stay up and thanks for all the advice, even the sharp comments.

I read all in every comment and you gave me grounds and confidence to set some boundaries and communicate better with my wife. Good night to everyone comments where Op has replied. Comment 1. Your wife is due next week, dude. It doesn't seem like you thought about how she's feeling physically or emotionally. It's just a ring and it could have waited. But more importantly, you should have listened to and respected your wife's wishes. She wasn't worried about it, but you couldn't let it go and stressed her out about it. Seriously, man, waiting in the car.

It was all about you and what you wanted. Even now you don't seem to acknowledge or realize that. Completely self-absorbed and oblivious to your wife's feelings and well-being. Oop, yeah, you're right, I still don't realize the big deal. about driving 10 minutes back to her mom's house. It's not like I didn't give her any options. If she was tired she could have waited at home but I'm not trusting Mill and she already knew this comment too.

NTA. Your Mill is a pain but the problem is your wife is allowing her to continuously disrespect you. You need to have a serious sit-down conversation about how she's mistreated you and what you expect your wife to do about it. It's not being harsh, it's setting boundaries and asking her to put your family first, you, her, and new baby. The situation will only get worse when baby comes because Mill will be around even more and influencing your child. Just one item in the list you shared about how Mill has mistreated you as grounds for NC slash LC. Your wife needs to be an adult and stop

running to her mommy for every little thing. Oop, I've tried to talk to her about this. Sadly, Mill is the only close family left for her and she's always too defensive about their relationship. Abuse and control are also some factors in their relationship so I don't expect her to heal overnight but all I ask is for some respect and the same grace she gives to Mill about her fuck-ups. Boop needs to get his wife in therapy. Boop, we are in therapy, it is just her mother's topic that is hard to bring up. I know she tries her best but I also know these things take time. Comment 3. Why is retrieving a ring a two-person job?

And honestly, I'm confused about the taxi too. You got home before her. Why not pick her up instead of her taking a taxi, since driving to her mom's evidently wasn't unreasonable? Why did the mom give you attitude when you returned? How did she know what went down? Oop, I did not know when she was coming back. I wanted to give her time with her mom more now that she won't be going there that often anymore. after the baby is born.

So she just said they will call a taxi once they were done and I could sleep. I haven't slept much since I was doubling at work to be okay financially to take a couple days off to be with her at the recovery. And her mom knew because my wife told her over the call that I wanted to go back, and because my wife was crying and Mill could tell by looking at her eyes update. Hey everyone, it's been about three months since the original post and I figured I owed you all an update. Baby first, because that's the best part, our little guy is three months old now and thriving. He was a chunky newborn and he's only getting bigger, he hit 16 pounds and 2 feet 1 inch right

before his two-month checkup. Healthy, happy, and smiling more everyday smile the mill situation. Well, it's been a ride. Some ups, plenty of downs, but I've learned to manage it so I don't lose my mind, L.O.L. A lot of you suspected she was was pawning stuff and, yep, you nailed it. My Sill, 18F, recently asked my wife Ruby for money to cover payments on their mom's pawn jewelry. We ended up lending them about $2,000 so they could just recover their stuff altogether. It's been a month, no repayment yet. Somehow they're always struggling, even with low rent, greater than $1,000, and food stamps, but that's another story. I've tagged along for a few lunches at Mills since Ruby has started seeing through more of

her mom's BS and doesn't like being alone there anymore. Funny thing, even though we invite her to our place whenever she wants, she refuses because she doesn't feel comfortable. I've offered to leave the house or stay in our room so they can have privacy, but nope, if it's not on her terms, it's nothing. So gladly for me visits are way less often, as I'm back at work already and until my wife feels comfortable again, I should be there with them. The worst part is the verbal stuff. Mill never says it when I'm around, but when she's mad, she yells at Ruby and throws out nasty comments about me or even our baby. She said things like, Our son will grow up to hit Ruby or that bad things will happen to her because of how she treats Mill. It's gross. Ruby's been doing

therapy and we agreed our son doesn't need to grow up hearing that. She explained the best she could to Mill that visit stop when she acts like that as a baby doesn't need to be hearing all that stuff neither does she. Her response, He must be used to it already, I behaved this way since he was in your belly. So, yeah. I wasn't taken aback, I see Mill by her true colors, but Ruby got very disappointed that day so reality check passed. After one particularly bad yelling match, just days after we loaned them the $2,000, we went low contact for a couple of weeks. Eventually Mill showed up at our door with some of Ruby's old stuff she found, plushies and such, in what felt like a big victim performance of how much she had to walk.

We live 15 minutes away walking where she could have taken the bus but okay. No real apology, but Ruby says she kind of half-apologized later, so they're talking again. As for child care plans because Ruby's going back to work soon. Mill had offered free babysitting, but that's off the table. She's joked about spanking our son to correct him, he wasn't even two months old when she said that, and suggested giving him water in the summer. Whether that's ignorance, Ruby's take, or something darker, my take, it's a hard no. We're hiring a sitter, actually my mom, who does this professionally and will pay her, because our kid deserves patience and love, not someone with random anger blowups. So for now Mill still sees the baby, but only supervised.

Any more screaming and visit stop again? I doubt she'll ever change, therapy is for crazy people, according to her, so we're just keeping contact as low as Ruby will allow. I'll save my venting for Reddit and my therapist. That's pretty much it. Thanks to everyone who gave advice last time. My mom, she studied psychology, and a couple friends think Mill might have by polar or borderline personality disorder, but she'll never get a diagnosis because she won't

set foot in therapy so whatever. For now, the plan is just healthy baby, happy home, and minimal Mill. Smile comments where Op has replied, why does Ruby still wants to have a relationship with her mother-oop? Besides her sister, she's her only bio family, she only wants a healthy relationship with her mom and refuses to go and see because she is afraid Mill would die with them hating each other, like it happened with her dad when she was little comment one, just keep reminding her that you and your son are her main family now and she has to put you guys first before the rest of her family. Oop, yeah, she's very aware of that,

she's even excited to move away now that we are planning on buying a house outside the city which I never thought she would like because of her mom. We already agreed that if things don't get better then she can visit her mom but without our son comment too, please, don't give her any more money to bail her out and make it clear that this was a one-time thing. Otherwise, she's just going to keep breaking up loans A and D expecting you to pay them off. Or, tell her you won't lend to her again until she pays off the first loan, she is never going to pay that money back.

Oop, yeah, she never pays us back. That's my definitive I told you so to cut any support from our side. They were already told we are not helping them any longer until they pay us back. Next story, Mom's new fiancé kept calling me his. son and saying we're alike, then tried spending time alone with me while ignoring my siblings, so I called him a creep and said I won't go to their wedding, then he revealed he's my biological dad. M-17 we had been going through pretty rough months in my family. There was tension between my mom and dad.

They weren't talking to each other and when they did, it was only to fight. After months of constant fighting, they decided to get divorced. That was two years ago. An NGL when they divorced the one who suffered the most was my dad, he never put on a sad face when he was with us, but I could hear him cry in his room when he thought we were asleep. For the record, I am the youngest and I have a brother, 19m, and a sister, 20F. After this, the fighting didn't stop so now they fight for which of us loves them more.

If I am honest my siblings and I are inclined with my dad. He has always taken good care of us, helps us through everything, and he listens to us. Not like my mom. She has never been there, there have always been more important things to attend to or pay attention to rather than us. I never mind it since my dad was always there. My mom is a pretty important lawyer in our city.

Meanwhile, my dad has a PhD in physics and works as a college professor. After their divorce, we stayed with my dad. We see my mom like one day per week and only if she has time. We kind of never see her because she always reschedules. So months ago my mom told us she was going to get married, to this dude who we had never seen. His name is Richard but asked us to call him Rick. She said we all should get along. Since then it has been a nightmare, don't get me wrong, he is cool, I guess, but I do find him a bit odd.

He always tries to spend his time with me and buys me stuff like clothes, books, etc. He even asks me when I'm available so we can have dinner. I mean I'm polite towards him but I just can't connect with him. I feel like it's a forced relationship. And he is not like that with my other siblings. Well, my dad too, he is civil towards him but there's deaf tension between them. Last week my brother wanted to try a new recipe, he loves cooking, so he invited my mom and Rick. At first, we were surprised my mom and dad kept civil with each other, we were having a

nice conversation. But Rick kept complimenting us, specifically me. That I was an incredible person, very smart, blah, blah. My dad agreed but this dude kept insisting we were so much alike and that by spending so much time with him he considers me already his son. That death hurt my dad, and I just lose it. I told him to leave me alone. I told him to leave me alone. He was being a creep. My dad told me to not call Rick names, and my mom did too. She told me that I was being a brat and that should behave cause Rick will be part of my family and another parental figure to me. I said he wouldn't and that I won't go to her wedding if she marries a creep like him. I stormed off and went to my room. My siblings don't think I am in

the wrong here but my mom insists I was a spoiled brat and I should apologize to Rick. Ida. Edit 1. Damn, I only came here to find out if I was in the wrong. I just don't know what to say to you. I added the quotation marks to be sarcastic since I don't think we look so alike as he says. Now you really have me worried and wondering frown edit too, so I didn't want to address this with my dad right away, so I consulted in first, my sis. She is the most intelligent person I know, so I asked her. She had the same feeling as me, that Rick was getting way too close to me, and in comparison to her, he is stone cold.

Now every time Rick wants to spend time with me, they'll be there too, and then Leo my brother. And just like you guys, she asked me to talk to my dad. I did, I sat with my dad and told him about everything, that I didn't feel comfortable around Rick anymore. I appreciated all the effort, but he was pushing way too hard my boundaries. And, like you advised, if Mom doesn't understand she can't force a relationship with an actual stranger on me then I'd rather stop seeing her. My dad understood, he asked me to forgive him for not knowing my feelings toward Rick. He did say that Rick is trying the best he can to get to know each one of us, but he has

no say on when we should open up or act like a stalker. He said he'll talk to them but I told him I rather do it since Mom may act like I am not being serious or worse. We'll have dinner with them, Anne, Leo, and I, next Wednesday so wish me luck. Comments where OP has replied. Comment one. Info, how long has your mom known Richard? Could he be your bio dad from a previous affair? Boop, damn I don't know. When we met they never mentioned it and we never asked since we simply didn't care. I guess it has to be more than 10 months because that's the time they've been engaged. Comment 2. Info, any particular reason why Rick wants to spend more time with you?

Oop, not that I know of, he's just there. Constantly wanting to be with me. That's why I called him creep comment 3. How often does he try to contact you, considering you only ever see your mom once a week max if she can be bothered? Oop, well at first we only saw my mom at least one day as I said, now it's like two or three days per week for bonding. He doesn't know my number and nor does my mom. If she wants to see us, she talks to my dad so I wouldn't know if he has tried to call me or sent me a text. Update, hi, so this has been a wild week and I wanted to thank your comments and suggestions. They helped me through this. As I said in my last edit we went to dinner. At first, everything was silent, but then and broke the ice by thanking

my mom and Rick for spending time with us and that we should discuss important matters. I didn't know about this, but my mom has been awful to Anne and Leo this week. They addressed that if she wants us to be part of her life, then some changes should be made. After they established their points, it was my turn. I started by stating Rick's presence has been bothering me since day one. Even if I should have said something about it, didn't justify his behavior. I appreciate the effort, but he has crossed my boundaries and even if I am willing to have a relationship as friends with him, I'd not offer that option anymore if he continues this way. Also I'll soon be an adult, so I don't need a parental figure, I already have one. Then pointed out that my mom was allowing this kind of behavior, and it is wrong.

If she is not willing to act as a parent and understand my feelings. Not only mine but my siblings too then we'd rather cut our losses. My mom tried to justify her actions. Rick told her to shut up and listen to us. She stormed out of the restaurant, but he stayed. He looked sad and apologized for all this. He didn't mean for this to happen. He asked Anne and Leo if they could give us some space so he and I could talk. Leo grabbed me, but Anne gave him a look, so he let go of me and went to a closed table. Rick apologized again, saying he is not like that and the feeling he might not connect with me took out the best on him. Then told me he is my bio dad.

My mom was supposed to tell me today but she cowardly left. He doesn't expect me to accept him in my life but if ever want to know him or need anything, he'll always be there. When we came back home, I asked my dad. He hugged me and told me everything he knew about it. The thing is they don't know. The reason my parents divorced was because my mom cheated on him, and after she broke up with Rick, she was pregnant with me.

My dad suspected it but never confirmed it. When they divorced, my mom out of rage told him I wasn't his son. Then Rick contacted him to talk about it. He told me however I feel it's okay, I shouldn't feel pressured to act in a certain way. If I want to get tested he'll help me, and no matter what that paper says his love for me won't change, I'll always be his son. I'm not sure how to feel, but I asked Rick to give me space so I could think about all of this. Also ask my dad if we could just simply be out of our mom's life.

I don't want to be involved with her, and neither my siblings. If I am honest, I don't know if I ever want to get tested or the least allow Rick to be part of my life, but I feel grateful for the family I have, and all the support and love my dad and siblings have been giving to me. That's all I have for you. Edit. Hi. Thank you for all your comments and even the funny ones. Y'all made me smile and I guess I needed that.

I really liked the Mary Poppins one and the references to Guardians of the Galaxy. I can't express how y'all have helped me to appreciate the family I already have, and how Blood Not Equals Family. Thank you again for that. I wish it answers for your questions related to the reason of my existence. As I said, I haven't talked to Rick since that night, and I guess you again. that night, and I guess I didn't have the courage to ask. This whole thing has drained me, and I am not sure if I even want to know. Guess that I'll only make things worse, the my perception I have of my mom, as if it wasn't as bad as it is now, and also in terms of Rick.

If she lied to him or not, or why he neglected me for years. For the moment I don't want to know, I don't think it will add something meaningful to me. So I guess I'd leave it like that for now. One thing I may be doing it's getting tested, to have a complete medical record. So thank you again for your comments, they really have impacted me. Some made me cry happy tears. I hope you enjoy this story. Provided shelter for my financially struggling sibling and his impolite spouse for half a year, assisted him in securing an excellent position, only to be subsequently prohibited from entering their recently acquired residence. Consequently, I decided to attend their event uninvited, to expose their ingratitude to our family. For context,

I crashed my brother's housewarming party a couple of days ago, but trust me, I had my reasons for it. I was not invited to the event and I found it very insulting because I had let my brother and his wife stay with me for six months, two years ago. I am, 32f, my brother is, 30M, and my sill is, 29F. My brother is, my son, is, 29F. My brother, I will call him Joey, and my sister-in-law, I shall refer to her as Emma. So Joey and I were really close and I was his go-to for everything. Similarly, I also had a very close relationship with him and I loved my brother. I still do, that's certain.

Otherwise, would not even be entertaining the thought of apologizing to him for everything that happened, but honestly, I did not like Emma. It was not as if I had never tried to like her, I had really put a lot of effort into bringing myself to like, but it was just impossible. She was a bit too pretentious for my taste, I really don't like people like that. And she is the kind of person who always looks down on other people if their views don't completely align with her. I find it very annoying because I think we are all different people, and we should respect that and celebrate it instead of looking down on people who are not the exact same as us. Lucky for her and my brother, they were pretty similar and had a lot of common interests, but at least my brother did not think that it was necessary to look down on other people. For instance, both of them went to business school, where they met.

They started dating when they were in college and got married at the age of 24, after dating for almost five years. By the time of the marriage, I already did not like Emma, they had been together for five years and we had met each other loads of times. But every time that we would meet, be at birthdays, family events, or holidays, she would always just say something very annoying and it would irk me. Most of the time, I was at the receiving end of her comments and that's what made it all the worse. The truth is that I live a very unconventional kind of lifestyle and I know that a lot of people might not like it or approve of it, but that's fine, I don't need their approval to live the way that I want to, and do the things that I choose to do. For some reason, she thinks that it's necessary to comment on the way that I live every time that we meet. For context, I am a voiceover artist and it's not a very conventional job, I'll give you that. But it pays really well, and I get a lot of offers and gigs as well, so I'm happy with my life.

So far, I have done audiobooks, commercials, and a lot of other stuff. But Emma has got it into her head that I don't have a very stable career, and if I lose it. my voice, it's over for me. I don't know why she thinks that because I take really good care of my voice, I think that's a part of the job and that's my instrument. I think it's ridiculous of her to say things like that in a public setting about me, but she does not think that there is anything inappropriate about the way that she comments on my career. There's also the fact that I'm older than her, so I definitely have a little more experience than she does. She doesn't really know anything about the industry, but she believes that since she is the one who graduated

from a really reputable business school, she has the right to comment on the way that I live my life. I didn't exactly go to college, to be honest. I wouldn't really say that I'm a dropout, but I went to community college. I wasn't really interested in academics, and I might have been a good student if I had studied. But I never bothered myself with academia, and I was more interested in other things, like sports and theater and stuff. You get the picture, I was not particularly studious and that reflected in my grades. So I ended up going to community college and even there, my attendance was kind of on the lower end, but I managed to get through it somehow. As soon as I graduated from high school, I started working anyway, so I didn't really think that college

was important for me because I was already earning. At that point, I was an intern in a company, but then I started auditioning for commercials. And one of the people on set really found my voice nice, which is how I landed my first gig. Since then, I've been in that industry and I'm pretty sure that I would know more about my career and the choices that I'm making, as opposed to her, who does not know anything about my line of work.

She believes that I should go back to college, get a real degree from a real college, and then I can continue with my life so that at least I have something to fall back on if anything ever goes wrong with my voice. And I probably would have appreciated the advice, had it not been coming from her. She always makes it a point to say these things to me

when we are with family and surrounded by other people. And she always says it in a very condescending tone that just screams, I know better than you. Not only that, there are a couple of other things also that people might find unconventional about my lifestyle. Like I have made it a point that I'm never going to get married, And even though my family has tried to get me to at least consider that option, I have been very firm about it and I have told people that I'm not interested in marriage.

I don't have anything against people who get married, it's just not my cup of tea. But I do have a daughter. And she was not an accident or the result of any previous relationship. I have adopted her. She is five years old and I adopted her five years ago when she was just a baby. I'm sure that having a husband would probably make things easier for me, but I don't want one, and I don't need one. I'm quite happy with my life, and I have had a few relationships, but none of them have been serious and I have made it very clear to everyone who I dated that I'm not interested in marriage. Some of them stayed, and some of them left.

But my lifestyle is not going to change because of any of that. And I don't think that motherhood has anything to do with being married or not. I wanted to be a mom and I felt ready to be one, which is why I adopted my daughter because her biological mother would not be able to take care of her once she was born. My family took some time to get around it, but eventually, they accepted the fact that at this point, they just had to let me do whatever I wanted. There was no stopping me because I was not going to listen to anybody's opinions and change my life because of what they thought that I should do.

Everybody had to come to terms with that, except for Emma, who still thought that she should be allowed to comment on my life and try to influence my decisions. After I had adopted my daughter for months, she kept telling me that I needed to start looking for a husband because otherwise, my life would get really hard. I found it very annoying, and I swear that I would have said something, had it not been for my brother. Literally, the only reason that I did not say anything to her at any point, it was because of I love my brother and I want him to be happy, so I kept my mouth shut.

I had discussed Emma's behavior with him before, even when they were dating, and he had told me that she was just that way because she did not think there was anything offensive about the things that she said. She actually thought of herself as a good Samaritan and believed that she was doing good by giving people advice. Every time that I would get annoyed, I would tell Joey that I was going to snap at some point, and he kept begging me not to say anything to her because that would hurt her. Apparently, she was really sensitive and delicate about these things and he did not want any drama. And when I say that he would beg me, that's exactly what he would do. He would literally start tearing up and I can't stand that. I'm not the kind of person who likes to

hear people cry, and I definitely don't like being the reason why they are crying. So he would start emotionally manipulating me to keep quiet, and I would just have to let Emma get away with all the rubbish that she said. This went on for years, until a couple of months ago, when they randomly stopped speaking to me at all, for no apparent reason. I found out the real reason that they stopped speaking to me later on, and I'll get to that in a while. But first, I'll just tell you guys a little about how I'd let them live with me, when their business went South, two years ago. So both of them quit their jobs, around two years back, to start a business of their own. I did not think that it was a good move because they had only been working for a few

years and they definitely did not have enough savings. So I tried to warn Joey about it, but he told me that they were the business majors here, so they knew what they were doing, and they were aware that they did not have enough savings, but they were pretty sure that they would be able to earn back the money in no time. So they were not worried about investing all their savings, or the limited amount that they did have, into their business. He dismissed my advice because he and his wife were overconfident. But of course, what I had warned them about was what ended up happening. They started an event management business, but they barely had any connections or even any capital and everyone knows that in an industry like that,

you need connections to survive, or you'll go broke in no time. They did not pay heed to my very practical advice and believed that they knew everything that they had to know. So they went ahead in spite of my several warnings and drove their business to the ground in the first few months. When they realized that it was not going to work out for them, they showed up at my door, begging me to help them out and let them live with me

because they would not be able to pay the rent and at the rate at the business is going. It was very unlikely that they would be able to recover the money that they had invested in the business any time soon. They also had to return the money that they had borrowed from their friends to set up the business because evidently, this was not going to work out.

It was a very sad phase, they had to shut down shop and make a lot of sacrifices. I wanted to be there for my brother, so I told them that they could live with me because I knew that they would be able to afford rent at the time. They were very thankful for it and Emma was on her best behavior for the six months that she lived with me. She knew that I was doing her a favor, in spite of the way that she had behaved with me in the past. So she did not make any stray remarks or comments for the next six months.

Around four months in, Joey asked me to speak to a friend of mine and get him a job in a decent place because he was sick of working at the same old company. He had to take back his old job when he realized that the business wouldn't work out, and Emma had to do the same. But at least she was happy when she was working, she did not have any complaints as such. But he didn't like the company that he was working for, and he asked me to make some calls and arrange something for him

since he knew that I was in touch with a lot of higher-ups. So I decided to do it for him, and I spoke to a friend of mine who ran his own fashion-law, label and asked him to hire my brother since they were already looking for somebody to take over their accounting department. And he did it, which I was thankful for because my brother did not have the required number of years of experience for the job, but my friend did it as a favor to me. Great job, decent and great pay. So within two months, they had moved out of my house and were back on their own to eat. Joey promised me that he would never forget what I had done for him because

this was a big deal, but apparently, that was not real because he seemed to have forgotten what I had done for him already. At least my brother took a year to forget about it. But Emma pretty much forgot the second that she had moved out of my house. She went back to making weird comments about me and being all condescending around me because now she did not need me anymore since her husband was working in a great place and was getting paid a lot. So there was no need for her to suck up to me and behave nicely with me, so she stopped. I should have known what kind of a snake she really was and never helped him in the first place, but I couldn't have done that to my brother.

I could have easily shattered her illusion of them being big shots, all of a sudden, just because my brother was working in a good position by telling her that I was the one who would even arrange the job for him, or he would still be relying on me. But I didn't do that because I didn't want to hurt Joey and honestly, I'm too old for this kind of stupid and petty drama. She went back to saying weird crap about me, and I went back to trying to ignore her. She was just so ungrateful that I wanted to slap her across the face or at least tell her what I thought of her, but every time I would start looking pissed off, Joey would come to my side and try to calm me down. It was just very difficult for me to be in that position, and I don't know how I maintained my cool for so long.

But then, about almost a year ago, I had a bit of a verbal spat with Emma. We were at my mom's house to celebrate her birthday and like every other family event, I had taken my daughter with me. She was playing and walking around the room and then, she approached Emma. Emma started playing with her and I was okay with it until that point, but then, for no real reason, she started asking my daughter to tell me to go look for a dad for her because she would need one as she grew older. My daughter just looked very confused and didn't know what to say, and I got really upset because it's fine when she says weird stuff like that to me because I'm

an adult and the only reason I don't say anything to her is that I don't want to engage in her pettiness. But she can't say stuff like that to my daughter because that's just stupid and ridiculous. So I got really mad and before Joey could even calm me down, I walked up to her and told her to keep her mouth shut and not speak to my daughter that way. I was already sick of her saying weird stuff like that to me. She was not going to write my daughter into this. I definitely had a tone and I don't care about it. She kind of deserved that, and I had put up with enough of this nonsense for years now. I think what I did was necessary because, after that, she stopped speaking to me at all. And that was a very welcome change, honestly. She would not greet me, or even talk

to me unless the situation demanded it. If there was any way to avoid interacting with me, she would take it that way. I was cool with it, even though Joey was very upset that we were not on speaking terms anymore. He tried to tell me to reconcile with Emma, but I was not going to do that, she had offended me and disrespected me way too many times for me to even consider that. So I told him that it was not happening and he was upset for a while that the two of us would not be speaking anymore, but I was cool with it. She was the ungrateful one here, I had let her live in my house for six months when things were going badly for them, and yet, she did not have the courtesy to even be respectful and mindful of that. So she could continue not to speak to me,

if that's what she wanted. It just showed me what kind of a person she was. The only person who even cared if we had a relationship or not, was Joey, and I had told him that I had let a lot of things go for his sake, but that day, she had no right to drag my daughter into this. I continued to talk to my brother because I didn't have anything against him and neither did he. But then, a few days ago, my mother called me to ask me what I was wearing to my brother's housewarming party. I had no idea what she was talking about because I had not received any invitation to such a party. And then, she told me that Joey and Emma had purchased a new house, just a week ago, and that is the day that they sent out the invitations as well.

They had probably told anyone not to tell me about it, but my mother had missed the memo and she ended up speaking to me about it, because I had absolutely no clue that this was happening. And I was very offended that I had not been invited. Because just to jog your memory and not to sound repetitive, I had to literally let these people live in my house, under my roof, and use all of my facilities for six months two years ago. The least they could have done was invite me to the housewarming party. I even got my brother the position that he was working in right now, and that's how he was even able to buy that house,

because of the money from the job that I had hooked him up with. I thought this was very disrespectful, and I called my brother up immediately to talk to him about it. When I called Joey and confronted him, he didn't even hesitate in telling me that I was not invited on purpose. because Emma had apparently banned me from their new house. Because she did not get along with me, she did not want me to attend any of their special events,

and that would include the housewarming party. Not only that, I would never be invited to any of their events in the future either, unless I chose to apologize, that is, I would not be invited to their anniversary parties, their birthdays, or anything else. I just couldn't even fathom how he could just say all of this to me without even the slightest hint of remorse in his voice. He didn't even sound guilty about it and was just saying it to me very casually, as it was very normal, and I should have been fine with it.

I didn't even bother to identify what he was saying with a response. I had said very clearly to him that I was not going to apologize to his wife, no matter what. She was the one who had disrespected me, not just a few times, but every single time that she had a chance to. I had always let it go because I did not want to hurt him or cause drama between us. But this was just taking things way too far. I was really offended and hurt, so I thought about it for a week and on the day of the party, I decided to crash their housewarming party and actually get my revenge this time.

It was petty and it was really mean of me, but I thought that it was necessary, at the time, because they were turning people against me. Otherwise, nobody from my family would have kept a secret this big from me, unless they had been telling people categorically not to tell me about it, and for that, they obviously had to paint me as the villain because I was pretty well liked by my relatives, and they had manipulated them against me. I showed up at their new house, after getting the address from my mother, and I made sure to arrive at a time when I knew that all the guests would be present.

Everybody was pretty shocked to see me because they knew that I had not been invited, and it just confirmed my doubts, that they had been leading people to believe that I was the bad guy here. But I had come with proof of their ungratefulness towards me. I had printed out the emails that had been exchanged between my friend and I, which is how I managed to get my brother. The job that he had now, and how I had kept a secret for such a long time, yet he had still not bothered to teach his wife, not to disrespect. me. You don't bite the hand that feeds you, that's just common sense. And once I got there, I drew attention to myself and started telling everybody about how they had been living with me for six months when their business flopped and how I had even gotten my brother a better job than he had previously, so that he could earn more and have better hours. In spite of that, Emma had continued

to disrespect me and do her very best to be condescending around me. But I had kept my mouth shut because I did not want to hurt my brother and cause a rift between us because I thought I was equally important to him, but since that was not the case. I did not think it was necessary for me to keep his secrets anymore. So I revealed everything that I knew, and everyone looked shocked. Emma looked the most upset about all of this. She turned to Joey immediately and asked him if what I was saying was true, even though there was no need for that because I already had the printouts of the emails to prove that it actually was. But when Joey confirmed that this indeed had happened,

she got really upset and started crying. She told everybody that the party was over and then stormed upstairs and Joey followed after her. After that, I had nothing to do, so I left as well, and I did not respond to anybody after that. The next morning, my mother called me up and told me that what I did at the party was completely unacceptable and that I needed to apologize to the family.

Because my behavior was nothing short of cruel and even Joey sent me a message, saying that he did not want to speak to me ever again because of what I had done. Because now, Emma was very upset about what happened the previous evening, and I had ruined the first day of the new life. I feel like I am being vilified for standing up for myself, but I also don't know if it was the right move to gate crash their party anymore. Since I'm getting a lot of hate for this, I thought that I would ask the people of Reddit what they thought about this. So, I'd offer gate-crashing my sister-in-laws and my brother's housewarming party to humiliate them. Update 1, hi, so it has been two weeks and nobody from my family has been speaking to me. My parents don't talk to me anymore, neither is my brother and everybody else has started giving me the cold shoulder as well. But at least you guys don't think that I was wrong for doing what I did, that means a lot.

because I know that you guys are speaking from an objective point of view and are not biased, like my family. I can't believe that I did so many things for so many people in the family, and this is what I get in return. I guess that explains a lot of my brother's behavior, no wonder he's like this, because look at the people around him. Nobody is grateful for things that I have done for them and are trying to make me look like the bad guy, just because I was not willing to take the disrespect anymore. brilliantly played, I must say that.

Emma is getting all the sympathy and she's lapping it all up, that's for sure. There are still a few people who are on my side, thankfully, and they have let me know that Emma is exaggerating the events of that evening to make me look even worse and is making me out to be some sort of sociopath. I mean, where does it even end? It's just disgusting and pathetic, and I'm glad that I chose not to apologize and cut all ties with them. I am better off without them and so is my daughter. Update 2, so this is coming after almost a month of being in no contact with my family. My daughter keeps asking me when she's

going to meet her uncle and her grandparents, but it's just so sad. I have nothing to say to her. I think she is the only person that I'm getting affected by because everybody else has been really mature about this whole thing. None of my friends have asked me anything about it and they are respecting my space. It has been difficult for me to deal with as well because I was so used to talking to Joey every weekend and hanging out with my parents frequently. But now, that's all gone. They haven't even made an effort to talk to me. It was my daughter's birthday two days ago and they didn't even wish her. I know I'm the one who chose to cut them off, but the least that they could have done was wish my daughter a happy birthday. She was very confused as to why it was her

birthday and nobody from her family had even bothered to show up at her party. Since it was just a couple of her friends from school and a few of my work associates and friends with their kids who attended the party, but not her uncle, who was always the life of every birthday party that she has had so far. I probably shouldn't care about these things, but they do matter, and I felt really bad. But it's fine, I guess I'll move on from it with time. At least this incident with my family revealed everybody's true calls. and now I know exactly where I stand with them. Update 3.

So, it's been almost two years since I posted here. I just thought that I would share with you guys the fact that Joey, my brother, recently got in touch with me because Emma is pregnant. It's sweet, I told him that I would try to attend their pregnancy announcement party in a few weeks. We haven't spoken much in the past two years and neither have I been in touch with my family. I have been getting a lot of work, so I'm grateful for that. I had almost moved on from this entire thing, and given up any hope of ever reconciling with them. But what happened back then, it's all water on the bridge now.

I guess I might attend the party, just to make peace with my past. I know that my brother and I might never have the same relationship again, but it's worth a try, I guess. And even if something bad happens, at least I'll know that I shouldn't hope. for people to change. Anyway, my point is that I might give this a chance. He also mentioned that Emma was the one who thought that it would be a good idea to invite me, so I'm guessing that even they want to make things right with me again. I hope you enjoy this story.

My father-in-law relocated his adult daughter into our family residence without my consent, then prepared my belongings and evicted me while I was away at my job, and my mother is supporting his decision. With them. I do not care if my mom is going to get mad. Her husband needs to leave. I have tried to get along with him, but it is impossible. I'm constantly made to feel as if I am inferior and a burden in this house.

I have not spoken up in all the years that he has lived here. But he has been testing me, and this time, I am not going to take it. I know that my mother is going to call me as soon as she wakes up. That gives me a couple of hours due to the difference in time zone. I am prepared to stand my ground, even if it means I have to give her an ultimatum. She's not going to guilt-trip me like she has done all these years. She's not going to force me to make peace with the wrong people. Anyone can see that my stepdad is entitled and disrespectful.

How could he move his daughter into my house without permission? I'm sure it sounds ridiculous to you as it does to me. His daughter is 23 years old, has a job, and is a mother. She does not need to stay with us. That is what I told him two weeks ago because she kept on sleeping over for long periods. It felt like she was moving in, so Elle suggested that she start chipping in. He said that he needed to spend time with her and that I was just being jealous. So, I decided to keep quiet for the sake of my sanity.

After that, it was an issue of so-called privacy. Can you believe this girl was demanding privacy from me? This is my parents' house and not hers. She got mad at me because I walked into the living room while she was on a video call. She then asked me to leave because it was a private phone call. I told her that there were many other rooms where she could take the call, so I was not going to leave. She then threw a massive tantrum, which her dad did not allow me to hear the end of. When she left, I told him that I was upset about her blakey.

disrespect. She was starting to make herself too much at home and making me feel uncomfortable. So I suggested that from now on they meet when I'm not at home or at her house. He got mad. He raised his voice at me and called me an ungrateful brat. He told me that this was because of my daddy issues. He said it was clear I was acting like this because I did not get enough attention. I was shocked at the audacity of this man. How dare he bring my father into this? So I did what his daughter had done to me. I went and told my mother what he said. I guess it was too much to ask her to take my side.

She told me that I misunderstood him and that we should apologize to each other. I refused to apologize to him. So, I had been ignoring him for the past week. When my mom came back, I was planning to tell her that they would either move out or I would. After all, it is my father's house and my childhood home. But now it looks like a decision has to be made because this man went and did the most outrageous thing. I came home to find my stuff packed and outside. Attached to one of my suitcases was a note. It was my stepfather saying that I left him no other

choice. He was tired of my attitude. He was not going to choose between his daughter and me, so it was clear that I needed to leave. It was so sad how our relationship had changed so quickly. When he first married my mom, he was a very good man. He did his best to be a father to me. We were very close, and I could come to him with any problem. And then, one day, his daughter visited us. She had just moved to town and started to spend a lot more time with her dad. I was excited to have another sibling, especially a girl.

So well did all I could to make her feel welcome and like my sister. From the very beginning, I could see that she was not interested. She acted like she liked me in front of our parents. But when they were not there, she ignored me and pretended that I was not in her league. I said nothing of this to either of them. I just decided to distance myself from her and not make a big deal of it. Fast forward to now. She has basically infiltrated my home.

My so-called stepfather has dropped his facade of being a good dad. I guess he has gotten so comfortable that his true colors are now coming out. I think he's also taking advantage of the fact that my mother is currently out of the country. My mother is often out of the country for months on end due to her line of work. She recently went back to work. She took a long break when my father passed away, and she had to take care of me. She ran a small business to support us. But after getting married, she decided that she wanted to give her career one more shot.

I'm old enough to take care of myself, and my stepfather is here to help if anything is needed. I was very supportive of her decision and very proud of her. Now, I regret letting her go. It seems it has given my stepdad the courage to start mistreating me. That would explain why he has decided to move Sarah into the house and kick me out. The rest of the note went on to explain that I would only come back into the house if I apologize to my step-sister. If I did not, then I would have to look for my house.

own place to stay. He refused to stay with someone who disturbed the peace and had no manners. Manners? He wanted to talk about manners when he was a spoiled brat and had no manners. I will show him manners. Though, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this. But I'm not going to be kicked out of my house by a man who didn't buy it. Instead, I'm going to talk to my mother and let her know what happened. I'm going to tell her that my step-sister is not moving in. She is going to have to listen to me for once. I am not going to listen to her. She has to listen to me. I am the one who has to stay with these people 24-7.

What I do next is dependent on her answer. Either solve this peacefully or start to have problems as a family. I would rather go with the former than the latter. Do you think that I am overreacting? Do you think that maybe I'm doing this out of jealousy? I am trying to get as much perspective as possible about this. What could justify kicking a person out without notice while they are at work? Is that not disrespect?

Is that not unchecked audacity? The more I think about this, the matter I get. I think I'm done being nice. What do you think I should do? Update, thank you all for your responses and comments. Rest assured that I've read everything that you've written. I have calmed down since the incident. I believe that the decision I've made is the best one at this point.

I've tried to be an adult and polite. However, the people I'm dealing with do not respect that. When I called my mother as soon as she woke up, I wasted no time telling her what had been done to me. I expected her to be at least surprised and maybe in rage. I got none of that. Instead, she asked what I did wrong. She said that she was not surprised because David, my stepdad, had warned her about this.

David told my mother that I had been rude and impossible to live with. I was mad to find out that David had been lying to my mother. So then I asked her where her loyalty stood. Was it with her daughter or the man she married? She said it had nothing to do with that. Her loyalty was to our family as a unit. She told me that David had told her he was going to move his daughter in. Apparently, he spoke to me about it, and I told him that I would rather move out.

So, on the day that he moved his daughter in, he packed my stuff and kicked me out. There, you heard it straight. David and my mother planned to kick me out and replace me with his no-good daughter. I told my mother that I was highly disappointed in her decision-making. I also accused her of loving her new family over me. Clearly, she was trying to erase her past, which was me, and embrace her. her future, which was my stepdad and his daughter. She tried to deny it, but I wanted to hear none of her words. I told her that before I did anything severe, I was going to give her a chance

to correct this. I let her know that they would have 24 hours to leave my father's house before I kicked them out single-handedly. And if they left, they could never come back. The only person who would be allowed back into the house was her. She lost it and actually tried to pin the whole thing on me. She said that I was changing and becoming ungrateful. She asked me how long I was going to push the people who cared about me away. Can you believe that she actually accused me of having a substance abuse problem? She was convinced that I was taking something that was making me feel irrational.

It almost made me want to laugh. David's long game had actually worked. He had succeeded in getting my mother alone and kicking me out of the house. Of course, he has to be the stereotypical step-parent. I hung up on my mother and got ready for work. At work, I could hardly focus without music. Every time I didn't have music on, I was thinking about my conversation with my mother. I actually started to shake as I was thinking about this.

The next thing I knew, I was having a full-blown panic attack. I have not had a panic attack since my father's memorial service. It was very hard for me to believe that he was gone, and I kept on dreaming about him. Then I saw someone at the memorial service who looked like him but turned to someone else. Now, those two wanted to separate me from the last thing that I had of him. I was not going to take this lying down. That house was not theirs, it was my father's. Update. Can you believe that my stepfather had no idea that the house was in my name?

You should have seen the look on his face when I kicked him and his stupid daughter out. It felt so good to get rid of that trash. They had shown their true colors, and I acted accordingly. I agree with the theory that someone in the comments had. My stepfather saw a woman who had assets. She had a very beautiful and big house. She was a widow but with a daughter. Now, that would be a problem.

The daughter could easily influence her to leave him. The daughter would also get in the way of him getting the house in his name. So what did he do? He pretended to be a good person and earned my trust. When he suggested that my mom get back into her career, I backed him. I thought I'd be safe back here with him. And thus, he successfully separated us. Once we were separated, it was time for him to use his daughter to make me feel unwelcome.

He started to withdraw from me emotionally and showed that affection to his daughter. That would lead to my complaining, getting mad, and acting irrationally. He assumed that the house was in my mother's name. So his main goal was to get me kicked out for basically being a bitch. My mother would believe it because she had only ever seen him be kind to me. She trusted him with her life. She would sooner believe that her daughter was being hostile towards her stepdaughter. She would never believe that the man she married wasn't good.

One thing my mother hates is being wrong. He knows that, and he uses it to trick her. His last part was probably to live in that house with his daughter while my mother was away. He would probably get her to get the house in his name in a couple of months. Soon after, he will divorce her and get half of her assets. Or he would get rid of her and cash out. But then some of you wanted to play devil's advocate. Of course, I had to hear you out and set the record straight.

There was someone who said I could have prevented this if I had just allowed my step-sister to stay with me. She would have to be a nice person that I can live with for me to do that. She was not, she was the worst. Whenever she used the kitchen, she did not clean up after herself. Whenever she was around, money went missing in the house. Whenever she was around, the house was always a mess. She went into my room without my permission several times and used my things. I know this because I have a particular order in which I leave my things.

I can easily notice if someone tells you. touches my things. So no, I was not going to live with someone like that permanently. Now, let's go back to what happened earlier this week. I went and got all the paperwork I needed for me to make this eviction legal. I was not going to play around and leave any loopholes for them to come back. It took me a while, but everything got fast-tracked with the help of a friend of mine. As soon as I got everything in order, I went to the house. I knocked, and my step-sister opened the door. She tried to shut it in my face and told me that I was not welcomed. I pretended to be sad and said that I was there to apologize.

She was very confused because this was so out of character for me. Her dad then came from behind her and asked what I was doing there. I then let them know that they had about eight hours to get everything that belonged to them out of the house. I was actually being quite generous because he had a lot of furniture in the house. I told him that I would be back. I also showed him the court order. I told him that if he did not pack his things, would have to forcefully remove him. I would throw out anything that he held of value.

My only concern would be getting the scum out of my house. I was dead serious when I said that. But he did not seem to take me seriously. He told me that I could not do this without my mother's permission. He told me that everything that I had done was illegal and he was going to get me arrested. So I told him to make all the calls that he wanted. The only thing they would do was make him look like a fool. Edith they left the keys with the neighbor and were nowhere to be found.

They thought they were going to get me kicked out of my childhood home. The delusion between those two is enough to make a soap opera. Anyway, I'll let myself relax lounging in my father's house without anyone interrupting me. The past couple of days have been hard for me, and I need to relax. Update, how foolish was I to think that everything was over. My mother decided that she was going to punish me because she did not get her away. I had been ignoring her calls for days because I had nothing to say to her. About two weeks later, she struck for the first time.

I went for an appointment to get my teeth checked out. Once I was done, I found out that I had to pay for everything out of pocket. My dentist alerted me to the fact that my medical insurance was not valid. This was a surprise to me because I'd always been insured. When I made a few calls, I found out that my mother had removed me as a beneficiary of her medical insurance. She did not even let me know so that I could get my insurance. I'm sure she did this so that when I went for an appointment, would have to pay out of pocket. The cost of the appointment set me back.

When I saw what she did, I was pissed off. But I was not going to give her the satisfaction. If she wanted to talk, then she would come back home, and we would talk face to face. Since she wanted to rely on someone who was not even related to her, I owed her nothing. I got my insurance sorted out. After that, I decided to sign her out of all of my streaming subscriptions. My mother was not one for technology, she had gotten into streaming because of me. When she found out that some of her favorite all-time shows were online, she asked me to help her set up an account.

I wanted to save money, so I decided to add her to mine since she was already doing so much for me. I guess one would say we had quite a symbiotic relationship. And that is why our breakup is so messy. I know it's weird for me to describe my mom and I fighting as a breakup. It kind of feels like that because we have always relied on each other. That is until she let a man get in between us. After that, it was very hard for me to trust her. When my mom found out that her streaming platforms were not working, she decided to email me.

She sent me quite a passive-aggressive and formal email. This time, I responded to her and told her that her services had been cancelled because she could not pay my bills. If I had to pay my medical bills, then she would have to pay for her subscription services. I could imagine how upset and angry she was. I could play that game, I could also be petty. I learned from the best, her. By the time she went to cancel anything that linked me to her, I'd already removed myself. Sure, she had been supporting me financially in some areas of my life.

She's the one who insisted because she did not want me to leave the nest. But it was clear that now she was kicking me out of the nest. But I knew that my greatest battle was yet to come, for she was coming back home in a month. I knew that she was going to put up a big fight for the house, and I was prepared. I will not go to stand down no matter what trick she had up her sleeve. It was just so sad that we had been pitted against each other by her husband. Now more than ever I wish that my father was still alive. He was always the buffer between us when our tempers rose.

He always knew the right way to solve conflict and leave everyone happy. I'm sure that he would not want us to be fighting over all this. But she made her choice, and it broke my heart. I am her baby. How could she do this to me? Update, I am writing this with a broken heart. This is one of the few times that my mother is wrong, and I am right. I wish that it was the opposite.

Now, my mother is lying in the hospital after suffering from a heart attack. I pray that they find David and make him pay for this. I knew that he could not be trusted, but I never knew that his heart was so cold. My mom took so long to get back into the dating game and trust any man. So why did he have to break her heart like this? It had been about two months since my mom returned from overseas. When she came back, we fought over the house, but ultimately, the house was mine. She tried to take me to court, but the judge overruled her. So she moved out and got an apartment with David. We had no contact for those two months.

In the beginning, I was victorious because I had gotten the house to myself. I felt like I had won against them. But after a while, I started to feel quite sad. I missed my mom so much. I've not been away from her for such a long time, and it had been killing me. But Pride got the better of me, and I decided not to contact her. I wish I had reached out even once. Maybe she would have opened up to me.

Maybe I would have seen the signs that this man was slowly taking over everything that she owned. By the time we spoke, he had emptied all of her bank accounts and had already left the apartment. She came back to find that he had taken all of his essential belongings. He left her a note, thanking her for the money and letting her know that she should have trusted me. He also confessed that his daughter was not his daughter. Instead, she was his partner. This was too much for my mother to take. She started to cry.

She could not eat, she could not talk, and could not leave the house. Someone at work noticed that she had not been in the office for a while. So they called me and asked me about her. I told them that I was not in contact with her, and she stopped talking to me. The next thing I knew, I was getting a call from the hospital to let me know that my mother had collapsed. She had gone to the store and randomly gotten a heart attack. When I went to her apartment and looked through her stuff, I found the letter that he left her.

That monster earned her trust and then took everything that she had ever worked for, including the trust. She is awake, and I have been speaking to her. She has told me everything that she knows, and I have filed a complaint with the cops. There is not much hope of finding them. I have given the cops all the information that I have. But now, all I can do is be by my mother's side as she fights for. her health. I wish I had not listened to my stupid head. I should have listened to those of you who told me not to throw away my relationship with my mother over a house. Maybe I should

have reached out and apologized to her. Maybe I should have investigated David before Elle even allowed him to put a ring on my mother. There are so many things that I regret. Have you ever done something so drastic that has changed the trajectory of your life? Update, hey everyone. I was not sure that I was going to post another update. My main focus was just going to be on my mom and helping her heal. But I feel like I owe it to all of you to let you know about the latest development. The cops worked overtime to find David and Sarah. It turned out that those were not even their names.

Sarah was not 23 years old. She was a decade older. They have been scamming people all over the country for several years now. They managed to trace them to a certain city. But by the time they got there, they found out that the two had managed to escape. It was believed that they had escaped to a country where there was no extradition. That meant that they got away with it. As you can imagine, my mother and I were not happy about this at all.

We were furious and heartbroken. We felt as if the whole world had just failed us. So, I just focused on nursing my mother back to health, and I'm rebuilding the trust in our relationship. until the day we got the call. David was no more, and Sarah was in police custody. According to her, he has been killed in a deal that went wrong. Someone called the cops, and she was taken in as a witness. Her prince matched her real name in the system.

They also linked her to several cases of fraud and embezzlement. The cops were then able to determine that this was the Sarah we had been looking for. As for David, it is believed that he bled out for. about several minutes before he met his end. Sarah panicked and did not call so she tried to save him to no avail, which was when someone saw what was happening and called the cops. By the time the cops arrived, she was in too much shock to do anything but go with them. I think that I'm going to visit her as soon as I can. I need to look her in the eye after what she did. I want to see remorse reflected on her face. If I do not see that, then she will wish she

she had met David's fate. First of all, I want to thank all of you for the support that you have given me through this difficult time. It has not been easy to get my mother back to health. This is not her first heart attack. It scared me and made me feel that I was going to lose her. Trust me, I regret every petty thing that I have done. As for her, she is very sorry as well. She regrets taking David's side. She has promised that from now on, she is going to be very cautious when it comes to strangers. It is about a day since Sarah was sentenced. She got a life sentence because of the severity of her crimes. It appears that she has been doing this for several years. When asked why she and David returned to the country, it was because of an ex of David

who had left him a substantial amount of money. This was someone that he had done a romance scam on. It appears that she forgot to remove him from her will. He took the risk because of greed, even though Sarah tried to stop him. When he arrived to meet with the lawyer, he was ambushed by this woman's sons. They are the ones who attacked him and killed him. As they say, You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

This was coming to him sooner or later. I'm glad that he cannot harm anyone else. And where he is gone, he will repent for everything that he has done. Just because he's not in jail does not mean that he's escaped punishment. As was Sarah, she is going to grow old in that jail. She's going to die in that jail and will never breathe

free air ever again. She got what she deserved, and I'm very satisfied. I told my mother about my posts, and she wanted me to include a little piece of advice for parents. She wanted to say that things like this are more common than one might think. She suggested that parents should always make sure that their kids are taken care of before they remarry. At least my dad had made sure that my name was on the title, deeds of the house, otherwise, we would have lost the house to them. She also said that you should be careful who you let into your house because they might not be who you think they are. I agree with her, as we have all learned. At least we got lucky. I have heard of people who do not get as lucky as us and I feel so sorry for them. I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse convinced me to

resign from my position to become a homemaker. However, following the death of his mother, He ceased working to indulge in gaming and covertly liquidated our residents due to financial troubles. Wanted to live in a van. Six months ago, my husband, Mike, destroyed our lives. You see, Mike and I were married for three years, and in all that time, I never saw any sign of trouble in our marriage. From the beginning, he was someone I thought I could depend on entirely, a solid, trustworthy partner who always seemed committed to our family. He used to be a devoted father to our two kids. He worked hard to provide for us, and took pride in being there for our family.

However, the turning point came when his mother passed away suddenly. Her death hit him harder than anything I'd seen before, and he became a different person in ways I struggled to understand. While I sympathized deeply with his grief, as I too had lost my parents at a young age, his reaction seemed very off for some reason. At first, it seemed all. almost minor Mike would skip a day of work here and there. He'd tell me he was too tired to get up and go, since his mother's death and I thought, maybe he just needed a break to recharge.

But it soon turned into something much bigger. Instead of resting or looking for ways to work through his grief, he began spending entire days in the basement, glued to video games. Hours would pass, and it was like he'd forgotten about everything outside that screened his responsibilities, his family, even himself. Even then I tried to be understanding, believing that he might be using gaming as a way to escape from the pain of his mother's passing. But as the days turned into weeks, with him always skipping work, I began to worry. You see, we depended on him financially. If I had my own job, perhaps I could have given him space to process things his way, but he was the one who had insisted on me being a stay-at-home mom.

Early in our marriage, when we were preparing for our first child, Mike had strongly encouraged me to leave my job, saying he wanted our children to have a mother at home who could nurture and care for them full-time. So, I agreed with him. It was a choice I made out of love for him and our future family. At the time, Mike had a stable, well-paying job, and we worked hard to save a lot of money. But now, with him skipping work while we had two children to look after, the whole situation began to feel like a ticking time bomb. Every day he missed work increased my anxiety, leaving me terrified that, eventually,

he'd be terminated and we'd have no way to support ourselves. On top of this, Mike also withdrew from helping with anything around the house. He barely interacted with the kids anymore and often ignored their requests for attention or playtime, leaving me to manage them alone. Simple tasks like loading the dishwasher or doing a few dishes suddenly became unbearable for him, and he refused to lift a finger. Personal care, too, fell by the wayside. Days would go by without him even taking a proper bath, and he would sometimes

carry a stale smell, seeming oblivious to it. But the worst part was if I ever tried to talk to him about it, he would get agitated and angry. He would sometimes yell at me in front of our kids, something which he had never done before, leaving them confused and afraid. Eventually, the inevitable happened. His boss fired him. After weeks of absences and no formal communication, his company couldn't wait any longer. When Mike received the news, he exploded in anger, pacing around the house in a rage, throwing things, shouting at me and the kids if we dared to come near him. I tried to stay calm, cautiously telling him that we'd seen this coming after he'd been gone so long without notifying his boss. But this only seemed to trigger him. His face twisted with

anger, and he started yelling about how nobody understood him or what he was going through. He started mumbling about how he had given years of his life to the company and his boss had no right to just fire him. He furiously said that he was so pissed at his boss that he could even shoot him. I looked at him, shocked, and realized from the intensity in his face that he wasn't joking or exaggerating. He looked like he genuinely meant it. Now, Mike was never a violent person and before his mother's passing, if anyone would have told me that he would be talking like this, I would have never believed them. However, clearly he had changed and seemed like an entirely different person. Hearing him say that he wanted to shoot his boss made my stomach twist in fear.

At this point, I began to realize my husband's struggles might go deeper than grief or anger. He might be dealing with depression, something beyond what I could help him with alone. I decided to gently suggest he consider seeing a therapist. When I first brought it up, he was defensive, outright refusing to talk to a stranger about his problems. He brushed off the idea, claiming he didn't need help and that he'd figure things out on his own. But as his mood swings grew more severe and unpredictable, leading to frequent arguments and tension between us, he finally gave in and agreed to give therapy a try. I felt a spark of hope, thinking that maybe, with professional guidance, he could find his way

back to himself and to us. At first, I thought therapy might actually be making a difference. But soon, it became clear that something wasn't right. Instead of focusing on healing or working through his issues, Mike began to develop some strange and impulsive behaviors. Out of nowhere, he started spending lavishly on luxury items we couldn't afford, expensive perfumes, designer sneakers, things he'd never even cared about before. I reminded him that he was out of a job and we only had a limited savings so he should not be spending whatever money we had left on buying unnecessary things. However, Mike just ignored me and started saying how he finally had clarity and he knew what he was doing. With each passing day, I watched our savings dwindle. It was

painful and terrifying to think that if this continued, we could lose everything. The possibility of my children and me being left without a safety net or a stable home weighed on me constantly. I realized then that I couldn't rely on Mike to turn things around at least, not soon enough to make a difference. I needed to step up and find a job, any job, that could help us stay afloat. After days of searching and juggling interviews, I finally secured a part-time job at a fast food restaurant. It wasn't what I'd ever pictured myself doing, but it was a small step towards stability, and I clung to that. But now my life had become an exhausting routine.

Not only was I working part-time, but I was also handling every single responsibility around the house. From laundry and cleaning to grocery shopping and paying bills, everything fell on me. My children needed care, guidance, and comfort especially now, as they were beginning to sense the tension and changes in their father. I was stretched thin, balancing work and home life on my own, while Mike drifted further away from us. His days were spent in the basement, which he'd turned into a major. makeshift man cave. He was either there or out for therapy appointments, rarely interacting with the kids or me. He'd even barred us from going into the basement, making it clear that this space was off

limits to any of us. Then, about six months ago, as I was preparing dinner in the kitchen and helping the kids with their school assignments, Mike came up from the basement, practically buzzing with excitement. He looked like he was really happy, and there was something I hadn't seen in him for a long time. At first, I felt a glimmer of hope, wondering if he might have finally secured a job to make things better for our family. I asked him what was going on, and he started excitedly telling me that he'd been talking with his therapist. For days, they had been discussing what his dream future looks like, and apparently, today he had finally taken the first step toward making that future happen.

Confused, I asked him what he meant. Up until now, he had never mentioned any kind of dream future or life goals that he was working toward. Then, Mike started telling me however since his mother passed, he'd felt too tied down by everything here our life, our family, this home. He explained that for a long time he'd been wanting to leave everything behind, to escape and start over somewhere far away. However, he couldn't just do that since he was married and had two kids and this is why he had been depressed for months. I was taken aback, realizing the implication of what my husband just said. This was my husband, the father of our children, blaming us for his unhappiness. I looked over at our children, who were still lingering nearby,

and gently asked them to go to their room so Mike and I could talk alone. I needed to understand exactly what Mike was talking about, so I am directly, why would you say something like this? What do you mean you want to leave everything behind? Mike looked at me with a strange detachment, explaining that, ever since his mother had passed, this entire city felt lifeless to him, as though nothing here held meaning anymore. The sense of emptiness, he said, had weighed on him so heavily that he could no longer stand the thought of staying. However, after talking to his therapist and realizing how short life can be, he was now

going to work hard to make the most of whatever days he had left. Then came the real shock. Mike went on to tell me that after some serious thinking for months, he had finally sold our home, which is why he looked so excited to talk to me. He continued to say that now he could finally move on to a new phase in his life where he would just be traveling across the country with no worries in the world. I froze, barely able to comprehend his words as Mike continued to say how he just wanted to live the van life from now on. What do you mean you sold our house? I asked, hoping I had misheard. But he started telling me how I should not worry because

if I wanted, me and the kids could join him in living this dream life. Mike explained to me that he'd rather do it on his own, but if I insisted, he'd let us join him while traveling. According to him, he had sold our house at a very good price and with this money he wanted to buy a van, converted into a tiny house, and set out to live on the road, embracing a nomadic van life. I stared at him, searching his face for any sign that he might be joking or maybe he had just lost his mind finally. But he looked serious, deadly serious. You sold our house? Without even talking to me about it? Are you out of your mind, Mike? This is our home, our life. How could you make such a huge decision without including me? Do you even care what I want, or is this just

all about you and your so-called dream? I could feel my face flush as I kept going. We have responsibilities, Mike. Bills, stability, a future to think about. Not to mention, how do you expect us to live in a van? What about my job? What about everything we've built together? You just decided all of this on your own and expected me to be okay with it. My voice cracked as the frustration, disbelief, and hurt spilled out all at once. This is my house, he said flatly, so I don't really need your permission to decide on what I want to do with it. With an almost rehearsed enthusiasm, he continued to convince me that this was the best decision for all of us. He pointed out how unhappy and sad he had been for months and had ignored me and the kids. But now, for him to be

happy again, he needed to do this. Hearing his words, a surge of anger flared up inside me, anger I had been trying so hard to suppress over the past months. Did he honestly believe I would just go along with his ridiculous plan? He sold our home the place where we raised our kids, shared memories, and built our lives without a single word to me beforehand. As the reality of his choice sank in, so did the practical fears. Where were we supposed to go now? That's completely up to you, Mike said. If you want to come with me, we can use the money I have to buy the van and start traveling. If not, well, maybe you can stay with one of your friends for now. but you'll need to figure out a place for you and the kids soon.

I pointed out to him how the kids needed to go to school every day and they couldn't do that if we lived in a van and roamed around. However, Mike argued that education didn't have to be learned from books or classrooms and that our kids could be taught from anywhere since nature is our greatest teacher. I scoffed at his response. He even suggested that we could make it work financially by taking up remote jobs while living on the road, jobs that would supposedly allow us to live freely and sustain. our van life. My head started to pound as he went on and on. This sounded like a nightmare

like something from a story, not our real lives. Mike's words, his enthusiasm, and his complete detachment from reality made it feel as though I were talking to a stranger. Here he was, expecting me to uprood everything, jeopardize our children's future, and dive into a life that he dreamed up on his own, without a single thought of how it would impact us. I couldn't believe that, because of this impulsive, life-altering decision, our once stable world had come crashing down around us. Mike continued to press, insisting that as his partner, should support him in this new vision. He spoke with such enthusiasm, even mentioning that he couldn't wait to share this good news with our children if I agreed with his plan. His words stopped me in my tracks. For months,

I had supported him through everything from the depths of his grief to his self-imposed isolation, his anger, his rash decisions, and even the financial fallout of his unemployment. I had stood by him, hoping that if I kept things stable, he would eventually come back to himself. But, clearly he did not deserve me anymore. I looked at him and, for the first time, let the truth come out. You're right, Mike. I am your wife, and I have supported you every single day since your mother's death. I've been there for you without fail.

I took on everything, from taking care of the kids and keeping up the house to picking up a job to bring in money after you lost yours. I hope that by holding it all together, you would come back to us. But now you've gone ahead and sold our house, the only security we have. And you expect us to abandon everything, to raise our children in a van with no stability and no plan? No, Mike. I won't do that, and I certainly won't let our children's lives be uprooted because of this. Mike looked at me with a mixture of confusion and frustration, asking why I was blaming him

for his decision when all he wanted was to feel some happiness. Taking a steadying breath, I made it clear that he needed to find a way to undo the sale. I told him he should either return the money to the buyer and let us keep our home or, at the very least, by a new place where we could settle down. Mike refused to do this, arguing that he couldn't just abandon his dream of living on the road because of me. He insisted that I was standing in the way of his happiness, as if his dream somehow justified throwing his family into the streets. I told him flatly that if living in a van was what he truly wanted, then he was welcome to pursue that, but I would not uproot myself and our

children to live out his fantasy. The kids and I needed stability. And if that meant he would go on without us, then so be it. Mike stayed quiet, and I hoped he was taking time to think it over and would eventually choose to stay with us. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Without a second thought, Mike left us behind. Within a week, he had packed up his things and left us to live out his so-called van life dream. I just couldn't believe it.

Me and the kids had nowhere to go. With no real support from Mike, I had no choice but to turn to my older sister, Lizzie, who graciously offered us a place to stay. Lizzie had always hated Mike so when she found out that he had abandoned us to go live his dream life, she was even more furious. She pushed me to file for divorce immediately. At that moment, though, I wasn't sure I was ready for that. I didn't have the financial means to proceed with the divorce, and everything was still so overwhelming. Honestly, I never imagined I'd find myself in this situation facing the possibility of separation after everything me and Mike had been through

together. I needed time to process everything, to catch my breath, and to figure out how I was going to rebuild our lives without him. Lizzie was the one who helped me find a new and better job as an assistant at her friend's boutique. This job was such an upgrade compared to my part-time fast food job. Even though I was happy to be earning well and being able to support my children, I still was heartbroken over losing my husband. My children were also confused. Mike didn't even have the decency to talk to them before leaving. As a result, the children were so confused about why their father wasn't coming home or why we were not living at our home anymore, and it broke my heart every time I couldn't give them a straight answer. I tried calling Mike, hoping he'd at least take a

moment to talk to the kids, to explain himself, but he refused to pick up. After a few weeks, he even disconnected his number altogether, which meant I couldn't even contact him. It was like he had completely erased himself from our lives, leaving me to carry the weight of his decisions. While the children were left with nothing but their unanswered questions, the past six months had been incredibly hard, but I've slowly managed to rebuild my life. The children have finally begun to settle down, and they've started to adjust to life without Mike. It's been a huge relief to see them happier, more at peace, and no longer burdened by the tension Mike's absence caused. As for me, I've come to terms with the reality that my life is no longer with him.

I've accepted that our relationship is over, and I've spoken to a lawyer, preparing to file for divorce. The only problem is, I don't know where Mike is, he disappeared without a trace, and none of his friends or family seemed to have any idea where he is now. I considered hiring a private investigator to track him down, but I didn't want to waste any more money on him, especially after everything that had happened. Then, out of nowhere, Mike reached out to me yesterday. At first, I didn't even recognize the number and unknown one, but when he identified himself, I was taken aback.

After so long, I was shocked that he was trying to contact me. He awkwardly asked how me and the children were doing, and I sarcastically told him we were doing just fine without him. He was asking me more about our lives, but I seized the opportunity to be clear with him. I told him that it was actually good that he had called, because I wanted to serve him divorce papers. There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

He finally spoke, his voice sounding somewhat shaken. He said he didn't expect me to just bring up divorce out of nowhere. I couldn't help but laugh at that, considering this wasn't coming out of nowhere at all, this was the reality of what had been happening for months. He had abandoned us, leaving us without a house or any money, and yet he still expected us to stay married? That's when Mike started to tell me how he didn't want us to get a divorce. He pleaded that even though he had made a selfish decision by leaving, he was now fully healed and as good as new. Also, after all the time he spent on the road, he had come to realize that it wasn't as great

as he had imagined. He missed us, he missed being a part of the family, and he wanted to come back to us. He begged me to give him a second chance. No. I refused outright. After all that had happened, after everything he had put us through, he thought he could just waltz back in and everything would be okay? I told him that I did not want him. In fact, me and the children didn't even need him anymore. We had moved on, we were doing just fine without him, and we were better off that way. Hearing this, Mike tried to argue with me, insisting that I was being too harsh and that he had

changed on the road, that things could now go back to how they were. I stood my ground. In the end, I told him he could take a few days to process everything, but I was going ahead with the divorce, no matter what he felt. Update 1, thank you everyone for your suggestions. To clarify a few points, Mike never reached out to us even once during his six-month hiatus on the road. He never gave me any money or paid child support. Besides his mother, Mike was never really close to any of his family so no one had any idea where he went during these past couple of months.

For anyone out there speculating that maybe he was cheating, or that he had some side chick which is why he abandoned us in the first place, and now that things didn't work out with her, he's coming back to us honestly, I don't care anymore. I'm not interested in digging into what he was doing or where he was. At this point, it doesn't even matter. The past is behind us and whatever happened, happened. What I need now is clarity, peace, and stability for myself,

and the kids. At this point, all I want is a divorce from Mike, that's all. Update 2, so, I finally met up with Mike and served him with divorce papers. At first, he thought that simply meeting with me would somehow prove to me that he had changed, that I would see the person he had become. He started by telling me that he now had a steady job and had been diligently saving money. He said that during his road trip, no matter where he went or what new place he tried to settle into, he only found himself missing me and the children. He pleaded with me, asking for another chance, promising that this time he would do things differently. He even said he would buy a house for us again. I reminded him that he had sold our last house without my consent, a decision that had left me

feeling betrayed and unimportant. He quickly promised that this time he would make sure I was included on the house deed, so that I would feel secure and protected this time around. I just shook my head at his empty words and handed him the divorce papers. I knew better than to believe him this time. The look on his face when he realized what was actually happening when he saw that he wasn't being handed a second chance, but instead a lawsuit for child support and divorce papers was absolutely priceless. He seemed completely taken aback, almost like he couldn't believe it. He asked me, in utter disbelief, why I was doing this to him, especially since all he wanted was to reunite us as a family.

I made it clear to him that if he truly wanted to be there for the kids, that was fine, but I didn't want anything more than that. I told him straight up that he was not my partner anymore, and I wasn't about to let him disrupt my life again. I've been through enough. He tried to argue some more, like he always does, but I wasn't having it. I just turned around and walked away. At that point, he wasn't even worth fighting with any more.

I've heard all the empty promises and seen that. same pattern too many times to keep wasting my energy. I was done with the drama. Since then, Mike has been bombarding me with multiple voicemails, practically begging me to meet up with him again, asking for another chance. The way he's acting feels almost desperate, and I can't help but feel irritated. He keeps texting me about how he lost his mother, and now he's going to lose me and the kids too. The thing is, this man was the one who walked out on us in the first place, leaving us all behind without a second thought. And now, here he is, acting like he's the victim, trying to manipulate me into feeling responsible for his misery. It's like he thinks a few pleas will somehow

erase the past, but that's not how it works. Update 3, it's been seven months since my last update, and I apologize for the delay in updating anything here. Life has been a whirlwind, but I just wanted to share where things stand now. After a lengthy divorce process, I finally got my divorce from Mike. The court ordered him to pay child support every month, just as I had wanted. Honestly, it was such a relief, knowing I wouldn't have to shoulder all of the children's responsibilities on my own anymore. On top of this, he was also ordered to pay all the overdue child support payments, along with a hefty alimony, as a consequence of abandoning his family all those months ago. As of now, Mike and I will share custody of the children, and I'm sort of okay with

that. I want our kids to grow up with both of their parents and their lives, even though we're divorced. They deserve that stability, and honestly, I think it will be good for them. However, Mike abandons them ever again, I will make sure he loses them forever. Recently, I moved me and the kids into a small apartment of my own. Lizzie would have let us stay with her longer, but I felt guilty being there for so long, even though I was incredibly grateful for everything she had done for us. It was time to start our own new chapter and build a life for ourselves. These last few months haven't been easy, but I'm starting to feel like things are finally falling into place. Honestly, I'm proud of how far I've come and how far my children have come, too. I really believe

we're going to be just fine. I hope you enjoy this story. Partner's auto technician acquaintance repaired her vehicle at no cost on a weekly basis, and chauffured her to various places as his own partner grew wary, prompting me to tail them and discover him tampering with the vehicle. Her car to create fake emergencies. My girlfriend Dana and I have been together for about eight months now. She's got this friend Thomas who she's known since high school, he's a mechanic and owns his own shop downtown. The guy has always been weird around me, like giving me these looks when I'm talking or just generally acting like I don't exist when we're all hanging out together. Here's the thing though, Dana swears up and down that Thomas is just protective of her because they've been friends forever.

She says he's like this with all her boyfriends and that I shouldn't take it personally. But man, it's hard not to when the guy literally turns his back to me during conversations or changes the subject whenever I try to contribute something. The situation got more complicated about three months ago when Dana's car started having issues. It's this old Toyota that she bought used and it was making. these weird grinding noises. I offered to take it to the dealership or find a reliable shop, but Thomas immediately jumped in saying he'd fix it for free since they're such good friends. Dana was obviously thrilled about saving money, so I didn't push back even though something felt off about it. Ever since then, Thomas has basically become a permanent fixture in our lives.

Dana's car breaks down at least once every two weeks, sometimes it's the alternator, sometimes it's the brakes, sometimes it's something with the transmission that I've never even heard of. And every single time, Thomas swoops in to save the day. He'll pick her up from work when the car won't start, he'll tow it to his shop, and then he'll spend hours fixing it while she hangs around his garage. The worst part is that Dana has started canceling our plans because of these car emergencies. We had tickets to see this band she really wanted to see, but her car died that morning and she spent the entire evening at Thomas's shop instead. We were supposed to go to her cousin's wedding together,

but the brakes went out the day before and she said she couldn't risk driving that far even though Thomas fixed them the same day. I couldn't use my truck because my friend needed it, I've started keeping track, and I swear this car has needed more repairs in the past three months than my 10-year-old truck has needed in the past three years. When I mentioned this to Dana, she got defensive and said that Thomas knows what he's doing and that older cars just need more maintenance.

She also pointed out that he's not charging her anything, which would be costing us hundreds if we went somewhere else. But here's what's really eating at me, I went to pick up Dana from Thomas's shop two weeks ago, and when I walked in, they were both leaning over the hood of her car. Nothing inappropriate, just looking at the engine, but they were standing really close and talking in these quiet voices. When they saw me, they both straightened up real quick

and Thomas started explaining some technical stuff about the carburetor that I know Dana doesn't actually care about. Then last week, Dana mentioned that Thomas had been texting her about car stuff pretty late at night. When I asked to see the messages, she said she'd already deleted them because they were boring technical details and she didn't want to clog up her phone with useless messages. That seemed like a weird excuse since she keeps every other conversation we've ever had. The breaking point came a few days ago when we were at this barbecue with a bunch of Dana's co-workers. Thomas was there too, even though he doesn't work with any of these people. Somehow the conversation turned to cars and reliability, and Thomas started going on and on about how Dana's

Toyota was actually in great shape for its age and how he'd been able to keep it running smoothly with just minor adjustments here and there. I couldn't help myself and asked why it seemed to break down so often if it was in such great shape. Thomas got this weird look on his face and said something about how some cars are just temperamental and need regular attention from someone who understands them. Then he looked directly at me and added that not everyone has the patience or skill to handle something that requires that level of care and understanding. Dana laughed it off and changed the subject, but I could tell several people at the party picked up on attention. I've been trying to figure out if I'm being paranoid or if there's actually something going on here. Part of me thinks Thomas might be sabotaging Dana's car to create reasons to spend time with her,

but that seems crazy even as I'm typing it. On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that this whole situation is designed to make me look like the bad guy, either I'm the jealous boyfriend who doesn't trust his girlfriend's friend, or I'm the useless boyfriend who can't help when she needs it. The thing that really gets to me is that Dana used to come to me when she had problems or needed help with something. Now it feels like Thomas has become her go-to-person for everything, which somehow extends to picking her up from work, giving her rides to run errands, and basically being available whenever I'm not around.

I know I need to have a serious conversation with Dana about all this, but I'm not sure how to bring it up without sounding like I'm accusing her of something. I don't think she's cheating, but I do think Thomas has feelings for her and is using these car problems to insert himself into our relationship. The question is whether Dana realizes what's happening or if she's genuinely just grateful to have a friend who can fix her car for free. What would you guys do in this situation? Update 1, a couple weeks later. Well Reddit, you asked for an update so here it is.

A lot of you suggested that I should try to catch Thomas in the act or at least figure out if he was actually sabotaging Dana's car. I wasn't sure how to do that without looking like a complete psycho, but the universe kind of handed me. me an opportunity. Dana had to work late one evening, and her car wouldn't start when she tried to leave. She called Thomas like always, but apparently he was dealing with some family emergency and couldn't come get her right away. So she called me instead. When I got to her office building, I took a look under the hood while we waited for the tow truck.

I'm not a mechanic, but I know basic car stuff from helping my dad work on trucks when I was younger. The first thing I noticed was that the battery terminals were completely corroded, like, way more than they should have been given that Dana said Thomas had just cleaned them the week before. But the weird part was that the corrosion looked fresh, not like the old crusty buildup you usually see. It was this white powdery stuff that hadn't had time to really set in. I scraped some of it off with my pocket knife, and underneath the terminals were actually in decent shape. I didn't say anything to Dana about it, but I started paying more attention to the pattern of her car troubles. She'd mentioned that the problems always seemed to happen either

early in the morning when she was trying to get to work, or late in the evening when she was trying to get home. Never during the middle of the day when she was parked at work or when we were together on weekends. The next incident happened about a week after that. Dana's car died in the parking lot at her gym, which is only about 10 minutes from Thomas's shop. She called him, and he showed up within 15 minutes with his tow truck. I happened to be driving by on my way back from a friend's house. He needed my truck for something so I took his car, and saw them loading her car onto the truck. I decided to follow them back to Thomas's shop, staying far enough behind that they wouldn't notice me. I parked across the street and watched

through the windows of the garage. Thomas had Dana's car up on the lift, and from what I could see, he was doing something around the wheel area. Then he lowered the car and they both went into his office for about 20 minutes. When they came out, Thomas walked Dana to his truck and drove her home. But here's the thing, he came back to the shop about 30 minutes later, alone. I watched him raise Dana's car back up on the lift and spend another 30 minutes working underneath it. Then he lowered it again, started it up, and it ran perfectly fine.

That's when I realized what was probably happening. Thomas was fixing whatever he'd broken, then breaking something else minor that would fail in a day or two. It was actually pretty clever, he could create problems that would strand Dana somewhere, swoop in to rescue her, and then fix the car in a way that would guarantee she'd need his help again soon. I know how this sounds, and I know I don't have definitive proof, but everything started making sense. The timing of the breakdowns, the fact that the problems were always something that would leave her stranded but never anything that would actually damage the engine, and the way Thomas always seemed to be available immediately when she called. I decided I needed to confront Dana with my suspicions, but I wanted to be smart about it. Instead of accusing Thomas directly, I suggested that we take her car to a different mechanic for a second opinion, just to make sure everything was actually fixed properly.

I offered to pay for it myself so money wouldn't be an issue. Dana's reaction was not what I expected. She got really defensive and asked why I didn't trust Thomas's work. When I explained that I just wanted to make sure her car was safe and reliable, she accused me of being jealous and trying to create drama where none existed. She said Thomas had been nothing but helpful and that it was insulting to him and to her friendship to suggest that something shady was going on. The conversation turned into our first real fight. Dana said I was being paranoid and controlling, and that if I couldn't handle her having male friends, then maybe we weren't compatible. I tried to explain that it wasn't about him being male, it was about the pattern of

behavior I'd noticed, but she wasn't having it. That fight was about a week ago, and things have been tense between us ever since. Dana's car has broken down once more since then, once the alternator went out. She called Thomas, but I offered to help instead, but she said Thomas was already on his way and it would be rude to cancel on him. But here's the new development that's really bothering me, I found out that Thomas has been coming by Dana's apartment when I'm not there. Her neighbor Tracy is this sweet old lady who always waves when she sees me. A few days ago she mentioned how nice it was that Dana had such a helpful friend who was always fixing things around her place. When I asked Dana about it, she admitted that Thomas had been helping her with some maintenance stuff, replacing a leaky faucet, fixing a loose cabinet door, things like that.

She said she'd been meaning to call a handyman, but Thomas offered to do it for free, so she figured why not save the money. That bothered me because Dana had never mentioned any of these maintenance issues to me. I've been to her apartment hundreds of times, and I would have been happy to help with any repairs she needed. Hell, I'm actually pretty handy with that kind of stuff. I helped my uncle renovate his whole kitchen a few years ago. When I pointed this out, Dana said she didn't want to burden me with her problems and that Thomas had offered first. But that doesn't make sense because I've specifically told her multiple times that I enjoy working on projects like that and to let me know if she ever needs help with anything around her place.

I'm starting to feel like Thomas is systematically inserting himself into every aspect of Dana's life where I use. used to be helpful. Car problems, apartment maintenance, rides to places when she needs them, he's basically positioning himself as her primary support system while making me look like an afterthought. The most frustrating part is that Dana doesn't seem to see the pattern, or maybe she doesn't want to see it. Every time I try to bring up my concerns, she accuses me of being jealous or insecure. She keeps saying that Thomas is just a good friend who likes to help people, and that I should be grateful she is someone reliable she can count on. Update 2, a few days later, OK Reddit, remember how I mentioned in my last update that Thomas had been coming by Dana's

apartment to fix things. Well, it turns out that was just the tip of the iceberg. I found out he's been doing way more than just basic handyman work. It started when I went to pick up Dana for dinner the other night. I got to her apartment a little early and was waiting in the lobby when her neighbor Tracy came down to check her mail. She saw me and started chatting about how impressed she was with all the improvements Dana's been making to her place. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I asked her to explain. Apparently Thomas has been there almost every day for the past two weeks, bringing tools

and supplies and working on various projects. Tracy said he'd installed new light fixtures in Dana's bedroom and bathroom, replaced all the old electrical outlets and even painted her living room. Dana loves decorating and home improvement projects. It's one of the things we used to do together. Just a few months ago, we spent a whole weekend shopping for new curtains and throw pillows for her place. She was so excited about eventually repainting the walls, and we'd even picked out colors together. Now she was doing all of that with Thomas instead.

When Dana came down to meet me, I asked her about the renovations. Tracy had mentioned. She got this weird look on her face and said Thomas had offered to help spruce up the place since he had some free time between jobs at a shop. She claimed she was going to tell me about it, but wanted to wait until everything was finished so it could be a surprise. That explanation might have made sense if we were talking about one small project. But Tracy had described weeks' worth of work. New lighting, fresh paint, electrical updates, that's not a surprise, a complete apartment makeover that Dana had planned and executed with another man. I tried to stay calm and asked if I could see what they'd done.

Dana hesitated for a moment, then said the place was still a mess from all the work and she'd rather show me when everything was completely finished. She suggested we just go to dinner as planned and talk about something else. But I couldn't let it go. I told Dana that it hurt my feelings that she'd done all these home improvement projects without even mentioning them to me, especially since she knew how much I enjoyed that kind of work. I asked why she hadn't given me the opportunity to help, or at least asked if I wanted to be involved. Dana's answer really threw me off. She said she didn't think I'd be interested because I'd

never offered to help with stuff around her apartment before. When I pointed out that she'd never asked me and had never mentioned needing any work done, she said she shouldn't have to ask, that if I really cared about her living situation, I would have noticed the things that needed fixing and offer to help. That felt completely unfair. I met Dana's place all the time, and I've never seen any major problems that needed addressing. Sure, the paint was a little outdated

and some of the light fixtures were old-fashioned, but nothing seemed broken or urgent. If she wanted to redecorate, I would have been thrilled to help, but I can't read her mind. The conversation got more heated when I asked how long this had been going on. Dana admitted that Thomas had first suggested the renovations about a month ago when he was over fixing her kitchen sink. I know I mentioned being at her place all the time but I have been busy with work and Dana visited my home instead. He'd apparently

pointed out several things that could be improved and offered to do the work at cost, just materials, no labor charges. A month ago. That means this whole apartment renovation project started right around the time I first posted on Reddit about feeling like Thomas was inserting himself into our relationship. While I was trying to figure out if I was being paranoid, Dana and Thomas were planning a complete home makeover together. I asked Dana why she hadn't mentioned any of this when I brought up my concerns about Thomas before. She said she didn't think the renovation work was related to my jealousy issues and that she hadn't wanted to give me more reasons to be suspicious of her friendship with Thomas. That really stung.

I wasn't having jealousy issues, I was noticing a pattern of behavior that was affecting our relationship. And now I was finding out that the pattern was even more extensive than I'd realized. Dinner was pretty much ruined after that. We barely talked, and Dana seemed irritated that I wasn't just happy for her about the apartment improvements. When I dropped her off afterward, she said she needed some space to think about whether we were compatible if I couldn't handle her having close friendships. But that's not even the worst part of this update. Two days after that awkward dinner, Dana's car broke down again. This time it was the starter, and she was stranded.

I found out about it when she texted me to say she'd be late for our movie plans because Thomas was coming to tow her car. I offered to cancel the movie and come help, but she said Thomas was already on his way and there was no point in both of us dealing with car trouble. She said she'd probably be at Thomas's shop for a while and suggested we reschedule. for another day. I was frustrated, but I decided to give her the space she'd asked for. I went to the movie by myself and figured we'd sort everything out when she was ready to talk. But when I got home, I found a text from Dana saying that Thomas's girlfriend Brenda,

I think I forgot to mention her, but yes, he does have a girlfriend, had stopped by the shop while they were working on the car. Apparently Brenda had some concerns about how much time Thomas was spending with Dana. According to Dana's text, Brenda had made some accusations about Thomas having feelings for Dana and suggested that all the car repairs and apartment work was Thomas's way of pursuing her. Dana said she and Thomas had both assured Brenda that they were just friends and that Brenda was reading too much into the situation. But Brenda wasn't buying it, and she'd apparently given Thomas an ultimatum either he needed to set some boundaries with Dana, or Brenda was going

to end their relationship. Dana seemed really upset about this. She said, said she felt terrible that her friendship with Thomas was causing problems in his relationship, but she also felt like Brenda was being unreasonable and jealous. She asked me what I thought she should do. But then Dana said something that really bothered me. She mentioned that Thomas had suggested they should probably cool it on the apartment renovations for a while, just until Brenda calmed down. Dana seemed disappointed about this and said it was unfair that Brenda's insecurity was going to prevent her from finishing the improvements to her place. The fact that Dana was more upset about pausing the renovation work than she was about the possibility that Thomas might have romantic feelings for her seemed like a red flag to me.

I would have expected her to be concerned about maintaining appropriate boundaries, not frustrated about the inconvenience to her decorating plans. I'm starting to wonder if Dana has been enjoying the attention and help from Thomas more than she's willing to admit. Even if she doesn't have romantic feelings for him, she's clearly grown dependent on having him solve her problems and take care of things for her. And now that Brenda has forced the issue, I feel like I'm in this weird position where Dana might expect me to step up and fill the gap that Thomas is leaving. But I don't want to be her backup plan or her second choice for help and support. Update 3. About a week later, this is probably going to be my last update for a while,

because I honestly don't think there's much left to say. After Brenda confronted Thomas about his relationship with Dana, I thought things might finally calm down and we could get back to some kind of normalcy. I was wrong. Instead of backing off like he'd apparently promised Brenda, Thomas actually doubled down on his involvement in Dana's life. The day after I posted my last update, Dana's car broke down again, this time the transmission started slipping while she was driving to work.

She called Thomas, and he immediately came to get her and tow the car to his shop. Instead of taking the car to his usual garage, Thomas told Dana that this repair was too complicated for his equipment and he'd need to take it to a specialist transmission shop across town. He said it would probably take a few days to get the parts and complete the work. Dana called me that evening to let me know what was happening, and something about the story didn't add up. I'd seen Thomas's shop, and it was pretty well equipped. Plus, transmission work is bread and butter for most mechanics. It's not like Dana needed some exotic sports car repair. I decided to do a little investigating. I called around to a few shops in the area and asked

about wait times for a Toyota with a slipping transmission. Every place I called said they could look at it within a day and have it fixed within two days max, assuming they had the parts in stock. None of them mentioned anything about specialized equipment being necessary. That made me suspicious, so I drove by Thomas's shop to see if Dana's car was actually there. It wasn't on the lot or in any of the service bays. When I asked the guy working the front desk where Thomas was, he said Thomas had taken a few days off to deal with some personal stuff. I started putting pieces together, and I didn't like what I was seeing. It seemed like Thomas had used Dana's transmission problem as an.

excuse to essentially kidnap her car and create a situation where she'd be completely dependent on him for transportation. I called Dana to share my concerns, but she said Thomas had explained everything to her. According to him, the transmission shop he'd taken her car to was run by a buddy of his who owed him a favor. The friend was going to do the work at cost, but he was backed up with other jobs so it might take longer than usual. When I asked Dana how she was getting to work and running errands while her car was in the shop, she said Thomas had been giving her rides. Not just to work, he was apparently driving her everywhere she needed to go, picking her up for lunch, taking her grocery shopping, basically serving as her personal chauffeur. I pointed out that this seemed like

a lot of inconvenience for Thomas, especially since Brenda had already expressed concerns about how much time he was spending with Dana. Wasn't he worried about making things worse with his girlfriend? friend. Dana got quiet for a moment, then told me something that made my stomach drop. Apparently Thomas and Brenda had broken up. Brenda had found out that Thomas was still helping Dana despite promising to back off, and she'd ended their relationship. But instead of seeming upset about causing problems between Thomas and Brenda, Dana actually seemed relieved. She said Brenda had been creating unnecessary drama and that Thomas deserved to be with someone who trusted him and appreciated how helpful he was. That's when I realized that Dana had been planning this all along,

or at least hoping for it. She'd been enjoying having Thomas's complete attention and assistance, and Brenda's jealousy had been the only thing standing in the way of that relationship developing further. I asked Dana directly if she had feelings for Thomas. She denied it, but said she'd been thinking a lot about compatibility and what she needed in a relationship. She said Thomas understood her in ways that other people didn't, and that he'd shown her what it felt like to be with someone who anticipated her needs and took care of problems before she even had to ask. The implication was pretty clear. I wasn't anticipating her needs or solving her problems the way Thomas was.

But here's the thing, I couldn't be that kind of partner even if I wanted to, because Thomas had been creating problems that only he could solve. He'd been breaking her car so he could fix it, pointing out home repairs so he could do them, and manufacturing situations where Dana needed his help. I tried to explain this to Dana, but she said I was being paranoid in trying to make Thomas look bad because I was insecure about their friendship. She said the fact that I couldn't be happy for her having someone reliable in her life

showed that I was too selfish to be in a serious relationship. I told Dana that I thought Thomas had been manipulating both of us from the beginning, and that she was choosing to ignore obvious red flags because she enjoyed the attention. Dana said if that's how I really felt about her judgment and her friendships, then we probably shouldn't be together. She said she needed to be with someone who trusted her and supported her relationships with other people, not someone who saw threats everywhere. I agreed. I told Dana that I did need to be with someone I could trust, and that her behavior over the past few months had shown me that she wasn't that person. I said I thought she'd already made her choice about who

she wanted to be with, and it wasn't me. Dana seemed shocked that I was actually ending things. I think she expected me to fight for her or try to convince her to choose me over Thomas. But I was done competing with a guy who'd been cheating by creating fake emergencies and manufactured crises. That conversation happened three days ago, and it was pretty much the end for us. I'm not going to try fix things that don't need fixing anymore. She made her choice, and she'll have to live with the consequences.

Maybe she'll figure out what Thomas is really like when he starts creating problems in her life that only he can solve. Or maybe she'll be happy being with someone who manages every aspect of her existence. Either way, it's not my problem anymore.