Reddit Stories - My GUARDIANS EXPELLED me and cut ties with me 8 YEARS ago for

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #guardians #familyissues #cutties #expelled #relationshipsSummary: My guardians expelled me and cut ties with me 8 years ago for reasons unknown. I have been left to navigate life without their support or guidance, struggling to understand their decision and its lasting impact on my life.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, familyissues, guardians, expelled, cutties, support, guidance, decision, impact, life, struggle, unknown, lasting, navigateBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My guardians expelled me and cut ties with me eight years ago for opting for higher education over their family enterprise, but now that I am thriving and their business is floundering due to my decision. Brothers gambling, they suddenly want me back. Eight years ago my parents owned a small restaurant that had been in our family for two generations and they always talked about how one day it would pass down to the next generation and keep the family legacy going.

My older brother Clark was always the favorite child and got praised for everything he did while I was constantly compared to him and told I needed to work harder to measure up to his standards. When I graduated high school my parents sat me down and told me I needed to start working at the restaurant immediately to learn the business from the ground up and that Clark would eventually take over as the main owner but I would have a small stake in it if I proved myself worthy over the years. I had already gotten accepted to a good college with a partial scholarship and wanted to study

computer science because I was really good with technology and had been teaching myself programming since I was in middle school. My parents said college was a waste of money and that the restaurant would provide everything I needed in life and that I was being selfish for wanting to abandon the family business that had supported us for so many years. Clark had dropped out of community college after one semester and had been working at the restaurant for three years already and my parents kept saying he was a natural at running the business and dealing with customers and managing the staff. I told them I wanted to go to college and that I would work part-time at the restaurant during breaks and summers but that I wanted to have my own career and not just work for my brother

for the rest of my life. My dad got really angry and said I was being ungrateful and that Clark deserved to inherit the business because he had shown dedication and loyalty while I was trying to run away from my responsibilities. The arguments went on for weeks and got worse every day and my parents kept bringing up how much money they had spent raising me and how I owed them for all the sacrifices they had made and that working in the family business was the least I could do to pay them back. Clark kept telling me I was being stupid and that college would just fill my head with useless ideas

and that I would never make as much money as I could make working with the family. My girlfriend at the time supported my decision to go to college and my parents said she was a bad influence and was turning me against my family. When I refused to change my mind and told them I was going to college no matter what they said my parents told me that if I left for college I shouldn't bother coming back home and that they would consider me dead to them. I thought they were just trying to scare me and that they would calm down after a few days, but when I came home from my graduation party they had packed all my stuff in boxes and left them

on the front porch. My dad handed me an envelope with $500 and said that was all I would ever get from them and that I was no longer their son and that I was not welcome in their house anymore. I moved in with my girlfriend's family for the summer and then went to college in the fall and worked two part-time jobs to pay for my expenses that the scholarship didn't cover. My parents blocked my phone number and wouldn't respond to any messages I sent them and when I tried to visit during winter break my dad told me through the door that I needed to leave immediately or he would call the police. Clark posted pictures on social media of family dinners and holidays and vacations and always made sure to caption them with things like family time with the people who matter and grateful for my real family which felt like he was trying to rub it in my face. College was hard because I was working so much and didn't have any financial support from my parents but I graduated.

with a degree in computer science and got a job at a tech company right after graduation. I worked my way up over the years and eventually got promoted to a senior developer position and then a team lead position and I was making really good money and had bought my own house and car. I met my current girlfriend Rose three years ago after a pretty bad breakup from my previous relationship and she's a nurse and we've been living together for the past year and she's been posting pictures of our trips and our house and us at nice restaurants on social media. I had heard through some relative that the restaurant was struggling because Clark had developed a gambling problem and had been stealing money from the business to pay his debts and that my parents

were having trouble keeping up with the bills and the rent. I didn't really keep track of what was happening with them because they had made it clear that I was not part of their family anymore and I had built my own life without them. Last month Rose posted pictures from our vacation to Hawaii and tagged me in them and also posted pictures of the new car I had bought and the renovations we had done to our house. Two weeks after Rose posted those pictures my parents showed up at my front door on a Saturday morning and started knocking really loudly and calling my name and saying they needed to talk to me. I looked through the peephole and saw both of them standing there and my mom was holding a plate of

cookies and my dad had a bouquet of flowers and they both looked older and more tired than I remembered. I didn't open the door and told them through the door that they needed to leave my property immediately and that they had made it clear eight years ago that I was not their son anymore. My mom started crying and saying that they had made a mistake and that they wanted to fix things and that they missed me and wanted me to come home and be part of the family again. My dad said they had seen how successful I had become and how happy I looked in the pictures and that they were proud of me and wanted to celebrate my achievements with me. I told them that it was too late and that they couldn't just show up after eight years and

expect everything to go back to normal and that they needed to leave before I called the police. They wouldn't leave and kept knocking and my mom kept crying and saying she just wanted to see her son and that she had been miserable for the past eight years without me. My dad started talking about how the restaurant was in trouble and how they needed my help to save it and how we could all work together as a family to turn things around. That's when I realized they didn't actually want me back because they missed me but because they had seen that I was successful and they thought I could solve their financial problems. I called the police and told them that my parents were on my property and refused to be.

to leave after I had asked them multiple times to go away and that I wanted them removed immediately. The police showed up about 15 minutes later and talked to my parents and told them they needed to leave and not come back unless I invited them. My mom was still crying and begging the police officer to let her talk to me and my dad was arguing with the officer and saying that I was their son and they had a right to see me. The police officer told them that I was an adult and had the right to decide who I wanted on my property and that they could be arrested for trespassing if they came back without my permission. The police officer gave me a report number and told me to call them again if my parents came back and that I could file for a restraining order if the

harassment continued. Update 1. Three days after the police removed my parents from my property Clark and his wife, Iris. Yes, he got married during the previous eight years and I wasn't even invited to the wedding. They showed up at my door in the evening while I was eating dinner with Rose. I heard the doorbell ring and saw through the peephole that it was Clark and Iris and Clark looked really nervous and kept running his hands through his hair and Iris was standing behind him with her arms crossed. I opened the door but kept the security chain on and asked them what they wanted and Clark said they just wanted to talk to me for a few minutes about the situation with our parents. I told them I didn't want to talk about our parents and that I had made my position clear

when I called the police on them and that they needed to leave. Iris pushed forward and said that our parents were heartbroken and that they hadn't been eating or sleeping since the police incident and that they just wanted their son back and couldn't understand why I was being so cruel to them. Clark said that our parents had sent them because they thought I might be more willing to listen to him since we were brothers and that he wanted to help fix the family. I told them that the family was broken eight years ago when our parents threw me out and that I wasn't interested in fixing anything now just because their business was failing and they thought I could help them financially. Clark's face got red and he said I was

being selfish and that I should help family no matter what had happened in the past and that our parents had made mistakes, but they were willing to admit they were wrong now. Iris said that our parents were getting older and that I would regret not having a relationship with them when they were gone and that I was throwing away the only family I had over a silly argument from years ago. I started to close the door and Clark pushed against it and said I needed to listen to him and that I owed it to our parents to at least hear them out and give them a chance to apologize properly. I told him to get his hand off my door and that I didn't owe anyone anything and that our parents had made their choice.

Clark started yelling that I was being a spoiled brat and that I had always thought I was better than everyone else and that our parents were right to choose him over me because he actually cared about family. Rose came to the door and told Clark and Iris that they needed to leave and that they were disturbing our neighbors and Clark turned to her and said that she needed to mind her own business and that this was between family members. Rose said that I was her family now and that she wasn't going to let them harass me in my own home and that she would call the police if they didn't leave immediately. Iris grabbed Clark's arm and tried to pull him away from the door and said they should go,

but Clark shook her off and kept yelling at me. Clark said that our parents had sacrificed everything for us and that the restaurant was failing because he had made some bad decisions, but that we could save it if we all work together and that I was being selfish by not helping when I clearly had money to spare. I told him that his gambling problem was not my responsibility and that I wasn't going to bail out a business that had never been meant for me anyway and that our parents had made it clear that the restaurant was his inheritance not mine. Clark said I was lying

and that our parents had always planned for both of us to work together and that I had ruined everything by leaving for college. The argument kept getting louder and Clark was standing in my doorway and wouldn't move and Iris was trying to calm him down but he kept yelling about how I had abandoned the family

and how our parents were suffering because of my selfishness. I told him that our parents were suffering because they had raised a son who stole money from their business to pay gambling debts and that maybe they should focus on getting him help instead of trying to drag me back into their drama. Clark got even angrier and said that his gambling wasn't that bad

and that he had just made a few mistakes and that the real problem was that I had left and broken our parents' hearts. Rose stepped between us and told Clark that he needed to leave right now and that she was going to call the police and Clark said he wasn't afraid of the police and that he had every right to talk to his brother. I told him that I wasn't his brother anymore. Clark started crying and saying that he never wanted our parents to disson. own me and that he had tried to convince them to let me come back, but they had been too stubborn

and proud to admit they were wrong. I told him that he had never tried to help me and that he had posted on social media about how grateful he was for his real family and that he had enjoyed being the only son for the past eight years so he shouldn't pretend like he cared about me now. Clark said those posts weren't about me and that he had just been trying to make our parents feel better after I left and that he had always hoped I would come back someday. Iris finally managed to pull them away from the door and said they were leaving and that maybe we could all talk when everyone was calmer. Clark kept yelling as Iris dragged him down the driveway and said that I would regret this and that family was supposed to forgive each other and that I was

making a huge mistake by not giving our parents another chance. I closed the door and locked it and Rose hugged me and said she was proud of me for standing up for myself and not letting them guilt me into doing something I didn't want to do. We could hear Clark yelling in the street for a few more minutes before Iris got him into their car and they drove away. Update 2. The next morning I woke up to a bunch of notifications on my phone and saw that several of my friends had tagged me in comments on social media. I checked Clark's profile and saw that he had posted a long rant about our argument the

night before and Iris had posted a video that she had apparently recorded on her phone while we were arguing. The video showed Clark standing at my door and you could hear him yelling about family and asking me to help our parents and then it showed me close to. closing the door on him and you could hear Rose telling them to leave. Clark had written a post that said he had tried to reach out to his estranged brother to help heal their family and that I had been cruel and heartless and refused to even listen to him talk about our parents who were suffering and needed help.

He said that I had become cold and selfish since I got money and that I had forgotten where I came from and that I was choosing my pride over my family. The post had dozens of comments from people who didn't know the whole story saying that I was wrong and that I should forgive my parents and help them in their time of need. Iris had posted the video with a caption about how heartbreaking it was to watch a family be torn apart and how she couldn't understand how someone could turn their back on their parents who just wanted to reconcile and make things right. The video made it look like Clark was just trying to have a calm conversation and that I was being unreasonable by not letting him in and by

threatening to call the police. You couldn't really hear everything that was being said because the video was taken from outside and the sound quality wasn't very good, but it definitely made me look bad. I was really angry that they had recorded our private conversation without telling me and that they were trying to make me look like the bad guy when they were the ones who had shown up at my house uninvited and refused to leave when I asked them to. Rose was furious and said that Iris had no right to record us and post it online without our permission and that we should report the video for violating our privacy. I didn't want to get into a big social media drama, but I was upset that people who didn't know anything about the situation were judging me based on a video

that didn't show the whole story. My friend Sam, who I had known since college, saw the post and the video, and he commented asking Clark why he didn't mention that our parents had disown me eight years ago and thrown me out of the house when I wanted to go to college. Sam said that it was convenient that Clark was leaving out the part about how our parents had blocked my phone number and refused to see me for almost a decade and that now they only wanted me back because their business was failing and they thought I could help them financially. More of my friends started commenting and sharing their own stories about family members who had cut them off and then tried to come back when they needed something and they all said that I was doing the

right thing by setting boundaries and not letting my parents back into my life just because they wanted something from me. The comments section turned into a big argument between my friends who were defending me and people who knew Clark and Iris who were saying that family should always forgive each other and that I was being petty and vindictive. Clark started responding to the comments and getting into arguments with my friends and he kept saying that they didn't understand the situation and that I was lying about what had really happened eight years ago. He said that our parents had never really disowned me and that I had just left on my own and refused to come back home. Clark got more and more defensive as more people called him out

and he started deleting comments and blocking people who were disagreeing with him. Iris stopped responding to comments after my friend started pointing out that she had been married to Clark for less than two years and didn't know anything about what had happened when I was in high school. The post started getting shared by more people and the comments section became a mess of arguments between people who supported me and people who thought I should forgive my family. By the afternoon Clark had deleted the entire post and the video because too many people were calling him out and pointing out the holes in his story and he was getting embarrassed by all the negative attention. He sent me a private message saying that he hadn't meant

for things to get so out of hand and that he just wanted to help our parents but that he was sorry for posting about our argument online. I didn't respond to his message because I didn't want to encourage him to keep trying to contact me and I was still angry that he had tried to make me look bad on social media in the first place. Update 3. Two days after Clark deleted his social media post my mom called my work number and somehow got transferred to my direct line even though I had never given my work information to any of my family members. I was in the middle of a meeting when my phone rang. My mom started crying as soon as I said hello and said that she had gotten my work number from the company website and that she was sorry for bothering me but she needed

to talk to me about what had happened with Clark's social media post. She said that she and my dad had no idea that Clark was going to post about our argument online and that they were embarrassed and upset that he had tried to make me look bad when they were the ones who had made mistakes in the past. My mom said that Clark had told them about his post after my friend started commenting and that my dad had been angry with Clark for making the situation worse and for trying to manipulate people on social media. She said that they had told Clark and Iris not to contact me anymore and that they wanted to apologize for sending them to my house in the first place. I told my mom that I was at work and couldn't have personal conversations during business hours

and that she needed to stop calling me and leave me alone. My mom said that she understood I was angry but that she just wanted me to know that they weren't trying to manipulate me or use me for money and that they genuinely wanted to have a relationship with me again because they missed me and regretted what they had done. She said that they had been talking to a counselor about the situation and that they realized they had made terrible mistakes and that they wanted to make things right even if it took years to rebuild our relationship. I told her that I wasn't interested in rebuilding our relationship

and that I had moved on with my life and didn't need them anymore and that they had lost the right to be my parents when they threw me out. My mom started crying harder and said that she knew they deserved my anger, but that they hoped someday I would be willing to forgive them and give them a chance to prove that they had changed. She said that they weren't asking for money or help with the restaurant and that they just wanted to be part of my life again and get to know the person I had become.

I told her that if she really wanted to prove she had changed, she would respect my wishes and stop contacting me, and that calling my work number was inappropriate and could get me in trouble with my boss. My mom said she was sorry for calling me at work, but that she didn't know how else to reach me since I had blocked their phone numbers and that she was desperate to fix things between us.

I told her that I had blocked their numbers for a reason and that I didn't want to be contacted by any of them and that if they kept trying to reach me, I would file for a restraining order. My mom got quiet for a minute and then said that she didn't want things to get to that point and that she would tell my dad and Clark that they needed to leave me alone and not try to contact me anymore. I told her that I was serious about the restraining order and that I had already filed a police report when they showed up at my house and that I had documentation of their

harassment and that a judge would definitely grant the order if I asked for one. My mom said she understood and that she would make sure everyone in the family knew not to contact me and that they would respect my decision even though it was breaking their hearts. I told her that I had to get back to work and that this was the last time I would accept a call from any of them and that if they tried to contact me again, I would immediately file for the restraining order and have them arrested for violating it. My mom said she understood and that she loved me and that she would always love me even if she never got to see me again and then she hung up. I was shaking after the phone call because I hadn't heard my mom's calm and loving

voice in eight years and it brought back a lot of memories. I talked to my boss after the meeting and explained that I was having some family issues and that someone might try to call me at work again and that I would appreciate it if my calls could be screened and that only work-related calls should be transferred to my direct line. My boss said that HR could help me set up call screening and that I should let them know if anyone showed up at the office trying to see me. I also talked to building security and gave them pictures of my parents and Clark and Iris and told them not to let any of them into the building if they showed up. I decided to be proactive and went to the courthouse the next day to get information about filing for a restraining order so that I would be prepared

if my family tried to contact me again. The clerk gave me all the paperwork and explained the process and said that based on what I told her about them showing up at my house and refusing to leave and then calling my work I would probably qualify for a temporary restraining order. She said that the temporary order would be granted immediately and then there would be a where a judge would decide whether to make it permanent. I filled out all the paperwork, but didn't file it yet because I wanted to give my family one more chance to leave me alone like my mom had promised. I sent my mom a text message from a number she didn't recognize and told her that I had gone to the courthouse and filled out restraining order paperwork and that it was

ready to file and that if anyone in the family contacted me again, I would file it immediately. I told her that this was her last warning and that I was serious about protecting myself from their harassment. My mom texted back within an hour and said that she had talked to my dad and Clark and Iris and that they all understood and promised never to contact me again and that they would tell any other family members or friends not to reach out. To me either. She said that they were going to respect my wishes and leave me alone even though it was painful for them and that they hoped someday in the future I might change my mind but that they wouldn't pressure me or try to force a relationship. She said that she was proud of the person I had become and that she was

sorry for all the pain they had caused me. I didn't respond to her text message because I didn't want to encourage any more communication, but I felt relieved that they finally seemed to understand that I was serious about not wanting them in my life. It's been three weeks since my mom called my work and none of them have tried to contact me since then and I haven't seen any social media posts about me or the situation. I still have the restraining order paperwork ready to file just in case, but it seems like they finally got the message that I'm not going to change my mind and that there will be legal consequences if they don't leave me alone. Rose and I have been talking about maybe moving to a different city in a year or two

just to get a fresh start and make sure my family can't find us, but for now things seem to have calmed down and I'm hoping they will continue to respect my boundaries and leave me alone like they promised.