Reddit Stories - My SIBLING'S BETROTHED defaced my fresh MERCEDES after I declined to loan it

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #relationships #familydrama #carvandalism #siblingrivalry #betrayalSummary: My SIBLING'S BETROTHED defaced my fresh MERCEDES after I declined to loan it. The act of vandalism has caused a rift in our family, leading to a complex web of emotions and unresolved issues.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, familydrama, carvandalism, siblingrivalry, betrayal, familyconflict, luxuryvehicle, personalboundaries, communicationbreakdown, emotionalturmoil, propertydamage, trustissues, conflictresolution, siblingrelationships, familydisputeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My siblings betrothed defaced my fresh Mercedes after I declined to loan it for her journey to Los Angeles, because she's had two accidents with her vehicle this year. Now she has been detained by the authorities. When I showed police the security footage. My sister-in-law, 32F, who until very recently was engaged to my older brother, asked me, 29M, if she could borrow my brand-new BMW for a week-long girl's train. trip to Miami. She wanted me to hand over my barely off the lot car so she and her friends

could drive it hundreds of miles and use it for a beach party vacation. For context, I take a lot of pride in my car. I've been working hard and saving up for years to afford it, and I literally just got it a couple months ago. It's the nicest thing I've ever owned, and I'm still making payments on it. So, naturally, I was uncomfortable with the idea of lending it out. It's not that I never lend things or that I don't trust family, but in this case my hesitation was for a very good reason. My sister-in-law, I'll call her Anna for this post, has a long history of being careless with other people's property. Honestly, careless might be an understatement. She's crashed her own car twice this year already. The first time she rear-ended someone at a

stoplight because she was texting and not paying attention. The second time, she skidded into a ditch on a rainy night, she blamed the weather, but we all secretly think she was speeding or possibly even under the influence. On top of that, I've seen how she treats things she borrows. She borrowed my brothers, her fiancée's, expensive DSLR camera last summer and returned it with a cracked screen and sand and the lens from a beach trip. She also once borrowed a dress for my wife and spilled red wine all over it. Then tried to laugh it off as no big deal. So yeah, pattern of carelessness is kind of her thing. Anyway, when Anna asked if she could use my BMW for her Miami trip, I immediately felt uneasy.

I tried to be diplomatic and told her I wasn't comfortable lending out my brand new car for a long road trip. I suggested that she could rent a car or maybe that one of her friends could drive something else instead. I even threw in something like, it's nothing personal, I just don't let anyone drive this car yet. I was trying to frame it as generally as possible, without directly saying because you're a terrible driver, even though that's absolutely what I was thinking. Well, Anna did not take that well. She blew up almost instantly. I remember her face went red and she started yelling at me in my own house. She said it was just a car and that I was being selfish and uptight. She kept going on about how family should help family and if she had a nice car, she'd let me borrow it, which I

highly doubt. My wife and my brother were there too, and my wife was trying to calm her down, saying something like, I'm sure he just meant it's insured only for him or trying to smooth it over. My brother stayed quiet, but I could tell he was embarrassed by her outburst. Anna basically threw a screaming tantrum, complete with her arms flailing and her voice cracking, then stormed out of our house yelling that I'd regret it and that I wasn't a good brother-in-law or something along those lines. I honestly just stood there. shocked after she left, while my wife looked at me with wide eyes like, what the hell just happened? Fast forward two days. It's the morning of the biggest meeting of my career, a

presentation that could land me a huge contract I've been chasing. I walk out to my driveway, coffee in hand and dressed sharp in my best suit, ready to absolutely crush this meeting. But as soon as I see my car, I freeze. At first I just see some scratches. Then I'm just, I'm I see letters. And then the full picture. Someone has keyed the word asshole in huge, jagged letters into the passenger side door and the driver's side door of my BMW. When I say keyed, I mean they gouged that word into the paint all the way down to the metal. Long, deep scratches running across both sides of the car, spelling out that lovely seven-letter slur for everyone to see. I can't even describe the sinking feeling in my stomach. I just bought this car,

and now it's absolutely trashed. They even managed to scratch across both doors, like they took their sweet time to make sure it was big and clear. The paint has literally peeled up around the edges of the lettering. My car went from Pristine to looking like a vandalized clunker overnight. My first thought is, Anna, who else would do this? It's not like I have a list of enemies or some random hooligans targeting me. The lettering spelling asshole makes it feel personal,

like the person wanted me to know exactly why they did it. And given Anna literally screamed that I'd regret not lending her my car, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots. This had to have happened during the night, because it definitely wasn't there the evening before. I live in a quiet suburban neighborhood, and nothing like this has ever happened here. So yeah, I'm almost certain it was her, but I have no proof yet.

Now I'm standing there in my driveway, just staring at the damage in shock, and then it hits me, I can't even drive this car to my meeting. Mechanically, the car is fine, but there's no way I can show up to a professional presentation with the word asshole carved into my doors. Not only is it humiliating, it's going to look like I'm some kind of irresponsible person who gets into fights or something. I had no time to even try to cover it up or anything, not that I have giant car-sized stickers lying around to hide keyed in profanity. So I have a giant car-sized stickers lying around to hide keyed in profanity. So I had to make a split-second decision to call for an Uber. Long story short,

the Uber was late, traffic was worse than usual, and I was freaking out the entire ride. What should have been a 30-minute drive turned into almost an hour. I ended up arriving at the meeting a hair before it was supposed to start. I was sweaty, stressed out, and absolutely livid that all this chaos was happening on what should have been an important day for me. The good news is I made it just in time and managed to give the presentation. I'm not sure yet if I landed the contract, I think it went all right, but honestly I was so distracted and on edge that it's a blur. Either way, I know I didn't perform at my absolute best because in the back of my mind I was just seething, thinking about my car.

After the meeting, I finally had time to really process what happened. I took more photos of the damage for documentation. My wife was just as shocked and horrified as I was when she saw the car. We both know in our guts that Anna did it, but we haven't confronted her yet. I did call my insurance company to start a claim, and they said they'd need a police report for vandalism, which means I'd have to officially involve the cops. At this point, I'm furious. Not to mention it screwed up a huge day for me and could have cost me a career opportunity.

I absolutely want to make her pay for the damage and face the consequences of what she's done. The problem is, my wife is urging me to let it go for the sake of family peace. Anna is about to marry my brother, and my wife is worried that if I go full scorched earth on this, it'll cause a massive rift in the family. She's saying things like, I know she's awful, but maybe we should handle it quietly, just ask them to pay for the repairs or something, rather than calling the police. My wife hates conflict and I can tell she's scared this will turn into a family feud, especially if my brother gets defensive or if Anna denies it.

I understand's not wanting drama, but another part of me is like, hell no. Why should Anna get away with this? She literally vandalized my property out of spite and nearly sabotaged a defining moment in my career. If I let it go, that sets the precedent that she can do whatever insane thing she wants and will just roll over to keep the peace. I'm beyond angry, and I feel like if there are no consequences, she'll never learn and I'll just resent everyone involved. I did text my brother a picture of my car after I discovered it,

and his only response was, wow, what happened. I haven't replied because I don't even know what to say yet. I'm pretty sure he'll put two and two together regarding Anna, though. My wife is begging me to just let it be for now and we'll figure out another way. But what other way is there? I could really use some advice. Should I let this go to keep the peace in the family, or should I make her face the music for what she did to my car, and my career opportunity?

Because right now all I want is justice, even if it rocks the boat. Update 1. The majority of you made it clear that I wasn't overreacting and that I needed to hold Anna accountable. So I went ahead and filed a police report against Anna for vandalism and destruction of property. As part of that, I also contacted my car insurance. They sent an adjuster out to look at the damage, and it turns out it will cost around $4,000 to fix and repaint both sides of my car. Because the scratches are so deep, they basically have to repaint from the front fender all the way to the back on both the driver and passenger side so it matches and there's no visible line. Even then, I'm worried it won't ever be quite the same as the factory paint job, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

Anyway, my insurance will cover it, but I have a $500 deductible I have to pay out of pocket. So not only did she mess up my week in my car, she also literally cost me money. Now, one of my neighbors has a security camera on the outside of his garage that happens to partially cover the street in front of our homes. I went door to door asking if anyone saw anything, and this neighbor was super helpful, he checked his footage from that night. Lo and behold, at around 3 a.m., you can clearly see Anna's car pull up near my house with the headlights off. In the grainy black and white night vision footage, there's a figure who as hell looks like Anna getting out, walking up to my BMW, and spending a good few minutes doing something along the sides. The motion-activated camera caught the whole thing.

It's not the clearest video ever, but you can plainly see her face when she turns toward the street lamp at one point. Plus, who else would do this, exactly two days after that blow-up? I decided it was time to confront her. I called up my brother and told him I needed to come over to their place that evening to talk about something important. He sounded a bit uneasy, I'm sure he had an idea what it might be about, but he agreed. I headed over there with the USB drive containing the video and some photo stills I had printed out from the footage. When I arrived, Anna actually looked a bit anxious. Maybe she sensed what was coming. My brother was sitting on the couch kind of fidgeting. I told them straight up, my car was vandalized and I have reason to

believe Anna did it. She immediately went on the defensive, like what are you talking about? You're crazy. She was almost sneering at me, acting like I was making up some story to frame her. So I pulled out the evidence. I showed my brother the photos from the security cam. and then played the video on their TV. I had it on a USB which he plugged into their smart TV. As soon as the footage started playing and Anna realized what it was,

her entire demeanor changed. She started screaming, That's not me. That's not me. This is fake. She started literally shrieking that I was a liar and that I must have edited the video to look like her. It was absurd.

Meanwhile, my brother watched in stone cold silence. I could tell from his face that he knew the truth. He recognized her and her car clearly. He just looked more and more angry and disappointed as the video went on. When it finished, all hell broke loose between them. My brother turned to Anna and just unloaded. He yelled something like, how could you do this? To my own brother. And she started crying and yelling back at him that it was my fault for not lending her the car in the first place. She actually said something like, if he had just let me borrow it, none of this would have happened. Which? Wow. I stayed out of their screaming match and just let them have it.

At one point she lunged at me and told me to get out of her house, but my brother stopped her and told her to go to the other room. I'd never seen him so furious. He told me quietly that he was sorry and he asked if I needed anything from him. I told him I'd already filed a police report and given the cops the video, and that I expected him and Anna to cover the $500 deductible at the very least. He said he understood. After I got home, I was still so angry, especially at Anna's wild denial and lack of any apology, that I decided to post the security cam video on my personal Facebook. In hindsight, that might have been a bit of a nuclear move, but I was fuming and wanted to expose what she had done. I wrote something along the lines of, remember that time I wouldn't

lend someone my car and they keyed asshole into it. Well, here's the security footage of them doing it at 3 a.m. It was cathartic to hit post, I'll admit. I have a lot of mutual friends and family on Facebook, including my brother and sister-in-law. So plenty of people have now seen what she did. I'm not sure if that was wise, but I was just too angry to care about. about sparing her embarrassment at that point. She earned it. Update 2. It's been only a few days since my last update, but the fallout has been nuclear for Anna. To be honest, I did not expect things to escalate this quickly or dramatically. First, my brother has officially called off the engagement. The very day after I showed him the video, and after he had that huge fight

with Anna, he contacted me and told me he had been up all night thinking. He apologized apologized profusely for what I went through and for Anna's behavior. He said he couldn't marry someone who would do something so malicious to his own family. Apparently, seeing that video and her reaction flipped a switch for him. He told me it made him reflect on other red flags he'd been ignoring. Looking back, he realized this vandalism was part of a pattern of destructive behavior from Anna that he'd been making excuses for. For example, he confided that a few months ago, during a nasty argument,

argument, she actually smashed a mirror in their apartment and then tried to downplay it as an accident. There were other incidents too, like how she would throw things when angry. He admitted he always cleaned up her messes and smoothed things over, hoping it was just stress or that she'd mature out of it. But the incident with my car was the last straw. He gave her the ring back, or rather, he threw it, as he described, not sure if he meant literally threw it at her, but it sounds like it got heated. He told her the wedding was off and that he couldn't be with someone who could lie without remorse. Of course, canceling the wedding has its own set of consequences. They had a date picked for later this year with the dream venue that Anna has been gushing

about since forever. That venue had a hefty deposit, which is now basically down the drain. Same with several other vendor deposits, photographer, caterer, etc., that were already booked. She's losing out on all of that. I have no idea how much money that totals up to, but knowing the kind of lavish wedding she was planning, it's not cheap. From what I heard, my mom and some friends filled me in. Anna is devastated about the wedding being called off, not just emotionally but also because of the embarrassment and financial loss. Frankly, I have a hard time mustering sympathy for her at this point. On the legal side of things, the police have followed through with.

my report. They've officially charged Anna with criminal vandalism, the detective I spoke with given the damage estimate. It's classified as vandalism in the second degree, which is a pretty serious charge. Two days after I filed the report, officers showed up at Anna's workplace and arrested her. I didn't witness it firsthand, but my brother told me, and a couple of Anna's now former friends gleefully confirmed via messages that she was let out in handcuffs from her office. Apparently she was absolutely mortified and screaming at the officers that she didn't do anything, that I'm a liar, etc., as they read her the rights in front of her co-workers. I can't say I wanted her to be humiliated, but I also can't say I'm upset that it happened.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right? After her arrest, my brother packed up and moved out of their shared apartment. He's temporarily staying with our parents while he sorts out his next steps. He's understandably pretty depressed and angry, but he says he's also relieved to have dodged a bullet by not marrying my parents or being very supportive of him. They saw the evidence and know how bad things got. There's no question in anyone's mind that Anna is in the wrong here. As for Anna, well, she's been blowing up my phone with texts, she must be out on bail now. The messages started off with her begging me to talk to my brother and fix this and calling me every name under the son and mom.

Now they've escalated to full-on threats. She's saying I ruined her life and that she'll make me pay for it. One of her texts literally said, you have no idea who you're messing with. I'll make you wish you were never born you fing piece of shit. Yeah. Lovely stuff. Needless to say, I am keeping all these messages and have already forwarded them to the police. I also spoke to a lawyer and filed for a restraining order against her.

I'm not taking any chances, because if she was willing to key my car and then try to retaliate by threats, who knows what else she might do. Better to have official documentation and protection in place. So, that's where things stand. My brother is done with her, the wedding is off, she's facing criminal charges, and she's lashing out at me with all she has left. It's been a lot, to put it mildly. Update 3.

I genuinely hoped nothing more would happen, but things took an even more insane turn last night. I'm still pretty shaken up as I write this. Around 1 a.m., my home security alarm went off, jolting my wife and me awake. At first, I thought maybe it was a false alarm or our cat tripping a sensor, but then I heard a loud banging toward the back of the house. I immediately grabbed my phone and pulled up the live feed of our backyard security camera. Yes, after everything, I made sure to install cameras around my house. To my absolute horror, the camera view showed Anna in my backyard, at my back door, with what looked like a crowbar in her hand.

My heart just about leapt out of my throat. She was trying to break into my house. I could see her prying at the door frame, trying to get the back door open. The alarm was blaring, but she seemed beyond rational thought at this point. My wife was freaking out, and I told her to lock herself in the bedroom and call 911 while I stayed on the line with the alarm company who had already detected a break-in. I was yelling through the door that the police were on their way, hoping maybe that would scare her off, but she kept slamming the crowbar into the door handle, trying to force it. The police arrived in what must have been only a few minutes, but felt like an eternity. I watched on the camera as officers with flashlights and guns drawn approached her.

They shouted at her to drop the weapon. She screamed back something unintelligible, I could only catch some of it through the door and the camera audio. She was yelling about how I deserve this and how I ruined her life. Even as the cops were cuffing her, she was screaming that I deserved to have my house robbed after what I did to her. It was bonkers. She was taken away literally kicking and screaming in the patrol car.

I gave the police my security camera footage and a statement. They told me she would be charged with attempted breaking and entering, among other things. And, since I had that restraining order in place, this was also a clear violation of that, which does not look good for her. This is now a whole new level of legal trouble for Anna. We're talking felony charges that could potentially mean real prison time. I don't know what her plan was if she had succeeded in getting inside, and I don't really want to think about it, but the fact that she came to my property in the middle of the night

with a crowbar shows how unhinged and dangerous she's become. To say my brother is done with her would be an understatement. I spoke with him after everything happened, he came over to check on us as soon as he heard. He was absolutely horrified. He kept apologizing to me, and he said he never in a million years thought she was capable of going this far. He couldn't even bring himself to say her name,

he just referred to her as that woman. I've never seen him so angry and upset. set. My whole family is pretty much in shock that this is the same person we once welcomed in as a future in-law. On a slightly positive note amidst this chaos, my car is finally getting taken care of. The insurance company had been waiting on the police investigation to wrap up, and now that Anna was actually convicted for the vandalism, she ended up pleading guilty when faced with the evidence. I heard, they've processed my claim fully. My BMW is in the shop getting the full repair and repainted needs, and I got a rental car covered in the meantime.

The best part is, because she was found legally responsible, my insurance says I'm not on the hook for the deductible anymore, essentially, they're going to get that money from her, or her insurance, if she has vandalism coverage, which I doubt. In addition, a judge ordered that she pay me back the $500 deductible I initially paid, plus cover any court fees related to the case. The judge also issued warning that if she so much as tries to contact me or come near me again, she'll be thrown in jail immediately. Given last night's events, I suspect she'll be in jail for a while anyway, at least until a bail hearing for the new charges. I'm still kind of in disbelief that all of this has happened just because I refused to lend out my car. It's like every step of the way,

and I chose the absolute worst possible option for herself. I'm just extremely grateful that my wife and I are safe, and that the police arrived in time to prevent anything worse. Update 4. I'm back with what will likely be the final update on this whole ordeal. It's been a little while since the break-in incident, and we've now gone through the legal process to its conclusion. The outcome, Anna, or I should probably just say my ex-sister-in-law at this point, managed to avoid jail time by agreeing to a plea deal. She was sentenced to probation, a number of months under supervision, and mandatory anger management counseling, and she has to pay me a total of $4,500 in restitution. That figure covers the damage to my car,

the repaint job, my $500 insurance deductible, and the various court fees and legal expenses I had to deal with. The judge was very clear that if she violates any terms of her probation, which include no contact with me then she will go straight to jail. So basically, she's getting one chance to straighten up, and if she messes up again, it's game over. In the aftermath of all this, Anna's life has pretty much imploded. She ended up losing her job. I'm not privy to all the details, but I suspect it had to do with her needing time off for court dates and the fact that her arrest slash mugshot became public record. She worked in a somewhat upscale company, and I guess once word got around that she was now a convicted vandal, and had been arrested at work,

no less, they decided to let her go. So, at age 32, she had to move back in with her parents because she can't afford her rent without my brother's income and with her now being unemployed. My brother had already removed himself from that lease right after the breakup, so she was solely responsible for it. I'm not sure what came of the apartment, she might have broken the lease or been evicted by now. Either way, she's out of that place and back in her childhood bedroom, from what I hear. As for my brother, he's doing a lot better now. It was rough for him at first, I mean, finding out the person you loved and wanted to marry is capable of all this as a hard pill to swallow. But with time, and some therapy that he wisely decided to get, he started to

heal and focus on himself. He's still staying with my parents, but he's making plans to get his own place again soon. He's expressed a lot of gratitude that I stood my ground, as painful as it was, because it revealed the truth about Anna before he made the mistake of marrying her. My wife admitted to me at one point that she initially wished I'd just let it go to avoid drama, but after seeing how far things went, she's 100% in agreement that pursuing consequences was the right call. She told me she's sorry for ever doubting my decision, especially given how things escalated. We both sleep easier now knowing that Anna is being monitored and can't harass us anymore. We also upgraded our home security even further, just for our own peace of

mind. As for me, I'm doing okay. My car is back from the shop and looks as good as new, honestly, the body shop did an amazing job, you'd never know anything happened. That big contract I was worried about. I ended up landing it, D.