Reddit Stories - SHATTERED by Family_ When GUARDIANS Cancelled My Joy for Sibling's HEARTBREAK_

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #familydrama #guardians #siblingrivalry #heartbreak #emotionalrollercoasterSummary:In a tale of family dynamics, a Redditor recounts feeling shattered when their joy was canceled by their guardians in favor of their sibling's heartbreak. It's a poignant story of emotional turmoil and conflicting loyalties within a family unit.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, familydrama, guardians, siblingrivalry, heartbreak, emotionalrollercoasterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Guardians called off my celebration of commitment due to my sibling experiencing a separation, causing me to feel downhearted. However, my relative supported me and presented me with a gift that brought joy to my entire family. Furious at me.

Two weeks ago, my boyfriend of five years Caleb, 27M, proposed to me, 27F, and I said yes. When we told our families about it, they were obviously overjoyed, and my parents told me that they were going to throw an engagement party for us. But a few days ago, they just canceled the party without even consulting me first because my sister, Penelope 25F, was going through a breakup. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have had any issues paying for my own engagement party and hosting it myself, but my parents had promised something to me and they ended up not delivering on those promises and that's why I was upset.

If they had at least spoken to me before canceling everything, would have been more understanding, but what they did was just weird. They just called me up and informed me that Penelope and her boyfriend had broken up a day before my parents had decided that it would be best to avoid even talking about the wedding in front of her until she was in a relationship again because she was pretty much devastated. And so, hosting an engagement party for us was out of the question. The party was supposed to be happening yesterday and the invitations had already gone out a week ago, but none of that ended up happening because my parents had already cancelled everything without

even speaking to me and I was very upset with them. It might have been insensitive of me if Penelope had been with her boyfriend for a really long time, but they had only been dating for eight months and she was kind of serious about him, but I don't think it's my fault that he wasn't. And the crazy thing was that the reason they had broken up was because Penelope had asked married to her any time soon. After learning that I was engaged, that would have been a bit too much for any guy to handle and I really can't even blame him for making a run for it because Penelope was taking things a little

too fast for his taste and he had asked her to slow down several times, but she just didn't seem ready to listen to him. So I can't say that the breakup was his fault. Penelope should have used her common sense as well and it seemed unfair for our parents to cancel my engagement party because of something stupid like this. I had told them that what they had done was not fair and I had even referred to their reasons as stupid and petty, which made all of them pretty mad and we got into a fight and since then, we haven't been on speaking terms. I had provided a guest list to my parents for the invitations, but I ended up having to email them all myself and tell them that the party had been postponed indefinitely because I knew that I was definitely going to have that party.

I just didn't know when since now I would have to plan it all over again by myself. However, there was one person that all of us missed since neither of my parents invited them and nor did I and actually happen to be quite lucky for me because now, my family is regretting everything. The person that we missed was actually my aunt, my dad's older sister, since she pretty much lives off the grid. She has no social media and she only uses her email for official or formal work, never for personal use. So if somebody has to reach her, they have to call her like in old times, and even when we had to send her an invitation, we had to mail it to her physically and then call to confirm. But after we got into a fight and stuff, both my parents and I forgot to

disinvite her and she ended up showing up at my parents' house yesterday. And that was not good news for my parents because she's quite strict and most importantly, she has a huge inheritance that my dad had been hoping to get his hands on. My father, 51M, is the youngest of three siblings, my aunt being the oldest, 62F, and I had an uncle in the middle, but he passed away a couple of years back. My aunt used to dote on my father because he was the youngest and also because by the time he was born, my grandparents were in their late 30s and let's just say that my dad was not exactly an unexpected pregnancy, so his parents were not able to give him the kind of attention that he required. That's where my aunt stepped in and she was the one person who had always been there forever

since he was little. After they grew up, she never got married or had a family of her own, but she had made a lot of money while she had been working, and even now, she was running her own business. So my dad had been hoping to inherit all of that when she passed away. It was something that my aunt had even discussed with my dad and he knew that if she had to name somebody as her heir, it would be him. But now, all of that's been thrown into jeopardy and that's because they decided to be honest with her about why the party had been cancelled when she showed up at the house last evening. My parents had obviously expected everyone to believe that what they had done was quite reasonable and understandable, but like most normal people, my aunt called them out and told

them that she couldn't believe that they would treat me like this. Then, she decided to come over to my place and I obviously welcomed her with open arms because she and I get along really well, and even though we don't really get to speak often, we only talk whenever I call her up to check up on her. It's always great to talk to her. When she came over, I hadn't actually planned on telling her anything about the fallout that I had with my parents, but she was the one who brought it up and she told me that what had happened, I shouldn't invite them to any of my wedding events since they clearly don't respect me. I was a little shocked by that because all my life, I had only seen her getting along great with my dad, but last night, she seemed very upset. Then I asked her

what was going on since it felt like there was something much deeper than the issue at hand. So she told me that being the older sibling, she had had to sacrifice a lot and her parents had never appreciated it because they believed that as the older sibling, it was her duty to make sure that she put her brothers before herself. And that's what she had believed her entire life, but now, she regrets not taking out enough time for herself because she realized that most of the time, it's only her trying to talk to my dad, but he never reaches out to her by himself unless he needs her help for something. She has tried to comfort herself by telling herself that he has a family to care for, so he can't obviously take out as much time for her as she can take out

for him, but even then, it still feels bad. And I totally understand where she's coming from because I think that my dad doesn't speak to her or visit her as often as he should. Also, both my sister and I are grown-ups now and I don't think he can use his family as an excuse because we are doing pretty well on our own. My aunt also told me that when she was younger, and when her parents were still around, even they had a favorite golden child and it was not her or my dad, it was the middle child. Her younger brother was their favorite because she was her. Her younger brother was their favorite, he was a boy and it could have just as easily been my father too, but he was too young at the time. All her life, she has felt like she's been dealt the short end of the straw by both her parents

and her siblings and now, she felt like it was her duty to tell me that I shouldn't make the same mistakes and I shouldn't take the same kind of disrespect like she did. Because once I start forgiving people just because their family, they start to take advantage of it, and eventually, it reaches a point where you can't go back from. And while she was talking about all of this, I really felt it because that's what I had been about to do as well, but after that conversation with her, I decided to take her advice. All cards on the table, I'd actually thought that by the time that my wedding actually came around, I would have been able to make it right with my family again. I didn't know how, I guess I'd just assumed that they would apologize to me and if they didn't,

I would just let it go because I really wanted them to be present at my wedding. But after speaking to my aunt, I realized that I wasn't fine with what they had done and I needed them to acknowledge and apologize for it. Until that happened, I wasn't interested in having them be a part of my life. And I definitely did not want to end up as a dormant for my family, and invite them to my wedding, regardless of how they had behaved with me. So after my aunt's visit last night, I decided to send a message to my parents in Penelope and tell them that until they acknowledged and apologized for their behavior, I was not interested in having them be a part of my wedding in any capacity and I would appreciate it if they stayed away.

This morning, after I sent that message, I told my aunt that I had set a boundary and she told me that she really was proud of me and hoped that I would be able to fix the situation with my family eventually. But until then, I need to stand my ground and not let them walk all over me. She had spent the night here, since she lives quite far away, and I didn't want her driving back home last evening. So this morning, when we spoke, it was in person and after that, she left and she also told me how disappointed she was that after she had scolded her brother last night. He didn't even

bother to call her to make amends with her and I could really understand that both of us were very upset with our families. And then, a few hours back, my dad showed up at my door to ask me if my aunt was still here or not and I had to tell him that she had already left in the morning and she had been very disappointed that he hadn't even bothered to call to talk to her and try to mend things after fighting with her last night. All of a sudden, when I said that, he flared up and he started screaming at me from outside the door and told me that this was all my fault and that he was sure that I was the one who had instigated my aunt against him because just now, she had called him and told him that given his recent behavior.

She had changed her mind about including him in her will and had decided that she was going to leave everything to me instead. It was a huge deal because, as I said, the inheritance that she was going to be leaving is pretty massive and my dad had always expected that it would come to him, but now, he was being disappointed because of his own behavior with her. I lost my phone at him as well, and I told him that he had no right to yell at me, especially when it was his own behavior with her that had led to this situation. If he had just had the decency to at least try and speak to his sister after she left his house last night, then maybe this wouldn't have happened at all.

I didn't even tell him that he had to apologize to me, all he had to do was talk to my aunt. But he couldn't even be bothered to do that much. Even today, the only reason he had come all the way to my house was because my aunt had sent him a message saying that she would disown him and not because he actually cared about her as a person. I told him that he deserved this and for the past many years, everyone had noticed that it was always she who had tried to keep in touch with him, and he had barely cared about her so now he has no right to complain. And he also didn't have any right to try and make me the bad guy here, especially after what my parents had done with the whole cancellation of the engagement party

and stuff. I told him that I didn't have to say anything to my aunt to turn her against them. She was already pretty upset with them when she came by and in fact, it was she who told me not to have any ties with them until they apologized. So, I didn't really have to try and badmouth them to make them look like the bad guys to my aunt. They had done that job well enough themselves. My father seemed quite surprised when I told him about all of this, and his initial instinct was obviously to accuse me of lying because it was just impossible for him to believe that his dear sister would ever say anything against him, but he had screwed things.

up for himself, but his behavior, so I had nothing else to say to him. I told him to leave, but instead of just going away, he started crying on my doorstep and told me that I had turned the only family he had against him. He seemed genuinely upset, and he told me that what he had done with regards to canceling the party and stuff was not even as bad as what I had done and told me that if my aunt seemed upset with him, the least I could have done was try to contact him and told him to come over so we could all sort things out as a family. I had never heard my father crying the way that he was this morning and I haven't been able to get it out of my head, even though he left after a couple of minutes.

And now I feel guilty because I feel like a lot of problems would have just been solved if I contacted him last evening, and we all sat together as a family and tried to clear the air, but instead, I just vented to my aunt I cheated the same. I guess that made us more bitter or something but again, I don't really see anything wrong with what I did, but I still feel guilty. My fiancé doesn't think that we did anything wrong, but I still want to be. want to get a second opinion. So I'd offer not calling my father over so he could sort things out with my aunt and I? Edit, so my parents haven't always had a favorite and honestly, they were

very different up until a few years back. The reason that I had even bothered to have a relationship with my parents for so long is because growing up, they were very different, and right now, they're very different. Growing up, my sister and I were always treated equally and Penelope did not get preferential treatment just because she was younger. It's only recently that things have started changing and I was scared of giving up on my parents so quickly because after all, family is all that you have and I was under the impression that is just a phase and they are going to go back to treating us normally again. Now, obviously, that seems a bit unlikely.

But yes, my relationship with my parents earlier had been pretty normal and that's why I'd even agreed to let them host an engagement party for me. As for why they have started treating us differently now, for the past couple of years, I don't really know. If I had to pinpoint it, I guess it started around the time that Penelope graduated from college. But because COVID hit, she was unable to get a job and she was pretty depressed for a whole year and there were days when she wasn't even able to get out of bed. At the time, she had been living with our parents and I had been staying with my boyfriend.

And because of the quarantine and everything, we couldn't even see each other that often and had to stick to video calls. But I guess that made my parents a little softer towards Penelope because she's obviously a lot more fragile than I am but I think they forgot that they have two daughters and both of us need them equally to be there for us. It's not just her that has to be taken care of. It's a bit disappointing, but it's not like I can help the situation. And even my relationship with Penelope has been affected because of this because I guess she has started to think of herself as more important than me, just because our parents treat her like that. Earlier, we used to be a lot of her. We used to

to have a normal sibling relationship, and yes, we did have a certain degree of sibling rivalry, but it was nothing out of hand. Recently, though, she has started becoming a lot more of a brat and it's just upsetting. I had managed to ignore this change for the past couple of years, but now, I don't think I can do that. Update 1, so thank you so much for reaching out to me with all the comments and advice, I have decided that I don't have to get in touch with my dad or apologize to him or whatever. I don't know why he thinks. thought that I owed it to him to contact him and try to say things right with him when my aunt came over to speak to me because he had the opportunity to do it himself because before she

came over to my place, she had been there with them. And he could have just acknowledged the fact that he had made a mistake and apologized to me and cleared with her, but he chose not to do that and stuck to his decision of acting as if whatever he had done was perfectly justified. So for him to try and blame me for the situation right now is just ridiculous. And it's been a couple of days now, but earlier, it had only been my father who had shown up at my door and had been blaming me for whatever had happened. But now, both my parents and Penelope are accusing me of sabotaging his relationship with his sister on purpose and brainwashing her against him. Luckily, they haven't shown up at my doorstep yet, but I don't

think there's anything stopping them for long. It's also very upsetting because my dad knows the truth and my dad knows that I didn't say anything to turn my aunt against them. She was already quite miffed with them when she came over. She herself had said to him on the phone call that it was his behavior that had upset her, and I didn't have anything to do with it. But still, they're trying to make this all about me and make me look like the bad guy who is out for revenge. It's just petty and I know that they are doing this to get on my nerves and they are succeeding.

I have even blocked them. But even then, they have found ways to enumption. annoy me by using burner phones and social media accounts. At this point, I don't even know what they want from me because I don't think an apology is what they need. I have spoken to Caleb about it, and he thinks that my parents want me to speak to my aunt and try and make things right with them and until that happens, they're just going to try and keep getting on my nerves. And I think he's right, but there is no way that I'm going to contact my aunt and tell to speak to these people because I don't want to do it myself so why would I want her in that position?

I guess I'm just going to have to tough it out and deal with it until they give up. And I'm fine with it, as long as they stay away from me and don't show up in person now. Update 2. So since harassing me on social media wasn't going to cut it, my family decided that they were going to go public with their hate against me and started recruiting people. Apparently, from what I have learned from a couple of relatives, they have been sending messages to and telling them that I invite them to any event in the future, they must hateful and petty person and I have brainwashed my aunt against them by feeding her a bunch of lies.

They have been telling people that my parents had kindly and politely requested me to postpone the engagement party because my sister had just been through a terrible breakup, but instead of respecting their wishes, I decided to go through with the party anyway, but since my parents did not want that. They had decided to tell me that if I wanted to have the party, then I would have to fund it myself. And apparently, I threw a hissy fit over that and then I called my aunt to come over and then I started brainwashing her against my dad and now, not even my aunt is willing to speak to him anymore. Obviously that paints me in a very bad light,

especially given the fact that they were making it seem like I had asked them to pay for my engagement party in the first place, but I hadn't. They are the ones who had offered it. So I spent the last couple of days clarifying and telling everyone the truth. Every time somebody was reaching out to me to confirm the story. It got tiring after a while, so I did. decided to put out a statement on my social media account as well because I didn't want to have to constantly clear the air with other people. And so far, I had been trying to avoid contacting

my aunt and telling her about any of this because she doesn't really have any social media and I know that she likes staying away from all of this. But I felt like things were getting to a point where it was becoming too much for me to handle. So I had to reach out to her and I had to tell her what was going on. So she could take a stand for me as well and tell people that I hadn't done any brainwashing. It was her own decision to cut my dad out of her life because he was the one who did not respect her. After speaking to my aunt and letting her know what was going on, she told me that she was going to speak to my father and tell him that what he was doing was just going to make her push him even farther away. She also told me not to worry, and that she would make a profile on

Facebook specifically for this purpose if that's what it took. But she was going to make sure that everyone in the family knew that it was not me who had created the situation, but it had been my father. That made me feel loads better and she stayed true to her word and created an account on Facebook specifically so she could upload a video talking about what had happened and everyone in the family saw that. After watching that, people started reaching out to me and telling me that they were definitely on my side here and were going to cut my father out of their lives because whatever was going on with him was not nice or acceptable. Having issues with me was one thing but publicizing them and trying to make it seem like I was the bad guy here was another

and nobody in the family was going to stand for it and I'm pretty happy that I have a family like this, who have a spine and are ready to take stand for me when it is necessary. My dad had always been well-liked by everyone, so I had actually initially been very skeptical if people would even be willing to believe my side of the story. But I'm glad that people are willing to stand by what's right. My family has had nothing to say about any of this and a couple of hours ago, I started hearing from people that all of them had deactivated their accounts, probably because they thought that being active on any social media would make them answerable to their family. I don't care about any of it. I'm just happy that my side of the story is out

and nobody can accuse me of being the villain anymore. And even if people want to do so even now, it's their problem and not mine. I have said whatever I had to say and now, I'm not willing to deal with this anymore because I have a wedding to plan and I'm not going to waste my energy on petty stuff like this. Caleb and I have had a discussion about this and in a couple of days, we are going to take down all the posts that we had put up in relation to this because now that everything's out in the open, it's not important to us anymore. My aunt has also told me that she's going to delete the account that she has created in a couple of days because this really isn't that important and all of us want the negativity out of our lives now. She told me that after this,

even if my family tried to get back in touch with me, whether to fight or to apologize, I should just let it go and not speak to them, and it would be for the best. And I couldn't agree more. Update 3, Hi, Guys. So I'm getting married in a couple of weeks and I recently sent out the invitations to my wedding. Obviously, my parents and my sister did not receive one because after we had our falling out, they never bothered to reach out to me to try and make things right and honestly, even if they had tried. I don't think I would have been open to it because they had tried to spread some nasty rumors about me in the family to make me look like the bad guy and all that drama had happened.

After that, pretty much everyone in the family had stopped speaking to my parents and Penelope and they reactivated their accounts a couple of days after everything had died down and even tried to start the hate campaign against me, but nobody was falling for it anymore. Since that, things have mostly stayed quiet and I'm very glad about it because I've been very busy planning my wedding. To be honest, I hadn't even been thinking about my family for the past couple of months, and it only occurred to me that I haven't spoken to them for so long because the invitations were sent out recently, and I realized that I hadn't sent any to my parents or Penelope and it felt weird but there's nothing that I can do. Over the past couple of months, my aunt and I have become a lot closer and I decided to speak to her about how I was feeling and she told me that it was perfectly normal for me to feel

like I was missing out on something because I actually was. I was going to miss out on the experience of having my family beside me while I was getting married and it was perfectly fine for me to feel bad about it. But the only thing that I needed to remember was that my family had not exactly treated me well and that's why they were not going to be there at the wedding and it was quite effective for me to think of that way. So I wouldn't say that I don't care that my family is not going to be there on my wedding day. I do care but it's not like I can help this situation so the only thing that I can do is just deal with it. And regardless of that, I'm still going to have a lot of people by my side, who actually care about me, like Caleb and my aunt and other family

members. So I know that no matter what, it's going to be a success.