Reddit Stories - The AUDACIOUS WEDDING Gift Demand_ When Wealth and BOUNDARIES Collide_

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #weddingdrama #familyconflict #entitledbehavior #wealthvsboundaries  Summary: A tale of an audacious wedding gift demand causing turmoil when wealth and boundaries clash, sparking family conflict and questions of entitlement.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, weddingdrama, familyconflict, wealth, boundaries, audaciousbehavior, giftetiquette, relationshipadvice, drama, socialissues, etiquette, entitlement, wealthdisputes, familydynamics, moneyissues, controversialtopics, societalnormsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Sibling and his recent spouse requested $25,000 in wedding presents because I am wealthy and unattached. When I declined, they offended me, so I evicted them from my residence. Context, I'm 34F, my younger brother Frank, 27M, has been dating Vanessa, 25F, for the past few years and we got along just fine until recently. They got engaged a couple of weeks ago and decided that they were going to have a really small intimate wedding which wasn't going to require a lot of planning, so they invited just their

families and a couple of friends. I was happy for them, but at the engagement party two weeks ago, Vanessa singled me out and said that she had to speak to me in private. And she told me that since they were having a small wedding and inviting just a handful of people, they also wanted to speak to the guests about the wedding gifts because they wanted it to be practical. They had already made it very clear that they only wanted money and I didn't mind it, even though I thought it was a bit too on the nose. But when Vanessa first spoke to me in private, she told me that everybody else could give them whatever they wanted, but for me, they had a special request and she demanded $25,000 from me as their wedding gift. I thought it was a joke because there was no way I was going to

write a check for that kind of money under any circumstances, and I thought it was ridiculous for her to even ask. But she explained that she and my brother had spoken about it and since I had my own business, and I made the most amount of money out of all the people that they knew, they thought it was pretty valid for them to ask me for this kind of money. It's true that I do make a lot of money from my jewelry business, but that doesn't mean that I have to throw so much of it away on them. I flat out refused to entertain that request and I told him that I would cut a check for the amount that I thought was appropriate for a wedding gift, $25,000 was simply out of the question. But then, she started arguing with me and told me that I was

being stingy and insensitive because they really needed the money. They were planning on starting their own business venture and they were going to use that as seed money and given the fact that I didn't have any husband or it's not like I needed that money all to myself. I made more than what I needed for myself, so the least I could do was contribute to the family. I thought she was being ridiculous and I was exasperated, so I told her that I was not willing to even dignify that with the discussion because she was seriously overstepping her boundaries. And then, she was, she was She told me that if I was not going to write a check for the amount of money that she had requested then I had better not show up at the wedding at all because it was clear that I was not willing to help.

After she said that, I walked out of the party but I didn't make a big deal out of it because I didn't want to discuss this with anyone else since I knew that it would only lead to another fight. And I was really not in the mood, so I just went home after telling everyone that I had a headache and as soon as I got home, I called my brother up and I told him everything that had said, and to my surprise, he had apparently been in on the whole thing and sided with Vanessa. He told me that being my only younger sibling, he felt like this was the least I could do for him now that he was going to start a new chapter in his life and both of them were planning on quitting their jobs and they needed this kind of money. So by refusing, I was being pretty selfish.

When he said that, I just hung up on him because I was so disgusted. But it didn't end there, after that day, the two of them started pestering me and Vanessa even wrote me a message throwing Frank under the bus completely, saying that he only worked a petty job right now and even she was getting tired of her dead-end job. So they desperately needed the money to start their own business and my decision to decline was incredibly selfish. For context, Frank works in sales and Vanessa is a data analyst in the same company. She earns slightly more than he does, but they still earn significantly less than me. That's their own problem, though, I don't understand why they expect me to be so charitable towards them, especially given the fact that I think I've already been doing

enough for them. In the past couple of years, since their company has taken a financial hit due to the pandemic, I've had to help them out with money several times and I've done it without any complaints. I've never even asked for the money back because it's my brother after all and so far, we have had a good relationship, but that's the most that I can do. I don't think that I need to give in to all their whims and fancies, especially this one, because I feel like I have to put my foot down at some point. And most importantly, I've also been allowing them to live rent-free in an apartment that actually belongs to me.

They moved in several years ago, so I guess they might have forgotten about it, but I haven't and a couple of days ago, I decided that I had had enough and I needed to evict them. It wasn't going to be a problem because they had been living there without paying any rent. There was no written agreement as such, and honestly, I didn't even care anymore, I just wanted them out because I felt like they were stepping on me at this point and I absolutely couldn't let that slide. Yesterday, they got married and obviously did not attend, but what really annoyed me was the condescending and entitled email that they sent to me the night before the wedding. They couldn't find any other way to contact me since I had already blocked both of them

everywhere, so they had to make do with an email. But whatever they had said was really horrible. They had said that I was a selfish and narcissistic person who didn't care about anybody apart from herself and that's why I don't have a husband or any kids. Just to clarify, that's a personal choice, I'm not interested in getting married or having kids right now and I don't think I'll ever be. I'm not ashamed of it but for them to bring it up and make me look like the bad guy and use that against me, it was just low, especially when I have done so much for them in the past. They also said that it was very clear to them that I did not care about my family as much as I cared about my money and they told me that they had lost all respect for me.

Then went on to call me some more names. I don't know why, but that email really triggered me and that's why. While they were getting married, I decided to go to the apartment and had the locks changed. I know it's not legal, but I also know that they can't exactly come after me with a lawyer because even that's going to require money, so good luck to them. They found out about it today since they spent last night in a fancy hotel nearby where they had their celebration with dinner and stuff. I knew about that, I was supposed to be a part of it, but of course, I didn't end up there. Anyway, they came back home today, they were furious and immediately decided to make their

way to my place because they knew that I was the only person who could have done something like this. But I refused to let them in, even when Frank started crying and accusing me of ruining his time as a newlywed. I just told him that if they really wanted to have that apartment, they probably would have been grateful to the owner. But they were not, they had insulted and disrespected me over and over again, just because I was not willing to bend over backward for them. So now, they would just have to deal with this. And if they didn't like it, they could take it up with the lawyer and so would I. I guess Vanessa realized that there was no talking to me,

so she just told me that she didn't want to move back into the apartment. But I would at least have to unlock it so they could collect their things and find another place to live now. That seemed reasonable enough, so I drove to their place. They drove separately and I unlocked the apartment so they could start gathering their things. It took them a while to find enough boxes, but I made it very clear that they would have to clear out today itself. Frank kept trying to argue with me throughout the process, but Vanessa did not even acknowledge my existence and within three hours. they were all packed up. The apartment was already pre-furnished for the most part, and whatever they had purchased with their own money, I promised them that I would arrange for it to be moved

into the next apartment myself. And then, they finally left, and I locked the apartment once again. That's how they spent their first day as husband and wife and I was pretty satisfied with myself until a couple of hours ago when my parents called me and told me that what I had done was completely unnecessary. They said that Frank and Vanessa had shown up at their place with all their stuff, crying and it was very obvious that they were quite distressed. It's not like my family didn't already know about the situation. I had told them about it the day after the engagement party itself, but they had said that they were going to stay out of it because we were grownups, we could sort it out amongst ourselves and I thought it was fair enough. But now, all of a sudden,

they thought it was time to interfere and I didn't think that was cool. So I was very upset with with them, and I told my parents that I didn't think it was fair for them to be meddling right now, especially when they had chosen not to say anything before. However, they told me that before this, the situation was not that bad, but after what I had done, it had completely gotten out of control and they had felt the need to step in because what I had done was just not cool. I told them about the email and tried to explain myself and how upset I had been by the way I was being treated, but even then, my parents maintained that my behavior was acceptable and that there were several better ways to go about it. Because if I wanted

them out so bad, I could have just spoken to a lawyer, gone about it the legal way, given them time to vacate the place, and just handled it better. But instead, I chose to be vindictive and completely ruined their first day as husband and wife. And now, after speaking to my parents, I'm wondering if I actually did the right thing or not because the way they put it, I do feel like I might have been a little too harsh. So Ida for kicking my brother and his wife out of my apartment a day after they got married? Edit. Okay, so the apartment situation is a bit complicated. It was actually the first apartment that I had lived in independently, so it was kind of special to me. When I started making a decent amount of money, first I bought the house that I'm living in right now.

And then, about two years later, when I heard that my old landlord was selling that apartment, I decided to buy it from him and it didn't even cost that much because it's a relatively small apartment and there was a lot of repair work to be done. So I got it for cheap and then I did everything that had to be done. In the meantime, Frank came to me and told me that he needed a place to crash for a while because he and Vanessa were getting serious and they wanted to move in together, but at the time, Frank still stayed with our parents. So he asked me if they could move into my apartment and since I was not using it, I told them that they could, because I thought that they would probably use it for a couple of months and then, they would find a place of their own. But they went to stay there,

and they did not even pay any rent, and I didn't feel like asking because I knew that he was my brother, we got along well, and I knew that he didn't earn as much as I did. Also, I didn't need the money from the rent as much as he needed to save, as Frank himself has acknowledged so many times, so I'll let them stay there without paying rent. I never addressed it or anything and I guess as time passed, they forgot about it, but I didn't. So that's the situation with the apartment and of course, now, I feel kind of stupid for not making them pay rent, but honestly, I was just trying to do a good thing for my brother. For the past many years, after we grew out of that little kid's immaturity of fighting and bickering over small stuff, we have actually been

very close and I thought that of all the people in my family, at least Frank would understand me. But now, I don't feel the same way and I think that moving him out of my apartment. was something that I had to do, to teach him a lesson. Now, whether or not that lesson was too hard or not, I don't know, but from everything that I've just said, I think it's very clear that I've always tried to be there for Frank. So I don't understand why he chose to behave this way with me, and I can't even say that it's all because of Vanessa because for as long as they have been together, she has also gotten along quite well with me and that's something that I mentioned right in the beginning itself. Their behavior recently has been completely bizarre and I just can't

make sense of it. Update 1, okay, so it's been a week since the wedding and I spoke to my parents, I told them that I don't regret what I did. For years, I had been letting them live in my apartment without paying rent and the least they could have done was be grateful to me for it. But instead, they decided to disrespect and insult me by constantly poking me, even after I made it very clear that I was not going to write a check for $25,000 because it was a ridiculous demand to make from anyone. And if my parents don't understand it. why I did what I did, then I don't think that I need to explain the same thing to them over and over again. Either they get it, or they don't, and since they have decided that they don't get it,

I'm done with them as well. Before this, my parents had never taken sides, but honestly, all those fights were from when we were younger and they didn't really mean anything. But this time, this fight means something to both of us and it's very clear which side they are on. They tried really hard to guilt trip me into believing that I had done something really bad but I really don't think so. That email that they had sent to me had been really mean and they should be glad that I just kicked them out of the apartment. I can even ask them to return all the money that they have borrowed from me over the years and even if they refuse, I can just tell people about it and I know that that's not going to look too good for them. Until now, it was only our parents who knew about

the situation, but I can start running my mouth off about it to other people as well and then, we'll see what everyone else has to say about the situation right now. I only haven't done any of that because I don't want to play into the drama and I want to get over all of this. I'm a busy person, I don't have time for all this nonsense and that's the only reason they think they can get away with doing whatever they want and saying whatever they want. But I have made it very clear to my parents that if they want to mess with me, then they should be prepared for the consequences as well. If they can't take it, they shouldn't feel so comfortable dishing it out either and that's it. I spoke to him a couple of days ago and today, I realized that they had blocked me, but I don't really care. Of course, I felt kind of bad about it initially, but now that a couple of hours

have passed, I just feel angry about everything. I know that this is a strategy to make me feel guilty and get me to apologize, but it's really just not going to update too so it's been two weeks since I kicked them out of the apartment and yesterday, I received an email from Frank and Vanessa late in the evening. After my last phone call with my parents, which I was I had spoken about in my last update, I didn't hear from anyone, so I assumed that we were done and dusted with this. But that's clearly not the case because when I read that email, it was even more disrespectful than the one they had sent before somehow. Because of the tone of the email, at first, I thought that they were apologizing to me because they started off by saying that

they were really sorry that they had hurt my feelings but then, they clarified that they didn't mean to hurt my feelings by insulting me, but they said that I was probably hurt because they had touched a nerve. They want to talk about how they knew for a fact that I was just becoming bitter with age because I was literally 33 and I still haven't been able to make a long-term relationship work, which is why I don't have a husband, let alone kids. And because of that, I'm probably jealous of Frank and Vanessa because they have everything that I wanted for myself, which is why I refused to help them out and went on to kick them out of the house when they brought up my bitterness and selfishness. They said they were sorry for bringing something like that,

they should have known that the truth would have hurt me and said that they were ready to forgive me for whatever I had done that day because it had probably come from a place of anger. Happy people don't just kick their brothers out of their houses over such small and petty fights, but clearly, I'm not a happy person. And judging by my attitude right now, it's probably good that I don't have any husband or kids because I would probably ruin their lives as well because of my ego and psychotic anger issues. This was the first paragraph of the email and I was already fuming by the end of that, but even then, I decided to steal myself so I could read the rest of it because it was a pretty

long email. I really wanted to know what these people had to say about me so I could push away any guilt over what I had done because reading this email just made me realize that for everything that I did, they totally deserved it and even worse. Whatever I mentioned until now, it was already condescending and mean enough, but it got significantly worse in the second paragraph. They literally said that even though right now, they are pretty upset with me, they would still like to give me some advice for the future and told me that instead of acting so crazy all the time, I should probably just do some yoga and chill out because my issues have started to show on my face. Apparently, according to Frank and Vanessa, I should really lock somebody down quickly

if I ever intend on having a happy life with a husband and kids because it's not like I'm getting any younger and I can choose to stay married to my work but then I'm going to start looking at it too and judging by my appearance right now. It probably won't work out well for me. So yeah, they really they really came from my appearance and they know that that's something that I'm kind of insecure about. The rest of it is not very relevant. It was just some more BS about me being a terrible person and stuff. But yeah, all of this, it really got on my nerves and I decided to post this on social media. I didn't even change anything. I just screenshoted the entire email, posted it, and also spoke about the entire incident in detail. I explained everything that had happened till now, why I had even

gotten into this fight with them, and how ungrateful they were, I spoke about the apartment as well and then, I posted it. That was last night and by this morning, I received a ton of messages and comments from my plans and a couple of my relatives as well and they've all been very supportive of me. Most people are very surprised that Frank would do something like this, just as I am because I never thought that he would turn out to be somebody who would go for such low blows. But a couple of his friends have also reached out to me personally and told me that this is not surprising at all because for the past few years, ever since he started dating Vanessa, he has started changing for the worse. Maybe I never noticed it because he never behaved with me the same way

but there definitely had been a shift in the way he took people for granted, constantly demanded that people do stuff for him and behaved like an entitled brat, and he had already lost a couple of friends because of that. And now that I think about it, I do agree that even though he kept his composure with me most of the time, I would occasionally notice him acting very weirdly around other people in a way that was not like him at all. So maybe this really shouldn't come as a surprise to me, but anyway, the post has been made, and it's very obvious that most people are on my side here. By all means, they can continue to send me such horrible messages and I can just post about

it on social media and then it'll just backfire on them. Update 3. So two days have passed since I posted about the situation and today, my parents finally called me up and told me that they do not condone whatever Frank had written in that email and they were very disappointed when they found out about it. That's exactly what I had been waiting for, from my parents to realize that they were on the wrong side all along and I told them that I did appreciate the fact that they had called me to apologize but it was too little too late. They had already blocked me once and made me feel bad for just standing up for myself.

So right now, I needed some time and space away from them to process my feelings and they would just have to deal with it. They told me that they had asked Frank and Vanessa to leave the house and they had had a huge fight with both of them, but eventually, the two of them had left. Judging by the way my parents were speaking to me, it seemed like they thought they were doing me a huge favor by kicking Frank and Vanessa out of the house and just doing the decent thing, but I just told them that I wouldn't care even if they had allowed the two of them to stay with them. It's the truth, I really wouldn't care, but anyway, my parents thought that I was bluffing and they told me that I could put on the tough guy act all that I wanted but deep down,

they knew that I was going to miss them so I could take my time but I was going to come back to them, they were sure of it. I just told them not to bet on it and then I hung up. I didn't bother to block them because I knew that if I did that, they would get offended and start pestering me. At least, if I did not block them, they would only annoy me occasionally. Anyway, that's the situation with my parents, and while I'm not exactly happy with their lukewarm apology because even when they were acknowledging their mistake, they still said that they did not think that what I had done was a good move so they stood by it. Well, then, they could keep standing by that, but I was going to stand by what I believed, and I thought that I had done the right

thing so that's all that matters to me. They can keep their apology to themselves. I don't really want it. In the past couple of weeks, I've pretty much gotten used to not speaking to anybody from my family, and I really thought that it was going to be a lot harder, but honestly, I have a lot of work to do, and I still have my friends there by my side. So it's really not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Update 4, hey, so it's been two weeks since I've made that post, and by now, pretty much everybody in the family has learned whatever went down between me and Frank. And from what I know, nobody's on his side, nobody wants to speak to him, and even the friends that he used to have, have reached out to me to tell me that he's become increasingly

difficult to deal with and just because they were not willing to call me up and force me to take that post down, he decided to cut everybody off. Currently, from whatever I've heard, they are staying with Vanessa's parents and are trying to get everybody to hate me. They have been telling people that I'm the problem, that I am a bitter and horrible person and basically just repeating everything that they had already said in that email, but nobody wants to speak to them. So they've been getting blocked by people left and right. They have even been trying to tell people that I have been lying about the whole thing, but I don't understand why they thought anyone was going to believe that because I had literally posted the screenshots.

How could I even be lying if I had the screenshots? Anyway, I don't think it matters because nobody believes them, nobody likes them and nobody wants to talk to them. So they can keep running their mouths, it's really not going to make a difference to me. On a happier note, I had put my apartment up for rent a couple of weeks ago and recently, I had a tenant move in and that's going to be another source of income for me. Things are working out pretty well for me, so I have no complaints.

Thank you.