Reddit Stories - The BETRAYAL_ A MOTHER's DECEPTION and a Stolen Future_

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #mothersreturn #childrebellion #deception #familydrama  Summary: A gripping tale unfolds as a mother makes a surprising return, triggering a child's rebellion against a mark of deception. Family dynamics are put to the test in this emotional rollercoaster of trust, loyalty, and hidden truths.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, mothersreturn, childrebellion, deception, familydrama, emotional, trust, loyalty, hidden truths, plot twist, dramatic storytelling, relationships, family secrets, unexpected return, loyalty tested, intriguing plotBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My new mother falsely accused me of taking her valuables, causing my father to transfer my educational savings to her. As a result, my entire household turned their backs on me. However, upon discovering the truth, they now seek reconciliation with me. Back. Five years ago, I, 23F, was accused of theft by my stepmom Chloe

and because of that, literally my entire family ostracized me. And they didn't just cut me off, my dad even took away my education fund to give it to that liar, so I had to start working instead. So the backstory is that Chloe already didn't like me, and then, a couple of days after she got married to my dad, she accused me of stealing her jewelry box and selling everything. She planted some evidence here and there as well, like a few of the missing items in my room at my dad's house, then a couple of receipts in my purse and stuff like that. It was very well thought out and executed and definitely not a spur of the moment decision.

And I know for a fact that she herself had sold her jewelry just to frame me, but nobody believed me. I tried to explain to my family that I hadn't done anything and that she was lying, but there was just no point. They cut me off, humiliated me completely, and pretty much just ruined my mental health with their accusations. They haven't spoken to me in the past five years, but all of a sudden, now that that they know the truth, they want to mend their way and want me to give them a second chance. Even my biological mother who had literally raised me for the most part since after her divorce, my dad, who had become my primary custodial parent didn't believe me. She had also cut me off back then, and now she wants to talk to me, but I don't want to speak

to them. I don't want to interact with any of them right now, and I've been very clear about it. I feel like I'm finally doing well for myself. I have a stable career and I'm not depressed anymore like I was for the past couple of years. So the last thing that I want is my family back in my life. But my mom has told me that back then, because of all the evidence that was there against me, they had no option, but to believe Chloe. So I can't hold that against them and I need to forgive them so we can reconcile as a family. I don't feel the same way about the situation, though, so I'd offer not wanting to reconcile with my family. Edit, hey, I'm sorry guys, but I really don't how they figured out the truth all of a sudden. I haven't even asked him about it because

I know that it's going to require me to actually talk to them so I can get to the bottom of this. And I don't think that I'm in the right space of mind for that right now, I just want to focus on my work and myself and that's it. I don't want to do anything to do with my family, at least not at the moment. Update 1, hi, so I reached back out to my mom, and I told her that my decision was final. I did not want to speak to her right now, nor did I want to speak to her right now, nor did I want to speak to anybody else from the family so all of them need to stop contacting me. So far, they had been texting and calling me, and just because I was a bit confused about whether I was doing the right thing or not, I hadn't blocked them. But now that I was sure that I didn't have to talk to

them, I just went ahead and blocked them. It really feels like a huge headache has gone away because lately, I've been feeling really guilty about not wanting to talk to them. I kept thinking about what my mom had said, the fact that given the circumstances of my strained relationship with Chloe, combined with the so-called evidence that they had found, it felt like she must have been telling the truth. And I thought about things from the point of view and I don't know why, I started to think that maybe if I had been in their place, I wouldn't have believed myself either. But then, they knew me as a person, they had literally raised me and known me from when I was a child. So as my family, they should have believed me, they should have known better.

I was torn between these two perspectives, but at the end of the day, I'll do what I want to do. If I don't want to speak with them right now, I'm not obliged to do so, just because they feel bad about whatever happened in the past. They had five years to figure out stuff for themselves, but they didn't. They didn't even try and even now, they wouldn't have found out about the truth, had my father not stumbled upon it completely by accident. So yes, I finally did end up asking my mom how they found out the truth. truth before I blocked her because I was really curious. And she told me that a couple of days before

they all reached out to me, my dad had been using Chloe's laptop for some work since his own wasn't working and he had to give it up for repair. While working, he accidentally opened her email instead of his but before switching accounts. He noticed that she had a new email talking about some unsold jewelry curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check that email and unfortunately, for Chloe, it was an email from the guy that she had actually sold all her jewelry. Apparently, there was this last item, a pair of gold earrings that he had purchased from her, but since they were really pretty, he hadn't had the heart to have them melted and made into anything else because the craftsmanship on that pair was excellent.

But now, five years had passed, and neither had he sold those earrings, nor had he done anything with it. He was retiring, so he was going to be closing shop, and he wanted to know if Chloe wanted to buy those earrings back. He had even attached a picture of those earrings, and my dad recognized them because, of course, she had made such a hue and cry about all the jewelry that apparently I had stolen and sold, that my family was bound to remember every single one of them. Then, it was not that difficult for my dad to put two and two together, and then he confronted Chloe. She tried to deny everything at first, but then, she started crying about how I had always hated her, and she knew that if I had continued to be a part of their life, I would have definitely

tried to ruin their marriage at some point. She told my dad that she recognized me for what I really was, I bought a vampire for my dad's money, and she didn't want me to ruin his life so she decided to drive me away. She tried to make it sound like it was something that she had done for my dad's own good, but now that the truth was out, there was no fooling him anymore. He kicked her out of the house because even if we humored whatever she had said in her defense, that she thought I was constantly trying to get my dad to spend money on me, it still didn't make sense for her to accept my education fund. Also, it was a pretty stupid defense to try and make me look like a gold digger

when I'm literally my dad's only daughter. And I didn't even ask him for more money than he already paid for in-child support. The only thing that I had ever really expected from my dad was for him to cover my college tuition because I planned on going to college out of state and I knew that it was going to be expensive. I didn't want to work alongside college because it would get too hectic and stressful and the degree that I was aiming for was quite hard anyway. I knew that my dad made enough money, so it would not be a big deal for him, and I didn't

want to rely on my mom because at the time, she was planning on starting her own business. I don't understand how any of this was going to make me look like a gold digger, especially when the person who was accusing me of being a gold digger was actually the biggest gold digger herself. Chloe literally quit her job a week after she got engaged to my dad. Then she framed me for stealing all her jewelry and selling it, even though I know for a fact that she herself had done it, and she already had the money from that, which must have been quite a lot because from what I know, it had all been her mom's jewelry and not only was it beautiful, it was all expensive-looking stuff as well. Then, after the whole fiasco with me, I know for a fact that she accepted my education

fund money from my dad, which she decided to use to apologize for my behavior. What she eventually ended up doing with all that money, I don't know, but the fact of the matter is that if you're talking about who is a gold digger in the true sense of the world, I don't think I can beat Chloe. Anyway, her defense made no sense and my dad was able to see through it. So he kicked her out of the house, and from what I have been told by my mom, she is staying with her dad right now and begging my father to take her back every day, but he has already filed for a divorce. My problem is that they had five years to look into this, but they believed

Chloe blindly. Even my own mom, who knew exactly what kind of problems I had with Chloe, didn't take my side when it was time. She, of all people, should have known that I was not a thief. So all these apologies really don't mean anything to me anymore. The bottom line is that they gave away my college fund to a liar and even now, they wouldn't have found out about the truth if my dad hadn't accidentally opened her emails. They were so trusting of her that they didn't even think this was worth looking into or investigating at a deeper level. They just took her word for it and kicked me out of the family. After that, they never even bothered to check up on me. I had to look out for myself, and I was completely on my own. And let me just tell you, even though what 18 people do

consider you an adult, I was inexperienced and young and broke. So I felt just as lost as I would have if I had been any younger. It was one of the most difficult times for me, and I don't think I would have survived by myself had it not been for my friends. They couldn't afford to pay for me to go to college, even though I did get into my top choice because it would be very expensive and their parents were already funding their education. And I didn't want to rely on them like that or burden them by asking them to co-sign student loans for me either, especially when I was already sleeping on their couches. But, thankfully, one of my friends had already decided to take a gap year and work for his dad, so he got me in as well, and I started earning, and soon enough, I had saved up enough

money to rent an apartment and start living on my own. Since then, I have continued to work really hard and diligently and I'm even in talks for yet another promotion in a couple of months. I accomplished all of this on my own without any help or moral support from my family, so I don't think that I owe it to them to talk to them just because they have finally realized that they were wrong. If they had just believed me back then, I wouldn't even have been in this position right now. I probably would have been doing way better. I would have been able to go to the college of my choice and work in companies of my choice. I'm not saying that I'm not grateful for what I have right now, but knowing that this is not my full potential, that just hurts. I don't think that I'll ever

be able to bring myself to forgive them for what they did, and I don't think that I have to forgive them either. Just because they are sorry now, doesn't mean that I'm obliged to let everything go all of a sudden. Now, if at any point of time, I do feel like I want to forgive them, then I might, if I don't, then I won't. And I refuse to feel bad for it either. My mom has no right to make me feel guilty for not wanting to reconcile with them, especially when she herself didn't feel guilty for cutting me off so abruptly. She knew that I didn't get along with Chloe, she knew that Chloe had every reason to frame me but even then, she chose to believe that woman over me. I'm not even kidding, for years after getting kicked out, I kept trying to figure out why exactly these people believed

her over me, especially when I had never lied in my life. All my life, I had always tried to be a good kid and a good daughter to my parents and yet, that hadn't been enough. But it came down to it, they believed some random loser woman who just happened to be married to my dad over me. And yes, even if I think about the fact that there was some evidence against me that Chloe had very cleverly arranged, they still didn't have enough reason to believe her. After all, the proof that she had arranged it would have been very easy for her to frame me, especially when I was not even aware of what she was trying to do behind my back, and I was not on alert. If I'm going to be using language, all the evidence was circumstantial, and if Chloe had actually been so short of the fact that I had

stolen and sold everything, then she should have gone to the cops. I had suggested it a couple of times myself back when everything was happening, but it was my family who had stopped that from taking place, probably because they were too worried about the family reputation just in case I did turn out to be a thief. That's how low their confidence in me actually was, and the more that I think about this situation, the angrier I feel. So whatever, I don't think that they messed up, and now they're just going to have to live with it. Update two, hey, so I blocked my family a couple of days ago. For the record, they had already been blocked for a really long time.

They had just managed to find out my new contact info from other people. I don't know who exactly gave it out, I'm guessing some cousins or maybe friends. But regardless of the situation, they decided to contact me again and this time, they wrote me an email, collectively, saying that they were all really sorry for their behavior for the past five years and that they should have believed me instead of kicking me out like that. They told me that they really wanted to meet me and set things right again. And even if we don't end up reconciling immediately, they think it's worth it to at least give it a chance. I don't know what to say to them, so I just ignored that email.

I have spoken to a couple of my close friends about this and they think that I don't have to speak to them if I don't want to, just like everyone else, especially given that it's taking me a really long time to get over whatever has happened. Like I had mentioned in my last update, I had been depressed for a very long time. And now, I'm finally doing better after a lot of therapy and working on myself. I don't want to ruin all that hard work, so I really want to stay away from them. But at the same time, I really also want to give them a peace of my mind because it's been five years, and I feel tempted to let them know exactly how I feel about them. I can still deal with the fact that my dad and my paternal grandparents are delusional enough to believe

that they still have a chance, but it's my mom that I'm really upset about. Even back when everything was going wrong, I had expected her to be in my corner, but she had also turned her back on me. So more than anybody else, I want to let her know that she really let me down. She should have stood up for me, I really want to tell her that, but then, that's going to mean that I have to talk to them. In my past few interactions with them recently, I have been polite enough, but now, they're beginning to get on my nerves and I feel like if they continue bothering me like this, I'm going to snap eventually. And I really don't want to do that. It's taking me a really long time to get to where I am today, be it emotionally or financially, and I don't want them to ruin it for me.

But I think that if they send another email after this, then I might definitely snap at them now. Also, now that that's out of the way, I feel like I really mentioned why I didn't get along with Chloe. A lot of people have been asking me how our relationship actually began, and how did it ever even come to a point like that? So I feel like I have to say that, even though our relationship had never been good in the first place, I never expected her to do something like that because that's actually insane. Anyway, when my father started dating her, I already didn't like her much because I found her to be very pretentious and I don't know.

Her vibes were just very weird. From the beginning, I just tried to avoid her and she would do the same for me. so it's not like we had much of a relationship in the beginning. But then, slowly, as her relationship with my dad got serious, she started trying to boss me around. She started trying to control me, and I wouldn't listen to her, because I really didn't feel like I had to, she would manipulate my dad into trying to get me to follow her ways.

And they were little things, but it still felt pretty bad because she was trying to control the way that I dressed, the things that I ate, and even the times when I went out. At one point, it got too much for me, so I told her that I knew what she was trying to do. I knew that she was trying to act like she was my mother, but at the end of the day, the fact remains that she's really not my mother. I actually have a mom, I don't need her to be a second one, so I would really appreciate it if she stopped interfering in my life.

She could marry my dad if she wanted to, I didn't have a problem with that, but I don't have to tell the same way that I treat my mom and I really don't have to be obedient to her. I didn't fight with her or anything, just put her in her place, and since then, she started disliking me. She never told my father about it, but I guess she was just gearing up for this one big move after her marriage, and she was successful in fooling my family. Now that I think back on it, I'm pretty sure that there was something very wrong with her because I can't imagine a grown woman having such full-blown beef with a teenager and then

actually doing something so horrible to them just to get back at them for putting them in their place. Anyway, that's the kind of person that my family chose to believe over me. And it's not like I didn't bring this up with them in my defense. I did try to tell them that she had it in for me right from the first instance and that she was probably trying to frame me, but they didn't believe me. They thought that I was crazy and I was just trying to shift the blame onto her because I was too ashamed of myself. Actually, I'm too ashamed of my family because I have to be associated with idiots. Now, I really hope that they don't contact me anymore and just take the hint. Update 3. So, unfortunately, my mom decided to show up at my house today. She told me that one of

my cousins told her the address, which I think is really out of line because she was a person I actually trusted in the past five years, and she knew that I didn't want my mom to show up. So this was a huge breach of my privacy, but I'll deal with that later. Right now, I feel like I just have to talk about what went down with my mom. When she showed up a couple of hours ago in the evening, I was very tired from a long day at work, so I told her to go away because I really didn't want to talk to her. But she stood her ground, and she told me that she was not going anywhere until she spoke to me because five years had already passed since she had made that huge mistake, and she was not making another one by leaving right now because she had been trying to talk to me

for a long time now, and it was about time that I heard her out. I didn't want to create drama, so I just let her in because I thought that I could get it over with. When she was inside, she hugged me, she started crying and told me that she was really sorry about everything that she had done. She said that she had just been very taken aback by everything that Chloe had accused me of and because of all the evidence, she had actually started to believe that maybe Chloe was telling us the truth. Then, she told me that I had been kicked out of the family.

She had thought about getting in touch with me several times, but then, she thought that I needed to learn my lesson and start being disciplined. Only now, after she had found out the truth, did she realize that she had made a huge mistake and she just wanted to make up for it because I was her only daughter. She didn't think she could afford to lose me

and she said that she knew that deep down, I felt the same way about her, that I didn't want to lose her either. So I told her that in the beginning, maybe I did feel the same way, that I didn't want to lose my mom, but in the past five years, I've learned to live without my family and now,

it really makes no difference to me anymore. Then, she started crying, telling me that she knew that I was only saying this out of anger, and I had every right to be angry because, after all, she had really let me down, but then, she knew that it was not the truth. She continued to hug me and kept crying, but I told her that now that I had given her an opportunity to talk to me, I really needed her to leave because I wanted to relax after work.

Then, she started getting upset, she told me that it had taken her a lot of convincing for my cousin to give out my contact info and my address, and she knew that I was upset with her, but there was still no reason to be so rude to her. At that point, I finally just lost it, and I told her that she and her ex-husband had pretty much ruined my entire life. If she had just stood by my side and told my dad that I was telling the truth, then there might have been a proper investigation into the whole thing, and they would have found out that Chloe had been lying all along. That way, I would have been able to go to college, and I would have been able to have the life that I wanted for myself without having to struggle so much. So just because of her decision, not to believe me, my entire life had been turned upside down.

Whether she liked it or not, I did not want to talk to her anymore, at least not at the moment. and if I did want to reconcile with them at any point, I would come to them myself. But for now, she would just have to deal with the fact that I didn't want to see her and just get out of my house. I was very upset so I yelled at her and she seemed shocked but then, she recovered, and she told me that she could understand that I was very upset and she would come back later but I had really hurt her. I couldn't care less about that, though, I just told her that I wanted her to leave, and eventually, she did go away. To be very honest, at this point, their apologies don't really mean anything to me. Whatever damage had to be done, it's already been done, and then saying sorry is not going to take it back.

I just want to move on with my life, I already have moved on with my life halfway. What I needed was some closure and I think that I've received that as well. So right now, I just really want to be done with this whole thing and I hope that she doesn't come back anytime soon because I feel like I've already had a lot of stress and anxiety to deal with the past couple of days. I don't need any more of that anymore. Update 4, hi, so it's been three weeks since my last update and since then, my family hasn't gotten in touch with me except for sending me an email around last week. Yet again, it was a collective email from my parents and my paternal grandparents telling me that they were really sorry about everything that had happened

and they would continue to be sorry for the rest of their lives if that's what it takes for me to forgive them. They had heard about my interaction with my mom, and they know that I don't want to right now, so they will stay away from me, but they really hope that at some point in time, I'll be able to forgive them and I will try to reconcile with them myself. They also told me that my father, even though he didn't show themselves, is more apologetic than anybody else because he thinks that all of this could have been avoided if he had just trusted me instead of his wife. He also apologized to me for screwing up my chances at college and told me that he was willing to write me a check so that at least now, I can go to college.

But I don't feel like taking money from him right now, so I have decided to pass up on that, at least for now. In the future, I might forgive them, but I might not. I don't really know because I haven't made up my mind since this is a very complicated situation. However, for now, I'm very content with my life as it is, so I don't want to bring about any new changes. Please.