I DISCOVERED that my boyfriend's nephew is actually HIS son, and everybody already knew! | Reddit Stories | EP2948

0:00 Hey, this is Riley. And this is Dakota, your favorite OK Storytime host. And we've got some great stories coming up. But before that, we have a quick two minute break from the sponsors that keep the show alive.

0:11 I discovered that my boyfriend's nephew is actually his son and everybody knew.

0:15 Hey, how come I wasn't invited to the party?

0:18 My boyfriend, Andrew, 28 male, and I, 27 female, met about six years ago. We attended the same state university and worked at the same local restaurant. At most, waitstaff do. Our coworkers would go out together after our shift. Andrew and I would always find ourselves gravitating toward each other during these hangouts. Eventually... We began making plans alone, and he became one of my best friends. I would go to him for advice on dealing with my terrible family situation at the time, and he would complain to me about his absolutely crazy ex-girlfriend. I developed a huge crush on him very quickly, but I was way too shy to make the first move. Besides, I could tell Andrew was very hesitant about getting back into a relationship after

0:57 how terrible his ex had been. One night after a particularly bad shift at work, we wanted to get pretty buzzed at the bar and grab some pizza. Sounds fun. Afterward, we hopped in a cab and went back to my place. After lots of liquid courage, he made his move. And he kissed me very passionately, and I was hooked instantly.

1:15 Oh, yeah.

1:16 I was so excited. I invited Andrew over for breakfast the next day to make sure it wasn't a one-time drunken thing. He told me he had strong feelings for me, and the rest is history. It's now our story, not his story.

1:32 Aww.

1:33 We fell in love and have the most wonderful relationship that I've ever had. And by the way, this comes from user BoyfriendThrowaway44. And if you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash OKStoryTime subreddit. I'm Keon.

1:44 I'm Savannah.

1:45 I'm Sophia.

1:46 And we're here to give good advice goofily. We don't know everything. We only know what we'd do. So let us know what you'd do in the comments down below. As Opie says, Fast forward to last night when we were visiting Andrew's family. We were sitting around the dinner table with his parents, two sisters, brother-in-law, brother, and nephew, Anthony.

2:02 He has one older sister and the rest of his siblings are younger. We were all laughing at a story his mom was telling about one of her ex-boyfriends. After the end of that story, his older sister Mia said, that's nothing compared to Andrew's psycho story. We all laughed, knowing full well the ridiculous things she had done. Mia then made an offhanded comment to her husband, which I had overheard. She said something like, we can't be too mad at her though, right? He's responsible for so much joy in our lives. Andrew stated her incredulously for what seemed like an eternity. I didn't put two and two together until I saw everyone else's reactions and how they were all staring at me. This is weird.

2:35 I'd be like, spotlight on me. Do you guys want me to sing? I'll sing.

2:38 That's crazy.

2:39 I would not put two and two together for the life of me. I'd be like, oh, that's weird. Can you pass the mashed potatoes?

2:44 Oh, it's quiet. Opie continues saying, you could cut the tension with a knife. Andrew looked at me with the saddest look he has ever given me. At that point, Mia realized that I didn't know about Anthony, and she put her hands over her mouth and said, I'm so sorry. Oh. I sort of blacked out in the moment. I feel like no one spoke, but I'm sure that's not true.

3:02 I think I just stood up and left, to be honest. I wound up taking a cab home without Andrew and saying something along the lines of, I'll call you later. I put everything together in my mind very quickly, which was surprising because I felt like my mind was both racing and blank at the same time. That makes any sense.

3:17 It does. Andrew had previously told me, even before we started dating, that Mia is incapable of having her own children. He told me that she adopted Andrew's nephew in 2006. My thoughts immediately went to that conversation that we had so many years ago. The timeline made sense. Andrew impregnated his crazy girlfriend, and his sister wound up adopting the baby.

3:35 Andrew called me about an hour after I'd gotten home. He asked to come over and explain himself. He was so upset and begging me to come see me. When he came over, he sat me down and told me the whole story. They'd accidentally gotten pregnant. He said her parents would have disowned her had they found out if she was pregnant out of wedlock. So they kept it a secret from them. They'd moved into a tiny studio apartment by the time Anthony was born. They were doing well until money became an issue. Both of them were stressing big time. His girlfriend told him she was leaving him.

4:01 After several problems, Andrew decided she was not good for him or Anthony. So he left her and took the baby with him. She basically disappeared from his life after that. Andrew struggled big time as a single father. He asked his parents for help and, skipping many details, they ultimately arrived at the solution of me adopting Anthony. She was married with a great job and it all made sense.

4:19 Andrew was very emotional telling me all the details. He was crying and apologizing the whole time.

4:23 Time.

4:24 Okay.

4:24 Take a brief pause there. Sophia, Savannah, how do we feel?

4:28 It's really weird.

4:29 One time I was, I almost dated this guy and then I found out he had a kid and I was like, why did you not tell me that? He was like, well, no, no, no, all this stuff. And I was like, that's weird to not open with that. I don't, you know, cause what if we started dating whenever I go over his house and then there's boom, baby. Boom, baby.

4:47 Well, In this case, it seems like OP's partner wasn't taking care of the kid. Like, yeah. Not abandoned, but gave him up for adoption. But it's still a super relevant thing to bring up, especially because Andrew's kid is still in the family. Like, Mia's looking after the kid now.

5:07 OP's going to be running into the family a lot, or at least occasionally. Andrew should have brought this up a lot sooner.

5:13 Yeah.

5:14 Do we think this is breakup worthy?

5:16 Well, how long have they.

5:18 For a while.

5:19 Six years they've been together, and oh my god, I really don't know.

5:23 It just really depends.

5:24 Do you think that it is something you can overlook or something that is... going to bother you yeah is it going to bother you for the.

5:31 Rest of the chat ones for this is breakup worthy two for staying together one for breaking up two for staying together oh we'll keep going yikes he kept asking for my forgiveness and telling me how much he loved me he said he didn't know how to possibly bring it up to me without ruining what we had We cried together all night. I am still in complete shock, but I feel like my emotions are starting to come around to me now. Sometimes I'm angry and wonder how he could lie to me for all this time. How come when we were friends he didn't bring this up?

5:57 I told him things about me that I haven't told anyone else, and this is how he repays me? Sometimes I'm just sad for him. It's a lot of stuff to go through at the age of 20. Other times, I am proud of him for making such a mature decision. I really think it has led to a much better life for both Andrew and Anthony. I'm feeling such a wide range of emotions right now and my head is swimming.

6:14 So my question, Reddit, is when I see him again, what the heck do I say? We have an update.

6:18 I would say, what would you do in my position? What do you think is the correct response? Because I really don't know what to think. I've been lied to this whole time. I feel like an idiot. I don't know what to believe.

6:29 And.

6:30 Now I'm just supposed to overlook it and be like, everything's fine.

6:32 Why couldn't you be honest with me this entire time? Do you think I was going to break up with you? Do you think it's going to change how I see who you are? There's a lot of questions and hopefully we can get some answers because we have an update. Let's find out. I figured I would update you all on what happened with Andrew and myself. Before I do so, I would like to clarify a few things about my last post. Because the comments were a bit concerning for a few reasons. A few people were upset with my use of crazy as having described his ex. I apologize for having offended some people with my use of that word.

7:01 That again was not my intention. She was a sort of love relationship crazy if that makes sense. She was incredibly controlling and manipulative of Andrew. She would not allow him to be friends with any woman on Facebook or any other social media outlet. She did not allow him to watch porn. She installed spyware on his computer and read his emails and texts. She threatened to leave Andrew if he spent weekends with his friends instead of her, if he didn't make her favorite dinner. For real, I can't make this crap up. Or if he didn't answer her text messages immediately. He showed me some of her emails and texts, and they were just, yeah. They were absurd.

7:33 The list goes on and on. You get the idea. So that's what I meant when I said crazy. I probably should have used controlling or manipulative. My apologies for that. Anthony was playing in the backyard with the neighbor's kids during our dinner conversation. He did not hear any of it. They don't talk about Andrew's ex in front of Anthony.

7:48 The adoption was done legally and by the book. Anthony was about two years old by the time the adoption was official. I had mentioned he was adopted in 2006, but it was probably 2008 by the time the legal issues were cleared. Andrew had previously told me an entirely different story about Anthony's adoption. I would never consider telling Anthony or mentioning anything to him about his biological parents. So, that clears some stuff. Back to the update. I had gone back to my hometown yesterday, which is about an hour away, to sit on the beach and just clear my mind. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say and about what you all had said.

8:18 I came back last night to talk to Andrew. I told him that I wanted to get out of the entirety of my feelings before he said anything. The first thing I said to him was that he made the absolute correct choice for himself Mia, and for Anthony. I told him how much I respected him and how proud I was of him for making such a mature decision.

8:33 I told him I was so happy for him for wanting to bring joy to both Anthony and Mia's lives and maintaining a healthy relationship with Anthony. I told him that I can never understand the pain and heartbreak he must have felt when he realized he could no longer care for Anthony in the way that he deserved. I respect him so much for removing Anthony from a dysfunctional situation and trying to care for him on his own.

8:52 I reassured Andrew that I would never have expected him to tell me such a personal, emotional issue while we were friends or even during the first few years of our relationship.

9:01 I would, but I guess we're different people. First few years? Imagine years later you find out your partner has a child. Like, they're not looking after this child. Like, they're not, you know, this child is no longer under their care, but they have a child. I'd be pretty pissed. I would be like, what?

9:17 Especially if you're meeting the family and this is serious. Like, maybe within the first couple of months, it's still withholding information. But of course, you're just trying to gauge who you're dating. But the first couple of years, this is a major thing should have been brought up. Especially again, I don't know how often you're meeting the family or seeing Anthony.

9:34 You're like, oh, that's just his nephew. That's Mia's daughter or Mia's son. Opie continues saying, After I was sure he understood that I loved both him and Anthony, I told him why I was a bit upset with him. I told him that it was fine for him not to tell me about Anthony's adoption, but it was not okay for him to blatantly lie to me about it.

10:00 He could have just said he was adopted and left it at that. I also tried to replay to him that the reason I was so shocked was the manner in which I found out. I was upset that if Mia hadn't let it slip out, I could have never found out. He agreed completely, and he apologized profusely for that. I also explained that the only reason I wanted to know was to be there for him and support him when the time comes to tell Anthony or when Andrew is feeling down about everything. I can only imagine how hard that would be for Andrew. I'd like to be his rock for anything that comes his way in life, like he has been for me so many years. At this point in time, a bit of a curveball was thrown.

10:30 After we had talked for an hour, the doorbell rang. Mia was at the front door. Not a good time.

10:36 Um, what is she doing there?

10:38 Like, hey, I'm gonna pick up the kid that I don't want and abandon.

10:42 Mia's the older sister. She's the adoptive mother.

10:45 Oh!

10:45 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Mia is Andrew's older sister who adopted Anthony when Andrew was like, I can't take it as a kid.

10:53 Not the ex.

10:53 Did they say the ex's name?

10:54 No.

10:55 I thought that was Mia this whole time.

10:57 Let me look at your whiteboard.

10:57 I put Andrew's nephew is actually a son and then kept it a secret from her family.

11:02 Eyelashes. I made this one from my tears. But guess what, guys? I'm back on track. Cut it out.

11:08 Mia rushed in and hugged me and apologized to me for everything. She was the most frazzled I have ever seen her. She told me that in no way did she mean to reveal that. That was Andrew's decision and she felt awful. We put on a pot of coffee and the three of us just talked for a while. They told me all about how they came to the decision and the emotions that they had all gone through.

11:26 She told me that Andrew was devastated at the time and the relationship between Mia and Andrew was pretty rocky for a while. Andrew became withdrawn and distant from the whole family for a long time. It was heartbreaking to watch them relive it again. I told them over and over that if they did not want to tell me, or if it was too painful for them, they didn't have to talk about it right away. They both agreed that they wanted me to know. After they told me all about the process of the adoption and the family's emotional rollercoaster, the mood began to lighten as we got back to the everyday conversation. There's a little bit left.

11:54 I feel like Andrew should have been upfront But it seems like this is going in a positive direction. And six years in a relationship of being with someone and this has been withdrawn from you or not told to you in any way, shape or form. I think Opie's handling this very good way.

12:08 She's coming from a very understanding place, which honestly, I feel like a lot of people would be like, nope, I would be one of those people. I would definitely be like, I cannot do this. I wish you luck in everything, but I am just... This has ruined what this is. And I hate that it has. You know, this just should have been something that was discussed maybe like five years prior.

12:29 I mean, I'd be like, is there anything else you're fighting for me from the last six years?

12:32 Yeah.

12:33 It's crazy because you think his family like, have you told her or does she know any sane person? Be like, they've been dating for six years or they've been together for a while. How has she not known that this is like the reality of things?

12:45 It's just, I don't know, looking at it from all different angles, I'm just.

12:49 Again, difference from like three months to maybe even a year, but six years?

12:53 Yeah, six years and you just didn't think to mention it? Like, that was not the smartest move. But obviously, OP, you're very understanding. You want to make it work. And if you think this is the right choice, then yeah, go for it.

13:06 I'm not going to say you're dumb or.

13:08 No, I mean, I hope he didn't do anything.

13:09 Yeah, I hope he didn't do anything. You just if you feel like you can move on from not knowing this, do it.

13:14 Why not?

13:15 If it's a happy relationship other than that, then if this isn't going to bother you or the rest of your life or make you overthink, then do what you need to do.

13:23 A little bit left, Mia towards the end suggested Andrew and I come over to hang out with her and her family, Anthony included. We happily obliged. We now have playdates with Anthony every month, which Andrew and I are both so happy about. Mia told us that she plans to tell Anthony when she feels that he's capable of understanding why Andrew did what he did. After Mia had left, Andrew and I relaxed and went back to our... normal routine.

13:43 He told me that he feels embarrassed that he waited so long to tell me. He couldn't figure out the best way to approach the situation. Hey, buddy, you just approach it. Sometimes there is no best way. You just got to rip off that bandaid and be like, got to be honest with you.

13:54 I kind of, I agree with Christy Cameron.

13:57 In all fairness, I think this was a traumatic thing for him.

14:00 And I honestly think it affected him. And it did. It did.

14:02 I also think that it's a tough situation. A lot of people don't want to be put in that situation unknowingly. You like did not run this by someone who you're keeping close to you, who's going to be there for you think so long of your life. That's a big thing to mention. Me personally, I don't want to date someone with a kid. I just and that's on me.

14:23 That's not on them.

14:24 Anthony is not really his. I mean, it is his biological kid. But at the end of the day, Mia and her partner are Anthony's parents.

14:31 Yeah.

14:31 He also feels relieved that I now know. We wound up curling up in bed and telling each other silly things about our past the whole night. We even had some amazing alone time. Weiss.

14:39 What do you mean by that? Amazing alone time?

14:42 Why you have to go and ruin it?

14:43 She there had a very deep talk. Him and her under the sheets.

14:47 Today, we called out of work and are spending the day together watching Netflix and just drinking adult beverages. It's wonderful and much needed. We are both so happy and relieved. Thank you all for your support. And that's the end of that story.

14:57 Dang.

14:59 I guess it's true with, I mean, you would think you would know a person within a year of like, this is somebody I want to, you know, continue this with and they can trust me and understand where I'm coming from. But I think it's just because how OP found out is just like the worst, probably the gut punch.

15:14 Yeah, you don't even hear it from your partner. You hear it from.

15:16 And then all the family, the family's reaction of just staring at you like, oh, she doesn't know.

15:20 That's a great feeling.

15:22 But that's the end of that story. And we got another one coming right up.

15:26 Katie says, my therapist says it's okay to do and approach a situation badly. The important thing is getting something addressed is the point. You can plot, you can plan, you can think about how do I approach the situation? Sure, there are ways.

15:37 Guys, we have a special guest here. Special guest! What's up, guys?

15:41 Look at it.

15:42 Look at that.

15:43 Look at your upper lip.

15:43 I'm back.

15:44 The mustache is here. It's so good. Ever since you started growing your mustache, I haven't grown mine back out.

15:49 No, why not?

15:50 It's nice during the summer when it's, like, clean.

15:52 He doesn't want to get mistaken for you.

15:54 Yeah, white.

15:55 What ethnicity are you?

15:56 Yeah, I think Savannah just figured- I feel like this is a great way to really have.

16:00 Savannah just figured out ethnicities from a story earlier. Actually, you know, chat, guess.

16:04 What ethnicity are you?

16:05 Irish. Hey, there it is.

16:07 Hey, I knew it. I knew it, eh?

16:09 Someone said Jewish. I gotta blast guys, but it's great to say hey. Oh my gosh, Vince is gonna go blast guys.

16:14 Pride month, happy pride.

16:16 Happy pride.

16:16 My sister's friend ruined my birthday and nobody did a single thing. It's the worst birthday ever. I, 30 female, and my twin sister, 30 female, have planned a birthday weekend away with each other this weekend. Our actual birthday was two weeks ago and.

16:31 We had a small get together with family.

16:33 A couple months ago, we decided for our 30th birthday that we wanted a weekend away at a beach house. Very low key, but still fun. I don't have a lot of friends at the moment. Most have lost touch or moved away, but I have befriended my sister's friends through meetups and weddings and such. So just her friends were coming with us.

16:51 I don't like that.

16:52 That she doesn't have friends.

16:53 Yeah.

16:53 And she uses her sister for friends.

16:55 Yeah.

16:55 I hate that.

16:56 We're twins. We share everything.

16:57 Me and my sister share the same friends.

17:00 You could have, yeah, but I think having your own friends too. And like, yeah, you can integrate friend groups. The only friends that are coming are my sister's friends. Like, we're all friends together, but those are my sister's friends first.

17:08 Yeah, for you not to have your own group of friends is kind of alarming.

17:12 But maybe you're just weird.

17:13 Along with that, my brother-in-law and my sister's friend, we'll call her Francine, husband is coming too. So to recap, my sister, myself, my brother-in-law, Francine, and her husband, and one other friend are coming to our B-Day. That's six people, guys. After months of planning and organizing, Francine complained that she couldn't afford the price at the beach house. It was like $ 150 per person for the whole weekend. which was great for that area, and we asked for no gifts so no other expenses were required.

17:42 We're also buying the food for meals for everyone.

17:46 Francine is constantly spending beyond her means and then expecting everyone to pay for things for her because she can't afford it. She also barely works, even though she's fully capable of holding a regular job, and her husband works overtime to pay for her spending. Damn. So we told her, don't worry about it because otherwise she wouldn't come. And my sister and I paid her and her husband's portion ourselves.

18:08 Then her other friend couldn't pay either. So we ended up with my brother-in-law paying for the entire beach house.

18:14 Why is everyone pay? Why are the birthday people paying for everyone to come celebrate your birthday?

18:18 If they can't, if no one can do that, then you, that's, you just can't have people come. Truly.

18:23 Some people do do that and that's, they're allowed, they're allowed to, but this just seems so stressful for no reason.

18:29 If I was planning something and like a lot of my friends couldn't afford it, but I wanted them there, I would just plan something else.

18:35 Bingo.

18:36 I'd be like, oh, you know what? We can actually just like hang out at Sophia's house. Great birthday present to us, but at least everyone was still coming. By the way, this comes from Waves Over Blaze. And if you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash okay story time subreddit. As OP says, cut to yesterday, two days before the weekend birthday party. My brother-in-law was talking to Francine's husband and they were joking about drinking too much this weekend. Then Francine's husband said, Yeah, then Ava will have to carry me to bed. Ava is Francine's daughter, who we assume was being left with her grandmother that weekend because it's a weekend spent drinking and partying. My brother-in-law clarifies by asking if Ava is coming,

19:15 to which Francine's husband says, Yes.

19:17 No, no, no, no, no, no. When was that confirmed with us? Oh.

19:20 Wow, that's crazy to invite your daughter when this is a dirty 30 trip.

19:25 No kids allowed.

19:26 Now, I don't know if my brother-in-law asked why or anything else, but I know nothing else was said until I heard about it last night from my sister. I lost my crap.

19:36 I was furious.

19:38 Not only was she not paying for literally anything, she also was now using this as a vacation weekend for her and her daughter, who is five, and will change the entire.

19:48 Vibe of the weekend.

19:50 Okay you don't need a five-year-old there what is she gonna do that's just irresponsible in my opinion i'd be.

19:54 Like ava ava come here grab this ping pong ball and and throw it in the cup.

19:58 Come on like what is a five-year-old gonna do around a bunch of adults drinking like why would you want your child to see you like that.

20:04 Even This is an adult party. Why are we having a child here?

20:08 And they didn't even pay. Now I'm just double mad at you.

20:10 And she had plenty of time to get a babysitter and either left until last minute and couldn't find one or just had this plan the entire time. I wouldn't put it past her if it was both. I told my sister to tell her to find a sitter or something that she isn't bringing a child. My sister told me I was overreacting. She's not happy about it either, but that she can't do anything about it now.

20:30 Yes, you can. You cannot come. Actually, you can definitely do something.

20:35 You can literally tell her, hey, by the way, your five-year-old daughter can't come to a weekend drinking trip.

20:42 Remember that money that we put down for you guys as guests? We refunded it.

20:46 Ooh, ouch.

20:47 Whatever. That she would just not come and then no one would be there, even though that other friend is coming too and is a much better friend to me and my sister. I asked my mom if I was overreacting and she told me to let it go. It's not a big deal. And to enjoy my weekend anyway.

21:01 That's my mom.

21:02 Can't really enjoy my weekend when we have babysitting, do we?

21:05 Yeah. Like if I'm going to be like not sober, I don't want to be around children.

21:09 Sorry. That's the last thing I want to be around that. Like I did it once and I was like, hate this really weird. I don't like this at all. Yep. I don't think I'm overreacting because inviting a child to a weekend of drinking and possibly other things is pretty irresponsible and presumptuous, especially when we are paying for literally everything.

21:27 Francine is also notorious for acting like she's closer to my twin sister than I am and making comments about things that I wasn't there for, essentially cutting me out of the conversation. I live around four hours away from my sister, so I don't get to spend as much time with her as I'd like to. Francine lives about half an hour away from my sister, and Francine spends almost every weekend with her.

21:49 So, am I the a-hole?

21:51 Also, I will be updating as the weekend goes on if anything happens or any drama ensues. And there is an update, so both of those must have happened.

21:59 This is your sister's birthday, but this is also your birthday. Shouldn't have kids at your 30th birthday if you don't want them there. Yeah. Especially if you're paying for Francine and her partner to be there. Very weird. How inconsiderate of you.

22:12 Yeah, this she's not a friend.

22:14 I think honestly, truthfully, now that you said like she kind of thinks that she's closer. I think she's jealous of you, OP. Don't know why, but I think she's jealous that you and your sister are close. And she's like, no, no, actually, I'm closer. I am.

22:25 We're like twins. Ew. Get over yourself.

22:28 And also, you're stingy. Don't pay for anything and then expect everything in return.

22:31 Bye.

22:32 Sorry, I'm not paying for your vacation with your family. It's not for you. It's for us.

22:37 You're probably going to do things that the five-year-old can't do. As in, like, go out to a bar. When are you going to stay home or something? Like, what's happening with that?

22:44 There is an update.

22:45 So I'm home from the weekend and it went as well as you all predicted. Friday night, we went up, just the three of us, me, my sister, and my brother-in-law. Francine doesn't like to stay overnight for more than one night, so they planned to come Saturday. My sister had messaged her and told her not to come until late Saturday afternoon as we weren't going to be there, hoping to get more time with just the three of us. She said that she wanted to come early because her daughter is antsy and won't stop nagging us to leave. So they came around noon.

23:13 I hate you, Francine. I mean... Everything we just said, you just ignored.

23:18 This reminds me of one of my friends. Like, you say something, and then she just completely ignores it. And it was like, well, but for my sake, though, we should do it this way. And I'm like, oh, so it doesn't matter what I want at all. Doesn't matter, you know, this is my house, my place, but let's do what you want. Huh? Uh, this was frustrating because we had planned to go to a nice Italian restaurant with just the three of us and then have time to decorate before everyone else came. So no nice lunch.

23:44 And she got her way again. We were going to just go to lunch and let Francine figure it out. But my sister felt bad doing that to her. So we skipped it and got takeout instead.

23:54 No, you know what I would have done? I'll be like, cool. This is also my birthday weekend. Brother-in-law and I are going to go get that Italian food. You can help out your friend who you are allowing to let, you know, do this. Good plan? Great plan.

24:05 I just don't understand how this is your guys' celebrating your birthday.

24:10 She didn't even pay for it. And she's like, let's do things that I want to do.

24:14 Oh, my child's coming.

24:15 Oh, my God. Everyone prepare for her.

24:17 She's really asking.

24:18 She's really excited about this, even though I told no one. The audacity of people is so annoying. So she arrives and it's a whirlwind of chaos with the child bouncing off the walls, playing with balloons, and listening to videos loudly on her iPad. So Francine sits down and yells to her daughter to put on some headphones and to not bother her, which obviously doesn't work, and she just whizzes around the room for a few hours. Francine then starts monopolizing my time with my sister and reminiscing about times they've had together without me and bonding over that.

24:46 My sister is trying her best to keep me in the loop, giving me context where she can, but mostly gets bulldozed by Francine. So I go to my room for a while to give them and myself some space. Later that night, my sister's other friend arrives and that's when I learned.

25:01 That no one will be drinking.

25:03 I'm drinking.

25:04 I will literally leave and go to the bar right now. This is my weekend.

25:08 Huh? Crazy.

25:09 I won't get into why, but for one reason or another, I will be the only one drinking out of everyone. So now everyone is sober and talking to each other about all their fun times they've had without me. I break out some pizza kits to make our own pizzas and no one is eating. They're all talking to each other and not interested. So not only am I drinking alone, I'm now eating alone too.

25:28 And this is why I said at the beginning of the story, when Opie said- These are my sister's friends. They're going to do what your sister's doing.

25:35 Yeah.

25:35 I mean, it's true.

25:36 Like they are technically like they're not really close to you. Like they're friends of, you know, your sister. So obviously they're going to want to see your sister more. It just stinks that no one's like including you, though.

25:47 I'd be so upset. I'd be like, OK, this is my weekend and go to.

25:49 The bar and make friends. It's my 30th birthday. Friends. Oh, yeah. The perfect icebreaker. Oh, my gosh. It's my 30th birthday. And everyone abandoned me.

25:56 What?

25:57 Who wants to be friends yeah oh my gosh it.

25:59 Is the perfect icebreaker i uh i'm gonna use that i went to this um bar a while ago with my boyfriend and some of our friends and it was getting like super hot in there and so i i and they were all dancing and stuff so i i walked out i was just like sitting down because i they were gonna come out in a little bit and uh it's like one guy comes up to me and he's like starts kind of like flirting i'm like oh And he's like, oh, is it your birthday? And I'm like, no.

26:22 And he's like, oh, like, do you want to dance? I'm like, no, I have a boyfriend. He like walks by. Then another person comes over and they're like, oh my God, happy birthday. I'm like, what are.

26:28 You guys talking about?

26:31 It's not my birthday.

26:32 Well, no, Sophia, you're supposed to say thank you. It is my birthday.

26:34 No, but I'm like, why do they keep saying this? And they're like, uh, and they like point above me and I look up and there's a huge 30. There's a huge like 30 balloon.

26:43 That's crazy. They thought you were 30? Yeah, they thought you were 30.

26:46 I would never in a million years think you were 30. But like, if you're sitting under balloons that.

26:51 You're sitting under 30 balloons, I'm going to think you're 30.

26:52 You're going to think you're 30. I was like, why do people keep saying.

26:56 And it's a great icebreaker when it's your birthday.

26:59 Yeah, people came over to me. I was like, stop.

27:01 Oh, no, I love, like, I'll go to the bar, like, with, you know, my sister and her friends. Not my best crowd. Don't really like going drinking with all them because just reasons. But I always try to, like, go off on my own at some point every time I meet a friend. Last time it was the DJ.

27:17 Yeah.

27:18 And her name was Miss Frizzle. And she was so cool. And then I actually did meet a guy that night, which he was cool. But yeah, but it's just like any time a girl alone, swoop.

27:28 Here they come girls.

27:28 Around this time is when Francine goes to put her kid to bed and figures out what I've done to the sleeping arrangements.

27:35 And you paid for it.

27:36 Yeah.

27:37 And it's your birthday. Exactly.

27:38 And they have, they're the only people with three people. You never know who's going to.

27:41 Be in that bed with you. Your twin sister.

27:43 Yeah.

28:03 No, I make it weird.

28:04 The five-year-old? Yeah, who was going to be in the bed?

28:07 Oh, they're going out to the bars. Ah.

28:10 That wasn't clear to me. They're not going out to the bar.

28:12 OP is probably going to just bake this pizza and drink and go to bed, which honestly sounds like a really good night as well. Francine comes down after seeing the beds and says, which room is mine again? And I say, the one at the top of the stairs, two singles. Or the one in the hallway, trundle. She purses her lips and gets her daughter into bed, pouting upstairs for the next hour or so. Drama queen! There's a little bit left here. What are you doing if you're OP?

28:36 I'm making the best of it. I'm not letting anyone bring down my birthday. It's my 30th. I'm going out to celebrate. Me, myself, and I? great i don't care about francine you are irrelevant to me i'm gonna get my sister i'm like i'm going out to go celebrate and have fun if this is your way of having fun great i'm gonna do my way of having fun i'm gonna do my own thing i'm gonna do my own thing i really really hope francine does not take your bed i'll freak.

28:58 Out yeah i hope not i hope she didn't go up there and just go like in yours oh i'd call her out immediately i'd be like hey um i i said the other room was yours actually Not much happens for the rest of the night. Uh, we cut the cake, we play a game, and everyone is in bed by midnight. Speaking on the bed situation, Francine ended up not making the trundle up and slept in a single, making her husband sleep with their daughter in the other single.

29:23 This morning, we all left pretty early, and I'm home now, pretty frustrated and defeated. My sister asked if I was upset about the weekend, and I tried to pretend like I was fine, but it was hard.

29:31 Tell your sister that you are upset. This is supposed to be a fun weekend that you guys... I mean, maybe she had a good weekend. But you can be up, you can be upfront and be honest and be like, I expected more. I wanted to have do more things. You only turned 30 once.

29:43 True.

29:44 You got to make the best out of it. And it sucks.

29:46 It sucks that you didn't get to like do anything like that.

29:48 Oh, sorry.

29:49 Definitely not the 30th I had in mind.

29:52 I still don't know if I.

29:53 Will do a makeup birthday or if this was the update you've all been waiting for, but this is it. I'm hoping next year we just keep it basic and maybe just do dinner with each other. This was a lot to be okay with and I'm pretty content with not involving Francine in any more plans with myself in the future. Yeah, Francine seems like a witch. Like, she just makes everything about herself. It's like, well, what about my priorities? What about my needs?

30:15 What about my wants? Shut up.

30:17 Just take yourself on a nice vacation on your own, OP, personally. If you know you don't have any friends that are close to you, go visit someone. Or take yourself somewhere that you've never been to.

30:28 Or do a spa day.

30:29 But that is the end of that story, and we have another one coming right up.

30:31 Yeah, we do.

30:32 Hey, it's Dakota, your favorite good time boy host here. We're going to get back to the stories, but here's three minutes of ads from our sponsors.

30:40 My mother-in-law took my money for years and lied about where it went. Mama, that's mine! I live with my boyfriend at his parents' home. His parents charge me rent every month, and they told me that the rent I pay will be put away for my future. They said that this money will be kept aside for me to purchase a home or get an education. I've been living with them for three years and thought I had a substantial amount of money set aside. A few weeks ago, his mother told me that this money is no longer aside for me. She said that this money will be used for food instead. However, this caught me off guard because...

31:09 She is well off and can't afford to go on multiple trips a year and go out every single weekend and is planning to take a long trip to Europe. I feel like I was lied to. For the last three years, I thought I was saving for a down payment on a home just to find out that instead I have nothing aside for the future. I am hurt and I'm upset. What would you do in my situation?

31:27 By the way, this comes from user LostKittensUniverse. And if you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash OKStoryTime subreddit. OP says, Edit 1. My boyfriend thinks that this is not a big deal. He says that his mom has been a liar and manipulative his whole life, so there's nothing he can do about it now because she won't change. So why did you allow this to happen, boyfriend?

31:46 Him knowing this and literally say nothing, like not even warning or being like, yeah, you know, like, I don't think you should do this with my parents and stuff because they're not going to be truthful about it.

31:55 I know them. You know, it seems like a good idea, but it's not. Instead, he's like, oh, yeah, I don't know. You shouldn't worry about it.

32:02 It's just like thousands of dollars.

32:04 Egal says you're living with your boyfriend in his parents' house. They stole your money. You can do bad by yourself. You gave your money to them. You took their word for it.

32:11 Yeah, I guess there was no like contract or anything. Yeah, I would ask for that.

32:15 Yeah. Do we have an age? I didn't get an age.

32:17 If Sophia maybe can check, but.

32:19 No age. Yeah, see, I don't know how.

32:21 It seems like they're pretty young. I'd say like teenagers, maybe.

32:24 Upi continues saying, Therefore, my boyfriend and I just have to accept her behavior. However, this makes me upset because it seems like he's not ready to stand up for me when needed. And it feels as if he doesn't value my feelings enough. Anyways, we came to the conclusion that we should have a talk with his mother next week when we see her to explain how I feel.

32:42 Edit 2. I am a student, and if I knew that this money was not going towards my future, I would have made different choices. I would have chose to move back to Italy with my family, where I wouldn't have to pay for rent, and where school is free. I would have stayed in Canada, but instead of going to school, I would have worked full-time and saved up as much as possible. As a student, I am working part-time, and everything I earn goes towards rent. We have a third edit. More than once, his mom said, You should be grateful that I let your girlfriend live here. She's the one that offered me to move in their home to begin with. This type of comment made me feel very unwelcome. Edit 4. We have a lot of edits.

33:15 I like this. On top of paying rent, I often cook for the whole family and help clean the house. I also look after their kids when they leave for vacations or weekends. You guessed it. Edit five. Looking back, I was treated unfairly on multiple occasions. I feel used, and I'm looking forward to moving out. And we have an update.

33:31 Is she, like, not gonna.

33:33 I guess, like, she did try to talk to the boyfriend about it, but I would be mad at the boyfriend, too. I'd be like, tell your parents to do something about this, because this is not okay.

33:42 I think they took full advantage of you, and they knew this. And your boyfriend knew this, too.

33:46 Ugh.

33:47 Uh, go back to Italy.

33:48 Why would you leave?

33:49 Some people like to change the scenery.

33:50 Nooo!

33:51 But there is an update. I'm sorry, OP, but you should have had something in, like, in writing. Update. After talking to her and explaining to her how hurt I am about the whole situation, she had the courage to go to my boyfriend and invent that I haven't been paying rent for half the time I was there.

34:05 Oh.

34:07 She then dismissed this lie in my presence as I have proof that I always paid rent. She also had the courage to call me ungrateful. I have always went above and beyond for her. As the tenant who was paying rent, my only duty should be to pick up after myself. But I've been helping her with chores and I've been cooking for her whole family every day. This is like an evil, not even stepmother or mother-in-law. This is like your boyfriend's mom. This is just evil.

34:30 Did they ask you to cook or you just cook, you know, like, are they like, oh, that's part of why you get to stay here?

34:37 Why don't you ask?

34:38 Because I have the answer. Oh. So no one asked me to do this. I chose to do it from day one as a gesture of appreciation and thanks. So when she called me ungrateful, this really hurt me because I've done everything I could to show my appreciation for her. She asks if she did me a huge favor by letting me move into her home and as if I owe her something, but I Don't. I saw her as family, so the fact that she chose to screw me over like this really hurts. Anyways, I decided to leave, and I moved back to Italy with my family. Smart.

35:07 Screw that guy.

35:08 I'd be pissed at him too. I'd be like, wow, screw you for not sticking up for me.

35:12 Bye. Yeah, get the receipts, tell your boyfriend, probably your ex-boyfriend now, because he's not standing up for you, and he knew this was going to happen.

35:19 So just manipulative family.

35:21 She tried being the manipulative bee that she is, saying things like, I am so sad that you are leaving. I wish things could be different. But I'm so over being mistreated, manipulated, and just used. As said in the previous post, I feel like she robbed me of my future because I'm a full-time student making minimum wage. So every bit of money I'm making goes towards school, rent, food, and bills. I have... Nothing. And all this time, I was convinced that I had money going towards my future.

35:48 I will never forgive her for what she did. There's a little bit left here. Could you sue?

35:51 I don't know.

35:52 I don't think you can because nothing was in writing.

35:54 No, there's not.

35:54 Yeah, nothing's in writing. Nothing's set in stone. It was just word of mouth. So you can't you literally just have to suck it up and take the loss.

36:01 Oh, that sucks, though.

36:02 Three years of rent just down the drain.

36:04 I want to know how much.

36:06 I'm sure it's thousands.

36:08 A hundred percent.

36:08 She probably didn't pay too much. Like I'd say like 280, like 300 or something. I'm not really sure. But you know, going from that times 12 times three.

36:16 What's 12 times three?

36:19 36.

36:20 Nice. I know my times tables.

36:22 There's a little bit left here. Let's go ahead and finish this up. I'm sorry, OP. Hopefully Italy is good to you. My boyfriend still lives with her and his family. He says that he's on my side, but he still loves his mommy because she is his mommy. I get that. But at the same time, I don't, because my parents would never treat anyone like that. My parents even offered me and my boyfriend to live with them for free, even though they are in a financially tight position. I would never forgive my parents for doing something similar to my boyfriend. This is insane behavior.

36:52 Agreed.

36:53 And here we are with more edits. Edit one. Throughout the three years living there, she mentioned this money multiple times and called it my money fund.

37:01 Okay, so it wasn't just like the first time she ever mentioned it and then it was never mentioned after that and you were just like, well, you said.

37:06 No, she was rubbing it in your face. She knew what she was doing.

37:09 Oh my god, ew.

37:09 She was like, this girl never signed anything.

37:12 What a conniving little.

37:13 And when she said my money fund, she meant her money fund.

37:16 Actually, bye.

37:17 Edit 2. Her lies also affected my choices. Because if I knew that this money was not actually being saved for me, I would have chose to study for free in Italy while staying with my parents. Edit 3. Mother-in-law also committed tax evasion slash tax fraud as she did not declare the money.

37:33 Of course she did. Whatever.

37:36 I'm sorry that you had to go through this for three years.

37:38 Yeah, literally.

37:39 But hopefully everything is going. If you start from the bottom, OP, you can only go to the top.

37:44 Now we're here. My landlord's child screams on purpose to wake up the tenants, so I confronted them.

37:51 What is she, the rooster?

37:52 I live in a large three-story house with my landlords and two other tenants. My landlords are a married couple in their late 30s with two daughters aged five and nine. And they have the basement and first floor. I and another single tenant live on the second floor. And there's another couple on the third floor. It's a really nice living situation. The rent for the neighborhood cannot be beat.

38:12 And our landlords are great except for this one thing. By the way, this comes from Pork Burp. And if you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash.

38:20 Okay.

38:20 Storytime.

38:21 Separate it.

38:21 OP says, so before we moved in, the landlord mentioned to us that sometimes the girls get loud, particularly the older one, but you probably won't even hear it unless you're by your door. That means you're going to hear it.

38:33 That means you hear it a lot.

38:34 Given their ages, we figured this meant noise from playing and the occasional tantrum. On questioning the other tenants, they said it's mostly the nine-year-old having tantrums, but it's infrequent. We've been living here for three months now, and the nine-year-old has a screaming tantrum at least twice per week.

38:52 She screams with the intent to wake up the house because she knows it'll make her parents embarrassed. I have only ever heard them say things like, stop yelling, go wake everyone up, and never heard them talk about punishment. Although, to be fair, I couldn't hear everything over the screaming. I've tried casually to bring it up with them, saying something like, wow, that kid can scream with a chuckle, to which they would say, oh, and she was so sorry.

39:12 She's so bad today. We don't know what to do. Girlies.

39:15 You discipline her.

39:16 You can't not know what to do twice a week.

39:19 This is where you parent her.

39:21 Personally, I would love to go down there during a screaming episode and have words with the child, but I feel like that would be crossing a huge red line. I gather that as parents, they want to be the only ones making decision about their children and don't welcome outside input. So I don't want to say something like, you should ground her or whatever. Also being mindful of the fact that they are my landlords. I don't want to have too much tension in the household. I really like the place otherwise. So I might be asking the impossible, but what's a good way to bring this up with my landlords? When I feel like they might not be open to the advice or criticism, even though it's neither of those things, I think they would perceive it that way.

39:54 And we've got an edit.

39:55 It is hard because you don't want to... Did you tell your kid to stop it? And they're like, are you talking to a parent? Let's increase your rent kind of thing. Like you don't want to have bad terms or bad blood or step on anybody's toes, especially if they're, you know, they're... your landlord. The fact that they know that this exists and they don't do anything about it, I feel like the best thing you can do, you have to bring it up, but I feel like you can bring it up with more than just yourself. If there are other tenants who are affected by this, have them talk as a group meeting of the tenants of this building. This is an issue.

40:27 No, I think it definitely needs to be a conversation. People are sensitive about kids' A hundred percent. So it's tricky, but I think just like go to your landlords and sit them down and say, Hey, totally understand that this is tricky and hard for you too. But as I am paying rent for a certain level of peace, I really need this issue.

40:46 To be resolved.

40:47 Yeah, and I guarantee you, like I said, you're not the only one going through this. So if you can get a handful of people saying this needs to be worked on. Yeah. Because saying, oh, we're sorry, we don't know what to do with her is not being worked on. No.

40:59 I thought it.

41:00 Was going to be the five-year-old.

41:01 She's old enough.

41:02 Sophia, am I wrong? Yeah. Is it going to get worse before it gets any better?

41:06 It's absolutely. I mean, if you try and, you know, she's probably going to keep screaming louder and more, but you definitely need to... Nah, not anymore.

41:13 Yep. Edit.

41:14 I wasn't sure how to sit down with my landlords and get this out in the open positively, and there's a number of good angles mentioned here that I will be using. An update nearly two months later, I borrowed the advice of making the conversation not about myself or them, and instead discussed the possibility of soundproofing. I also decided to do it right around 6am when it was starting so I could sort of catch it in the act.

41:35 Sorry, I just thought of something even better.

41:37 Yeah.

41:38 Yell louder.

41:39 Yeah, you go, ah!

41:41 Shut up!

41:41 Shut up! Shut up!

41:43 Yeah.

41:44 I went down to my landlord's floor and simply said, hey guys, just FYI, I could hear that in my apartment as though it's happening right outside my door. I guess the walls are thin and the door is right here by the stairs. You might want to consider some kind of soundproofing for the benefit of future tenants. My lease runs out in a month and I'm not renewing, so didn't bother to ask for it myself. I was surprised when my landlord said they had no idea I could hear it. Apparently the other building residents, both of whom have lived in my unit, didn't hear it. Or did, but didn't say anything about it. Bet they just didn't say anything.

42:15 I think it's the second option there.

42:16 My landlords were also very apologetic and said they were really sorry. The next thing that happened was awesome. The nine-year-old was in the room sitting facing away and now totally silent. The mother said, see, your behavior has consequences and you've disturbed our neighbors. I think you need to turn around and apologize to pork burp. or to OP for waking her up. She did not turn around. I wasn't really expecting it. She's shy around the tenants and her body language really seemed to communicate that she was embarrassed and ashamed. When I came home from work, I had a handwritten letter from the girl where she apologized for disturbing everyone and will try harder next time not to behave like that. I believe every tenant got one

42:53 of these. I kind of wish her parents had made her apologize to me on the spot, but I'm okay with the letter. This happened a couple weeks ago, and so far there's been no further 6am tantrums. At least that I can hear, anyway. So I think confronting the family was a success. Okay, we've got an edit to finish this off, but any final thoughts?

43:10 Great.

43:11 Yeah, success.

43:12 You did it in a very respectful manner.

43:14 Yeah.

43:15 They took it pretty dang well, actually.

43:17 They took it super well. Not only did they actually just fix the tantrum stuff, but it seemed like they were also open to doing other things.

43:26 Great. I think it's great all around for you. I think great parenting.

43:30 Finally.

43:31 Yeah, finally. And honestly, good on the daughter to also, I mean, we don't know what happened behind the closed doors, but good on the daughter to like actually write a handwritten letter to every tenant saying that she's sorry. I mean, her parents probably forced her, but it's something and that's good.

43:47 And we've got an edit. Got a few more things to say in response to these great comments. Some people have pointed out that a nine-year-old apologizing through a letter as opposed to on the spot isn't so bad considering she's nine. In fact, it might be an even bigger punishment because she would have to sit and really think about each letter. That's something I didn't consider. And when it's framed that way, I agree that that's sufficient. Some people also think my post was about asking whether or not to discuss the issue with my landlord, but it was actually about how to bring it up in the most non-offensive way possible. As some people here have mentioned, some parents can be really sensitive to anything that seems

44:22 like criticism. I wanted to minimize the possibility of them turning around and trying to make this about me versus them, since that's not what it is at all. And that's the end of that story.

44:32 Great.

44:32 Seems like you did it well. Congrats.

44:34 Good job.

44:35 I wonder if OP is still moving out.

44:37 I was like, maybe if you did say like, I'm going to not renew my lease. It's kind of a slime ball move, like after a conversation, but like.

44:44 Well, if they already knew it.

44:45 Give me free rent.

44:46 Yeah, give it to me. But that's the end of that story. And we got another one coming right up.

44:50 Yes, we do.

44:51 Oh boy.

44:52 Hey, it's Keon, your host with the cakes here. We're going to get back to the stories, but here's three minutes of ads from our sponsors. My roommate said I was difficult to live with. He can't even take out his own trash.

45:03 Look who's talking.

45:05 I've been in my rent-stabilized apartment for seven years. I originally moved in as a subletter at the beginning of a friend's lease. A year later, when we got the renewal offer, my friend was moving away. I found someone else to renew with, and the landlord rolled over my friend's security deposit from the first lease onto our lease, and I bought out my friend for her portion of the deposit. By the way, this comes from user... Slow Education 1982. And if you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash OKStoryTime subreddit. As Opie says, at the time of the new lease, she signed a document relinquishing ownership of the deposit to me. Since we renewed two months before the end of the lease, it

45:37 was two months after relinquishing the deposit that I actually paid her out. The roommate who replaced her was great, but he left last year and I found a replacement for him who turned out to be a complete nightmare.

45:48 No, you found a bad replacement.

45:51 Oh no, it's Freddy Krueger. No.

45:53 Oh, he would be a terrible roommate.

45:55 I won't get into specifics because that is a whole other post, but it was a lot of gaslighting. Often this tactic was used to defuse responsibility over apartment stuff or to get out of paying something extra.

46:07 Owed.

46:08 Confusion and acting like he doesn't understand are his main tactics, and it's exhausting. We just got the lease renewal offer, and I've decided to not renew since he is on the lease, and I can't force him off. It's not worth fighting him over this place, and as sad as I am to leave it, I think this makes the most sense for me. Now he's about to re-sign the lease with a new roommate. The security deposit process will be like it was with my friend. In a few weeks, I will have to relinquish ownership of it to him, but I don't trust him enough to pay it to me once I move out in a few months. would I be the a-hole if I make him pay at the same time I sign the document? I know he won't be on board for this. I can already hear

46:42 his complaints. Whenever I continued on to this apartment without the prior roommate, it was always my understanding I was absorbing any sort of damage they may have caused. When I leave, I'm sure he's going to make some executive decision about how much should be taken out of the deposit instead of giving me the full amount. The way I see it is that this new person moving in is essentially borrowing my security deposit to lock in their new lease. This person gets to sign a lease without paying anything until they move in. So before we get into any more of this story, do you think Opie's an a-hole for making, not making him, but like at the time of signing the new lease?

47:15 Just saying, give me back my deposit.

47:16 You pay it up front rather than wait?

47:18 I mean, no, you don't like him.

47:19 Who cares if you're an a-hole to him?

47:21 I don't think it's even an a-hole move.

47:23 Yeah, I don't think it's either, but like who cares what he thinks?

47:25 I think this is a smart move on you because you know he's not going to do it. Or it's not going to be paid in full. Because my roommate and I aren't on good terms, I think I can totally shut down the renewal process if I want to. Rather than leave willingly, I just don't give them my official notice that I'm leaving until after the date that our offer expires. If it expires, he and this new roommate will have to apply for this apartment again. They can't just use our security deposit. I have the leverage here, but I'm wondering, would I be able to use it?

47:56 And there's an update. I think it's a sly move in this case because you know this roommate sucks.

48:01 I honestly, it's like sly or not. We don't like them.

48:06 They're not reliable.

48:07 Yeah, we don't. Who cares about upsetting him? Upset him.

48:10 This is your money.

48:11 Yeah, get your money.

48:12 Get your security deposit. I think this is totally fine. Especially if it was like a good roommate and they didn't cause you any issues. There's probably no reason for this.

48:20 Yeah, I mean, like, hope he would just trust them.

48:22 But this guy is a scumbag.

48:24 Get that money. Update.

48:25 So, I posted about this roommate before. I didn't want to sign over the security deposit from my name to his until he paid me out for my share. He originally agreed, but of course, his agreements mean nothing.

48:37 Dang.

48:37 And now he's trying to find ways out of paying me before I sign over the deposit.

48:41 Well, there's your answer.

48:43 There you go. Give me my money and then I'll sign the deposit.

48:45 You almost had it.

48:47 Oh, you almost had it. He also wants me to move out before the end of the lease to make it easier for the new roommate coming in. Not happening. When I said no to this, he called me difficult.

48:57 You want to talk about difficult?

49:00 What difficulty are we talking about here? We're talking about easy, normal, hardened, veteran, impossible.

49:05 I can make it difficult.

49:06 He wants to assess any sort of damage so the buyout of my security deposit is less than what I put in. You already thought of this.

49:13 Yeah.

49:13 I've been here six years. I have not caused any damage other than wear and tear. If this were a normal lease ending... the landlords would not be docking the deposit i've had roommates come and go it's a stabilized apartment and every other roommate has understood they're inheriting the apartment as is you aren't getting a deep clean and new paint when you move in but if people continue after you you also get your full deposit back This guy, for whatever reason, thinks everything is catered to him. He expects me to be inconvenienced to benefit him. And this is a guy who can't even take out his own trash.

49:44 If I don't transfer the security deposit to the new lease, I know that he and this new roommate can't move in. They don't have enough to cover that. All I asked was to pay me my portion of the deposit and let me live out the end of my lease. We have... two months left and I want to live in peace. And he is not doing that. At this point, I can say I'm not relinquishing the deposit at all. And his new lease wouldn't be finalized. So he should be kind of catering to you.

50:08 You have all the cards here.

50:10 I'm making the demands and the request, but I have no powers.

50:13 Yeah.

50:13 You've got like, you've got the weapon and he's like, you're going to give me all the money.

50:18 And you're like, no. Who are you?

50:20 Yeah.

50:21 What's going on?

50:22 Going on.

50:23 I want to do this to be petty, but I also want to do this as some sort of protection for myself for the next two months. If this is how he treats me now, how is he going to treat me once I don't have the leverage of the deposit anymore? Good question.

50:35 Exactly.

50:36 So don't give him any leverage. Yeah. If I don't sign it over, he doesn't get the deposit money until after the lease. And ideally, that means he won't treat me horribly in the final months of living here. There is a little bit left here. I think you know what to do, OP. You have hope. It's very easy.

50:51 Just don't give him any power.

50:52 Literally, it's just no.

50:54 It's just easy. No, I'm going to keep doing this. You may think it's petty. You may think it's an a-hole move, but this guy is an a-hole and he's also petty. So you're playing on his level.

51:04 Petty with petty.

51:05 Tom Petty. I'm not considering signing anything over before I get the money. That isn't happening. I am considering telling him I won't relinquish the money at all and just wait to get it from the landlord in two months. Would ultimately prevent him from being able to sign the new lease. We got a second update here.

51:21 Oh boy.

51:21 It better be.

51:22 I got my money.

51:23 I got my money and then I moved out and I'm done with that guy and don't have to see him ever again.

51:28 And now I live in a mansion.

51:30 I live in the clouds.

51:31 Yes.

51:32 Update number two. I've stayed strong on not sending the letter until I get the payment. He's not handling it well that there is nothing he can do and is going personal. He's trying to gaslight me and say I'm gaslighting him. Again, you're playing on his level.

51:44 Yeah.

51:45 He also said the reason all my old roommates left is that I'm difficult to live with.

51:48 That's so funny.

51:50 Which is laughable.

51:51 That's so funny.

51:52 He's a comedian. I didn't know that.

51:53 You're a funny guy.

51:54 He doesn't know them. They are close friends who moved for jobs or boyfriends. In their early years, one of them stayed on the lease without living here just so I could stay. Again, this guy has no power or leverage over you. Everything he says is nothing.

52:07 Got no idea.

52:08 And you go, keep saying what you say. I still have to sign the deposit.

52:11 Sorry.

52:12 I think that's the end of the story.

52:14 And that's that. I think you're fine, bud.

52:17 I think you're so good.

52:18 Truly, like, who cares about upsetting someone you don't like?

52:21 All his words mean nothing. You're fine.

52:24 Bye.

52:25 Oh, sorry. That is the end of the story. And we have some comments now that we're going to read.

52:28 These comments are from the story, My Stepdaughter Wants.

52:32 Me to Be Daddy. Her dad is furious.

52:35 And this was posted April 18th, 2026. And this is the TLDR for story three. Opie is a self-described neat freak mom who has always demanded her four kids keep their rooms spotless or right down to folding their clothes a very specific way. She'd read about a parenting trick where a mom would dump out messy drawers or so the kids would reorganize them the right way. And she'd been holding on to the idea for years. Then one day, she walked into her 16-year-old's room while the girl was on FaceTime with her boyfriend, spotted clothes shoved in a drawer, and started flinging everything onto the floor. Her daughter burst into tears, and by the next morning, there was a note on the bedroom door. If you're curious to know

53:18 the full story, you can go watch the full video.

53:21 Oh, wow. That sounded like a huge mess. And I'm not talking about the pile of clothes on the floor.

53:27 Yeah, I remember that one.

53:29 My mom would dump the laundry on our beds.

53:32 That's different.

53:33 If we didn't do like, if we didn't like clean up after ourselves, she would take it and put it.

53:37 On our bed. That's different from the first thing too. Like dishes, schoolwork, whatever. If we just like left it somewhere, she'd just throw it on her bed. She's like, go sleep in it then. Yeah. And I learned not to do that. Michelle Brickner says, Story 3, OP's daughter in five years, and that's why I only own three shirts, three pairs of pants, and three pairs of underwear.

53:57 Oh, dang.

53:57 Bomb.com says, Immediately the a-hole. The clothes stuffed in a drawer is only an inconvenience to the kid. It's ridiculous to create a mess to solve an issue like this. They remind me so much of my own mom, who would mess up my bookshelf, throw my clothes and stuffed animals out of their place, then make me clean up the mess how she liked it to be done. All it did for me was create anxiety and aversion to doing those tasks as I got older, because if they weren't done right, they'd be ruined. So I had to try again. Sherbert says, OP sounds like my nasty third foster mom. And Avery Swamp Mystic says, this something my parents always did was apologize to us when they felt they made mistakes. They were firm in some ways, but

54:34 they were kind and loving always. They would be real with us in a pretty healthy way. This taught us empathy pretty decently, I think. They value mental health, too. I have an incredibly positive opinion on my parents and upbringing. The way Riley describes his mom and dad is very similar to how I would describe my own, actually.

54:50 He's here.

54:50 He's back.

54:51 I knew I smelled New York in here. I smell New York. I knew I smelled a New York slice in here.

54:57 But that's the end of those comments and the end of the episode.

55:00 If you love us, make sure to subscribe. We love you. And see you tomorrow.