I REFUSED to share $14K of my mother's will to my sister... because she owes me $232K. | Reddit Stories | EP2980

0:00 Hey, this is Carly. And this is Angie, your favorite OK Storytime hosts. 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 running. I refuse to share $ 14, 000 of my mother's will with my sister because she owes me $ 232, 000. That is a big difference. I, 29 female. And my sister Rachel, 34, female, were both listed on our mom's savings account years ago for emergency access.

0:30 Our mom passed away eight months ago. I was the one who moved back home three years ago and quit my part-time job and managed every doctor's appointment and gave her medication every night and was with her when she passed. Dang. Rachel? lives four hours away, and maybe visited six times in three years. Oh! She has a good job and a comfortable life, and she always said she couldn't leave work whenever I asked for even a weekend of help. I never blamed her out loud because I knew she had her reasons. When we started handling the estate, our mom had left a note, not a legal will, just a handwritten letter, saying she wanted the savings split equally between us.

1:12 The account... and around $ 14, 000 in it.

1:15 Okay.

1:16 I went to the bank to ask a few questions, and the banker mentioned I was the sole remaining authorized user because Rachel had never updated her ID, and her name had lapsed off the account, technically, due to an old bank policy.

1:30 Uh-oh, looks like a note got lost in the trash.

1:34 Uh-oh, looks like nobody knows about this money anymore but me. By the way, this comes from Isla Glowy. If you want to submit your own stories, go to the r slash ok story time subreddit. I'm Dakota. I'm Riley. We're going to read this story. We're going to have our thoughts. You get to have yours too. And you put them in the comments and maybe they'll be in a future video.

1:54 OP says, Legally, the money is mine to do with as I want. I decided not to tell Rachel about this detail. And just transferred the full amount into an account in my name only. My reasoning was that I had sacrificed three years of my life and my career and my social life to care for our mom while Rachel showed up for the good moments and disappeared for the hard ones. I did not spend the money. It's sitting there right now. Accruing interest.

2:20 There we go.

2:21 Why don't you throw it in a hot commodity like gold?

2:26 Hey, why don't you throw it into some crypto, baby?

2:28 Yeah, I'll put it into some fart coin. Yeah. No. Everyone knows it only goes up. Last week, Rachel called to ask when we were splitting the account.

2:42 The audacity.

2:44 You go, what account? Just complete. What are you talking about? I told her what I found out at the bank. She completely broke down and said I was being vindictive and cruel and that I had only been the caretaker, but that our mom loved us equally. That phrase destroyed me.

3:03 Yeah.

3:04 Like, does she even understand what that... You were only the caretaker. Yeah, dude.

3:08 You only fed her food when she needed it. You only gave her baths.

3:13 I was her daughter. Yeah. You were just only taking care of her every need at the end of her life while she was passing away.

3:19 Come on. Split the money, man. Just split it.

3:22 Only the caretaker. I said some things I probably should not have said, and we have not spoken since. My best friend, Lisa, says I'm 100% justified. My cousin, Mark, says what I did was technically legal but morally wrong, and I should honor what our mom actually wanted. I genuinely do not know anymore. Am I the A-hole? And there is an update.

3:44 Dakota, I know you carry a lighter everywhere you go, and I know that paper also disappears when you light it on fire. Would you have theoretically lit that note on fire?

3:57 No, but I'm not giving her the money. I'd give her like $ 3, 000, but it would all be in nickels. And so once she counted it, she'd have to count it all and then be like.

4:07 You shorted me. Low key. Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, I see what you did with $ 3, 000. Because I was like, why not just $ 1, 000, but $ 3, 000? Because this is half. This is half.

4:17 Yeah. They only had nickels at the bank today, though. Sorry. Weird thing. I don't know.

4:22 So then I had to go to the other bank and they only had pennies.

4:26 I thought you'd want nickels instead of pennies.

4:28 But I could have decided, so I got you both.

4:29 No, I'd literally, like, honestly, no jokes. I'd keep all that money, and I'd tell her, tough nuts, dude. I sacrificed my entire life for three years for her, and I actually probably need this money more than you do anyway.

4:43 Yeah, she had a comfortable life, comfortable job, was working so hard at that job to make money. OP, I'm just going to throw it out there, I think maybe... sacrificed earning more money to take care of her mom.

4:58 Yeah, I would agree.

4:59 I don't know. My great-grandfather kind of did something similar like this.

5:03 Oh, where he just left a note, and then everyone had to, like.

5:06 He didn't leave a note. My mom helped out more than other people did.

5:09 Yeah.

5:10 And I think he split it the same amount amongst everyone. But that's just kind of the guy he was.

5:16 It's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I mean, to be fair, it is what she wanted.

5:20 But it was your... Legally, it's your money.

5:23 Update. I didn't expect my original post to blow up the way it did. I read every single comment, the ones that destroyed me, the ones that made me feel seen, and the ones somewhere in between. A few of you mentioned probate, holographic wills, and legal exposure. That scared me enough to book a consultation with an estate attorney. That meeting changed everything. The lawyer told me that mom's handwritten letter, signed and dated in her own handwriting, qualifies as a holographic will in our state.

5:52 Holographic? Is that like, um... In Belantro?

5:55 It's like Tupac. Tupac, Coachella.

5:57 Oh, I thought you get a holographic card sometimes in Belantro. Is this molten?

6:03 This is actually worth 1.5 times what it's supposed to be.

6:07 Okay, this is pretty big.

6:09 It's actually $ 21, 000. I got the $ 100 million hand, by the way.

6:12 $ 100 million? That's crazy. I think my biggest is like $ 3. 2 billion.

6:17 Now that's crazy, folks.

6:18 I was there besides you when it happened. On the plane.

6:20 Oh, it was on the plane? Yeah. Dang. It is legally recognized, which means Rachel is legally entitled to her half, regardless of what the bank said about the account. I sat in my car in that parking lot for 45 minutes, just staring at nothing. I had spent three weeks feeling justified, and in one hour, that flipped completely.

6:41 Dang.

6:42 The lawyer also told me something else, that if Rachel chose to pursue this, she would almost certainly win, and I would end up paying her legal fees on top of her share.

6:50 Ooh, leaving you with zero.

6:52 Yeah, and again, just like you said, it's like, and this is why you should have just made that letter disappear.

6:58 I would have asked Dakota for his lighter and lit it on fire.

7:02 You could, which I don't have a lighter. Oh, you don't? No, I don't have a lighter. I thought you did. No.

7:06 In case you wanted to start like a fire or something.

7:08 No, but now you're making me think I should have one on me at all times.

7:11 I might go fire. I got fire starters in my car.

7:13 Just need like a flint and steel.

7:15 I got fire starters in my car, a sleeping bag and a tent and a pillow.

7:19 Fire starter is just a can of gasoline. I got some fire starters in my car. You have two arsonists sitting in the backseat of your car right now. Yeah, I got some fire starters in my car. Okay. The very people on here who told me to get a lawyer may have just saved me from a much worse situation. But here's where it gets complicated. Rachel called me the same night I still do not know how she found out I saw a lawyer. Maybe she saw one too.

7:47 She was not screaming. She was quiet. She said she had been thinking about what she said to me. The jest of the caretaker comment. She said she did not mean it the way it came out and that grief had made her ugly and she was ashamed. I did not say anything for a long time. Then I asked her one question. If the situation were reversed and I had lived four hours away, would you have shown up for me? There was a very long silence.

8:14 Oh.

8:15 Then she said, I would like to think so, but honestly, I do not know. That was the most honest thing she's ever said to me in my entire life. And I made a decision. I am giving Rachel her 7,000. But I am also sending her an itemized document, not as a legal threat, just as something I need her to actually see. Every doctor appointment, every night shift, every weekend, I did not have. Every time I called her and she did not come. Valued at the average in-home care rate for our county, which is $ 6, 200 a month. The total comes to $ 223, 000 for 36 months of care.

8:56 Oh my gosh.

8:59 A pretty penny.

9:00 Dude, dude, you should maybe look into a career as a caretaker.

9:05 Yeah, I can't advise that, but if you can handle it. This has got to be one of the hardest jobs to ever have ever.

9:11 Oh, absolutely, dude.

9:13 I told her I am not asking her to pay it. I just need her to hold that number and understand what just the caretaker actually costs. She went completely silent and then started crying. Not angry crying. It was something else. We are not okay. We are not fixed, but we are talking. And the money is being split the way mom wanted. I think she would be relieved. I think she would also want me to finally sleep through the night.

9:40 I did for the first time in three years last Tuesday.

9:44 Oh my gosh. Torment. Holy cow.

9:48 Don't know how you're alive. That's wild. Thank you to everyone who commented, even the you're the a-holes, actually, especially the you're the a-holes. There is a second update.

9:57 Dude, you think the sister needs that money though? Because if I saw that and I saw how hard my sibling was taking care of my parents, I see a world where I'm still here in California and my brother has to take care of my parents. And if that comes out, I'll be like, dude, keep it. I wasn't there. And let's say I never, I would have visited. But I didn't. Keep it, dude. What are you talking about?

10:23 Of course.

10:24 That's your money.

10:25 I have a feeling that the sister's going to give her a kickback or something.

10:28 Really?

10:29 I think so. I think it's a gesture of goodwill.

10:32 Low key.

10:33 And trying to make up for it. Because I think now she understands like, damn, I really wasn't there. And I put all of that on my sister. And like, yeah, I mean, what she did was worth like a quarter mil in terms of just actual like man hours. So.

10:48 Yeah. Yeah. Dang, dude. And I don't know why, but I have a gut feeling Rachel needs this money because she hasn't been making smart choices. And it's about to come out. Maybe her spending has been equal with her earning.

11:03 Update two. I did not plan to post again, but something happened last weekend that I cannot stop thinking about. And I genuinely do not know how to process it alone. Rachel drove the four hours to meet me.

11:17 What?

11:18 It's the first time she's made that drive since mom's funeral. She showed up at my door with coffee and red eyes like she had been crying the whole way here. We sat at my kitchen table for three hours.

11:29 This is what happens when blood money's involved.

11:32 Am I wrong? She's going to sit down and be like, I'm actually involved in an international criminal syndicate and I need your help to get me out of it.

11:41 Probably.

11:42 Like, no, the reason I drove here is because I had to escape. You misunderstand.

11:46 Oh, that is a good point. I think she might have been a part of like CIA, FBI, something she couldn't really talk about.

11:51 Yeah, she's getting double agent. She had double crossed. She's getting double crossed right now. Wouldn't that be crazy? This is the same kitchen table where I used to eat breakfast alone every morning for three years while taking care of mom upstairs. She brought the itemized invoice I sent her, every single page. She had gone through it with a pen and circled things, not to dispute them. She had written notes next to certain entries, things like, I remember you called me this night, and this was Mom's last birthday, and I didn't know it was this bad. I held it together for about four minutes, and then I did not.

12:26 We talked about things we have never talked about in our entire lives. Why she really did not come. It was not just work. She told me that she was terrified. That watching Mom get sick meant accepting that Mom was actually going to pass, and she could not face it. She said every time she thought about driving here, she had a panic attack in the car and turned around.

12:48 Oh, wow.

12:49 A part of me doesn't believe this, that part, but I do believe that there was the psychological element of like, I can't face the reality of this. But I don't believe she was getting in her car and then having panic attacks and driving back.

13:02 Do you not remember the office when Jim was going to check on Pam and he almost did the exit to New York, but then he turned around last second?

13:10 No.

13:11 No.

13:11 I'm sorry. I don't.

13:13 It's all good. It's all good. It's all good.

13:14 But I do remember that. I do remember that. Guess what? It was like she was doing, she's going to school. Anyway.

13:21 She's going to school flirting with someone else. Had a fiance. The cycle almost continued.

13:27 Jam. Jam and Pim.

13:29 Okay.

13:30 Okay. Okay. Okay. Not trying to, I'm not trying to be like, don't forgive your sister. But I am like, that seems like, I don't know if that was happening.

13:37 I was a little skeptical.

13:39 She said she was so ashamed of herself and that shame made her stay away even longer. I did not know any of this. In three years, she never said a single word of it. I asked her why she never just told me that. She said, because you were handling it so well and I felt like a coward and I could not stand for you to see that.

13:57 She said, I was handling it well. I was not handling it well. I was just the only one there. We cried for a long time. She transferred me her $ 7, 000 at the table unprompted.

14:10 Whoa.

14:10 I did not ask. She just did it and said this was always yours. Dang.

14:16 This must have been how Jalen Brunson felt when he didn't get the $ 100 million extension and then won the championship. Because now he's worth way more than that.

14:26 I knew Jalen Brunson was that guy, to be clear. Always. When Dallas got rid of him, I was like, what are they doing? Why? What are they doing? Anyway, let's finish the rest of the story. I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded. And then, right as she was getting ready to leave, she said something that has kept me awake every night since. Oh, no. You just started sleeping through the night. She said mom called her three weeks before she passed away without telling me.

14:52 Rachel said mom told her Do not let your sister spend her whole life being responsible for everyone else. She's been doing it since she was seven years old. Promise me you will look after her when I'm gone. Okay.

15:04 We gotta go to therapy now.

15:06 Uh-huh.

15:06 Can we just give that $ 14, 000 to a therapist?

15:09 I gotta go to therapy now. After reading this.

15:12 Holy cow. Since you were seven?

15:13 Whoa.

15:15 I can't even tell you what I was doing at seven. All I can. Working at a sawmill.

15:19 Emotions. Rachel said she promised. Then she did not come. And Rachel has been carrying that broken promise for eight months. I do not know what to do with that. I don't know what it means for us. I do not know if it changes anything or everything. Mom knew. She saw something in me I never saw in myself. And she tried to protect me. And I did not know until now. I am okay. And that is the end of that story. But, oh, my God. Yeah, therapy for both of you, please. Group therapy, please. Please, please, please.

15:53 Well, I will say this brought you guys closer together. She never saw you before.

15:57 Now she is. It's true.

15:59 Good luck. Grief is an interesting thing. I still haven't processed the death of my great-great-grandfather, and it is coming up on a year tomorrow. And sometimes I still don't know if he's gone yet.

16:11 Yeah, it's freaky, man.

16:13 It's been a year since that incident.

16:15 It's been a year since I thought you were goofing me and I made you cry.

16:18 No. No. All right, well, that's the end of that story. Let's get us another one.

16:23 Yeah, let's make Riley cry again. One year anniversary.

16:27 My sister hates my fiance, so I punted her out of my wedding.

16:32 Hey, get out of here.

16:35 My fiance, 32 male, and I, 31 female, have a healthy relationship, and he's become a full-fledged member of my family, most of whom live nearby. Recently, we decided to spend Mother's Day all together. I have two sisters. One of them, 27 female, has a great relationship with my fiancé, and she got us all into a group chat to plan a celebration for my mom.

17:02 I'll call her Amy.

17:04 Amy would handle decorations, and I'd handle gifts and cards, and fiancé would do the barbecuing. We asked my other sister, Leah. 24 female, to grab flowers and drinks.

17:16 Why is Leah so sultry?

17:18 The problem is that Leah rarely leaves her basement room and spends most of the day and night sleeping.

17:29 That's why she sounds like that, because then she's like, Leah, I'm just tired. I'm Leah, I'm tired.

17:35 I was thinking, because she's like a dragon, and you know how dragons sleep in gold and all that stuff? That's why she's in the basement.

17:42 A basement-dwelling dragon girl.

17:44 Exactly.

17:45 With a vitamin D deficiency.

17:48 She's been struggling with serious problems for years, barely holding on to her job. We've all tried to do everything to help her, but she's genuinely not really receptive and gets angry instead. She's also been going through a rough patch tied to a past relationship with an ex she is now talking to again, unfortunately.

18:10 Yes. Mega unfortunate.

18:13 She didn't attend our engagement party and she completely missed the meeting of the families, which was an important milestone for us. She apologized afterwards, but that has hung heavy over me. And that's basically how things have been with her over the past two years. Years? 724 days. By the way, this comes from Recover Confidence. And if you want to send me your own stories, you know where to go. I'm Riley.

18:40 I'm Dakota.

18:41 And we're going to read the story goofily. If you'd like to add anything down below, please do. Opie says, Anyway, eventually, after being badgered by Amy, Leah emerged from the basement to go buy flowers and drinks. Beyonce and I tagged along. In the car, she began to complain about how much Amy was such a witch. for being upset with her for not helping. I used the badly timed moment to tell her how frustrating it is to be left without her help for family events, and how it seems she's been resistant to taking any steps to improve.

19:14 And let me guess, she did not take that well at all.

19:19 In response, she went off about how she's too busy saving the world at her job, she's a social worker, and crashes every day at home with no energy to do anything else, and that we'd never understand what it was to be like her. I reminded her that we all have jobs and busy schedules, and she snapped back that we weren't saving the world like she was. By the way, my fiance works in special ed, and Amy is a school counselor. I told her she had main character syndrome and needed to get over her self-victimization.

19:55 Yeah, honestly, that was some hot fire you just spit right there. And it was 100% factual. Yeah. And like, if your job is of saving the world... drains you to the point where you can't do anything else in your life you shouldn't do that job you're not cut out for it yeah you gotta do something else.

20:16 Hot take you should always strive to be at a job that in some way fills your own cup so then you fill others cups that's why i love my job so much it's literally the best Being a social worker is tough. I know people that did it. It is not for the weak hearted.

20:31 Yeah, no, it's very hard.

20:33 Things escalated after I told her she acts like she's the only one with problems in the family. Her response was, I never said that. And fiance, having a hard time staying silent in the back of the car, said quietly, actually, you did say that.

20:49 Yeah, you literally just said nobody understands what it's like to be me. And it's like, do you mean a human being with problems? Because we're all that person.

21:00 Fun fact, as someone that did get in between siblings once, you just never do it. You just stay quiet.

21:06 Yeah.

21:06 You act like nothing's happening. You're just a wall. I had to learn that the hard way.

21:11 I learned that with my girlfriend and her sister. I was just like, I'm not clued into this, I guess. I'll leave that alone.

21:17 You literally just got to let him do it.

21:19 You got to do what you got to do. I don't know. Whatever. Yeah.

21:22 It's like, all right, I'm going to stay right here. If they ask me for my opinion, I'll give it to them. Until that has been said, I am not going to say anything. Yeah. Oh, boy. This is when all H-E double hockey sticks breaks loose. We're at a red light and she turns around to fiance and starts screaming and berating him at the top of her lungs, asking who the F he thought he was. It was humiliating.

21:45 We felt unsafe and got out at the red light. We ended up going to another grocery store and returning home.

21:52 Just imagine if they just got out of the car and left it there and just walked away in the middle of traffic. I think that's what happened. She's just still in the car like screaming. Oh, no, this is bad. This is weird. You know how you have to react in that situation, though? Just complete calm.

22:09 I feel like stepping out at a red light's good, too, because she's driving.

22:14 Oh, she's driving.

22:16 Yeah.

22:16 Oh, yeah. No, never mind. Get out of the car.

22:18 Context! Fiance had a very difficult childhood with his father and brother, who treated him badly growing up, so he doesn't do well with aggression. He's a very gentle soul. Leah didn't show up at the party for a while after that. She was parked somewhere random, and my mom was worried sick, trying to get her home. When she finally came home, my mother urged her to apologize to Fiance, so she walks up to him very begrudgingly and mutters, I'm sorry. but do not get involved with arguments between me and my sister. It was not an apology at all.

22:53 And my fiance, myself, and Amy are like, that wasn't an apology. This enrages Leah further. She loses it and cusses out fiance at the top of her lungs all over again. Except this time, she doubles down by calling him cringy, asking if he was attracted to the same gender, bragging that she had more testosterone than him, and ultimately saying, she never liked fiance since the beginning and that she was not going to come to the wedding. For his part, fiance lost his temper and lashed out verbally at her as well.

23:27 And let me guess, I have a feeling the guy who's like always calm, I feel like those are always the people who are the best at that stuff because they just don't do it. Not because they can't, but because they just don't like to. But when you push them to that point, whatever fiance said to Leah... absolutely sliced her to the core of her being.

23:49 She stormed away. Then she came back upstairs from her basement with a vengeance. She charged at him as if she were going to start a fight. My mom had to hold her back, and I could see the fear in Amy's face. In anger, I called her crazy and said I didn't know who she was anymore, which I regret.

24:08 I mean, honestly, I feel like I wouldn't know her anymore either, but to me... It sounds like she's going through a substance use disorder in the basement. That's what I think she's doing. I think she went down in the basement, did something, and that's why she came back up like she was going to charge through him like a linebacker. Because she's got something keeping her stuck in this loop, and I think it's a substance.

24:32 There definitely is some, I'm just going to say it, some demon possessing her.

24:36 Yeah, it could be the drinking demon, the snorting demon, the smoking demon. Something's got a hold of her.

24:44 The funny demons got me. I can't stop telling jokes. I need help, Lord. Given his difficult history with his own family, fiancé was shaky and rattled for days after. He has firmly decided that he does not want Leah at the wedding because he simply does not feel safe around her anymore. When this was verbalized to my mother and Amy, they were both incredibly offended. Amy even said...

25:12 Sisterhood loyalty comes first, and if that Leo was barred, she would refuse to attend herself. This broke my heart, as she was really close to fiancé and me. Dude, if I can't bring my linebacker sister to the wedding, I'm not going.

25:28 I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous to, I mean, yeah, there is like sisterhood, but it's like she just screamed at the top of her lungs and I never liked you anyway. Dude, you're not going to go to the wedding. You're not there to celebrate us.

25:45 Dakota, all the groom has to do is just wear... football pants, and he's fine. That's all he has to wear.

25:51 She's got to be ready to get down in a three-point stance at any moment.

25:56 Is that too hard to ask for? For Leah to join?

25:58 Come on. Maybe Leah just needs an outlet. Like, she needs to start doing MMA or Muay Thai. Maybe actually, you know what, let's not turn Leah into a trained fighter. That's probably not a great idea. Let's get her into pew-pew classes.

26:13 How about that? Even worse.

26:16 She'd try to shoot a crossbow.

26:19 My mother says everyone made mistakes that day, instead of pinning all the blame on Leah. She believes fiancé should have accepted Leah's initial apology and moved on, and that not allowing Leah to attend could push her over the edge. I'm a the a-hole for keeping her uninvited and standing with my fiancé when... Two, three.

26:39 No. Because guess what?

26:42 Fiance is going to be your immediate family soon. And you got to stick by immediate family.

26:47 And he literally said, I don't feel safe around her anymore.

26:50 That takes a lot for a man to admit that from a woman.

26:54 Which just goes to like, I mean, she must have been so incredibly aggressive. throughout this entire confrontation. And the problem is they're like, mom's like, everybody made mistakes that day. But it's contextualized around like their mistake was not handling Leah with like kid gloves and letting her get away with whatever she wants. And that's not a mistake. No.

27:18 And they're still doing it. That comment. Everyone made mistakes.

27:22 Let's put her in bubble wrap.

27:23 She was just a little crazy.

27:25 And so to be clear, his mistake was pointing out, hey, you actually did just say that nobody understands your problems and no one has problems like you. So I just wanted to say that you did just say that. And that is what kickstarted this whole thing.

27:42 A very similar situation like this happened to me.

27:44 That sucks.

27:45 And we ended up breaking up.

27:47 Well, that's great. Because now you're with.

27:49 Love of my wife.

27:53 Those are my favorite kind of pictures. 1.5 right at the forehead.

27:57 It's beautiful. Okay, update. Fiance left Amy an honest, open voice memo explaining why he'd be uncomfortable if Leah came. I'd have to wear shoulder pants all day.

28:09 Because I'd have to have armed security around me. Because I'd have to move like I'm a prince of some kind. Fortunately, Amy has come around somewhat. She's agreed to attend and be there for us regardless and has decided to step back from the drama.

28:28 Okay, we got one person. We got to get another person on your side and we're good.

28:32 Send that same memo to mom now.

28:34 My mom has also begun to accept that Leah won't be at the wedding, but she is still dragging her feet and hoping we'll let her come if she apologizes. Even with an apology... Leah has lost my trust and won't be able to build it back in time. Ultimately, the decision stands with my fiance, who deserves the full apology.

28:56 And here we go.

28:58 Update two.

28:59 Leah breaks her silence. Oh, does she? Does she break it with an apology? I highly doubt it. Just remove the context of them being sisters and imagine this was like, Like a really good friend? Yeah. And then the friend comes out and is like, I've never been happy for you guys. I've been jealous this whole time, and I wish that he was my husband. Even if that friend comes back and apologizes, it's like, that's great. I'm glad you apologized because that was really messed up. However, you're still not coming to the wedding.

29:32 There's no coming back from this one, girlfriend.

29:35 Nuh-uh. I think she's now like, gonna, you know, be like, everyone in the family hates me. Everyone's always against me. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

29:43 Yeah. Sometimes you need rock bottom to realize yourself.

29:47 Yeah, I don't think we should let her be in the basement for much longer.

29:50 Let's get her outside.

29:51 And stop talking to your ex. Ugh.

29:54 Update two. Leah broke her silence last night and asked if we could talk this week. It's another tumor story.

30:01 Okay, okay. Not again.

30:04 I plan on apologizing for the hurtful things I said that Mother's Day. I suspect she might be trying to apologize just to get herself invited again, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Ultimately, nothing will move forward unless she apologizes directly to fiancé. Update three. Dakota, we are approaching the halfway mark.

30:27 Okay, all right. So I don't think it gets soft. My prediction is this apology attempt spirals into a nightmare.

30:38 Fiance and Leah actually fight this time.

30:41 I think so. I think they do an Oklahoma drill and they play football.

30:44 Fiance gets pads. Leah does not. Leah gets her rugs and Fiance gets pads.

30:51 She gets to be hopped up on whatever she's got.

30:53 Update three.

30:55 Hey, it's Carly, your favorite axolotl host here. We're going to get back to the stories, but here's three minutes of ads from our sponsors.

31:04 Amy has changed her tune. She called me from her office, swearing at me. And when I asked her to cool down, things just got worse. She stated she will not be at the wedding if Leah isn't there, period. What just happened here? I went ahead and took both Amy and Leah off.

31:22 The guest list.

31:23 Officially, the wedding is on June 8th. It is currently June 17th. I am so done with this. Still talking with Leah tonight, but God knows how that will go. Update four. What do you think happened with Amy?

31:36 I don't know, dude.

31:38 Why is Amy back on fourth?

31:40 It's like, it just doesn't make any sense. Right? Leah did this to herself. Couldn't apologize. And also, they did all this on Mother's Day?

31:50 Yeah.

31:51 Come on, dude.

31:52 Poor mama.

31:52 Suck it up. You're fighting at the top of your lungs with your whole family on Mother's Day? She birthed you all. You got no respect. Just play nice for one day, you basement creature.

32:05 Come on.

32:06 I'm losing a lot of my, almost all of my patience and empathy for Leah, who has real problems, is evaporating.

32:13 Update four. Edit to add. One Redditor mentioned that I didn't include my fiance's insults against my sister in my previous post. To be clear, he said this after Leah said everything above. Her insults came first. She called him cringe, and he hit her back with, I'm cringe? You're living in your mom's basement while making no effort to get out.

32:35 And that's as simple and true as it gets. And then she went down into that basement and said, damn, I am in the basement. Damn it. Well, I'm going to get out of this basement. I'm going to fight him.

32:48 Oh, he also pointed a finger at her and said, F you. I just want to be clear. I'm not proud of him for that. Just want to be transparent.

32:56 That's all he said.

32:57 He just said those two things.

32:58 I'll be proud of you for that, OP. OP's fiance. I'm proud of him.

33:01 He goes for the throat, dude. He knows what to say and how to say it effectively.

33:05 He basically just read the giant neon sign that she carries around on her. It's like, oh, I'm cringy? Mom's basement. Three years. Talking to your ex. Didn't even bring that part up.

33:17 Dang. Later, Leah and I got on the phone with the goal of making amends. The first hour, we were able to see one another's sides a bit. I apologized for my part in Mother's Day, and she apologized to me for yelling at him in the car. She then explained that she felt disrespected by fiancé because he yelled at her in her own home. She said if she'd been in his home, she would understand, but it happening in her home meant he was out of line. Dude, you would have still yelled at him no matter where.

33:47 Yodo made a stoplight.

33:49 That one was in the chamber already.

33:51 I mentioned an observation my stepdad made. He witnessed everything, that she was the one to become hostile first, and then fiancé matched her energy. That was when Leah immediately shut down. She got angry because to her, my comment was proof we were all talking behind her back.

34:11 Here it comes. Here it comes. Everyone's against me. Even though I'm the problem, everyone's against me.

34:16 She then shifted into saying that my fiance has gaslit the entire family and saying to me, you were so problematic. And then I hung up on her and I blocked her immediately after I called my mom. I've realized both my sisters were physically at her home. I could hear them in the background saying things about me being terrible and selfish. I thought Amy was a good one. What the heck?

34:40 How is it selfish to literally endure all of this nonsense in order to make your partner feel comfortable? What part of that is selfish? I don't think OP wants any of this.

34:57 My mom put me on speaker while heavily implying that family is family and I shouldn't use my wedding to punish my sisters. She explained that her own toxic family failed and hurt her shortly before her wedding, but she invited them anyway because they're family. No, due to that toxic family being invited, it was actually a horrible wedding and a horrible memory she doesn't like to talk about to this day.

35:28 She learns zero lessons. So actually, you know what? That makes sense because she's probably like in the boomer camp of like, well, I had to walk uphill in the snow both ways. So why shouldn't you? I invited my awful toxic family to my wedding and it ruined it. So you should have to do that as well.

35:50 We've seen this before. It's the rite of passage. A lot of older people have this with their kids.

35:57 You got to do it my way. But it's like, also, we're just completely forgetting that this is like a punishment to Leah. This is not. This is just a consequence of what Leah did.

36:06 Yeah.

36:07 It's not even a punishment. It's just like when you pour water out of a glass, whatever you poured on got wet. That's not a punishment. It's just what happened.

36:15 Yeah. And they're not cleaning up with the towel. She has to.

36:19 And I hate you. I've always hated you. I've always hated you. I've never liked you. Okay. Then you're not coming to our wedding.

36:24 Super weird. She then breaks the news to my sisters right there that they aren't coming to the wedding with me on speaker? What the heck? They both immediately started screaming and cursing at me, and my mom kept saying they're reacting this way because they're hurt. I tried to explain that I was done normalizing aggression in the family and that I was starting a new family now with zero tolerance for disrespect. My mom briefly said she understood.

36:52 but then added that I also played into the normalized behavior growing up, flip-flopping between, yes, we've normalized that, and I knew it was a problem since you were kids, and stopped acting like it was worse than it is. She also said that in Spanish, so it was a lot cruder. You want an apology, but you can't expect Leah to kiss your butt. At that point, I lost my temper, screamed into the phone that maybe we should just cancel everything, and screamed F you before hanging up, and sobbing in my fiance's arms.

37:24 Yes. Again, so selfish of you to deal with this. Very selfish of you.

37:30 This is crazy, dude.

37:31 Honestly, like, at this point, I mean, like, in the moment, it's really hard to, like, be logical when there's so many, like, intense emotions and things being said and flung around. But I think by the time we've gotten to here and all of the nonsense we've already gone through, I don't even think I'd get mad and it would just have to be like a, Well, it looks like that there's going to be no, you know, resolution to this. So I'm going to have my wedding and I guess you guys won't be there. And that makes me really sad.

37:56 You guys aren't seeing where I'm coming from. You guys refuse to do it. You guys are doubling down for some reason. And it's not like he's a bad guy. He just, he just says how it is. He's just chill like that.

38:08 He said nothing wrong. He said only what was true after he had been provoked and insulted. Yeah. And it's like, Is he wrong? She's in the basement and has no job and no prospects. And it's like, seems to have no desire to want to change any of that. And because of where she's at, she's actually turning all of this inward. All these emotions she should be directing inward to herself of like, oh, like this, oh, this, oh, this angst that she needs to direct inwards and say, I need to do something for myself. She just throws it at all the people around her.

38:41 She does have a job. She's a social worker.

38:43 And it's super hard.

38:44 And she's saving the world, Dakota. You forgot that part. She's saving the world.

38:47 I'm so sorry. I'm so wrong. You can call me whatever you want now, Leah.

38:50 It's your right.

38:51 It's your right.

38:52 How dare you? You don't even know how to read.

38:54 It's true. I've just been freestyling this whole time.

38:56 Holy cow. You're the juice world of freestyling reading. You're so good at it.

39:00 I just come up with all these stories off the top of my head. I have no idea what these words say.

39:05 Regardless of the suggestions to elope, the funny thing is this was originally supposed to be an elopement with just fiance and myself. Only months ago, my mom talked us into inviting close family members, roughly 10 people, who have now booked travel and bought their outfits. Everything is done and paid for by my mom and stepdad. So yeah, this was supposed to be an elopement. at our dream venue became a family micro wedding and has now devolved into an absolute crap show update.

39:40 Five i say it all the time say it dude just have two of them You get the first one, secret wedding, elopement, perfect, beautiful. Nobody even needs to know. It's between you and your partner. Then you let people know, hey, we're getting married. We're going to do a little, we're going to do a little thing. And then you don't have to worry about if everything's going to blow up.

40:02 Who cares?

40:02 Let your toxic sister come to your second wedding. You're already married. You already had your once in a lifetime moment of, you know, that's like so special. No one can take that away from you. No one can ruin that anymore.

40:14 Yeah, it's true.

40:15 Hey, it's Angie, your favorite fake redhead host here. And we're going to get back to the stories. But here's a three minute ad break from our sponsors.

40:25 Update five. Since the previous update, my mother texted me to let me know that she and my stepfather were pulling out of the wedding. I had a panic attack at the public park as a result. Dude.

40:38 Okay. So they're the ones funding the whole wedding. They're the ones who pushed the idea. At this point, you just go, okay, thank you for letting me know. Then you sent out a mass message to all the people who are coming to the wedding and go, I regret to inform you that the financial support from my mother and stepfather has been removed from the wedding, which means I can no longer afford it, which means that the wedding is no longer happening. I really apologize that you have all been inconvenienced. Please have a great day. Who are they going to come at for that?

41:04 The mom.

41:05 Right.

41:07 This is so much family drama. A lot of you advised me to just revert to the wedding back to its intended setup and an elopement with just my fiancé and I. So after getting the news about my mother not attending, I took your advice and disinvited everyone. Fiancé' s mom and aunt were staying at the venue and we agreed they could be witnesses. Otherwise, no one else would be there. On June 8th, I had my dream wedding.

41:34 Despite occasional moments of sadness, I was so in awe. and so in love with my now husband, that the day was one of the most joyful days of my whole life, completely regardless of the family drama that preceded it. My mother sent me a genuinely nice message on the day wishing me well, and while I didn't think that changed as much, it was still nice to hear from her. Otherwise, we are still no contact. For the most part, I didn't give my absent family members a second thought And frankly, I was grateful I didn't have to manage their chaos or fear another blow-up. We wrote our own vows and said I do in a beautiful, serene, fairytale garden, then had the loveliest mini-honeymoon at a lovely cottage.

42:21 Ah, doesn't that sound sweet?

42:24 I want to do that this weekend.

42:25 Are you free?

42:28 I got plans Sunday. I can do it next weekend, though. As for family, I have gone no contact with my sister's my mom, and unfortunately now, my aunt and grandma? They've heard the story from my mom and sister's side and have decided they don't want to hear it from me right now?

42:45 What?

42:47 They declined my offer to meet with them and just have dinner? Oh my gosh. If people don't want to hear your side of the story, that means they've never been a fan of you.

42:56 I just don't know. Like, what? What's going on? Maybe they just all don't like your fiance, you know? I don't know. Wasn't there some talk about the sisters speaking Spanish or something? Maybe there's like a vibe in the family that they just think he's like a weak little like baby boy. Oh, yeah. Because he like, I don't know, doesn't shout and get angry. OP said how he shuts down whenever people get aggressive. It very much could be that, but whatever. At this point where they're like, it's family.

43:19 It's like, oh, you mean like my husband who's my family? Oh, wait, what happened to all of that? It's family. It's family. It's family. Because now he's part of the family. What happened?

43:31 Yeah, honestly.

43:31 Honestly.

43:32 When all the craziness went down before the wedding, I sent a message notifying my aunt and grandma that the event would be shifting to an elopement, but that I still wanted to celebrate with them at some point. In response, I received this text from my aunt, translated to English here. As you requested, I share the message with grandma. You understand how saddened she is right now by your decision.

43:55 She is not in a state to communicate at the moment. She will do so and when, if it feels appropriate. For my part, I deeply regret the decision you have made. I have been aware of everything that has happened and I deeply regret the pain you have caused us, especially your mom and your sisters. I trust you understand and accept the consequences of the decision you made. Family love is a bond that should never be broken by anything or anyone. Family members are the only ones who are there to celebrate joys and offer support with unconditional love during times of hardship. Time not shared can never be regained.

44:31 I respect your decision. No explanations are necessary. I hope the dreams you have built together as a couple, as the family you are starting, come true. May God bless your union. Dakota, we got a touch left. What do you think of that text?

44:47 Family love is unconditional.

44:49 That's what I thought.

44:50 I'd be like, everything family always great all the time. Everything family good always. I just hit her back with a, what happened at mom's wedding? Do you remember mom's wedding? She doesn't like to talk about it because of how bad it was. What made that wedding so bad again? Can you enlighten me about that?

45:11 Please.

45:12 I think we forget.

45:14 Can you, can you regain my memory?

45:15 It's just, you know, this is just another classic example of it's like, it's black and white where it's like family always has to be great. There can never be negative consequences or it's like this. If you do this, it means that you've shunned you know, the sacred, but it's like, shut up, dude.

45:30 It's family.

45:31 She insulted me and my fiance and it was on mother's day. She said she never liked us. Why would I let anyone who said that regardless of who they are? If my own mother said that about the person I was marrying, guess who's not coming to the wedding?

45:47 Yeah. And I think to a point you can choose your own family. Like once you get married, cause that's choosing your new family.

45:54 Yes.

45:55 They say unconditional love, but, unconditional love looks like, what's your point of view? How can I support you during this? I may not stand by your decision. I'm going to stay over here, but I still love you. I'm going to be there.

46:06 That's another reason why I hate that message is because she said all that stuff and then she caps it off with like the get out of jail free card of like, And I actually respect your decision. And I won't try to, and it's like, what do you mean you respect my decision? You literally just told me I've destroyed the entire family. Why would you respect that? Of course you don't respect this. You just called me a demon, Logie. Yeah, if you respected my decision, you'd probably come to the wedding.

46:28 Yeah.

46:28 So shut up. You're lying. And people always, you know, Matt Fernandez, who sometimes is on the show here, had the clarification of like, people always misquote that blood is thicker than water. And they take that as that your family is always a closer bond. than like others, family first. But the full quote, and I think it was biblical, is that the blood of the covenant runs thicker than the water of the womb, which means the exact opposite.

46:53 I don't know if it's biblical or not, but it's that the blood of the covenant, that the bonds that you create in your life with other people are stronger than the ones that are inherently there when you are born.

47:05 Yeah, because when you're born, you have the blood of your father, not the blood of your mother. Because the blood of the mother never touches the baby. It's only, like, her womb. It's always, like, the blood of, like, whoever conceived the sperm. That's where the blood comes from. Sorry, that's just, like, a scientific thing. That's crazy. Yeah, that's why, like, if your blood type doesn't match your dad's, then that's probably not your daddy. Huh.

47:28 Yeah.

47:28 But no, I agree with that, though. The blood of the covenant.

47:31 Yeah.

47:32 So, it truly felt like a one-two to the face to receive this day. I'm struggling with it and feeling pain amidst the joy. But I think I'll be okay. And I choose to believe that maybe time will help aid a future reconciliation. Fortunately, I was still able to have my dream wedding and a beautiful honeymoon with my husband.

47:56 Nothing got in the way of that. I am so proud of you, OP, because so many people fold under this kind of pressure. And you didn't.

48:03 Yeah.

48:04 You were right there with the person you were supposed to be with.

48:06 Against all odds, nothing got in the way of that.

48:10 Good for you. Wow, that was a crazy one. But guys, we got another story read by the one, the only Dakota Payne.

48:19 My parents gave my bedroom to my older brother and I had to sleep on the couch.

48:25 Well, this is something I would do.

48:27 I mean, how comfy is that couch? Let's be real. Is that a nice couch?

48:31 My grandfather and my uncle only sleep on couches. And my great-grandfather almost died on his couch.

48:36 I love a good sleep on a couch. They knew what was up.

48:40 Anyways, we really don't agree with you, but okay. I.

48:43 18 female, just got back from my first year at college to find out that I no longer have my own bedroom to sleep in and have to live on the couch with all my belongings stored in the attic, including all of my clothes. And I am not happy.

48:58 Oh, yeah, this is not, this ain't right.

49:01 I will say before we go any further, why in God's name would you put all of your clothes in the attic? There's this thing called like, like a, like a, oh, well now I sound stupid because I didn't have the name of it. But you can just like get like the little portable like clothes hanging thing.

49:16 Not invented yet. The story is before that was invented. This is before the Industrial Revolution.

49:22 Oh, my God. As for God, I'm just making all this up. I don't even know what I'm reading. Before my senior year of high school, my parents decided to move into a smaller house with a larger backyard, since the only sibling who would be permanently residing with them after a year would be my 11-year-old sister.

49:40 Okay, just live in the backyard then. They got campers.

49:43 They got a tent.

49:44 Dude, van life? Come on.

49:46 It's really hot with the young ladies, apparently. A lot of young ladies living in vans now. Dude, plan B, I am doing van life. That'd be a good plan. Plan C, move to Japan. Car life first, see if you can do car life.

50:00 I could totally do car life. I really don't need that much to live off of.

50:03 I feel like I could do car life too. It'd be very smelly though.

50:07 Dude, air it out.

50:08 That's what I'd do all day. The house in question is a four bedroom house where my parents have the master, my sister and I each have our own room, and my dad has a room to serve as his office since he works at home. I have two older twin brothers that are 22. Their names are Joshua and James. James decided that he wanted to go to college, the same one I'm actually attending, for engineering, and got a full-ride scholarship to this college, about four and a half hours away from our new house. And he just recently graduated with his bachelor's, and he has been living in his own apartment since sophomore year, which he is keeping to pursue his master's at the same college.

50:46 Dang, all right. He's got it figured out.

50:49 Smart guy, master's in engineering.

50:50 All right.

50:51 By the way... This comes from TemporaryReality416. If you want to submit your own stories, go to r slash OKStoryTime subreddit. I'm Dakota. I'm Riley. And we're going to read this here story. We're going to try our best to give some advice, but we don't know everything. We're just goofy. We're just goofing over here. So let us know what you would do in the comments. And OP says, Joshua, however, has been very indecisive about what he wants to do in life. But he did get a job as a correctional officer and had been living in an apartment of his own. Oof. Let's hope he picks literally anything else.

51:25 Oh, there's some perks with that. You get to hang out with people that have a chance to turn their lives around.

51:31 You get to hang out with a bunch of people society has deemed too cool to let walk around.

51:37 You have seen really bad things and have really cool stories.

51:40 Dude, I've went on a rabbit hole of like some of these kind of stories. Horrific. Horrific.

51:48 I only heard about John Kuryaku's jail time experience. And that alone was like, I refuse to listen to any more of this.

51:57 Hey, Johnny K, are you a CIA asset still? Please tell us.

52:00 I think he is, bro.

52:02 He might be.

52:03 A Russian asset, in my opinion.

52:05 He's someone's asset. Let's be honest.

52:07 Russian.

52:08 In 2025, Joshua decided that he wanted to enlist in the army, and my parents supported him through and through. I was at college when he went into basic training in AIT. However... One day, James messaged me and let me know that Joshua told him he was being administratively removed from service out of AIT due to misconduct and I believe failure to adapt because he was refusing to do anything he was told. That'll make it pretty hard to join the military if you don't know how to follow orders.

52:40 Yeah, the whole thing about the military is sir, yes, sir.

52:43 Chain of command.

52:45 Colonel. It's more like colonial if I read it for the first time ever.

52:50 Fast forward to May 13th, 2026. I came home from college to find out Joshua moved back in with my parents and had completely taken over my room. All of my belongings had been put into labeled boxes and placed in the attic along with my clothes and whatnot. My dad, who drove down to my college to help me pack up my room, did not disclose any of this information to me. But when I started getting upset at this, he looked at me and said, what? We didn't think you would care. You can sleep on the couch or you can go buy an air mattress to sleep in my office. But you have to be out every morning by 8 a.m. if you do that. Well, I don't understand why you'd be mad. Come on.

53:30 8 a.m. is really kind of late.

53:32 Yeah. Pops, it's not about that. It's about you gave away my bedroom I was expecting to have. It's not like this is like her fourth year in college either. She's 18. Yeah.

53:42 I was out by 18 and I still like had a room to go back to. Like, every weekend and so.

53:48 It was nice.

53:49 It was tough whenever my little brothers took it over.

53:52 Yeah, just imagine, like, first year you come back and your room is gone and it's just like a jungle gym for your younger brothers. Yeah, the playroom?

54:00 Yeah.

54:00 They're like, we just wanted to give your brothers some more enrichment activities.

54:03 That is kind of what happened.

54:06 Yeah.

54:07 It's like, oh, cool Xbox. Where's my bed?

54:09 Where is my bed, mother? OP says, I didn't stick around. I took whatever I had in my car. drove right back to campus crying on the phone to James, who has allowed me to stay with him for the summer. Aw. My parents said that I'm acting like a spoiled brat and that I am not allowed to come home until I apologize to them and Joshua for the way I treated them. They also threw in a comment about how I need to be more grateful that they still allowed me to be in the house after my first year and that it is not a big deal. Am I overreacting?

54:44 How much rent is your brother paying you? That's the name of my game, I'd be asking.

54:48 Yeah, honestly... I might have sided with your parents a little bit that you left immediately, but they just went full nuclear on you by saying, you're lucky we let you come home?

55:01 That's weird.

55:02 I'd be like, that's great. Looks like I don't need any more luck. I'm not coming home anymore. That's insane. And that you guys did this to me.

55:11 Yeah.

55:11 They did this. You guys put all of my stuff in boxes and put it in the attic, didn't tell me, and then just expected me to not have access any thoughts or feelings about that whatsoever.

55:21 Nah, you're just, you're welcome to leave the door unlocked. Unbelievable.

55:26 They're going to really regret that they said that, I think.

55:27 No, that's unconditional love, Dakota. Yeah.

55:30 Boy, I forgot. Family can't ever do anything wrong. Get a load of this guy.

55:35 Did you not just read the last story? Did you not learn anything?

55:38 Actually, you read the last story. Got a little bit more of the story. We've got some info from comments from OP.

55:46 Oh, does she return?

55:47 Maybe I'm just stubborn. No one's ever told me that before. Until my parents tell me that they were mistaken, I'm not coming back.

55:55 Yeah, and if you live on college, they'll usually let you have an apartment for $ 300 a month or something like that, depending on where you go.

56:03 Yeah, it's really relative. We got some more info here. OP says, I work two jobs during the summer and have a job on campus at my school in the library. Nice. Bookworm. I've been working since high school, so I have enough money, but I have a few plans up my sleeve. I'm going to apply to be an RA at my college, and if I don't get that, my grandma has offered me to stay with her in her spare bedroom during all of my breaks. That's nice.

56:32 Being an RA, you get free room and board, depending on the college.

56:36 I plan on going to the house and getting the rest of my stuff and moving it into her place so I know it won't be messed with or lost. If I don't do as they say. I definitely will not be apologizing, but James definitely thinks that Joshua lied to my parents about why he got removed from AIT and that's why they did what they did. Because never in a million years did I expect them to pull this on me. I guess they can kiss their daughter and now their son. Goodbye.

57:04 Oh my gosh. Well, let me say, if you do a good job of being an RA, they will ask you to be the head of the RAs and then you can have free room and board. Or as long as you want to work there. But you do have to work at the school.

57:15 And you do have to be an RA. Which, from my understanding, sucks sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes. One thing I will say before we cap this off. Because that is the end of that story. I leave the door cracked a little bit. Because I think your brother James is right. I think Joshua did lie. And I think once your parents realize they've been duped, they're going to come to you and be like, we're really sorry. We were way out of line. And we love you.

57:40 Give him a little bit of a slice of cake of unconditional love.

57:44 I'd be open to reestablishing at that point.

57:47 At this point, we must end. This is the end of the episode. It was fun.

57:50 It was great. I learned a lot. Yes. Yes, we did.

57:53 If you love us, make sure to subscribe.

57:55 We love you. And see you tomorrow.