When the people closest to you betray you, that hurt can last a very long time. These people put their trust in someone, only for that person to use it against them in the most damaging way possible. Really makes you thing about who you put your faith in.
He Worked Hard For That Money, But They Spent It Like It Was Theirs
Lopolo/Shutterstock
“When I was 15, I worked my butt off bagging ice at a local convenience store saving money to buy a Bach Strad cornet for concert band season.
Long story short, I went away with my grandparents for vacation and when I came back, the cornet had been pawned by my parents. The proceeds were either smoked or snorted. $750 was a lot of money to a 15-year-old kid back then, and I never saw it again.”
His Call To His Father Didn’t Go Exactly As Planned
Sabphoto/Shutterstock
“About three months after I was born, my ‘father’ decided to up and leave. He never came around, never called, and never paid child support to my mom who was working three jobs and going to school trying to make our life better. When I was 16, I finally figured out a way to get ahold of him. I thought he would be excited to hear from his oldest child. When I called, he answered the phone and the conversation went like this:
Him: ‘Hello?’
Me: ‘Hey, it’s me, your son.’
Him: ‘What does your mother want, more money?’ Click.
I was devastated and heartbroken. I’m 31 now and can still feel that pain as if it was the last phone call I made.”
They Let Him Blame Himself For What His Brother Did
rdrgraphe/Shutterstock
“My brother attempted to kill himself when he was 15. My mom caught him drinking at a party and threatened to tell our physically abusive father about it the next day. So as his way out, he tried to slit his wrists. He woke up the next morning and my father rushed him to the hospital, my mom and I stayed back cleaning up the bloody mess. I found his note on his cell phone, and my mom found the knife he used.
I went off to work and talked to my boss about getting the day off, which I was able to do, and then went off to the hospital. While I was there, my parents refused to let me see my brother, said that he was going into surgery and I should just go home and relax. I didn’t think anything of it, figured that he was going to be fine, after all, he did wake up and he was now in the care of medical staff, so I did just go home, waiting for a call or anything to tell me when I could visit.
He was released that day but was unable to come home. They sent him to one of those mental health places, he wasn’t able to come home for over two weeks. During the time he was gone, my parents sat me down and told me that a doctor asked him who stressed him out the most and he had replied that it was me. From then on, I was no longer able to be around him, I could never ask him how he was or even mention the attempt at all. That very day, they threw out a lot of his old furniture in his room and bought him all new stuff so he’d have a ‘fresh start’ after he got home from the mental hospital. I stayed away from him as they asked. Though devastated, I wanted to be there for him, as someone he could talk to, anything, but because I seriously believed my parents that it was my fault he tried to kill himself, I left him alone.
For five years, my relationship with my brother deteriorated to the point that I felt I really was honestly alone in my family. My parents kicked me out on a whim whenever they felt the need to be rid of me, so I started to pull away from all three of them.
Everything changed for me when I decided to invite my brother to a party I was throwing when he was 19-20, I was 23 by this point. We partied together and started to complain about life a bit, and then I got the nerve to ask him about that day. He swore to me that he told the doctors that our parents were what caused him the most stress, that our parents are what made him try to kill himself, and my mom must have overheard it and decided to spin it on me.
For five years, I thought I was the cause of my brother’s attempt and I wasn’t at fault at all. It’s the real reason my parents went out of their way for him and still do to this day. He’s still living with them, still kinda mooching off of them, and he’s 26 now. It’s been 11 years and I still think about it every time some event happens. For instance, yesterday was Mother’s Day. You know how much I didn’t want to call my mom and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day? Neither of my parents know that I know, and I just don’t have the heart to confront them on their lies. I love my little brother, and thinking I was the cause really messed with me for years, and it’s something I’m still getting over. I can’t forgive them, and I sure won’t forget it.”
When The Doctor Revealed The Truth, Her Mother Couldn’t Handle It
George Rudy/Shutterstock
“I used to be anorexic and well, losing hair comes with it. My mom took me to some doctor to fix it and that doctor figured out what’s up pretty quickly. She ran her fingers through my hair and tons of hair just fell out. She showed my mom how the hair was falling out at the roots, not just breaking, and told her bluntly, ‘Your daughter’s starving herself to death.’
The first thing my mom blurted out was, ‘But she’s not even skinny enough!’
I knew she regretted it as soon as she said it because she looked shocked and horrified by what just came out of her mouth. The doctor looked equally shocked and horrified. Huge awkward seal moment.
My parents never apologize, so I never got an apology, but I did get three designer bags out of the entire ordeal.”
Her Birthday Had Always Been A Total Bummer
Ljupco Smokovski/Shutterstock
“I never had a birthday while growing up, like a real party. My family was extremely abusive. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but it was bad, really bad.
My dad, apparently feeling guilty, promised me a birthday for my 16th, like, a real one, with cake and family. I, of course, was dubious, but as the day got closer, I couldn’t help but feel more and more excited as I just never had one before, ya know?
I kept being asked questions, like what kind of cake would I want, what I might like as a present, what snacks; I never got to decide those before and it was just so exciting.
Finally, the day before, my stepmom suddenly decided that she wants a vacation – without me – on my birthday.
I remember being so angry. Years and years of not a single birthday and then literally less than 24 hours before, canceled.
I had been disappointed before with fake promises over other birthdays, Christmases, never showing up to school plays or concerts, selling my toys, movies and games for drinks and some smokes, but my dad seemed to get his stuff together for this and almost did it.
Looking back, I should never have gotten my hopes up, but I couldn’t help it.
It’s been several years since then. I now live happily with my boyfriend and we celebrate my birthday with our friends every year, something I am extremely thankful for!”
It Was The Worst Thing That A Family Member Could Ever Do
Milles Studio/Shutterstock
“I was assaulted by a family member from the age of 5 to the age of 11. This same person said he was going to kill my parents. He would sneak into my room and make me do things. He tortured me with a sawed-off to my head. Worst off, he killed my pets. He dropped a cinder block on one of my kittens. Another one he buried alive. Another one he threw against a wall and said I was next if I didn’t do what he wanted.
Sadly, this wasn’t the worst part. I kept it quiet until I was 10 when my grandmother walked in on him fully assaulting me. She pulled us apart, dragged me into the living room in front of the family (my parents were at work), and beat the living crap out of me, saying it was my fault for seducing him since he had mental issues. She told me that I wasn’t to tell ANYONE about this since it was a horrible stain on her family. He didn’t even get blamed at all. The same guy that was caught in a horse barn, fooling around with horses, and was caught with the dog. He never got blamed because of the ‘mental’ issues.
So, I kept it quiet and just accepted that this was how it was going to be. One day, my mom asked me why I had holes in all of my underwear, and I just told her because my family member kept ripping them when he would sneak into my room. Once I realized what I had said, I broke down and told my mom everything and then I begged her to move away so he couldn’t kill us. My mom told my dad, and that was the first time I had ever seen him cry.
When I finally told someone, I was scared out of my mind. The guy doing the things to me was defended by that side of the family and said I was the one instigating it. My parents took this to court, and he got some jail time followed by probation. This ended up shattering my family and half of them disowned me. I think the stress of this happening is also what eventually caused my parents to split up as well, so I have to live with all this guilt.
The guy is free now, and I have moved out of state to be away from it all, but I always worry that he might look for my family and try to kill them. I go home every year for Christmas, and there have been a few times where I have run into him in public and he always tries to hug me and say thank-you for getting him the help he needed instead of empowering his issues and letting him get away with things. It scares the living crap out of me when I see him, but I forgive him. If he didn’t focus on me, he would’ve gone after my younger cousin, and I don’t know if she could’ve handled this.”
“My Mistake Was Assuming They Weren’t So Low That They’d Refuse To Help Out With Their Father’s Funeral”
Robert Hoetink/Shutterstock
“This was a bit of a team effort from my brothers. They refused to help me pay for our father’s funeral. One decided that his family needed a holiday to cope with the loss and the other wouldn’t return the call.
I was left holding an $11,000 bill and two kids with medical bills.
The way it works is that before the funeral home takes delivery of the body and starts preparations, one person is made the account holder and they’re legally responsible for the bill. Because I was the one to make the call and I was in a better financial position than my mother (the next of kin and assumed account holder), I became the account holder.
Nothing was explicitly said, but my brothers were involved in all the planning. They helped pick the casket which was a large part of the cost. They were talking about making amends. No one really wanted to talk money until it was all done, then they bailed.
My mistake was assuming people weren’t so low that they’d refuse to help out with their own father’s funeral. Yes, I feel like an idiot for not expecting this from them.”
Mommy Dearest Left Them High And Dry
PHILIPIMAGE/Shutterstock
“My 60-year-old mother-in-law wanted to sign her house over to my wife and I because she had no retirement and no money saved to pay for it. My wife was pregnant with our second child and my mother-in-law told us she wanted to be a stay-at-home grandma. After we moved in, I would be paying for everything. So we sold our house, paid off our debt, and cut a check for $54,000 to my father-in-law, who owned the house, which paid off the house in full. Then I made $10,000 worth of home repairs and all bills were transferred into my name.
When it came to signing the deal, suddenly my mother-in-law didn’t want to do it. She told us she wanted things to go back to the way they were. My father-in-law, her ex-husband, told her that they would need to take out a home equity loan to give us our money back. She refused. The next week, she served us with an eviction notice and moved in her new boyfriend (who she’d previously claimed was abusive to her) back in two days later. She threw her own daughter, my 3-year-old, and my 3-month-old baby on the streets. We tried to reason with her and then she had her lawyer threaten us with a restraining order. So now I’m suing her for my money back. Luckily my father-in-law is on our side and we were able to stay with him for the time being.”
He Abused Her, But It Was Her Friends And Family Who Really Hurt Her
John Gomez/Shutterstock
“My ex-husband was highly abusive and regularly cheated on me. He would lock me in our bedroom when he brought girls home. Since I was home, everyone thought we had an open relationship. When I left in the middle of the night, he emptied our bank accounts and called all of my friends, family and coworkers and told them I had been cheating on him and he had kicked me out. So there I was, finally escaping an abusive marriage at midnight on a Saturday night with only a packed suitcase and every person I called refused to take me in. My own family refused to talk to me. I had no money and nowhere to go and realized that I was homeless. Thankfully, a waitress at my favorite restaurant agreed to meet for drinks and when she saw the suitcases, she moved me into her apartment. This was about a decade ago. I’m luckily in a much better place now – happily married with an awesome daughter. My old family and friends are still out of my life but I built a better family.”
He Left His Family When They Needed Him The Most
Nestor Rizhniak/Shutterstock
“My husband left me 10 months into my daughter’s chemotherapy treatment for leukemia.
We have two daughters, they were 2 and 3 years old at the time. He told me that he ‘had worked too hard to not be able to enjoy his life’ and that I ‘spent too much time focusing on the kids and didn’t pay enough attention to him.’ Literally, one day we were married, and the next day he moved into his girlfriend’s house and started a new family. The kids and I rarely saw him for months on end. My daughter received chemo for another almost two years, but she passed away in November.
While we were at the funeral home to plan the service, and while I was trying to survive the most devastating time in my life, he kept bringing up the divorce. Like, I would ask for a certain kind of flower, and he would say, ‘If I agree to that, will you give me things that I want in the divorce?’ He had me in court less than three weeks after her funeral. He put our youngest daughter through the wringer just so I would be more likely to give into his demands to make things easier for her.
He’s without a doubt the most unfeeling, selfish, narcissistic person I have ever met. I still have a hard time believing that one human being could do that to another, let alone a father to his children.”
She Wasn’t Ready For The Answer Her Mother Gave Her
goodluz/Shutterstock
“When I was young, my mom was married to a very abusive man who disliked me in particular. They had two children together. After one rather unpleasant incident with him when I was 13, I broke down crying and asked her to please leave him. She looked at me and said, ‘I’m sorry, but that’s not what’s best for Ben and Anna,’ (my step-siblings).
I think it was that day that I realized I didn’t matter; I was never going to be a priority.”
Painting Was Her Release, But He Took That From Her
Golubovy/Shutterstock
“I paint for cathartic release. I was starting to get a lot better, starting to become really proud of them. They were for no one but me and I loved them so much. They were a part of me. I had them hanging all over my apartment.
One night after a few weeks of fighting with my boyfriend (now ex), I went a town over to have a girls night because he had a friend from out of the state visiting. I figured let them have their guy time. He blew up my phone the entire night, calling me a bimbo, accusing me of cheating, all of these awful things that weren’t true. I told him to have his little tantrum and that I would be home in the morning.
I got home and our apartment was in a disarray. My paintings were destroyed, he cut them to pieces. It was a soul-crushing moment. I fell to my knees and cried. I never forgave him for that.
I kept them and still have them. I want to try and stitch the canvas back together as a symbol of picking up the pieces and putting my life back together after the troubles I went through.”
His Backstabbing Tactics Came Back To Bite Him
sharpshutter/Shutterstock
“A ‘friend’ at work, the only person I confided in, tipped off the boss that I was actively applying for a new job with a different employer and expressed his interest in my position when I left.
To his credit, my boss told me how my so-called ‘friend’ had betrayed our confidence and that his actions would have consequences for any further advancement as he couldn’t be trusted.”
With Friends Like These…
Fancy Studio/Shutterstock
“I had a friend in high school who I still hung out with after we graduated. I got married really young and divorced really shortly afterward. A few months after my divorce, I met a guy who was really amazing. We were officially dating about a month later. We were long distance at that point, but only by about two hours, so we saw each other a lot but some weekends we wouldn’t be able to hang out. One night, my friend and I went to a club with a bunch of other friends. Throughout the night, she kept sending guys my way and introducing me, telling me to ‘get some of that.’ I’d turn them away because I had a boyfriend. I ended up leaving the club before her because it kept ticking me off.
Fast forward to the next weekend. I got a few phone calls from unknown numbers that I let go to voicemail. I listened to them and they’re all saying that they found my number on a dating site and wanted to get together. I googled my name and found myself featured in several dating profiles on different free dating sites. I looked at the email used and it was my friend’s email. I called her up and asked her why she thought it was okay to do that. She said that she didn’t like my boyfriend because he was too nice and that I should find a bad boy. That was the final straw and I told her to get lost. I changed my number. The boyfriend and I dated for two years, then got married. We celebrated our three year anniversary recently and I’m no longer friends with that girl.”
He Was The Pariah Of The Whole Camp
Roman Bodnarchuk/Shutterstock
“When I was about 14, I went to a type of summer camp that happens every year in Ireland. You get to go to an Irish speaking part of the country which is called a Gaeltacht. Since Irish is mandatory for most Irish born students in Ireland, the objective of going to a Gaeltacht region is to help you learn the language by speaking it regularly. It wasn’t compulsory, but my language skills were weak and I thought it would help boost my confidence by meeting new people. You are put up in an Irish family’s house with a group of guys or girls that are the same age as you and you learn the language by taking classes and partaking in a wide variety of activities.
I left for the Gaeltacht on my own since I didn’t have very many friends back home. I thought that it would be easy for me to make new friends since everybody there wouldn’t know each other and everyone would have to start at square one. I was wrong. The guys who I shared the house with all knew each other and formed cliques with other people in the area. I very quickly found myself isolated. Within a few days, the bullying started. The guys who I was staying with made it their mission to beat me up and humiliate me as often as they could.
On the fourth or fifth day, I met a girl who I really liked and we spent a lot of time together. After she gave me her number, I spent many nights texting her. On the last week of the trip, I built up the confidence to ask her out by text. I couldn’t believe it when she said yes.
Later that day, I found the guys from my house passing a phone around to lots of other excited students. They were laughing and pointing at me. I quickly discovered that I hadn’t been texting my crush at all. She gave her phone to her housemates where they took turns replying to me. In other words, I was catfished. Needless to say, the news spread fast and I spent my last week at the Gaeltacht being ridiculed by all of my classmates.”