Parents Demanded That I Give My Golden Child Sister the $30k That I Saved Up for My College For..

Escalations and Family Secrets Unveiled

The next day, my dad called my college trying to get information about my classes and schedule. Luckily, I’d already talked to the administration about my situation, so they didn’t give him anything.

But it freaked me out that he was trying to track me down like that. Things escalated when Sarah started showing up at places she knew I frequented.

The library, the coffee shop near campus, even outside some of my classes. She’d try to corner me, alternating between screaming at me, “For ruining her life,” and begging me, “To give her the money.”

It got so bad that I had to change my routines and ask friends to walk with me between classes. About a month after I left, I got a call from my aunt, my mom’s sister.

She said she wanted to meet up and talk. I was hesitant, but she had always been kind to me, so I agreed to meet her in a public place.

When I got there, I found out my parents had put her up to it, and they were hiding at a nearby table waiting for me. I felt so betrayed.

I left immediately and blocked my aunt’s number too. The social media fallout continued.

My parents tried to do damage control by posting their own version of events, claiming, “I was a troubled kid who had stolen money from them and run away.”

Some people believed them, but most saw through it. It was hard seeing family friends and distant relatives take sides, but I was grateful for those who stood by me.

Sarah took it to another level. She started a GoFundMe campaign, claiming she was a victim of financial abuse and needed help to escape a toxic family situation.

She used my name in it, twisting the story to make it sound like I was the abuser. I had to get a lawyer involved to get the campaign taken down.

Speaking of lawyers, my parents threatened legal action against me. They claimed, “I owe them money for raising me and that they had a right to my savings.”

It was ridiculous, but it scared me enough to seek legal advice. The lawyer assured me they had no case but advised me to keep documenting everything just in case.

About 2 and a half months after I left, I got a surprising email from Jack, Sarah’s ex-boyfriend. They’d broken up a few months before all this happened, and I’d always thought he was a decent guy who got sucked into my family’s drama.

He apologized for not reaching out sooner and said he wanted me to know he supported me. Jack told me some things about Sarah that shocked me.

Apparently, she’d been cheating on him throughout their relationship, often with guys who could buy her expensive gifts or take her on trips. He said she was always talking about how she deserved a more luxurious lifestyle and how unfair it was that she had to work for anything.

It made me see her behavior in a new light. I also found out from Jack that Sarah had been fired from her last job for stealing.

My parents had covered it up, paying back what she took to keep the company from pressing charges. I was furious that they’d done that while expecting me to give up my hard-earned savings.

Confrontation and the Restraining Order

About 3 months after I left, I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize. It turned out to be my grandfather, my dad’s father.

We’d never been close; he lived in another state and we only saw him every few years. He said he’d heard what happened from a cousin and wanted to hear my side of the story.

I was cautious at first after what happened with the aunt I trusted. But as we talked, I realized he was genuinely concerned.

He told me that he’d had his own issues with my dad over the years and that he wasn’t surprised by what had happened. He apologized for not being more present in my life and offered to help me out financially if I needed it.

I was touched by his offer, but I told him I wanted to make it on my own. He respected that but said the offer would stand if I ever changed my mind.

It meant a lot to know that I had some family on my side. The conversation with my grandfather made me curious about other family members I’d lost touch with.

I reached out to a couple of cousins on my mom’s side who I had always gotten along with. One of them, Megan, told me she’d had her own issues with my parents and Sarah over the years.

Megan told me something that made me extremely angry, as I didn’t know about it while living with them. A few years ago, she’d been going through a tough divorce and needed a place to stay for a few weeks.

My parents had initially offered to let her stay with them, but then Sarah complained that she didn’t want Megan invading her space. My parents kicked Megan out after just 3 days, leaving her to sleep on friends’ couches until she could find an apartment.

I couldn’t believe they’d do that to family while demanding I give up everything for Sarah. As all this was happening, I was still trying to figure out my living situation.

My friend’s parents were kind enough to let me stay with them, but I knew it couldn’t be a long-term solution. I started looking for a cheap apartment near campus, but everything was out of my price range.

A few days later, I ran into one of Sarah’s friends at the grocery store. She tried to guilt-trip me, saying, “Sarah was depressed and it was all my fault.”

I asked her if Sarah had told her the whole story. She admitted she only knew Sarah’s version.

I gave her my side of things, and I could see the doubt creeping into her expression. She left looking confused, and I felt a small sense of satisfaction.

The next day, I got a call from the bank. Someone had tried to access my new account using my Social Security number.

The bank had flagged it as suspicious activity and blocked it. I knew immediately it had to be my parents.

I filed a police report and started the process of putting a freeze on my credit. I was shaken by how far they were willing to go.

I decided it was time to take more serious action. I went back to the lawyer I’d consulted earlier and started the process of getting a restraining order against my parents and Sarah.

It was a drastic step, but I felt like I had no choice. The day before the hearing for the restraining order, I got a frantic call from my mom.

She was crying, saying she’d heard about the hearing and begging me not to go through with it. She said, “It would destroy the family and ruin their lives.”

I told her, “They should have thought of that before they tried to steal from me and harass me,” and hung up.

The hearing itself was intense. My parents and Sarah showed up with a lawyer of their own.

They tried to paint me as, “An ungrateful troubled kid who was lashing out at his loving family.”

But I had evidence: the texts, the emails, the social media posts, the bank records. The judge saw through their act and granted the restraining order.

After the hearing, as I was leaving the courthouse, Sarah tried to approach me one last time. She looked terrible, like she hadn’t been sleeping.

She started to say something about how sorry she was, but then her face twisted and she spat out, “I hope you’re happy now that you’ve ruined all our lives.”

A bailiff stepped in and led her away. It was the last time I saw her.