Parents Tried To Screw Over Dying Step-Mom And It Blew Up Everything r/Relationships

[00:00:01] Hey Waffle Gang, I do hope you're well. My name is Mark and today we're checking out some more Reddit stories. And if you do love a Reddit story, why not consider hitting that like, subscribe, maybe that notification bell too. And let's crack on with today's first story. Much love guys.

[00:00:17] Now today's first story comes from whole pomegranate5342. It is a story that we have covered in the past, but there's a new update to it as well. If you do want to skip parts of the story, please feel free to do so. Timestamps are always down in the description and along the timeline below. Thank you. It's titled, My Parents Tried To Screw Over My Dying Stepmother And Blew Up All Of Our Lives Instead.

[00:00:40] Throw away for obvious reasons. My 17 female stepmother, Jane, is a wonderful, wonderful woman. She and my father got married when I was four and she's been a rock in my life ever since. My mother was always my primary caregiver, but up until that point, her relationship with my father was acrimonious and I basically never saw him. Jane was the reason they developed a stable co-parenting relationship. She encouraged everyone having a good relationship with her.

[00:01:11] Jane was always there to support me and my mom when things got rough. Jane was always a really hard worker. When she met my dad, he was living out of a hotel and my mother was doing everything in her power to keep me away from him because she was petty and angry that their relationship didn't work out. Meanwhile, Jane had a great job. A nice house, helped my dad get back on his feet, negotiated a visitation schedule with my mom, who hated her for a long time, and made sure dad sent

[00:01:41] us money every week because neither one of them can afford an attorney to negotiate child support payments. Jane had no reason to do any of these things. But as I got older, she made it clear that she loved me as much as she loved my half-brothers, who were born a few years later. I even have my own room in her house because at the time we lived with my grandparents, slash various boyfriends of my mom, and Jane felt that I needed a more stable environment than that. She's like the opposite of the evil stepmom.

[00:02:11] When I was 15, Jane won a big lawsuit against an airline company and got awarded upwards of a million dollars. She used the money to build a sizable trust fund for me and my brothers so that we would be taken care of later in life. Despite having a lot more money, she still wanted to live a fairly modest life. So she paid off the house she has and has been living there ever since with my dad. Sure, she bought a new car and they went on a few nice vacations, but she didn't blow all of her money on stupid things, which

[00:02:40] I respected. About a year ago, things started getting really weird. Whenever I saw Jane, she seemed to look sicker and sicker, but no one would tell me or my brothers why, even though I know they knew.

[00:02:53] All we know is that she was at the hospital a lot. Around the same time, my mom has been coming around my dad a lot more and acting really strange. Basically like she was trying to romance him. Whenever Jane was in the hospital, my mother would insist on spending the night at their house and playing mum to my brothers. Which was so weird to me because she never liked them or Jane. She'd basically be the perfect little housewife and my mum is not like that at all. It was super fake.

[00:03:23] Worst of all, my dad started falling for it. I'm not stupid. I'm pretty sure they were sleeping together. I tried to shield my brothers from it, but they're not dumb either. I tried talking to my dad too, but he insisted it wasn't like that. Then, a few weeks ago, my mum started talking about all the places she'd like to visit. How she wanted a new car and was looking to invest. Which was weird because my mum has been a bartender her whole life and has lived paycheck to paycheck since before I was born.

[00:03:53] She was acting like she was about to get a lot of money, which started to make me really suspicious. Between Jane being sick and my mum acting all nouveau riche, I had a lot of questions. Finally, I decided to visit Jane in the hospital and ask her about my trust fund. I found out that if anything happened to her, that my dad would inherit all the money, including full control of the trust for me and my brothers.

[00:04:16] She asked me why I was so interested in the trust fund, so I told her what's going on with my parents and how my mum has been acting with my dad. I didn't want to, but after everything she did for me, she deserved the truth. It really hurt me to break her heart like that, especially once I found out that she was basically in the hospice at this point because of irreversible kidney failure. She's only got a few more months. We both cried so much. Then, two days ago, everything came to a head.

[00:04:45] My mum stormed in furious and started arguing with my dad. Apparently, Jane met with her lawyer and changed the trust so that my dad would get nothing and all of the trust would be controlled by my step-aunt. She demanded to know how Jane found out about their relationship and I came out and told them that I told Jane everything. I told them that if they wanted to play stupid games, they would win stupid prizes and that I wasn't going to let them screw Jane over after all the help she gave my family when she didn't have to.

[00:05:12] My mum slapped me and my dad just looked so defeated. Then, my mum told my dad that she didn't really love him, that she was just pretending so he would marry her and could get all of the money. The worst part is that my brothers witnessed the whole thing and now, on top of their mum dying, have to deal with a cheating dad and his vindictive ex. Our whole family is in ruins and I feel like it's my fault even though I know it's not. Yesterday, I visited Jane again and told her about the fallout.

[00:05:39] She apologized and said she had to dissolve my trust fund to make sure my mother didn't get hold of the money. But that as her oldest, I will inherit the house and property after she is gone and that's worth more than the other two trust funds combined. My father won't get anything because she's going to divorce him before she dies and honestly, I'm happy for her. She made me promise to take care of my brothers and told me that once I turn 18 this summer, I can kick my dad out of the house if I want to. And I fully plan to do that by the way.

[00:06:08] I haven't talked to my dad since and I can't even look at my mum. I can't believe they would conspire to do this to Jane after all this time. Just proof that they deserve each other and I'm embarrassed that they're my parents. Once I turn 18, I'm going to cut my dad out as much as I can and cut my mum out completely. I hope she rots. Meanwhile, I'm going to try and be at the hospital as much as I can until Jane passes away. Anyways, I just needed to vent.

[00:06:35] I'm really messed up about the whole thing and I feel super betrayed. Although I can't even begin to imagine how Jane feels. I'm going to be so fucked up when she dies. I can't even think about that right now, but at least she's not surrounded by people who just want to bring her down. Thanks for reading. Edit. Some people are asking a lot of the same stuff, so I'll just clarify here. My brothers. My plan is to use some of the estate money to fight for guardianship for my twin brothers so that they can live in the house while I kick my dad out.

[00:07:04] If I can't get guardianship, then I will have to let my dad stay in the house. However, once I turn 18, I will technically be an adult, so even if my dad leaves, I'm still legally able to be responsible for them. The only thing I won't be able to do is stop him from taking them if he leaves. But they will be 18 in 6 years, so even if they do have to leave, they will always be able to come back whenever they want. In a perfect world, my dad would just leave and let my brothers stay with me, which I'm sure my bio mom would be very supportive of,

[00:07:33] because right now she hates all of us, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. The trust. From what I understand, my brothers will inherit one third each of the estate, and the remaining third will be used to keep the house running until they turn 18. After that, it will be up to me if I want to keep the house or sell it. At that point, my brothers will still have money left in the trust, so they can branch out or do whatever they want. Otherwise, I will not sell the house and just pass it on to them.

[00:07:59] Or keep it and maintain it myself, and they can just stay with me as long as they need to. Edit to the edit. So, I just spoke to Jane, and she told me the reason she dissolved the trust is because originally it was going to be split three times between us kids, and my dad would inherit the house. She dissolved my third and switched it over to make it to take care of the house maintenance, and instead put the house in my name so my dad wouldn't get it. Plus, by doing that, at least financially, I'd be getting a much bigger share.

[00:08:27] The house is worth about 1.5 times the amount of my brother's trust. I wouldn't be able to do anything with it until my brothers are 18, which I'm totally cool with. Sorry if I don't have a better answer, but I'm just trying to translate what she told me. My parents. The big fight happened on Sunday, and I haven't spoken to either of my parents since. I think they're both at my mum's place right now, but that's fine with us because we're all still mad at them, so they can stay gone for all we care.

[00:08:55] I know technically that's not legal to just leave us alone, but I've been taking care of my brothers for over a year. I can handle a few days while he gets his shit together. Screw both of them. Hope that clears some stuff up. So, Opie added their first update before the new one, obviously, and it said please check my profile for my previous post. Hi guys, it's me again. A lot of you asked me for an update on my situation with Jane and my family, so I'll come back with a few things that have happened since I initially posted.

[00:09:25] I will try to organize this in a way that addresses the major points of the last time. Jane is still alive and doing surprisingly well considering the circumstances. She's always been a fighter, and although her disease has been progressing, she's keeping a positive attitude with everything that is going on. She says she's grateful that she was able to see everyone's true colours before she passed, so she could go into the next life knowing the truth. We've become so unbelievably close in the past few months, and it's getting harder and harder to know that she's getting close to the end.

[00:09:55] She doesn't ever talk about it though, and I know it's because she doesn't want to hurt me, but we both know the situation, so we're making the best of our time. I'm also not being completely transparent about all the drama at home, but to be honest, I don't think she needs to hear all of that. We did end up having that surprise celebration of life that I planned. A lot more people showed up than I thought, but they all got an Airbnb near the hospital where Jane is, and were able to take her out and spend some time at the lake near the facility.

[00:10:23] It was super low-key, which I know Jane preferred, and I was even able to get her old college friend to come after I found him on LinkedIn. We had food, and there was music, and we played games, and it was overall a really great time, except Jane started crying at the end, but she promised me it was just because she was grateful. My brothers are also doing okay. My aunt, Jane's sister, is currently paying for them to go to therapy, and they've become a lot more open about talking about the situation.

[00:10:50] They just turned 13, but a lot of the time it feels like I'm talking to actual adults. They've become really independent lately, in a good way, and aside from me driving them places, I don't really have to do much for them anymore. Their grades aren't super great, but they're not failing, and considering the circumstances, it could be a lot worse. They still hang out with friends, and I'm keeping an eye out for, like, depression symptoms and stuff. The situation with my mom is as funny as it is embarrassing, to be honest.

[00:11:16] She spent a few weeks ignoring us, and then she tried to crawl back into my life, basically begging me to let her move in, because her lease is about to expire, and she has nowhere to go. That convo went about as well as you'd think, and she ended up calling me an ungrateful bitch, and that I just couldn't ignore her because she's my mom. I told her to get out of the house before I call the cops, and to go back to my dad, who at that point was only coming home every few days to check on us, and grab some clothes. After that, she tried coming by a few times, and when I wouldn't open the door,

[00:11:46] she would lose her mind and start yelling through the neighborhood. After three instances of this, I finally called the cops, but because I'm 17, they told me there's a possibility that I would have to go home with her, since technically, I'm a minor, and need to be with a custodial parent. I told them no way, because I was the only one watching my brothers at the moment. That led to a whole thing, where after a few hours, my dad basically showed up, and I was allowed to stay there, because there was finally an adult present, and I'd basically lived there for over a year.

[00:12:15] After the cops firmly told my mom, that if she keeps showing up and causing drama, my neighbors confirmed that she'd been there a few times screaming, that they would arrest her for trespassing, since technically, it was Jane's house and not hers. She left, and hasn't tried coming to the house anymore, but for a while, she would call me constantly, telling me that I owed her, and all kinds of stuff. She's now locked on everything, and anything she needs to say to me, gets filtered through my dad. As for my dad, well, since he's basically required to be here for another two months,

[00:12:45] until I turn 18, we've basically just avoided each other. It's not too bad though, because I've been heavily relying on guilting him, for everything to get in my way. For example, he was going to contest the divorce, but I threatened to kick him out when I turned 18, if he does that, so he just signed all the paperwork, for a quickie divorce, and is basically doing whatever Jane tells him to do, I don't openly disrespect him or anything, he's still my dad, but I've made it clear, that I have no intentions, on doing anything he says ever again, and he doesn't fight me on it.

[00:13:15] Most of the time, he's just in his room, and sometimes he'll go back to my mum's, but only for a day or two, before they argue, and she kicks him out again. I haven't decided, whether or not I kick him out yet, and we haven't talked about it either, so I'm kind of playing it by ear. As for me, I'm handling everything as good as I can, I found a new job, where I make a little more money, so I've been focused on saving as much as I can, and just being there for my brothers. Between working, and school, and visiting Jane, I've been so busy,

[00:13:44] I haven't really had time to stop, and think about everything, but I know where to come. One of my friends has really stepped up, and helped me manage everything, and I'm super grateful for him, for being there for me, and my brothers, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I wish I had something more exciting to share, but that's what happened since my last post. Thanks again, for all the support on my last post. And before we get into the latest update, I just remember looking at this story, and just keep going back to her age,

[00:14:13] 17 years old, and I think of myself as a 17 year old, and I just, no way would I be able to deal with something like, OP's dealing with it, with such maturity and integrity, but more than both of her parents combined, not only is she protecting her dying stepmother, who's been nothing but loving and supportive, but she's also stepping up to care for her younger brothers, through everything that's going on, all this trauma, she's managing their household, the trust fund situation confronted the truth,

[00:14:43] whilst you know, everything else in between, all little life stuff, balancing her schoolwork, etc. is just incredible, and at the same time, it breaks my heart for Jane, that she's had to face this, at this time as well, and at the same time again, I'm glad that she does, get the truth, but as I said, OP came in with another update, which was titled, their final update, and said, please refer to my profile, for my previous posts, hello everyone, it's me again, I've gotten quite a few messages, in the past months,

[00:15:13] asking me for an update, so I'm going to post my final update here, and hope that it's enough, to answer the questions, everyone has been asking, I'm sorry that it took so long, to update, but a lot has been going on, as many of you, may have already assumed, Jane passed away, early fall of this year, it was very traumatic, and sudden, but the silver lining, is that she exceeded, every doctor's expectation, for her life, and when she did go, she was surrounded by family, including me, my brothers, and my dad,

[00:15:42] she was on palliative care, and felt no pain, except for a brief moment, right at the end, and we're all very grateful, for that, towards the end, Jane was physically, pretty much done, but her mind, was as sharp as ever, I took the advice, of many of you here, and recorded some voice notes, for my brothers, I originally wanted, to do a video, but by the time, we're able to do it, we both decided, that they didn't need, to remember her, wrapped in tube, and in a hospital gown, she also wrote, many letters, for her friends, family, and even for me, to open,

[00:16:12] when I reached certain milestones, she gave me one, to open, right after she passed away, and while I won't share, too many details, I can say, with absolute certainty, that she is, and forever, will be, who I consider my mother, without question, it was very, very emotional, for everyone, and although, it has been a few months, I'm still very heartbroken, about her, no longer being with us, she was a kind, gentle woman, and in my heart, she is who I aspire to be, my brothers, are obviously, very hurt, about our mom dying,

[00:16:42] but just like before, they're taking it, surprisingly well, they're still going, to therapy, both together, and separately, and we have a lot of conversations, whenever they feel like talking, we've always been close, but I feel like, we're closer now, even though I work, we hang out as often, as we can, and I'm doing everything, I can to be the support, that they need, they don't know it, but I definitely need them, as much as they need me, because they're the only ones, I can really talk to, about anything, ironically, now that our, family glue is gone, we're pulling together, stronger than before,

[00:17:13] my dad and I, mended defenses, so to speak, we've been to a few, therapy sessions together, where he took full responsibility, for his behavior, and I've forgiven him, as much as I can, especially since, he eventually started, doing everything he could, to be there for Jane, at the end, even though, they still went through, with a divorce, he's still living with us, and things are a little tense, but they're much better, than before, he's my dad, and I love him, but he was also broken, by Jane's condition, and he wasn't able, to cope in a healthy manner, her dying, really brought some light, into his eyes,

[00:17:42] so to speak, and now he's really, stepping up, to be the man, he was supposed to be, a lot of people, commented saying, too little, too late, but again, he's my dad, and for my own mental health, I've chosen, to forgive him, as far as I know, my bio mom, pretty much vanished, off the face of the earth, when I turned 18, she tried a few times, to convince me, to let her live with us, but I wasn't having any of it, even my dad told her, he's officially done, and after all, we blocked her on everything, she stopped reaching out, she doesn't have any relatives,

[00:18:12] who talk to her, so I don't have to worry about that, but I did hear from people, who follow her on Facebook, that she has a new boyfriend, that she's living with, I don't want to stalk her, or anything, I really don't care, she hasn't come to me, with any kind of apology, so to be honest, she can get bent, it's a little hard for me, to think that she'd just walk away, the second I turned legal, just because she didn't get, any of Jane's money, but oh well, true colors and all that, guess 18 years, was too long to pretend to care,

[00:18:41] I'm just so angry with her, I don't want anything, to do with her anymore, maybe that will change one day, when I'm not holding my breath, as for me, I'm doing pretty okay, I decided to take a year, before I start college, to handle all the bullshit, and I'm still at my same job, so I'm saving money, wherever I can, my friends have all been, great supporters, and I'm so grateful for everyone, especially you reddit folks, who've been checking in on me, and making sure I'm okay, I'm taking things one day at a time, and that's been working pretty great, to keep me focused,

[00:19:12] my goal is to go to college next year, and study journalism, but I'm playing it by ear, I can always go back to school, but right now, my family needs me, and if that takes longer than a year, then so be it, thank you everyone, this will be my last update, and I very much appreciate, all the love and support, you've shown our family, Jane I know was very grateful, for all of you too, and all I can say, is hold your loved ones tight, and be careful of anyone, who seems too good to be true, much love, and blessings to you all,

[00:19:42] gee whiz, as I was reading this, I was just thinking about, the mark that Jane, is left on OP, and how she shaped her as a person, just showing like maturity, beyond her years, and I can already feel, the comments in this one, about you know, forgiving the dad, and the way that, people could be like, no absolutely not happening, and you know, I have to agree with that as well, I personally know a family member, on another side of our family,

[00:20:12] I was cheated on, as she was coming to the end, and it completely messed up, that side of the family, but whilst many of us, might struggle to forgive, like such a betrayal like that, she recognized that, holding on to that anger, for herself, would just hurt, her own healing process, so, I think it's OP's life, and she just needs to do, what she needs to do for herself, but still be on her guard, at the same time, because, I wouldn't trust that dude, I think Jane's, clearly raised an incredible, young woman, during their time together,

[00:20:41] and I think, the voice notes, and the milestone letters, that Jane left behind, are super precious, and I think all that can be said, at this, is just wishing peace, and healing for OP brothers, and continue to carry Jane's, memory forward, but what do you guys make, of this situation, let us know your thoughts down, in the comments below, and just a huge thank you, for being here today, getting involved in the story, your love, your support, your time, it always means the absolute world, to me,

[00:21:11] so thank you so so much, and hopefully, I'll see you, in the next one, take care, and much love. Thank you.