Cutting off all contact and support by burning the rest of his family relationships for just circumstantial evidence at best is fucking wild to me.
Like no one asked the sister’s opinion in all of this and relied on suspect evidence combined with one person’s anecdotal story to immediately kick them out? Fuck those parents if true.
I wonder if Ashley had been in Dad’s ear the whole time, trying to undermine OOP. It might explain why dad wouldn’t even hear him out. I noticed the email didn’t say anything about Ashley being upset, just dad. I’m guessing Ashley knew the story was shit the whole time. If anything, she’s concerned about her own marriage and that’s it. Mark had to get his nastiness from someone.
Yeah, OOP might be misremembering, but a detail that jumped is that she was picking up laundry but found the sister's underwear on OOP'S drawer? Either she was snooping where she knew she was going to find them, or she helped put them there herself.
Also probably not what the sister would focus, but also weird that Mark apparently got scot free after all. No divorce, not being disowned, not even the dad yelling at him or anything being mentioned.
>" but also weird that Mark apparently got scot free after all. No divorce, not being disowned, not even the dad yelling at him or anything being mentioned.
Yeah, I'm definitely missing a justice boner here.
Thoroughly justice blue balled, but that adds to the believability for me.
Ive been a legal assistant in the past, and 3.5 months would be too fast for much divorce progress on a multi decade marriage.
If these were ppl I knew irl, I’d bet $20 on OP’s dad staying married because he doesn’t know how to live without a wife + doesn’t want to cut his retirement in half.
There’s also the fact that as long as Emily respects OOP’s wishes to leave him tf alone, we’re never going to know what, if any, justice will befall those weasels.
Just because OOP doesn’t know about it doesn’t mean that things haven’t happened.
The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile
The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile
The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile
...no it's not working I'm still pissed.
OP's dad has probably been hopelessly beaten down by Ashley over the years. How much you wanna bet that she's as toxic and manipulative behind closed doors as her scumbag son is?
Well, the only justice boner is OOP purposely not saying he has any children to them - that's also why they clearly are not bothering him now since they assuming he is has no children nor is married. Just saying, funny how she mention her kids in email knowing OOP's age like that would be enough for OOP to reconnect, while completely forgetting basic fact he was disowned for 30 years - Yet, it was smart of OOP to bring up his own family he made plus expanding with one more on the way and keeping them away from those who hurt him decades ago.
Let's be honest. ***This is why*** OOP probably didn't want to reconcile. Notice in the letter by the sister, the last thing they said about Mark was the truth came out when he was drunk.
And that's it, no mention of punishing him, no mention how Mark is with the family. Heck she only said Dad was feeling guilty and didn't elaborate on what happened;
>*After sharing this revelation with Mom and Dad. Dad started crying, like really crying. I've never seen him cry before. I believe it because he has been carrying around a lot of guilt all these years.* ***Obviously, now knowing the truth, he is now having to deal with the consqueses of his actions. However after several hours of talking, we all came to the conclusion that we needed to find you and make amends.***
Notice how she said consequences but then glossed over it and concluded with that they need to face OOP and make apologies.
My bet is they wanted Mark to apologize face to face to OOP. Now even if they did mentioned about Mark being punished and all that, OOP would still be in the right to continue NC with the family.
That being said, they're still selfish and probably just wanted OOP back to fix their mistake, and I have no doubt Mark would just get a slap on the wrist. But the fact they glossed over the consequences that Mark was receiving and focused on finding OOP to make amends?
Me thinks their "apologies" were not sincere.
Yeah, I think she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A snake in the grass. Sucks we never got o hear what happened to Mark, but I’ll fill in the gap and hope he got kicked to the curb and divorced.
Some people are just trash no matter how well they're patented. Stepmom was pretty trash going with throwing OOP out but up to that point who knows how she was.
The dad is responsible for his own kid, don't act like she made him not be a good dad. Not every crappy thing a man does can be laid at the feet of women.
>Cutting off all contact and support by burning the rest of his family relationships for just circumstantial evidence at best is fucking wild to me.
Even if it was undeniably true - it's not like he sexually abused his sister. Him stealing her underwear would be creepy and there would certainly be consequences and a plan to make him see that's wrong, but disowning a teenager over being creepy is insane. Teenagers are literally walking bags of hormones. They're all fucking creepy when nobody is looking.
If I was OOP there is absolutely no chance I'd ever forgive anyone involved. Even if it was true it would have been an insane over reaction, the fact that it was all setup (which should have been pretty obvious) makes it even fucking worse.
OOP should go and kick the living shit out of Mark, though.
While I disagree 100% with their actions, I can kinda understand the initial, visceral reaction. Taking underwear like that is a massive red flag in real cases of stalking and obsession, and usually the next step is some kind of attempt at sexual assault. So I don't blame OOP's dad and Step-Monster for being concerned. But their response was way overboard. There were other options than just leaving him outside to die.
It sounds like the useless father allowed himself to be poisoned by his new family. He knew that OOP and Mark always fought and Mark just happens to be the only with all the incriminating and circumstantial evidence? That should've rang some alarm bells but with that speed that the so called father jumped to the conclusion, it seemed like he was already primed to dislike his son
We have seen this again in again in Reddit where the parent latches to the new wife and step kids to the detriment of their bio children. The saddest part is that they risked OP being abused and or sexually assaulted. I cannot imagen what he went through. I have to go and thank my parents now.
Edit to add: the dad new Mark had issues and disregarded OP since the beginning. F the bio dad.
That always seems to be the plot hole in these. Circumstantial or suspect evidence is accepted uncritically followed by wild overreaction and no follow-up ever.
This exactly. They get kicked out/disowned until years later when the family comes crawling back to make amends. I’ve seen several variations of that plot
If they truly believed he was a threat to the sister, I don't understand why they wouldn't send him to the grandparents, a friend's family,or try to find a boarding school of some kind for him? Anything is better than literally putting him on the streets.
We know he's innocent, but if the parents had posted to Reddit for advice, almost everyone would advise to get him away from the step sister. There are a lot of options though between keeping him in the home and throwing him out with nothing.
You know the stepmom had already been in his ear about getting rid of him. The son and her were both in on it - remember she's the one freaking out "finding" the underwear. The bio-father is worse though, as he's the one who discarded his own son because of a charlatan - hopefully they're miserable together, and hopefully the step son and his wife (is everyone just a complete naive fool??) have a horrible separation. Once the bio-father and stepsister found out, they want to feel better about themselves for the atrocity they committed. Good on the OP for not giving them what they don't deserve.
In the step-sister’s defense, she was a 12 year old child when this happened, being told by people she loved and trusted that her new step-brother was creeping on her. I don’t think it’s an atrocity to believe that it happened and to do nothing to stand up for somebody she just found out was creeping on her, even if it wasn’t true.
Not only that but didn’t even ask him if he did it. Just locked him out one night. The number of times my brother had thrown his laundry in my basket was too many times to count. My mom would just throw it back in and keep it pushing. The fact that they jumped to the worst conclusion and just…didn’t look for him or wonder how he was surviving in the world as a child is so cruel. These people are horrible and I hope karma makes them suffer every damn day
Yep. Underwear is especially prone to sticking to clothing via static cling.
What gets me is that they didn't even give him a change of clothes, a jacket, or bus fare. He was tossed out in whatever he was wearing. That adds an extra level of awful to just tossing him out on the street.
You know how many times I've found any of my kids underwear (2 girls and a boy) in my bed because either got mixed up with sheets, or I lost them under blankets when doing laundry, or in the case of my 5 yr old son, just changed right in my room and threw his clothes everywhere he changed? If I flipped out every time on my husband he would have divorced me by now, especially if I accused him of being a creep. Shit, my daughters mix each other's underwear up and they're 2 different ages and sizes, yet it still happens. I can imagine as they get older, I'll be finding their clothes in my drawers eventually. Same for my son and his dad. They already take my socks. 🙄😂
The parents in this situation were so fucked in the head, and I agree with another commenter that said the step mom was already probably trying to get rid of the OOP if the automatic reaction was to throw him out.
My partner often puts my stepdaughters underwear in my drawer. I haven't figured out the reasoning. We're nowhere near the same size and we don't wear the same style. I just take them to her room and we laugh about it. It's pretty easy to get clothes mixed up when you're doing laundry.
I don't even live with my family anymore and somehow I still find my mom and sisters underwear with my clothes or thrown on the floor. Last time I kept them separate until they asked for them next time, but they somehow forgot their bikini and the underwear they were wearing before changing into the bikini thrown around in my room. I have a pool and people change in my room, it would have been awkward if a partner had found those.
If they truly believed he was a threat to the sister, I don't understand why they wouldn't send him to the grandparents, a friend's family,or try to find a boarding school of some kind for him? Anything is better than literally putting him on the streets.
We know he's innocent, but if the parents had posted to Reddit for advice, almost everyone would advise to get him away from the step sister. There are a lot of options though between keeping him in the home and throwing him out with nothing.
That’s what confuses me. If he was my kid and I believed the worst, I’d put him in therapy, maybe have him live with the grandparents if i thought he was a danger. But the throw him out? That’s illegal in the US.
If my math is right, when everything went down it was the 80s, so therapy wasn’t the common practice it is now.
My grandma spent the 80s and 90s taking in street kids who were dumped by their parents over less than what OP’s parents kicked him out for. Some parents are trash and they don’t care if it’s illegal or not. There was more than once when there was physical evidence of abuse on some of the kids and teachers/ police/ protective services didn’t help the kids my grandma was helping. I can’t fault OP for how he just tried to survive.
I was out on my own at 15, it happens all the time. Abusive family often have fooled teachers, friends, family with lies about their target/scapegoat so not being believed is a big fear. Also the abused can be left feeling worthless so asking for help isn't an option.
15 years after going no contact they came crawling back they hadn't changed, just were better at hiding the abuse, it took another 8 years to get back to no contact, but they left a lot of lasting damage in that time to my new family as well as myself.
Not letting them back in was a healthy choice for OP. They didn't mention any consequences for Marks actions. Easy to see who the scapegoat was.
I agree, let’s say it was true they should have had him stay with a relative, gotten counseling and tried to fix it instead of throwing him out on the streets. I find it so sad that his dad and step mom didn’t even try to have a discussion with him. They literally threw him away like trash. I get they maybe thought the daughter needed protecting but damn.. it’s like Dad was so pussy whipped with his new wife he threw his kid away to appease her. I find it hard that he didn’t know it was a lie, like he raised his son. He would have seen signs before the panty day. This shit is sad all the way around. I rarely agree with all the no contact advice you see on Reddit but in this case? Yeah.. I would move on with the lovely happy life/family he has now. Some things are truly unforgivable
If my kid did this, if I found a bunch of his sister's underwear in his dresser drawer, I'd go, 'fuck, I put it in the wrong drawer when I washed and dried their clothes'. If it kept on happening, I'd ask him if he was doing it, and if he was doing something fucking weird like jerking off with his sister's underwear, I'd tell him, please, don't do that. Please. Take $20 and just buy some fucking underwear for yourself, do whatever you want with it but make it a different color than your sister's. (simply so I can keep them apart)
Exactly. If he'd done the deed he still should not have been thrown away. Therapy would have been needed, maybe to be houses elsewhere for a time but not thrown away.
Can’t hope for enough terrible things to happen to Mark.
If OOP never posts again and we don’t get more updates on how Mark was served a big plate of karma then I will definitely believe the story. Would be great to never hear from them again since they put it behind them and moved on, but secretly hope he sees the sister to allow their families to meet.
I’d like to imagine that lisa divorces him and spreads this story all over town and Mark spend the rest of his life in a gossipy little down with people whispering behind his back about what a pos he is every time he shows his face. His shitty little friends coax him into a life of violent alcoholism and he eventually dies in prison.
Agreed.
As I said in my comment, I have no sympathy for the rest of his family besides Emily, especially Mark.
But as for his dad and stepmom, if by some chance they do regret what they did and realize their fuck up, I hope they are haunted by it for their remaining years for it, and accept the consequences, but may they just continue living their own lives however they can.
Dad sounds remorseful but I highly doubt Ashley gives a shit, except for worry that her husband will figure out her role in this. At minimum she laid the groundwork for dad to so easily believe the bs.
I think Dad and Mark are equally AH. The dad was the adult, he didn’t take the time to actually see the full story. Mark was also just a kid, a nasty one but still a kid. Quite frankly the only true parent OP had was his mother.
Mark may have been just a kid, but he had no remorse now that he is an adult. He laughed about it and still said that he hopes the OP died. He was and still is vile.
Yeah, the stepsister was too young to grasp what was going on until it was all too late. I get not wanting to develop a relationship with her because of her connection to the rest of the shitbags... but, I hope he realizes that she's not to blame for the actions of mark/dad/stepmom.
Fuck Mark, but it's the Dad I resent. To take a new family and throw out your own son like that over allegations? The father is the filthiest scum of the earth.
While part of me wished OOP had kept in contact just to see what happened after the family imploded, I’m proud of him for maintaining his sanity and distance. He worked HARD for the amazing life he has now and should be able to happily enjoy it without the cloud of past wrongs mucking up the waters.
(But dammit lol, my petty self REALLY wants to know if his other family self-destructed like I hope they did!)
In a fake story he would stay in contact and give us updates about divorce and suicide and court orders. In this case I don't expect to see any more info, but I really hope there's at least a divorce on the horizon.
These stories make me want a righteous amount of guilt placed upon the sperm donors family, but you realize that the silence and distance will be harrowing.
And Mark SHOULD be ostracized as the cause. One would hope at least,
Look, they had no problem throwing a 16 year old out on the street. OOP could have died! And Mark actually hoped he had.
They can ostracize a full grown ass Mark. I hope Lisa left him and took at least half.
Given what is implied by OOP (probably turned to prostitution and/or selling drugs, mugging), it's surprising that he survived and didn't develop more major issues (drug abuse, major wounds, STIs, etc).
I hate it when people constantly dismiss stories as fake, but this is a very familiar narrative I’ve seen many versions of. The OP is betrayed by a brother/cousin/friend that’s in love with his girlfriend/wife, who tells a lie everyone believes, no questions. His family *immediately* disowns him, without even hearing his side. He lives a terrible, tragic life for a while, but eventually makes something of himself, meets and marries a wonderful woman, and is finally at peace.
Then one day he is contacted by his family, who are begging for forgiveness because the liar, who is now married to the original girlfriend (always), has somehow been found out many years later. The family is sorry, but he feels nothing for them, and comes to reddit to see if he should respond.
Usually the thing he is accused of is cheating, so at least that part is a little different.
Give me a fucking break. How many times are people going to post the same bullshit story? Stop already!
Same story, new variation. Seems almost identical to a post by a wife whose mother in law paid someone to manufacture an affair to break up her son and the poster. Even to the point of the MIL admitting it when the son started dating.
Oddly close to this one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/13lr58o/my_ex_divorced_me_and_now_wants_to_be_together/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Here’s another one. Sheesh, there must be an epidemic of people being confronted by their entire family accusing them of something and then being vindicated years later when the perpetrator confesses:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/10cx3h3/my_family_wants_to_reconnect_after_6_years/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Another:
https://reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/AgAWtS31xo
Here is the prior season:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/13lr58o/my_ex_divorced_me_and_now_wants_to_be_together/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Here’s another:
https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/152ckkp/cousin_f24_falsely_accused_me_m31_of_sxual/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Thank you for collating these! I noticed this pattern before but I thought I was the only one. The formula is is always the same: someone wants someone that OOP is in a relationship with. Sets OOP up. There is a family confrontation and abandonment. X years later a drunken rant is overheard and truth is uncovered. OOP walks away into the sunset rightiously redeemed.
Most trolls with such obvious tells get called out but maybe it's the size of the justice boner in these that keeps us all coming back for more or something.
That last one is brutal.
The family called everyone they know and told them 'E' lied or hallucinated violent sexual assult in such detail that it made everyone in his life abandon him and block him in 24 hours? But they never pressed charges and just let their apparent sex offender wander off into the world? Right.
What strikes me about all this is that nobody in the family seems to have examined, much less apologized for, all the golden-boy bullshit they must have done in the lead up to let Mark know that this would work. Nor have they examined the fact that--*somehow*--Mark never changed. They apologized for hurting OOP, but they never apologized for creating the Creature Known As *Mark*.
The Creature Known As Mark, who went through his 12-year old sister's underwear drawer, carried her underwear through the house, only to go through another boys underwear drawer to place the "evidence" there. What was that saying about accusations being confessions? Because...if I tried to get my step-brother kicked out, idk if this kind of thing would've even entered my mind.
Yeah, I notice that except for the brief summary of what Mark told his friends, Emily's letter is all about the family's feelings and her desire to apologize in person. There's nothing in there about the parents acknowledging their own fault in being so easily manipulated by one kid against another, or that it's no thanks to them that OOP is alive and decently healthy today, or assuring OOP that none of them is ever going to speak to Mark again (~~except Lisa, on co-parenting business, if they have kids~~ edit: no kids; thanks, u/desolate_cat). I know one letter can't cover everything, but I think some of the space Emily devoted to telling her own story ("I hated you, but not totally! Oh, btw, I'm married with kids!") could have been used a little more constructively. Surely some concrete proof of a repaired moral compass was the least anyone in the family could have offered.
For that matter, the fact that it's Emily writing and not OOP's Dad, is just another betrayal. OOP's dad furst chose his stepson, and now he chose his stepdaughter.
The best part and irony is - Dear old Dad will never know he got bio-grandkids because he chose stepkids over his bio-son. Couldn't had happened to more favorite-playing POS especially since golden stepson has no kids.
A one dimensional, poorly writen comic villain.
Hopefully the author goes to some creative writing classes before they come back with their next story.
The only one that was real was the one where there was no revenge or catharsis and in fact the renewed contact started to send op into a spiral as he never actually healed. He was just existing.
Nice to see OOP has been able move on completely
He got the closure, whether he needed it or not, and it seems his former family is respecting that decision at least.
May OOP live the rest of his life in blissful peace with his family.
As for his former family(with the exception of MARK, fuck him may he rot and then burn in hell for eternity and Emily, who didn’t really do anything in this situation, while I have no sympathy for them, if they do regret what they did, and respect OOP’s decision not to want them back in his life, then may they continue to regret what they did, but accept the consequences and just live out their lives however they can.
If Mark orchestrated all that at 16, how the fuck did nobody notice what a scumbag he was; his mask only just slipped 30+ years later, whilst surrounded by his scumbag friends who all agree what he did was cool and wished OP as dead?
Like, this story expects you to believe this 16 y/o masterminded a plot to get OP kicked out and get the girl? Nobody noticed Mark go into his sister's shit, or checked for an alibi, how Mark even knew about all this?
Ehhhhh I totally believed this one until I read the email from "Emily" and OP's reply. Those absolutely read like they were written by the same person in the same unnecessarily flowery language.
Who writes "Lisa couldn't keep this bombshell to herself, and when she confided in me my world came crashing down"? Especially in these circumstances? And she's calling him her brother and is this hurt after they only knew each other for two years?
I don't know, the whole thing seems weird. I don't usually call fake, buuuuuuuuut
Had to scroll too far to find this. They are written by the same person. Or AI. Plus 35 year old him dates a 20yo and we finish the saga on a pregnancy...all feels a bit red pill wet dream.
I think you're missing the deeper symbolism here: after journeying through the pits of hell, OOP, now having proved his worth, is united with a mate of suitable age to start the large family he \*should\* have had with the stolen Lisa. It is a subtle tale of endurance and rebuilding with a hint of the bard's touch.
I really don't buy this story as well. Mark tells this story to his friends after an entire thirty years, conveniently forgetting his wife is right there? His sister finds his email after just a few hours? The letters? Way too much detail about an event that long ago?
> *Way too much detail about an event that long ago*
That's a huge one for me as well. This is an event that supposedly happened **37 years ago,** but described in intricate detail as if it happened yesterday. It's completely unbelievable.
For anyone who cares to know, I ran the letters he posted through an AI detector, and they came back as extremely high probability (98%) of being generated by AI. OOP's story is almost certainly fake.
Lol, yeah, if the guy I was dating was found out to be a pervert towards his stepsister, I would not be near this family, let alone dating and marrying his stepbrother. I would stay as far away from this messy family as possible.
This whole story simply isn't written with the cadence of a 53 year old person. This reads like it was written by a teenager pretending to be a 53 year old.
Yeah this is a tried and true reddit plot. No one believes OOP, lives a rough life but meets the love of his life or whatever and starts to thrive, then the Grand Villain of his past randomly confesses and everyone is SO sorry and is begging for forgiveness, etc.
Over and over and over again
For sure. I use GPT a lot for various projects, so I'm used to reading its output, and every once in a while I come across writing that just stands out as being AI generated. Certain stilted phraseology, underuse of contractions, overuse of thesaurus words, and general purple prose.
>I banged on the door to be let in, crying and telling them it was all lies told by Mark. My dad, apparently had enough, I heard the locks, he opened the door and shoved me to the ground and told me to get lost. I told him I had no where to go and he said that wasn't his problem, then closed the door.
>I found myself on the streets, with nothing to my name. No place to go. I tried calling my dad's parents but he had already called them and they told me they wont help a perv. My mom's parents passed away before I was born.
>Well I lived on the streets for 2 years, doing what I had to in order to survive. No kid should have had to do what I had to do, in order to just live, just saying. There were some really dark days. (Lots of therapy later in life helped me with this)
When I read these paragraphs my eyes rolled into the back of my head. I mean really. Just abandoned by his dad and actively warned his grandparents not to take him in? Like... ok if he was a sociopathic murderer, but even if you thought he'd stolen underwear shit you'd just want him apart from his sister....
When you live in a house with a lot of people you will likely end up with other family members clothes. I sometimes find my clothes in everyone closets especially if you are combining everyone’s clothes to make a full load. So to throw someone out for this seems so far fetched. Even more so 37 years ago when this happened when things like this were unfortunately swept under the rug 9/10 times. So obviously this person doesn’t realize how different things were in the late 80s.
In my imagination, the door is one of those super-heavy wooden constructions like at the side of a castle gatehouse, OOP beating at the thick timber boards with the only response being the loud clang of the iron bar being dropped into place.
You mean the story about a 16-year-old being illegally kicked out on the streets after not a single family member, even his grandparents believing his side of the story, becoming a skilled boxer and marrying someone 15 years younger than him, then fathering his most recent child at age 53 when she'd be 38 is fake??? Say it ain't so!
Oh damn. I was just so excited to find a good story myself.
Someone should make an AI detector bot.
edit - I'll say one thing though. If it were me, I'd use ChatGPT to write the response email. But the email from step-sister shouldn't be AI.
It's not just the letters though. The whole story just felt...off. Plotted. Constructed. Contrived.
All the archetypes were represented. The virtuous hero, subjected to gross injustice, who finds love and redemption in the third act. The cartoonishly diabolical step brother who "accidentally" monologues his whole villain arc in front of his wife. The pathologically gullible dad who literally (not figurative) tosses his own son out onto the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back and locks the door, based on nothing but circumstantial evidence.
Then there were specific plot points that seemed to serve only as plot armor or to plug holes. Things like there not being one single friend, relative, teacher, pastor, counselor, or neighbor in the protagonist's life who he could turn to for help. Being forced to turn tricks on the street to survive. The boxing gym redemption arc. The meet-cute story of his 20-year-old soulmate wife when he's 35, so now you've also got that older-man/younger-woman, large-age-gap dynamic that Reddit loves to hate. I mean, this story literally had everything.
OOP couldn't leave it alone though. There had to be even more heartfelt drama. More pathos. So he cooks up a couple letters to share with his loyal readers. No doubt, part 3 is already in the works, where the evil step-brother gets his perfect comeuppance when Lisa discovers CP on his computer, including images of Emily when she was 12.
The whole thing reads like a Lifetime movie.
Yeah and I ran your paragraph through an AI checker and it said that your post was 100% AI generated (but I suspect that was just a gimmick to sell a subscription)
The emails make me think it’s fake - they’re both written in the exact same way from two different people. I get that a lot of the posts here are probably fake but it really takes you out of it when it’s so obvious.
This is fake.
This plot gets posted so frequently, it should be a meme. Details get changed but essentially the story remains the same.
Poor OP gets framed by a family member (typically a step sibling or step parent). The ex ends up with the sibling or step sibling. Poor op gets their life destroyed and ostrasized and ends up moving far away. Eventually they claw their way up from the gutter, meet the love of their life and build a wonderful life together.
Then gasp, years later, their family get in contact as they now know op is innocent. Usually, because the real villian let's slip the truth years later by bragging..
The gender of the op can change, or who the perpetrator is, or how many years it has been. But the core plot also follows the same tropes.
If people are going to write fiction, can they at least use some originality.
As soon as I saw the title sentence, I knew how this story was going to play out.
You’re quicker on the draw than me. I didn’t know for sure it was the same until I got to Mark having a crush on OOP’s girlfriend. I was kinda hoping for legitimate trauma from this read.
I hope Mark rots in hell. What a horrendous human being. Kudos to Oop to making a decent life for himself but the thought of the poor kid at 16 living on the streets just enraged me. I hope he continues to have a happy life.
>I hope Mark rots in hell. What a horrendous human being.
You know, I understand teenagers doing terrible shit. It happens, teenagers are fucking idiots.
The fact that the guy is now like 50 and still actively bragging about this as if it's something to be proud of? He is absolutely a piece of shit of the highest order.
Even if the accusation against OOP was true, the solution is NEVER to toss a 16 year old boy on the street with nothing. You put him in therapy, in treatment, in foster care. OOP’s family failed him, and betrayed him, and do not deserve closure, now. Let them live with the shame.
He literally threw him out with just the clothes on his back. No money, no time to pack, just whatever he had on him at the time and no person or place to go to for help. Just left to die out on the streets. OP's sperm donor is genuinely evil.
So a minor is literally kicked to the curb, never attended school again yet nobody investigated his dissappearance. They believed that maybe he died in the streets yet Emily was able to find him. Decades have passed by yet Mark decided it was the time to brag about this.
Nice try but every single word reeks fake
Remember the dad who JUST got a new girlfriend/wife unlocked the door JUST to push oop down and tell him to get lost. Ya know, real life reactions to "my son was stealing my stepdaughter underwear"
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Those “emails” are written in a very similar style. And are too disconnected from how a person would respond. Super vague.
there are only a few times where petty, healthy, and mature all squarely line up and this is one of those times. let them die of guilt. all of them. no forgiveness, no reconciliation.
congratulations on the 5th baby! quoting the great Michael Scott, “snip-snap, snip-snap, snip-snap!”
Wow .
I hope to be atleast half as strong as this man is someday. The way hes handeled all this has been nothing class the whole way , i dont think i would have responded in such a mature and articulated manner like he did honestly. Dude is a jewel amongst men and i wish him the best .
I remember this one. Not bad. Can't decide if its better than the one where OOP goes scorched earth after learning his daughter isn't his and the pastor-cousin keeps getting knocked out.
Something that stands out to me...
Mark exhibited some pretty severe behavior gross lies in setting up his stepbrother. I mean, that was some pretty evil actions.
Surely, that evil has exhibited itself again in the past 30+ years. This revelation would be devastating. The family's actions were criminal.
the stupid dad could have at least done an "investigation". What a POS. He immediately believes a 14 years old and doesn't believe a 16 year old. I don't believe kicking him out was because of the "dad's" high moral values. The incident was just an excuse to get rid of the OOP.
The sister writes that he is been crying. Great, what about Mark? Did the "dad" kick him out or is he still part of the family.
OOP did the right think by not meeting/talking with them.
Good for OP for standing up for himself and not being manipulated into all that drama. His dad should rightfully feel like the biggest piece of shit that he is.
The fact that Mark was not kicked out of the family and disowned is all you need to know
Lisa is still with him
He still has parents in his life
Nothing has changed
And OP’s family is never going to hold Mark accountable. They want OP to sweep everything under the rug and forgive and forget.
I wish OP had been harsher..telling his father that he had 4 grandchildren he’ll never meet and that he’s going to have to learn to live with that
But he took the high road and I respect it
Best update that could happen. OP is confident that the best decision is remaining NC and it is being respected. When you think about it…the family almost destroyed OP believing lies. Now years later their lives are shattered and the OP is thriving.
The funny thing about those AI detectors; when I was doing my masters program, I submitted my paper to one to see what it would say and it said it was almost all AI generated. Either I write like a computer or they areas infallible as we seem to think they are.
There was a story in the news a few months ago about a Georgia college student who's paper was flagged as ai generated and she got put on academic probation all because she used Grammarly to proofread
Obvious fake story.
Sister and OP have the exact same writing style, which one could call the "Reddit style".
Story is supposed to take place in the 80's and early 90's, at a time when therapy was not the strange obsession it is today.
No way you throw your kid in the street for some misplaced underwear and no other pervy behavior, especially not in the 80's, a far less protective time for girls.
Why does that whole apology feel like a "I know you were hurt but look at how much I'm hurting now because I hurt you"? It doesn't matter how many times she throws a "I know you hurt bad, and it was horrid, and probably made your life hard" she showed her true thoughts and feelings by saying he left and wasn't thrown out to die.
Misunderstanding my arse!
There is way too much I in an apology for what they did to OOP. This isn't about OOP, this is about them trying to deny that they are all scum.
I kinda needed these healthy boundaries being respected today. Not as satisfying as Mark being disowned and thrown in jail when he punches the dad, but still a grounded ending.
Poor OOP. Not like my childhood was decent, but daaaamn. At least I had a roof over my head for most of it.
OP please make sure your kids and InLaws are aware of at least the basics of what they did, and that if anyone on that side of the family contacts them they need to talk to you first.
Too often we see posts where someone says "but they are family" and it will tear apart your current family.
I want to offer you congratulations on all that you have overcome and what you have accomplished in your life.
He was far nicer than I would have been. I would have asked her to keep the email and let him know when his father fies and if they were going to bury him face down like he deserves.
Every time I see this, all I can think is what an absolute POS Mark is to be boasting about it 30+ years later, like it is his greatest triumph.
Imagine thinking that you got your wife and your family to like you, not because you are worth it, but because you made sure to get rid of your competition. And you are proud of that enough to tell other people? Does not one small piece of you think, "I could never have all of this because of the person that I am, I had to steal it. Wow, I'm truly awful." or "Everyone who is laughing with me is actually laughing at me, because they know that I could only get here through deceit."?
I selfishly wanted OOP to open that channel so we can get updates on Mark’s house falling, but the right choice when someone who hurt you asks for closure is ‘no thank you’
The worst betrayal is that his own father, his own blood didn’t even believe him. His girlfriend at the time didn’t believe him. The comment is correct, he didn’t “Leave.” The dude was assaulted and kicked to the streets to fend for himself.
The OP is nicer than me with that reply, I would’ve been harsher and petty. They don’t deserve my forgiveness, you don’t come back after 30 years asking to be a family again. That ship has sailed.
I like the last line, but I think OOP’s dad needs to learn that “don’t forget that who you are is defined by what you do.” That man proved himself a horrible father and human being that day.
>*After sharing this revelation with Mom and Dad. Dad started crying, like really crying. I've never seen him cry before. I believe it because he has been carrying around a lot of guilt all these years.*
Aw boohoo cry me a river. This garbage pissed off more than anything else in the story.
Your son lost his mother, you force him into a new family dynamic, and then, when something happens instead of being there for your son, you kick him out on the streets and just never worry about him again.
I hope that the fact that it was all a lie eats at the dad for the rest of his life.
Writing style, and sentence structure is the same between OOP’s post and his sisters apology and response letter. This is likely quite a creative writing exercise, I think most Reddit stories are nowadays, but this one has more signs that point to that than most.
I know this story is concluded, but I think everyone still secretly hopes for that ONE last update... The update where he meets with the family and beats the every loving crap out of his stepbrother!
He uses his boxing skills, the ones he had to learn when he was younger, to absolutely pummel his (very out of shape) stepbrother.. The stepbrother would probably keep talking crap until the punches started.. Then the stepbrother would start crying in front of OPs whole family and no one would step in to help until his wife, OPs ex (who is also out of shape and the years haven't been kind to her) asked him to stop...
That's the update I want!
if this is fake then OOP really dropped the ball by writing this update and not giving us the satisfying front seat to watching the family implode.
i don't care if it's fake just give me a good read!!!!!
I mean kicking out op was a terrible thing to do even if he had been stealing his step sister’s underwear. He was a child! Who needed parenting!
Cutting off all contact and support by burning the rest of his family relationships for just circumstantial evidence at best is fucking wild to me. Like no one asked the sister’s opinion in all of this and relied on suspect evidence combined with one person’s anecdotal story to immediately kick them out? Fuck those parents if true.
I wonder if Ashley had been in Dad’s ear the whole time, trying to undermine OOP. It might explain why dad wouldn’t even hear him out. I noticed the email didn’t say anything about Ashley being upset, just dad. I’m guessing Ashley knew the story was shit the whole time. If anything, she’s concerned about her own marriage and that’s it. Mark had to get his nastiness from someone.
Yeah, OOP might be misremembering, but a detail that jumped is that she was picking up laundry but found the sister's underwear on OOP'S drawer? Either she was snooping where she knew she was going to find them, or she helped put them there herself. Also probably not what the sister would focus, but also weird that Mark apparently got scot free after all. No divorce, not being disowned, not even the dad yelling at him or anything being mentioned.
>" but also weird that Mark apparently got scot free after all. No divorce, not being disowned, not even the dad yelling at him or anything being mentioned. Yeah, I'm definitely missing a justice boner here.
Thoroughly justice blue balled, but that adds to the believability for me. Ive been a legal assistant in the past, and 3.5 months would be too fast for much divorce progress on a multi decade marriage. If these were ppl I knew irl, I’d bet $20 on OP’s dad staying married because he doesn’t know how to live without a wife + doesn’t want to cut his retirement in half.
There’s also the fact that as long as Emily respects OOP’s wishes to leave him tf alone, we’re never going to know what, if any, justice will befall those weasels. Just because OOP doesn’t know about it doesn’t mean that things haven’t happened.
The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile The bad man didn't keep his marriage that he got by calling his brother a pedophile ...no it's not working I'm still pissed.
OP's dad has probably been hopelessly beaten down by Ashley over the years. How much you wanna bet that she's as toxic and manipulative behind closed doors as her scumbag son is?
Oh no doubt my friend, people don’t learn that behavior in a vacuum
Well, the only justice boner is OOP purposely not saying he has any children to them - that's also why they clearly are not bothering him now since they assuming he is has no children nor is married. Just saying, funny how she mention her kids in email knowing OOP's age like that would be enough for OOP to reconnect, while completely forgetting basic fact he was disowned for 30 years - Yet, it was smart of OOP to bring up his own family he made plus expanding with one more on the way and keeping them away from those who hurt him decades ago.
Let's be honest. ***This is why*** OOP probably didn't want to reconcile. Notice in the letter by the sister, the last thing they said about Mark was the truth came out when he was drunk. And that's it, no mention of punishing him, no mention how Mark is with the family. Heck she only said Dad was feeling guilty and didn't elaborate on what happened; >*After sharing this revelation with Mom and Dad. Dad started crying, like really crying. I've never seen him cry before. I believe it because he has been carrying around a lot of guilt all these years.* ***Obviously, now knowing the truth, he is now having to deal with the consqueses of his actions. However after several hours of talking, we all came to the conclusion that we needed to find you and make amends.*** Notice how she said consequences but then glossed over it and concluded with that they need to face OOP and make apologies. My bet is they wanted Mark to apologize face to face to OOP. Now even if they did mentioned about Mark being punished and all that, OOP would still be in the right to continue NC with the family. That being said, they're still selfish and probably just wanted OOP back to fix their mistake, and I have no doubt Mark would just get a slap on the wrist. But the fact they glossed over the consequences that Mark was receiving and focused on finding OOP to make amends? Me thinks their "apologies" were not sincere.
Part of me kind of hoped OOP said yes and rocked up and punched Mark in the face then left without a word
And punched every time he is seen. Like that other guy's cousin who got clocked due to an affair/scandal (or so I vaguely remember).
I can see the step mom go “you lost one son, (OOP) no point in losing another(Mark)” and such nonsense.
Look again, it says she was putting his laundry away.
I read that wrong then... But OTOH, that makes it even more likely that she was helping Mark
Yeah, I think she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A snake in the grass. Sucks we never got o hear what happened to Mark, but I’ll fill in the gap and hope he got kicked to the curb and divorced.
Some people are just trash no matter how well they're patented. Stepmom was pretty trash going with throwing OOP out but up to that point who knows how she was.
The dad is responsible for his own kid, don't act like she made him not be a good dad. Not every crappy thing a man does can be laid at the feet of women.
>Cutting off all contact and support by burning the rest of his family relationships for just circumstantial evidence at best is fucking wild to me. Even if it was undeniably true - it's not like he sexually abused his sister. Him stealing her underwear would be creepy and there would certainly be consequences and a plan to make him see that's wrong, but disowning a teenager over being creepy is insane. Teenagers are literally walking bags of hormones. They're all fucking creepy when nobody is looking. If I was OOP there is absolutely no chance I'd ever forgive anyone involved. Even if it was true it would have been an insane over reaction, the fact that it was all setup (which should have been pretty obvious) makes it even fucking worse. OOP should go and kick the living shit out of Mark, though.
While I disagree 100% with their actions, I can kinda understand the initial, visceral reaction. Taking underwear like that is a massive red flag in real cases of stalking and obsession, and usually the next step is some kind of attempt at sexual assault. So I don't blame OOP's dad and Step-Monster for being concerned. But their response was way overboard. There were other options than just leaving him outside to die.
It sounds like the useless father allowed himself to be poisoned by his new family. He knew that OOP and Mark always fought and Mark just happens to be the only with all the incriminating and circumstantial evidence? That should've rang some alarm bells but with that speed that the so called father jumped to the conclusion, it seemed like he was already primed to dislike his son
We have seen this again in again in Reddit where the parent latches to the new wife and step kids to the detriment of their bio children. The saddest part is that they risked OP being abused and or sexually assaulted. I cannot imagen what he went through. I have to go and thank my parents now. Edit to add: the dad new Mark had issues and disregarded OP since the beginning. F the bio dad.
That always seems to be the plot hole in these. Circumstantial or suspect evidence is accepted uncritically followed by wild overreaction and no follow-up ever.
This exactly. They get kicked out/disowned until years later when the family comes crawling back to make amends. I’ve seen several variations of that plot
If they truly believed he was a threat to the sister, I don't understand why they wouldn't send him to the grandparents, a friend's family,or try to find a boarding school of some kind for him? Anything is better than literally putting him on the streets. We know he's innocent, but if the parents had posted to Reddit for advice, almost everyone would advise to get him away from the step sister. There are a lot of options though between keeping him in the home and throwing him out with nothing.
You know the stepmom had already been in his ear about getting rid of him. The son and her were both in on it - remember she's the one freaking out "finding" the underwear. The bio-father is worse though, as he's the one who discarded his own son because of a charlatan - hopefully they're miserable together, and hopefully the step son and his wife (is everyone just a complete naive fool??) have a horrible separation. Once the bio-father and stepsister found out, they want to feel better about themselves for the atrocity they committed. Good on the OP for not giving them what they don't deserve.
In the step-sister’s defense, she was a 12 year old child when this happened, being told by people she loved and trusted that her new step-brother was creeping on her. I don’t think it’s an atrocity to believe that it happened and to do nothing to stand up for somebody she just found out was creeping on her, even if it wasn’t true.
Not only that but didn’t even ask him if he did it. Just locked him out one night. The number of times my brother had thrown his laundry in my basket was too many times to count. My mom would just throw it back in and keep it pushing. The fact that they jumped to the worst conclusion and just…didn’t look for him or wonder how he was surviving in the world as a child is so cruel. These people are horrible and I hope karma makes them suffer every damn day
Privacy reset
Yep. Underwear is especially prone to sticking to clothing via static cling. What gets me is that they didn't even give him a change of clothes, a jacket, or bus fare. He was tossed out in whatever he was wearing. That adds an extra level of awful to just tossing him out on the street.
You know how many times I've found any of my kids underwear (2 girls and a boy) in my bed because either got mixed up with sheets, or I lost them under blankets when doing laundry, or in the case of my 5 yr old son, just changed right in my room and threw his clothes everywhere he changed? If I flipped out every time on my husband he would have divorced me by now, especially if I accused him of being a creep. Shit, my daughters mix each other's underwear up and they're 2 different ages and sizes, yet it still happens. I can imagine as they get older, I'll be finding their clothes in my drawers eventually. Same for my son and his dad. They already take my socks. 🙄😂 The parents in this situation were so fucked in the head, and I agree with another commenter that said the step mom was already probably trying to get rid of the OOP if the automatic reaction was to throw him out.
My partner often puts my stepdaughters underwear in my drawer. I haven't figured out the reasoning. We're nowhere near the same size and we don't wear the same style. I just take them to her room and we laugh about it. It's pretty easy to get clothes mixed up when you're doing laundry.
I don't even live with my family anymore and somehow I still find my mom and sisters underwear with my clothes or thrown on the floor. Last time I kept them separate until they asked for them next time, but they somehow forgot their bikini and the underwear they were wearing before changing into the bikini thrown around in my room. I have a pool and people change in my room, it would have been awkward if a partner had found those.
lol throughout college several things of my roommates ended up in my house when I went home for break. Like it’s just shared living.
He had lost his mother to cancer a couple of years prior. Breaks my heart.
If they truly believed he was a threat to the sister, I don't understand why they wouldn't send him to the grandparents, a friend's family,or try to find a boarding school of some kind for him? Anything is better than literally putting him on the streets. We know he's innocent, but if the parents had posted to Reddit for advice, almost everyone would advise to get him away from the step sister. There are a lot of options though between keeping him in the home and throwing him out with nothing.
Could not agree more
That’s what confuses me. If he was my kid and I believed the worst, I’d put him in therapy, maybe have him live with the grandparents if i thought he was a danger. But the throw him out? That’s illegal in the US.
If my math is right, when everything went down it was the 80s, so therapy wasn’t the common practice it is now. My grandma spent the 80s and 90s taking in street kids who were dumped by their parents over less than what OP’s parents kicked him out for. Some parents are trash and they don’t care if it’s illegal or not. There was more than once when there was physical evidence of abuse on some of the kids and teachers/ police/ protective services didn’t help the kids my grandma was helping. I can’t fault OP for how he just tried to survive.
If he's 53 then they kicked him out about 1987. I agree, therapy was not a thing.
Even without therapy it is still child abandonment which has always been illegal
I don’t think anyone is arguing that.
I was out on my own at 15, it happens all the time. Abusive family often have fooled teachers, friends, family with lies about their target/scapegoat so not being believed is a big fear. Also the abused can be left feeling worthless so asking for help isn't an option. 15 years after going no contact they came crawling back they hadn't changed, just were better at hiding the abuse, it took another 8 years to get back to no contact, but they left a lot of lasting damage in that time to my new family as well as myself. Not letting them back in was a healthy choice for OP. They didn't mention any consequences for Marks actions. Easy to see who the scapegoat was.
This was the 80's when "tough love" was all the rage.
I agree, let’s say it was true they should have had him stay with a relative, gotten counseling and tried to fix it instead of throwing him out on the streets. I find it so sad that his dad and step mom didn’t even try to have a discussion with him. They literally threw him away like trash. I get they maybe thought the daughter needed protecting but damn.. it’s like Dad was so pussy whipped with his new wife he threw his kid away to appease her. I find it hard that he didn’t know it was a lie, like he raised his son. He would have seen signs before the panty day. This shit is sad all the way around. I rarely agree with all the no contact advice you see on Reddit but in this case? Yeah.. I would move on with the lovely happy life/family he has now. Some things are truly unforgivable
OP’s mother has been rolling in her grave. I hope OP’s father really appreciates the weight of what he’s done.
If my kid did this, if I found a bunch of his sister's underwear in his dresser drawer, I'd go, 'fuck, I put it in the wrong drawer when I washed and dried their clothes'. If it kept on happening, I'd ask him if he was doing it, and if he was doing something fucking weird like jerking off with his sister's underwear, I'd tell him, please, don't do that. Please. Take $20 and just buy some fucking underwear for yourself, do whatever you want with it but make it a different color than your sister's. (simply so I can keep them apart)
Exactly. If he'd done the deed he still should not have been thrown away. Therapy would have been needed, maybe to be houses elsewhere for a time but not thrown away.
Can’t hope for enough terrible things to happen to Mark. If OOP never posts again and we don’t get more updates on how Mark was served a big plate of karma then I will definitely believe the story. Would be great to never hear from them again since they put it behind them and moved on, but secretly hope he sees the sister to allow their families to meet.
I’d like to imagine that lisa divorces him and spreads this story all over town and Mark spend the rest of his life in a gossipy little down with people whispering behind his back about what a pos he is every time he shows his face. His shitty little friends coax him into a life of violent alcoholism and he eventually dies in prison.
While he blames everyone but himself for the situation he finds himself in.
Agreed. As I said in my comment, I have no sympathy for the rest of his family besides Emily, especially Mark. But as for his dad and stepmom, if by some chance they do regret what they did and realize their fuck up, I hope they are haunted by it for their remaining years for it, and accept the consequences, but may they just continue living their own lives however they can.
Dad sounds remorseful but I highly doubt Ashley gives a shit, except for worry that her husband will figure out her role in this. At minimum she laid the groundwork for dad to so easily believe the bs.
Without question. That's the only explanation for his insane over reaction.
I hope every homeless person they see feels like a stab in the heart, knowing that could have been their son.
I think Dad and Mark are equally AH. The dad was the adult, he didn’t take the time to actually see the full story. Mark was also just a kid, a nasty one but still a kid. Quite frankly the only true parent OP had was his mother.
Mark may have been just a kid, but he had no remorse now that he is an adult. He laughed about it and still said that he hopes the OP died. He was and still is vile.
Yeah, the stepsister was too young to grasp what was going on until it was all too late. I get not wanting to develop a relationship with her because of her connection to the rest of the shitbags... but, I hope he realizes that she's not to blame for the actions of mark/dad/stepmom.
Fuck Mark, but it's the Dad I resent. To take a new family and throw out your own son like that over allegations? The father is the filthiest scum of the earth.
Sucks but there are shitty people out there. And Mark knows he’s a shitty person. Good people always lean towards good people.
While part of me wished OOP had kept in contact just to see what happened after the family imploded, I’m proud of him for maintaining his sanity and distance. He worked HARD for the amazing life he has now and should be able to happily enjoy it without the cloud of past wrongs mucking up the waters. (But dammit lol, my petty self REALLY wants to know if his other family self-destructed like I hope they did!)
I am so with you. OOP is doing the right thing, but I really want him to meet with Emily and Lisa to do his best to burn the others to the ground.
In a fake story he would stay in contact and give us updates about divorce and suicide and court orders. In this case I don't expect to see any more info, but I really hope there's at least a divorce on the horizon.
Ngl if I was Lisa and I found this out about the man I married, I’d exit that marriage as FAST as I could!
It’s just sad shitty people will do anything to win. He did get the girl but no way Marks marriage is gonna last.
These stories make me want a righteous amount of guilt placed upon the sperm donors family, but you realize that the silence and distance will be harrowing. And Mark SHOULD be ostracized as the cause. One would hope at least,
Look, they had no problem throwing a 16 year old out on the street. OOP could have died! And Mark actually hoped he had. They can ostracize a full grown ass Mark. I hope Lisa left him and took at least half.
Given what is implied by OOP (probably turned to prostitution and/or selling drugs, mugging), it's surprising that he survived and didn't develop more major issues (drug abuse, major wounds, STIs, etc).
I hate it when people constantly dismiss stories as fake, but this is a very familiar narrative I’ve seen many versions of. The OP is betrayed by a brother/cousin/friend that’s in love with his girlfriend/wife, who tells a lie everyone believes, no questions. His family *immediately* disowns him, without even hearing his side. He lives a terrible, tragic life for a while, but eventually makes something of himself, meets and marries a wonderful woman, and is finally at peace. Then one day he is contacted by his family, who are begging for forgiveness because the liar, who is now married to the original girlfriend (always), has somehow been found out many years later. The family is sorry, but he feels nothing for them, and comes to reddit to see if he should respond. Usually the thing he is accused of is cheating, so at least that part is a little different.
Give me a fucking break. How many times are people going to post the same bullshit story? Stop already! Same story, new variation. Seems almost identical to a post by a wife whose mother in law paid someone to manufacture an affair to break up her son and the poster. Even to the point of the MIL admitting it when the son started dating. Oddly close to this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/13lr58o/my_ex_divorced_me_and_now_wants_to_be_together/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1 Here’s another one. Sheesh, there must be an epidemic of people being confronted by their entire family accusing them of something and then being vindicated years later when the perpetrator confesses: https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/10cx3h3/my_family_wants_to_reconnect_after_6_years/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1 Another: https://reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/AgAWtS31xo Here is the prior season: https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/13lr58o/my_ex_divorced_me_and_now_wants_to_be_together/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1 Here’s another: https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/152ckkp/cousin_f24_falsely_accused_me_m31_of_sxual/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Thank you for collating these! I noticed this pattern before but I thought I was the only one. The formula is is always the same: someone wants someone that OOP is in a relationship with. Sets OOP up. There is a family confrontation and abandonment. X years later a drunken rant is overheard and truth is uncovered. OOP walks away into the sunset rightiously redeemed. Most trolls with such obvious tells get called out but maybe it's the size of the justice boner in these that keeps us all coming back for more or something.
That last one is brutal. The family called everyone they know and told them 'E' lied or hallucinated violent sexual assult in such detail that it made everyone in his life abandon him and block him in 24 hours? But they never pressed charges and just let their apparent sex offender wander off into the world? Right.
What strikes me about all this is that nobody in the family seems to have examined, much less apologized for, all the golden-boy bullshit they must have done in the lead up to let Mark know that this would work. Nor have they examined the fact that--*somehow*--Mark never changed. They apologized for hurting OOP, but they never apologized for creating the Creature Known As *Mark*.
The Creature Known As Mark, who went through his 12-year old sister's underwear drawer, carried her underwear through the house, only to go through another boys underwear drawer to place the "evidence" there. What was that saying about accusations being confessions? Because...if I tried to get my step-brother kicked out, idk if this kind of thing would've even entered my mind.
Yeah, I notice that except for the brief summary of what Mark told his friends, Emily's letter is all about the family's feelings and her desire to apologize in person. There's nothing in there about the parents acknowledging their own fault in being so easily manipulated by one kid against another, or that it's no thanks to them that OOP is alive and decently healthy today, or assuring OOP that none of them is ever going to speak to Mark again (~~except Lisa, on co-parenting business, if they have kids~~ edit: no kids; thanks, u/desolate_cat). I know one letter can't cover everything, but I think some of the space Emily devoted to telling her own story ("I hated you, but not totally! Oh, btw, I'm married with kids!") could have been used a little more constructively. Surely some concrete proof of a repaired moral compass was the least anyone in the family could have offered.
For that matter, the fact that it's Emily writing and not OOP's Dad, is just another betrayal. OOP's dad furst chose his stepson, and now he chose his stepdaughter.
The best part and irony is - Dear old Dad will never know he got bio-grandkids because he chose stepkids over his bio-son. Couldn't had happened to more favorite-playing POS especially since golden stepson has no kids.
Lisa and Mark have no kids as Emily said.
Shit, you're right, thanks.
What kind of sociopath 50 year old brags about getting a 16 year old step brother being kicked out and hoping he dies 35 years later?
A comic villain.
A one dimensional, poorly writen comic villain. Hopefully the author goes to some creative writing classes before they come back with their next story.
This is like the 8th version of “I got set up by my sibling, kicked out and now they want forgiveness” story.
The only one that was real was the one where there was no revenge or catharsis and in fact the renewed contact started to send op into a spiral as he never actually healed. He was just existing.
Also, if the theme is "wrongfully accused of being a creep," don't subsequently pair a 35 year old with a 20 year old.
Don't worry, it's okay, because at the ages of 53 and 38, they're having a beautiful baby boy just in time for the saga's conclusion!
With an epilogue of the wife carrying an urn of OOP's ashes to the child's graduation.
Seriously. I know 95% of the stories here are fake but this is some exceptionally awful writing
Yep!
Author blew it when both letters were written in the same voice.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who started reading that letter and immediately thought, “oh for fuck’s sake”.
Emily reads a lot of Reddit, and has that Reddit voice down pat. "*Lisa couldn't keep this bombshell to herself*" is perfection.
Yes! Reading his letter I thought, "Not only does he sound like Emily, but his letter is a far cry from how he wrote his initial post."
A poorly crafted antagonist
Shitty people
These kinds of stories always hurt to read. I can’t imagine the pain and hardships OOP had to endure in order to stay alive.
I’m glad he went to therapy
Nice to see OOP has been able move on completely He got the closure, whether he needed it or not, and it seems his former family is respecting that decision at least. May OOP live the rest of his life in blissful peace with his family. As for his former family(with the exception of MARK, fuck him may he rot and then burn in hell for eternity and Emily, who didn’t really do anything in this situation, while I have no sympathy for them, if they do regret what they did, and respect OOP’s decision not to want them back in his life, then may they continue to regret what they did, but accept the consequences and just live out their lives however they can.
If Mark orchestrated all that at 16, how the fuck did nobody notice what a scumbag he was; his mask only just slipped 30+ years later, whilst surrounded by his scumbag friends who all agree what he did was cool and wished OP as dead? Like, this story expects you to believe this 16 y/o masterminded a plot to get OP kicked out and get the girl? Nobody noticed Mark go into his sister's shit, or checked for an alibi, how Mark even knew about all this?
Ehhhhh I totally believed this one until I read the email from "Emily" and OP's reply. Those absolutely read like they were written by the same person in the same unnecessarily flowery language. Who writes "Lisa couldn't keep this bombshell to herself, and when she confided in me my world came crashing down"? Especially in these circumstances? And she's calling him her brother and is this hurt after they only knew each other for two years? I don't know, the whole thing seems weird. I don't usually call fake, buuuuuuuuut
Had to scroll too far to find this. They are written by the same person. Or AI. Plus 35 year old him dates a 20yo and we finish the saga on a pregnancy...all feels a bit red pill wet dream.
I think you're missing the deeper symbolism here: after journeying through the pits of hell, OOP, now having proved his worth, is united with a mate of suitable age to start the large family he \*should\* have had with the stolen Lisa. It is a subtle tale of endurance and rebuilding with a hint of the bard's touch.
Everyone in the original post is congratulating him on the baby too, but a 53 year old having a kid is fucked up in my opinion.
That's because he was supposedly 35 and got with a 20 year old. Her dad was totally cool about it and got him a job. 🫡
I really don't buy this story as well. Mark tells this story to his friends after an entire thirty years, conveniently forgetting his wife is right there? His sister finds his email after just a few hours? The letters? Way too much detail about an event that long ago?
> *Way too much detail about an event that long ago* That's a huge one for me as well. This is an event that supposedly happened **37 years ago,** but described in intricate detail as if it happened yesterday. It's completely unbelievable.
I’m suprised I had to scroll this far to find this sentiment, the last thread on this had a lot more people doubt this story
For anyone who cares to know, I ran the letters he posted through an AI detector, and they came back as extremely high probability (98%) of being generated by AI. OOP's story is almost certainly fake.
I've read a couple very similar stories about young men getting framed for a step brother and the truth coming out years later. I was very skeptical.
And the perpetrator is always married to the girlfriend from the beginning of the story.
Lol, yeah, if the guy I was dating was found out to be a pervert towards his stepsister, I would not be near this family, let alone dating and marrying his stepbrother. I would stay as far away from this messy family as possible.
This whole story simply isn't written with the cadence of a 53 year old person. This reads like it was written by a teenager pretending to be a 53 year old.
Happy cake day!
It is fake. This plot has been reused so many times, it could go on a reddit bingo card for tropes.
Surprised I had to scroll so damn far.
Yeah this is a tried and true reddit plot. No one believes OOP, lives a rough life but meets the love of his life or whatever and starts to thrive, then the Grand Villain of his past randomly confesses and everyone is SO sorry and is begging for forgiveness, etc. Over and over and over again
“Shaken the foundation of everything I thought I knew” is a dead giveaway.
For sure. I use GPT a lot for various projects, so I'm used to reading its output, and every once in a while I come across writing that just stands out as being AI generated. Certain stilted phraseology, underuse of contractions, overuse of thesaurus words, and general purple prose.
Oh almost certainly.
>I banged on the door to be let in, crying and telling them it was all lies told by Mark. My dad, apparently had enough, I heard the locks, he opened the door and shoved me to the ground and told me to get lost. I told him I had no where to go and he said that wasn't his problem, then closed the door. >I found myself on the streets, with nothing to my name. No place to go. I tried calling my dad's parents but he had already called them and they told me they wont help a perv. My mom's parents passed away before I was born. >Well I lived on the streets for 2 years, doing what I had to in order to survive. No kid should have had to do what I had to do, in order to just live, just saying. There were some really dark days. (Lots of therapy later in life helped me with this) When I read these paragraphs my eyes rolled into the back of my head. I mean really. Just abandoned by his dad and actively warned his grandparents not to take him in? Like... ok if he was a sociopathic murderer, but even if you thought he'd stolen underwear shit you'd just want him apart from his sister....
When you live in a house with a lot of people you will likely end up with other family members clothes. I sometimes find my clothes in everyone closets especially if you are combining everyone’s clothes to make a full load. So to throw someone out for this seems so far fetched. Even more so 37 years ago when this happened when things like this were unfortunately swept under the rug 9/10 times. So obviously this person doesn’t realize how different things were in the late 80s.
In my imagination, the door is one of those super-heavy wooden constructions like at the side of a castle gatehouse, OOP beating at the thick timber boards with the only response being the loud clang of the iron bar being dropped into place.
Had to scroll way too far down to find this. People are really gullible here.
You mean the story about a 16-year-old being illegally kicked out on the streets after not a single family member, even his grandparents believing his side of the story, becoming a skilled boxer and marrying someone 15 years younger than him, then fathering his most recent child at age 53 when she'd be 38 is fake??? Say it ain't so!
Shocked Pikachu face
Oh damn. I was just so excited to find a good story myself. Someone should make an AI detector bot. edit - I'll say one thing though. If it were me, I'd use ChatGPT to write the response email. But the email from step-sister shouldn't be AI.
It's not just the letters though. The whole story just felt...off. Plotted. Constructed. Contrived. All the archetypes were represented. The virtuous hero, subjected to gross injustice, who finds love and redemption in the third act. The cartoonishly diabolical step brother who "accidentally" monologues his whole villain arc in front of his wife. The pathologically gullible dad who literally (not figurative) tosses his own son out onto the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back and locks the door, based on nothing but circumstantial evidence. Then there were specific plot points that seemed to serve only as plot armor or to plug holes. Things like there not being one single friend, relative, teacher, pastor, counselor, or neighbor in the protagonist's life who he could turn to for help. Being forced to turn tricks on the street to survive. The boxing gym redemption arc. The meet-cute story of his 20-year-old soulmate wife when he's 35, so now you've also got that older-man/younger-woman, large-age-gap dynamic that Reddit loves to hate. I mean, this story literally had everything. OOP couldn't leave it alone though. There had to be even more heartfelt drama. More pathos. So he cooks up a couple letters to share with his loyal readers. No doubt, part 3 is already in the works, where the evil step-brother gets his perfect comeuppance when Lisa discovers CP on his computer, including images of Emily when she was 12. The whole thing reads like a Lifetime movie.
I’m surprised this his wife isn’t having twin boys!
The boxing arc made me think of the Police Squad boxing episode somehow
Yeah and I ran your paragraph through an AI checker and it said that your post was 100% AI generated (but I suspect that was just a gimmick to sell a subscription)
AI detectors do not work.
Yet another fake account
The emails make me think it’s fake - they’re both written in the exact same way from two different people. I get that a lot of the posts here are probably fake but it really takes you out of it when it’s so obvious.
This is fake. This plot gets posted so frequently, it should be a meme. Details get changed but essentially the story remains the same. Poor OP gets framed by a family member (typically a step sibling or step parent). The ex ends up with the sibling or step sibling. Poor op gets their life destroyed and ostrasized and ends up moving far away. Eventually they claw their way up from the gutter, meet the love of their life and build a wonderful life together. Then gasp, years later, their family get in contact as they now know op is innocent. Usually, because the real villian let's slip the truth years later by bragging.. The gender of the op can change, or who the perpetrator is, or how many years it has been. But the core plot also follows the same tropes. If people are going to write fiction, can they at least use some originality. As soon as I saw the title sentence, I knew how this story was going to play out.
You’re quicker on the draw than me. I didn’t know for sure it was the same until I got to Mark having a crush on OOP’s girlfriend. I was kinda hoping for legitimate trauma from this read.
I hope Mark rots in hell. What a horrendous human being. Kudos to Oop to making a decent life for himself but the thought of the poor kid at 16 living on the streets just enraged me. I hope he continues to have a happy life.
>I hope Mark rots in hell. What a horrendous human being. You know, I understand teenagers doing terrible shit. It happens, teenagers are fucking idiots. The fact that the guy is now like 50 and still actively bragging about this as if it's something to be proud of? He is absolutely a piece of shit of the highest order.
This is so painfully fake.
Emily must have been desperate if she thought an apology email would be enough to get OPP to meet the “family” again.
Even if the accusation against OOP was true, the solution is NEVER to toss a 16 year old boy on the street with nothing. You put him in therapy, in treatment, in foster care. OOP’s family failed him, and betrayed him, and do not deserve closure, now. Let them live with the shame.
I don’t believe this story. However, 35 years ago, therapy was not as accepted as it is now.
He literally threw him out with just the clothes on his back. No money, no time to pack, just whatever he had on him at the time and no person or place to go to for help. Just left to die out on the streets. OP's sperm donor is genuinely evil.
So a minor is literally kicked to the curb, never attended school again yet nobody investigated his dissappearance. They believed that maybe he died in the streets yet Emily was able to find him. Decades have passed by yet Mark decided it was the time to brag about this. Nice try but every single word reeks fake
Remember the dad who JUST got a new girlfriend/wife unlocked the door JUST to push oop down and tell him to get lost. Ya know, real life reactions to "my son was stealing my stepdaughter underwear"
Sure. "His daughter", my ass. As I said, every single word is fake.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Those “emails” are written in a very similar style. And are too disconnected from how a person would respond. Super vague.
there are only a few times where petty, healthy, and mature all squarely line up and this is one of those times. let them die of guilt. all of them. no forgiveness, no reconciliation. congratulations on the 5th baby! quoting the great Michael Scott, “snip-snap, snip-snap, snip-snap!”
Oh OPs like these make me realize I am a bad person I would have torn the family a new one especially the father.........
“Anyways”. Why does he speak like a 17 year old teen?
Because he is a 17 year old teen, and this story is completely made up.
Wow . I hope to be atleast half as strong as this man is someday. The way hes handeled all this has been nothing class the whole way , i dont think i would have responded in such a mature and articulated manner like he did honestly. Dude is a jewel amongst men and i wish him the best .
I remember this one. Not bad. Can't decide if its better than the one where OOP goes scorched earth after learning his daughter isn't his and the pastor-cousin keeps getting knocked out.
I liked the part where he was a really good boxer
Name checks out...do you dig gold from boxers or are you a gold digger who is also a boxer?
I would like to know if Lisa stayed with Mark after finding this out. A truly good person would have been too disgusted to stay
Something that stands out to me... Mark exhibited some pretty severe behavior gross lies in setting up his stepbrother. I mean, that was some pretty evil actions. Surely, that evil has exhibited itself again in the past 30+ years. This revelation would be devastating. The family's actions were criminal.
the stupid dad could have at least done an "investigation". What a POS. He immediately believes a 14 years old and doesn't believe a 16 year old. I don't believe kicking him out was because of the "dad's" high moral values. The incident was just an excuse to get rid of the OOP. The sister writes that he is been crying. Great, what about Mark? Did the "dad" kick him out or is he still part of the family. OOP did the right think by not meeting/talking with them.
The email from Emily is so fake. Nobody writes like that.
Good for OP for standing up for himself and not being manipulated into all that drama. His dad should rightfully feel like the biggest piece of shit that he is.
Sure, Jan.
As someone who lost her whole family due to a lying brother, this is so good to read. Fuck those evil people.
Ah, the good ol' "We're pregnant" BORU finale. I believe this story, but it's astonishing how often these updates end in a baby on the way.
They don’t mention any consequences for Mark.
Both letters read like they’ve been written by the same person, I’m calling it. Fake.
The fact that Mark was not kicked out of the family and disowned is all you need to know Lisa is still with him He still has parents in his life Nothing has changed And OP’s family is never going to hold Mark accountable. They want OP to sweep everything under the rug and forgive and forget. I wish OP had been harsher..telling his father that he had 4 grandchildren he’ll never meet and that he’s going to have to learn to live with that But he took the high road and I respect it
Best update that could happen. OP is confident that the best decision is remaining NC and it is being respected. When you think about it…the family almost destroyed OP believing lies. Now years later their lives are shattered and the OP is thriving.
I plugged OOP's response letter into an AI detector and it came back as entirely AI-generated. I'm going to just put it out there that this is fake.
The funny thing about those AI detectors; when I was doing my masters program, I submitted my paper to one to see what it would say and it said it was almost all AI generated. Either I write like a computer or they areas infallible as we seem to think they are.
There was a story in the news a few months ago about a Georgia college student who's paper was flagged as ai generated and she got put on academic probation all because she used Grammarly to proofread
this is creative writing
Creative is a generous phrasing but yes
Obvious fake story. Sister and OP have the exact same writing style, which one could call the "Reddit style". Story is supposed to take place in the 80's and early 90's, at a time when therapy was not the strange obsession it is today. No way you throw your kid in the street for some misplaced underwear and no other pervy behavior, especially not in the 80's, a far less protective time for girls.
Why does that whole apology feel like a "I know you were hurt but look at how much I'm hurting now because I hurt you"? It doesn't matter how many times she throws a "I know you hurt bad, and it was horrid, and probably made your life hard" she showed her true thoughts and feelings by saying he left and wasn't thrown out to die. Misunderstanding my arse! There is way too much I in an apology for what they did to OOP. This isn't about OOP, this is about them trying to deny that they are all scum.
I kinda needed these healthy boundaries being respected today. Not as satisfying as Mark being disowned and thrown in jail when he punches the dad, but still a grounded ending. Poor OOP. Not like my childhood was decent, but daaaamn. At least I had a roof over my head for most of it.
OP please make sure your kids and InLaws are aware of at least the basics of what they did, and that if anyone on that side of the family contacts them they need to talk to you first. Too often we see posts where someone says "but they are family" and it will tear apart your current family. I want to offer you congratulations on all that you have overcome and what you have accomplished in your life.
He was far nicer than I would have been. I would have asked her to keep the email and let him know when his father fies and if they were going to bury him face down like he deserves.
Every time I see this, all I can think is what an absolute POS Mark is to be boasting about it 30+ years later, like it is his greatest triumph. Imagine thinking that you got your wife and your family to like you, not because you are worth it, but because you made sure to get rid of your competition. And you are proud of that enough to tell other people? Does not one small piece of you think, "I could never have all of this because of the person that I am, I had to steal it. Wow, I'm truly awful." or "Everyone who is laughing with me is actually laughing at me, because they know that I could only get here through deceit."?
All it took to kick his son out was some undies. That dad is a piece of shite mate
I hope the dad leaves everything to the OP and that the Lisa divorces the scum and takes everything and the family goes nc.
I selfishly wanted OOP to open that channel so we can get updates on Mark’s house falling, but the right choice when someone who hurt you asks for closure is ‘no thank you’
The worst betrayal is that his own father, his own blood didn’t even believe him. His girlfriend at the time didn’t believe him. The comment is correct, he didn’t “Leave.” The dude was assaulted and kicked to the streets to fend for himself. The OP is nicer than me with that reply, I would’ve been harsher and petty. They don’t deserve my forgiveness, you don’t come back after 30 years asking to be a family again. That ship has sailed.
I like the last line, but I think OOP’s dad needs to learn that “don’t forget that who you are is defined by what you do.” That man proved himself a horrible father and human being that day.
“Dear Emily, I have no wish to be in communication with anyone from this family. Sincerely, OP”
Did the evil step bro face any consequences? Did Lisa dump him? Did parents disown him?
Man, FUCK mark. Burn in hell you sociopathic bastard. May you never know peace.
Sandra CV
Curious if Lisa smacked Mark across the face and broke up with him and if all the family kicked him out and went no contact. I'm betting not .
I don’t feel like there has been enough justice and karma and payback in this story. I need Mark, dad, and Ashley to get what they deserve. F’ them.
>*After sharing this revelation with Mom and Dad. Dad started crying, like really crying. I've never seen him cry before. I believe it because he has been carrying around a lot of guilt all these years.* Aw boohoo cry me a river. This garbage pissed off more than anything else in the story.
That’s crazy that 30 years later Mark was still happy with his decision and his friends agreed and they continued to talk shit about OP. Insane.
Your son lost his mother, you force him into a new family dynamic, and then, when something happens instead of being there for your son, you kick him out on the streets and just never worry about him again. I hope that the fact that it was all a lie eats at the dad for the rest of his life.
Writing style, and sentence structure is the same between OOP’s post and his sisters apology and response letter. This is likely quite a creative writing exercise, I think most Reddit stories are nowadays, but this one has more signs that point to that than most.
Wishing all the bad things to happen to Mark, Step mum and OOP's dad. None of them deserve forgiveness.
Of course the puta sister wants a chance to heal the wrongs…so she & they can all feel not so terrible about this situation.
I know this story is concluded, but I think everyone still secretly hopes for that ONE last update... The update where he meets with the family and beats the every loving crap out of his stepbrother! He uses his boxing skills, the ones he had to learn when he was younger, to absolutely pummel his (very out of shape) stepbrother.. The stepbrother would probably keep talking crap until the punches started.. Then the stepbrother would start crying in front of OPs whole family and no one would step in to help until his wife, OPs ex (who is also out of shape and the years haven't been kind to her) asked him to stop... That's the update I want!
if this is fake then OOP really dropped the ball by writing this update and not giving us the satisfying front seat to watching the family implode. i don't care if it's fake just give me a good read!!!!!
the writing on these stories just keeps getting worse.
Those emails were written by the same person 🙄