Man decides to teach stepdad who treated him badly a lesson after achieving great success

Family relationships can sometimes be quite complicated. A man, u/south-gold-1475 on Reddit shared the difficult equation he had with his stepfather when he was younger. He was 5 years old when his dad passed away and his mom married his stepfather three years later. He asked people online if he was doing something wrong by not helping his step-father and his step-siblings once he became rich. Speaking of differential treatment, the man explained, "He had two kids as well, a boy that was 3 years older than me and a daughter that was 2 years younger and he always treated them better than he treated me."

Things became worse when his stepdad had another son. "He's 8 years younger than me, and I think he was part of the reason why they got married in the first place," the man shared. Slowly, they moved the young kid into their son's room, and by the time the child was 6 years old, they decided to give him his room, and the teenager was asked to sleep in the living room. "Then when I turned 16, my stepdad demanded I get a job and start paying rent. My older stepbrother was taking a gap year before and didn't have to do that," he shared.

He added that the only person who was kind to him was his stepsister and she even offered her room for him to stay. His stepdad refused because it would have been inappropriate for a 17-year-old boy to stay with a 16-year-old girl. After he graduated from high school his stepdad refused to pay for his college. The stepson wrote, "A year before he had agreed to pay for my stepbrother's college entirely. I was able to get a few scholarships and loans to pay for college as well as the money I'd save from working. I had enough for the first year, so I left."

The man then took us a few years forward and shared how he met his wife when he was in his first year of college. "Her parents were also wonderful, and after our first year, they took me into their own home, and then helped me pay for the rest of college. Her dad helped me get my first job and even invested in my business at the beginning. My business has really grown since then, and I've become very wealthy," the man said. However, his stepbrother ended up getting a girl pregnant in his third year of college, dropped out and lived with his stepdad and mom, with his now wife and three children. He added that the last few years had been bad for his stepdad as he had to close down his business during the pandemic and eventually became broke.

As a result of the financial constraints, the stepdad was planning to sell the house to cover their debts. The man had a spare house where he stayed when he visited his mom. So his mom asked him if they could move into the house. "I told her that she could, but my stepfather and stepbrother's family can't. My mom was very upset about this, my stepfather called me a lot of names, but mainly just ungrateful and heartless," he wrote. He then asked people on the social media platform if it was wrong for him to not allow his stepdad and stepbrother's family.

People supported the man with his decision. u/kingocrimsom commented, "Ungrateful? What did he give you to be grateful for? Heartless? From the man who demanded you pay rent, unlike the rest of his kids? Your stepdad neglected and financially abused you and favored his kids, and your mom let him. If you ask me I'd say stop talking to your mom too and let the lot of them sleep in the gutters." 

u/Last_teacher6962 wrote, "Stepdad mistreated you when you were younger, you owe him nothing now. Also, your mom is wrong for allowing your stepdad to mistreat you like that. You don't owe her either." u/mortefina said, "You are allowed to set the rules especially when treated poorly by them in the past. You do not owe them anything and if your mom didn't advocate for you in the past, you don't owe her either.