For years, I was the “responsible” child. When my parents struggled with bills, I stepped in. I covered their rent, paid for groceries, even cleared their credit card debt—while juggling my own student loans. My younger siblings never contributed a cent, yet my parents constantly praised them. Still, I told myself I was doing the right thing.
But after getting married and saving for a home, I realized I couldn’t keep pouring money into a bottomless pit. I sat my parents down and gently explained: “I can’t send money every month anymore. I need to focus on building my future.” I expected disappointment, maybe even a guilt trip. What I didn’t expect was their revenge.
It started small. At family dinners, they’d make snide remarks: “Oh, don’t ask her for help, she’s too busy saving for herself.” Then came the bigger move—they told my siblings that I was selfish and ungrateful, that I’d “abandoned” them after everything they had done for me. Soon, relatives were calling me, asking why I’d left my parents “to starve.”
The final blow came when my mom called my employer, pretending she needed to “verify my salary” for a loan. She wanted to prove I had more than enough money and was just being stingy. I was mortified when HR pulled me aside about the call. That was the moment I drew a hard line.
I went no-contact. I blocked their numbers and told relatives the truth—that I’d been financially supporting my parents for years while they turned on me the moment I stopped. Some understood, some didn’t. But I finally feel free. For the first time in my adult life, I’m putting my energy into my marriage and my future, not into parents who saw me as a bank instead of a daughter. Their revenge was cruel—but in the end, it only showed me I’d made the right choice.
