An engagement announcement took a real turn for the worst, when a woman stunned her family by announcing that she’s engaged to her stepbrother. Yep, you read that right. Not only did this completely take her family by surprise (and that’s putting it lightly), but now she’s lost the support of her sister, who is furious that she would fall in love with her childhood bully.
After the young woman's mother died, her father remarried a woman who had a son who is two years older than her.
And their relationship was far from the Brady Bunch.
“Our stepbrother was nasty, selfish, and used to take my things and ruin them under the guise of borrowing, he bullied me especially cause of how weak and thin I was (I was dealing with health problems, still am) he even got to my school friends and turned them against me by spreading lies and rumors,” the original poster explained in a since-deleted post on Reddit.
It’s been years since they were kids, but the OP still resents him for treating her so poorly.
The OP completely cut off contact with him after she moved away for college, "but kept in touch with my younger sister (21) we maintained a great sisterly bond and because of that I'd visit regularly since she's still living with my dad."
The two were always close, but recently the OP felt like her sister was pulling away from her. She chalked it up to being away at school, but when she asked about boys, her sister told her “she'd say she's on break.”
OP recently came home for her sister’s 21 birthday, which is when things started falling apart.
Right away, she noticed that her stepbrother was there, “which made me feel uncomfortable.”
“My sister was sitting next to him the entire time and were acting strange, not like normal step siblings but I didn't past much attention to it,” she recalled.
After opening her gifts, her sister told the family that she had an announcement to make.
"She talked about mom's death, stepmom's [presence] in our life and the situations we'd gone through," the OP recalled. "Then she asked my stepbrother to join her and he stood next to her and held her hand as she lifted her other hand saying she and my stepbrother just got engaged."
"I was dumbfounded, absolutely shocked all I could hear was my stepmom and aunt yelling at them calling them names," she added.
Her sister tried to defend herself — in her eyes they were never really siblings anyway.
Meanwhile, their dad was understandably stunned, while OP decided to get out of there ASAP.
“I calmly got up took my bag and walked out immediately leaving them yelling at each other,” she wrote.
A few hours later, her sister called her in tears. She asked why the OP left when she needed support and protection from their stepmom.
“She went on about how I should've defended her against the family but I firmly told her it was none of my business and she needed to figure her own mess out,” the OP explained. “She kept crying saying I wasn't true sister and that she would've done a lot more if that was me.”
“I told her I'd never think of getting together with my sister's bully WHO's HER STEPBROTHER much less announce our engagement,” the OP continued.
The OP ended the phone call, but her sister still sent her texts “about how I'm making this about me and not considering what she really wants. I haven't [talked] to her since then.”
The comments section was aghast.
“[Not the A–hole] and what the f—?" one commenter wrote. "That's disgusting in so many ways. Y'all were RAISED as siblings. I can maybe (MAYBE) understand if someone's parents remarried when they were adults and they hit it off with the step-parent's kid, MAYBE. But this???? This is absolutely disgusting."
"If they thought it was above board then they would have been honest with everyone that they were dating from day one," another commenter agreed. "They can't surprise everyone with an engagement and expect everything to be lovie dovie."
"Exactly, [Not the A–hole]: She purposefully didn’t tell OP this because she knew OP's reaction," a third commenter chimed in. "But she thought OP's reaction would be different as a surprise at a party?… This was not the right way to go about it and now wants to play the victim. Smh what a mess."
Others thought the OP had it all wrong.
“[You're the A–hole], there’s no blood relation and it isn’t any of your business what consenting adults do," wrote one commenter.
"[You're the A–hole] (light) – This may have been going on for longer than what's being told. Like waaaaaay longer," someone else pointed out. "If he abused you, he probably abused her as well. She is right, you need to stop making this about you. A lot on of signs are pointing to her being in danger."
"Unpopular opinion: [Everyone Sucks Here] She sucks for getting with her stepbrother who she was raised with," one commenter thought. "You suck because you are making this about you and how he bullied you when you were younger. Newsflash: Most older siblings are bullies. Right now, if you were once close like you said, you should try to at least talk to her, not ghost her."
This is a story where there aren't a lot of upsides. This is absolutely a case where counseling is necessary. If not, I mean, imagine how awkward will Christmas be this year?
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