Woman Asks if She’s Wrong for Outing Her Aunt’s Big Secret to Her Family

Uh oh…maybe it wasn’t supposed to EVER come out…

And that’s why we’ve joined here today, my friends.

Check out this story from Reddit’s “Am I the A**hole?” page and let us know if you think this woman acted like a jerk.

AITA for calling my aunt classless and outing her biggest secret to my whole family?

“I (25f) have always been really close to my cousin, D (22m.) He had a harder time growing up because his parents had some financial difficulties, he never went to bed hungry but they didn’t have much money for luxuries.

My uncle met his wife in a strip club where she was dancing, no one in the family knows this, but she left that work when she got married. They have a business, which D works for, that struggled for years but was one of the businesses that became vital during the pandemic so things really turned around for them and they are making bank.

This means that a few months back my cousin could have an amazing wedding and a 2 month long world wide honeymoon. I was really happy for and proud of him.

I grew up solidly middle class, nothing lavish but we had some things that some would consider luxuries. My parents, however, were not in a position to pay for college for me which I was chilled about and I got loans. I have been working for 2 years and I still live with my parents while I pay off the loans. I unfortunately couldn’t get my masters because it wasn’t financially viable.

Last weekend was my birthday party and my cousin showed up without a gift. His wife made a comment, jokingly, about how they can’t afford anything after spending $X on their wedding. None of this bothered me because gifts are not an expectation but my dad was visibly upset. I asked him about this and he opened a can of worms.

It turned out that I used to have a healthy college fund until my mom secretly lent it to my aunt and uncle to help save their business when I was 15. The agreement was that as soon as they were able they would pay it back to my mom. They haven’t returned a dime. They have, in the last 3 years bought a second house, flown 1st class overseas twice and paid for D’s wedding and honeymoon. Their excuse is that I am done with college and their son works hard so he deserves it more.

My father got so annoyed at my aunt while relaying this to me that he decided to kick them out. While trying to calm him down I said “we both know she only thinks about herself and D. If she had any class she wouldn’t dress like she’s still a stripper.”

I was so preoccupied I didn’t realise that my entire family had quietly walked up with the candles lit, ready to sing to me and they heard everything… My aunt left and has since send my mom a message that we will never be seeing that money as it is now compensation for her pain and suffering.

I didn’t mean to out her and be so rude. I was dealing with a lot of emotions and shock over this, I still am. My family doesn’t know why we were so angry so they just think I’m an A and I don’t want to tell them the whole story. But I’m not sure if it’s excusable either way.

So AITA?”