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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/Choice_Evidence1983 on 2025-10-10 04:04:06+00:00.

I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/ExcellentFee3010, account now deleted

Originally posted to r/AITA_WIBTA_PUBLIC

AITA for telling my parents that I will “take them to the cleaners”?

Thanks to u/queenlegolas for suggesting this BoRU

Trigger Warnings: verbal abuse, threats, manipulation, neglect, attempt theft

Original Post: September 16, 2025

This is a throwaway account because some of my family has my main one. (This is a very long post that I can’t really condense into a TL;DR).

The people I will mention in this are my mum, Jen - 50, my step-dad, Brian - 56, my brother, Tom - 23, and my sister, Ruth - 26.

For background, Jen and Brian have been together since I was 11. Well, I say that, but 11 is the age I became aware of their relationship as she asked if we would be okay with him moving into the family home. Prior to this, she never mentioned dating anyone and we had never spent any time with Brian. None of our other immediate relatives ever mentioned him to us, either.

The day Jen asked us, Ruth was sat next to me and asked to be excused to her bedroom. Tom was not home to have an input. I was stuck by myself with Jen, who did not seem to understand how she completely blindsided us. She had no interest in answering my question about why she had not told us. Her only interest was knowing if we accepted this stranger moving in. Brian moved in the following week.

After Brian moved in, there were several times where both he and Jen threatened to move away without me, Tom and Ruth. They would say “If you don’t like it we (they) will get a new house and start over”. This threat could be in relation to something like Brian telling me I shouldn’t be anywhere in the house except for my bedroom and me standing up for myself.

I used to get called “stupid” by Brian a lot. If I did something he didn’t like, such as finish my homework before going to dinner, he would say “only someone this stupid wouldn’t think to eat first” Any grievance I had with Brian was never acknowledged by Jen. If I raised an issue with her she would deflect and change the subject. Brian would cause a lot of problems knowing that there were no consequences for him.

Brian never concealed the fact that he wanted Jen and only Jen. We were her “baggage” that he only had to put up with for so many more years. Tom, Ruth and I were no longer taken on “family holidays”. The last one we got to go on was when I was my Godmother’s bridesmaid and she had a destination wedding. I was 10. Jen and Brian would go on 3 holidays a year without us.

Living under that roof was the loneliest I had ever felt. The second I became of age, I bought my first apartment and moved on. No more Brian, no more Jen. Tom and Ruth wanted to come with me but Jen wouldn’t allow it, and honestly, I don’t know how I was to fight for them. I was working long shifts, sometimes nights. Though Ruth was a year younger than me, Tom was not. I doubt a court would appoint a fresh 18 year old as their guardian with Jen in the picture.

One thing I did leave in Jen’s care was my valuable book collection. I won’t disclose exactly how much it is worth, but it is in the 7 figure range. Some of these books were my inheritance. I was always told that they are to be looked after, never to be played with, and has to be stored correctly.

I couldn’t do that in my apartment so Jen continued to keep them for me. I had no reason to distrust her with them.

Earlier today, I called Tom as I was travelling home from seeing a friend. Tom mentioned that he had gone to Jen’s house to collect some things.

Because he was there, I asked Tom to find out if Jen had managed to get the remainder of my books authenticated - She and I had spoken about doing so a few weeks prior.

Tom asked Brian about my books, and then Brian laughed and said “What books? My books?”. Tom said “No, her books that you have been looking after”. Brian then repeated “My books”. I was listening to this through Tom’s headphones so I told him to get Brian to clarify. Tom asked Brian what he meant by “His books”. Brian said “They’re ours now. We bought them”.

My heart sank the moment I heard him say that. Jen was not home. I tried calling her - no answer. Eventually she called me back a couple of hours later, but not before Brian called me a “pathetic liar”, and also spoke ill of Ruth and made claim to her books - which she had in fact sold years ago, still insisting mine were also his property.

To confirm, I never sold anyone a single book. They did not buy me any books. All the books in my collection are to be sold at a future date or passed down to my children. Brian and Jen never gave me a single penny so I can confirm this is not the case. Jen was unwilling to confront him about it. I am not allowing them to steal part of my children’s inheritance.

Jen agreed that she never bought my books, but Brian refuses to give them back to me.

I told Jen that her inadequacy as a parent, failure to reprimand Brian over the years, and her lack of love for her own children has meant this moment was a long time coming. I said something along the lines of “You neglected me. You allowed him to take my happiness away for years. You let him walk all over me… I will not let you steal from my children… If this is how it has to be, I will take you to the cleaners… I will report you both for theft, I will sue you for everything I can, I will cut you out of my life again. You mean nothing to me.”

I am not in need of legal advice on this - I have a Lawyer, I just to know if I was out-of-line for what I said to Jen? I was very emotional at the time.

Thank you if you read all of this!

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: I don’t think you were out of line - they were sucky parents. You told the truth.

I have to ask though - is it documented that the books were left directly to you? Do you have a copy?

OOP: I do.

I have payment receipts for the authentications as I have to send them abroad to get them done.

I keep a spreadsheet so I can update it.

Everything has been paid for by me and I can prove my ownership. I also have messages from Jen where we discuss my collection (including the number of books, their names, value, etc).

Commenter 2: I would take the documents to the police station and ask them to provide an escort while you get your property back from your previous home. Don’t give any warning that you are going to do this.

OOP: You’re actually required to give notice about collecting property because it is called a ‘Breach of Peace’ and access has to be given by those living at the property.

In the case of this being theft, they could retrieve it for me with a warrant, but then it would probably become evidence.

Civil vs criminal.

Commenter 3: Do you have a list of every single book? Are they first editions? I hope you get them back.

OOP: I keep a spreadsheet that I regularly update with all their details - identification numbers, value, location, etc.

Some are first editions, some are valuable and rare comics. It is a mix of a collection.

Commenter 4: Some of them will be missing if you don’t move them. How about renting a temperature controlled storage unit and moving them permanently?

Seriously, don’t trust him or your flakey mom.

OOP: I bought a house and had storage made to specific requirements so that I can move my books to my property. That’s partly why I wanted to know if she had sorted the other books for me - I’d rather move them all in one-go and avoid seeing Brian.

Commenter 5: NTA obviously but I think we all want to hear some backstory about how a teenager acquired a seven-figure book portfolio. Assuming we’re not talking Pakistani rupees or something

OOP: I think I mentioned above - Mostly inheritance. I added to my collection over the years.

I wasn’t a teenager when I inherited them, I was a child. Due to me being a child, Jen had physical care of them, but I was allowed to see them at any time and she respected my wishes when it came to them.

When I got my first job at 16, I had them valued by an Appraiser.

The value of books, especially the kind I have, appreciate over time.

I’m from the UK - GBP.

Commenter 6: Nta but you were incredibly foolish to leave the books there.

Commenter 7: She could not take care of them where she was moving. She had no reason to believe her mother would not care for them.Apparently Brian had not shown that he would steal her property.

Commenter 6: She wrote that Brian abused her all throughout childhood and her mother let it happen. Of course she should not have trusted them.

OOP: I didn’t trust Brian, I trusted Jen.

She had never withheld any of my books from me. If I asked for any, she would hand them over to me immediately.

The family home has the appropriate storage for them. Jen was a failure of a parent in so many other ways, but whe…

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