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I Finally Stood Up to My Dad’s Toxic Best Friend… And Everything Changed | Reddit Story
Aug 2, 2025
#redditrelationship #aita #redditstories I Finally Stood Up to My Dad’s Toxic Best Friend… And Everything Changed | Reddit Story It started with a late-night call from my best friend, Becca. She was drunk, and I couldn't pick her up—so I sent my boyfriend, Nate. I trusted him. But that night was the beginning of a nightmare I never saw coming. What followed was a tangled web of lies, betrayal, paranoia, and emotional warfare. Becca claimed she and Nate hooked up. Nate said he was planning a proposal. And me? I was caught between two versions of reality—until everything fell apart. In this raw and personal story, I share how one lie spiraled into harassment, heartbreak, and trauma that shook my world. From losing a friendship to being stalked and dealing with a mental health crisis no one took seriously, here's how I survived one of the darkest chapters of my life. 🧠 Mental health matters. 📲 Share your own story in the comments—you're not alone. 🔔 Subscribe for more real-life stories and lessons from chaos.
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0:00
My name is Sarah, and for as long as I
0:02
can remember, my father's best friend,
0:04
Harold, has made it his life's mission
0:06
to belittle and condescend to me. From
0:09
the moment I first met him at 18, he saw
0:12
me not as a person, but as a project to
0:14
mock. I was a young, ambitious premed
0:17
student with big dreams of helping
0:19
people, and he saw a naive girl to
0:21
ridicule.
0:23
"Oh, you want to save the world? How
0:26
sweet. He sneered, his voice dripping
0:28
with condescension. A little dumb
0:30
18-year-old thinks the world can be
0:32
saved. My father, instead of defending
0:35
me, laughed along with Harold, a deep
0:38
belly laugh that felt like a betrayal.
0:40
When I shot him a glare, he only doubled
0:42
down, telling me Harold was just being
0:44
funny. That set the tone for the next 6
0:47
years of my life. Every time I
0:49
encountered Harold, it was an onslaught
0:51
of insults. My clothes were awful. The
0:55
classic novels I loved were childish and
0:57
stupid. When he learned about my past as
1:00
a volleyball player, he leared and said
1:02
I probably only liked it because I could
1:04
wear the spandex around the boys.
1:07
My father never intervened. He was
1:10
either conveniently oblivious or
1:12
actively complicit, turning a blind eye
1:14
to the verbal jabs that felt like a
1:16
thousand tiny cuts. The final straw
1:19
before my self-imposed exile from his
1:21
presence came at a family barbecue.
1:24
Harold, in his infinite arrogant wisdom,
1:27
interrupted me as I was grilling.
1:29
"That's not how you cook," he announced,
1:32
puffing out his chest. "Let a real man
1:34
show you." He physically shoved me out
1:37
of the way, taking over the grill as if
1:39
it were a divine right. That day, I made
1:42
a silent vow. I would avoid Harold at
1:45
all costs. For 6 years, I succeeded. My
1:48
father's girlfriend's birthday party was
1:50
supposed to be a happy occasion.
1:52
I arrived with my fianceé and our
1:54
six-month-old son, feeling a sense of
1:57
peace and wholeness I'd never known
1:58
before. But then I saw him. Harold. Even
2:03
after all that time, the moment he saw
2:05
me, the old familiar smirk crept onto
2:08
his face. He addressed me as if I were
2:11
still that same dumb child he'd met 6
2:13
years ago. For most of the afternoon, my
2:16
son slept peacefully in my arms, a soft,
2:19
warm weight that grounded me.
2:22
When he woke hungry, I stepped away to
2:24
breastfeed him. I was gone for only a
2:27
short time, but when I returned, Harold
2:30
was in mid-sentence. A predatory grin on
2:32
his face. He was joking about how I was
2:35
probably a terrible mother. A cold dread
2:38
settled in my stomach.
2:40
The verbal jabs began. His voice a
2:42
venomous whisper in front of my family
2:44
and friends. He interrogated me about my
2:47
parenting choices, calling me a bad mom,
2:50
a torrent of baseless accusations that
2:52
chipped away at my newfound confidence.
2:54
But the final unforgivable line was when
2:57
he asked if I'd considered giving my
2:59
baby up for adoption. Something inside
3:01
me snapped. The years of pentup anger,
3:04
the countless slights, the fatherly
3:06
betrayal, it all boiled over in a single
3:09
explosive moment. I pointed a trembling
3:11
finger at him and yelled, "You know so
3:13
much about parenting. Then why does your
3:16
ex-wife have full custody of your
3:18
child?" I didn't stop there.
3:21
What kind of man tries to sleep with his
3:23
own brother's girlfriend?
3:25
I felt the shock radiating from the
3:27
faces around me, but I couldn't stop.
3:30
The floodgates were open. As a final
3:33
venomous cherry on top, I locked eyes
3:35
with him and said, "And with that gut,
3:37
"No wonder no woman wants to touch you
3:39
with a 10-ft pole." The words hung in
3:42
the air, a final public humiliation.
3:45
I grabbed my fianceé and son, and we
3:47
walked out, leaving behind a stunned
3:49
silence. On the drive home, my phone
3:51
blew up. It was my father. His texts a
3:55
cascade of enraged demands. "Come back
3:58
right now and apologize to Harold," he
4:01
yelled.
4:02
I refused, demanding to know if he had
4:04
any idea what Harold had said. "Of
4:07
course I do," he roared. "Why the hell
4:09
would you get mad over him offering to
4:11
make you a sandwich?"
4:13
My jaw dropped. I burst out laughing, a
4:16
wild, hysterical sound that made my
4:18
fianceé jump. My father, you see, had
4:21
been in the bathroom during the entire
4:23
confrontation. All he had heard was me
4:25
screaming, followed by the dramatic slam
4:27
of the door. He had only Harold's
4:30
twisted, self-s serving account of the
4:32
events. Through tears of laughter, I
4:34
told my dad that Harold was lying, but I
4:36
refused to give him the full story. He
4:39
would have to call Harold himself to
4:41
find out the truth. The dam broke, and I
4:44
unleashed years of anger, reminding him
4:47
of all the times he had blindly taken
4:49
Harold's side and disregarded my
4:51
feelings. "It wouldn't surprise me if
4:53
you don't even call him now," I spat. He
4:57
hung up on me. My phone was blessedly
4:59
silent for the rest of the night. The
5:02
only thing that mattered was my fiance's
5:04
soft voice in the dark, telling me he
5:06
was incredibly proud of me. My comments,
5:09
he said, were badass and funny AF. The
5:12
next day, my father actually did call
5:14
Harold. I was shocked.
5:17
When confronted, Harold went quiet. He
5:20
took a long, pregnant pause before
5:22
launching into a pitiful, twisted
5:24
version of the story.
5:26
He insisted he was just genuinely
5:28
concerned about me being a young mom and
5:30
didn't think I knew what I was doing. He
5:33
even had the audacity to apologize to my
5:35
father for the misunderstanding, a
5:37
pathetic attempt to save face. I didn't
5:40
believe a word of it. Later, my father
5:43
called me still oblivious.
5:45
"You should forgive Harold for the
5:47
honest misunderstanding," he said as if
5:49
it was a minor disagreement.
5:52
He then told me I should apologize too
5:54
because I overreacted by telling Harold
5:56
I hated him. I reminded him of the years
5:59
of insults, the comments about my
6:01
clothes, my books, my passion for
6:03
volleyball. He didn't remember any of
6:06
it. He was a goldfish, forgetting any
6:08
conversation that didn't immediately
6:10
concern him. I made it clear that my
6:12
hatred for Harold was not an
6:14
overreaction to one comment, but the
6:16
culmination of a decade of abuse.
6:20
I had nothing to apologize for.
6:23
Then I laid down my terms.
6:26
I am no longer coming to any events
6:28
Harold is invited to. You don't have to
6:31
stop being friends with him, but you can
6:33
no longer expect me to show up. He
6:36
called me dramatic, but I reminded him
6:38
that I had been successfully avoiding
6:40
Harold for 6 years without him even
6:42
noticing.
6:44
This wouldn't ruin his life. My father,
6:47
after some push back, finally agreed. My
6:49
new boundary has been working
6:51
beautifully. My father has, for the most
6:54
part, respected it. He always tells me
6:56
who will be at an event, and he doesn't
6:58
insist when I decline due to Harold's
7:00
presence.
7:02
The one time I did see Harold at my
7:04
dad's birthday party, my father kept his
7:06
word. Harold didn't speak to me. My
7:09
husband and I did catch him staring a
7:11
few times, but my husband, my walking
7:14
marshmallow, managed to look so
7:16
threatening that Harold quickly looked
7:17
away.
7:19
It was at that party that I met Harold's
7:21
new girlfriend. She was insufferable, a
7:24
perfect match for him. She came over to
7:27
coup over my son, only to remark that he
7:30
needed a haircut.
7:32
Later, she patronizingly told me,
7:34
"You're shy, aren't you?" When I was
7:36
simply choosing to spend time with the
7:38
children instead of her and her
7:40
obnoxious boyfriend.
7:42
I chose my battles. I let her comments
7:45
slide, knowing I had already won the
7:47
war. My father's behavior has improved,
7:49
too. He started apologizing more often,
7:52
a stunning development I can only
7:54
attribute to his newfound commitment to
7:56
therapy and perhaps the terrifying new
7:58
persona I've adopted since becoming a
8:00
mother. He's also turned into a
8:02
surprisingly good grandfather. He's
8:05
still on thin ice and isn't allowed to
8:06
babysit for long, but I've made it clear
8:08
that he will lose access to his grandson
8:11
if he stops attending his therapy
8:12
sessions.
8:14
It's the first time in my life I've seen
8:15
him make a genuine effort to improve and
8:18
for that I am cautiously hopeful.
8:22
My relationship with my father is still
8:23
a work in progress, but for once it
8:26
feels like we're moving in the right
8:28
direction.
8:29
I'm no longer deceiving anyone and my
8:32
main focus remains on my son, my fiance,
8:35
and my own happiness. Just when I
8:37
thought the Herald saga was over, it
8:39
wasn't.
8:41
My dad's birthday dinner was supposed to
8:42
be a simple, drama-free affair. I
8:45
checked with my dad beforehand, and he
8:47
assured me Harold wasn't invited.
8:50
Relieved, I went with my family,
8:52
enjoying a peaceful evening.
8:55
Then, a few hours in, Harold walted
8:58
through the door, drunk, loud, and
9:00
uninvited.
9:02
He had heard about the party through
9:03
someone else and decided to crash it. I
9:06
tried to ignore him, but he got worse.
9:09
He made a snide comment to my dad,
9:11
saying he should have had someone else's
9:13
kid to have a chance at decent
9:14
grandkids.
9:16
I froze, trying to stay calm.
9:19
Then, in a moment of drunken bravado, he
9:22
tried to help my dad at the grill,
9:24
physically shoving him out of the way.
9:27
He stumbled, knocking the entire tray of
9:29
burgers onto the ground. The party
9:32
stopped. Everyone was staring, waiting
9:35
for my dad to do something. But he just
9:38
tried to laugh it off as he always did
9:39
with Harold. That was it. The final
9:42
definitive straw.
9:44
I stormed over to him, all pretense of
9:47
peace gone. "Harold, I'm done with you,"
9:49
I yelled. "You've been nothing but an
9:51
arrogant, disgusting jerk for years. And
9:54
if you think I'm going to let you treat
9:55
me or my family like this, you're
9:57
delusional. Get the hell out of here."
10:00
Harold's smirk vanished. For the first
10:03
time, he looked genuinely shocked. And
10:05
then a miracle.
10:08
My dad stepped in. He told Harold to
10:10
leave. And when Harold tried to laugh it
10:12
off, my dad didn't budge.
10:15
I said, "Leave, Harold. You've crossed
10:17
too many lines and you're not welcome
10:18
here anymore." Harold stumbled out, his
10:21
tail between his legs. My father then
10:24
did something he had never done before.
10:26
He apologized to me seriously and
10:29
sincerely. He admitted he was wrong to
10:32
have let Harold get away with so much
10:33
for so long.
10:35
For the first time, he chose me over
10:37
Harold. He hasn't spoken to Harold
10:40
since. The line had finally been drawn,
10:43
and my dad, at long last, was on the
10:46
right side of
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