I’m 23F, and for most of my life, I had no contact with my father. We only started speaking when I turned 16. Our relationship has been rocky—he’s not the best person, but we kept in touch.

When I turned 22, he convinced me to move to his home country to connect with his side of the family. I never got to meet my grandmother before she passed, so I moved in with my aunt and bedridden grandfather. At first, he didn’t even recognize me, but when he realized who I was, he was happy.

My aunt welcomed me at first, and we became close. She had issues with my dad and his brother over inheritance, so she doesn’t speak to them. Despite the language barrier, the rest of the family seemed happy to meet me.

The first few months were depressing. I had no job, I missed my mom and friends, and I spent all day at home. Then, I met a cousin I didn’t know I had, and we immediately clicked. We had so much in common and became close friends.

However, my aunt regretted introducing us. This cousin was disliked by the family for being different—she dated someone from another religion, which caused a scandal. I didn’t care. She even helped me get a job that required me to live there five days a week. But my aunt lost it, went around telling the family my cousin was a bad influence, and everyone pressured me to cut ties with her. She even forbade me from talking to other cousins because she didn’t like their mother.

Eventually, I got another job I liked, started making friends, and met a girl who turned out to be family. She also knew the cousin I wasn’t allowed to talk to. Realizing how unfair the situation was, I started seeing my cousin and friend secretly.

That’s when my aunt’s behavior shifted. She started locking me out, refused to shop for groceries, and acted cold. Keep in mind, I worked 12-hour days, sometimes double shifts. I barely had time to eat or sleep.

When I brought up her behavior, she claimed I didn’t help around the house anymore—completely ignoring the fact that I used to clean everything, including her room, when I was unemployed. I suggested hiring a maid and said I’d pay. She agreed. A few weeks later, I installed a lock on my room because she kept barging in and waking me up for no reason.

One day, I accidentally locked my door before work with her charger inside. She freaked out, screamed my name, and made a scene. I tried to explain, but she wouldn’t listen. Later, I told her I wouldn’t borrow or lend anything again.

A week later, I came back early from a dinner because I felt sick. While I was sleeping, she barged into the bathroom and screamed at me for locking my room. That was the last straw. I finally confronted her and explained why I needed privacy. She responded with the silent treatment.

I didn’t care. My birthday was coming up, and my friends wanted to take me out. I told her my plans, but she insisted I cancel because we were going to a wedding. I was annoyed but agreed.

On the day of the wedding—my birthday—she got dressed, left, and locked the door without saying a word. Then she texted me saying she wasn’t going to the wedding anymore and that I should go out with my friends. I was furious, especially because I canceled plans for her. I called my uncle, and they took me to the wedding. I ended up having a great time. The family even threw me a surprise birthday celebration.

When I came home with my cousins, she saw us and lost it. The next day, she spread awful lies about me: saying I drank, snuck out, went clubbing, came home drunk, and had inappropriate relationships with men—and even with my female cousin. She claimed I had a threesome with my cousin and her boyfriend because “it’s my thing.”

My father heard everything and was furious. A male family member and his wife came to confront me. He asked if I drank—I said yes. He asked if I’d ever been to a bar—I said yes, and added that my aunt had even taken me and paid for drinks. Then she accused me of being in a romantic relationship with my female cousin because of our jokes. I was shocked and speechless.

It got worse. She tried to take my passport by force. When I refused, everyone yelled at me and demanded I quit my job and stay home until my father arrived so they could “deal with me.”

I stayed calm, but I was terrified. My cousin had sensed something was coming and offered me a safe place to stay. So that night, while my aunt was asleep, I packed my bags and left at 5am and completely cut all of them off my life since that day.

I stayed with my cousin for two months. During that time, I got close to a friend I really liked, and one day, he proposed. We didn’t get legally married, but we did a religious ceremony. He wanted to speak to my father, but my dad blocked both of us. I tried explaining that all the rumors were lies—except the part about alcohol—but he refused to listen. So i gave up.