People Ask Us To Decide Their Fate In Their "Am I The Jerk?" Stories

“I (34F) am the firstborn child from my father’s (68M) second marriage. My dad married his previous wife (60s F, most likely above 65) very young as she had gotten pregnant with my oldest halfbrother ‘Mark’ (48M). They had two more children in total together ‘Mindy’ and ‘Martin’ (44F, 40M).

They got divorced cause his previous wife was having an affair with another married man. He later married my mom a few years later and we’re four siblings in total – Me, ‘Adam’, ‘Anna,’ and ‘Aaron’ (30M, 26F, 23M).

There have always been rumors that my two youngest half-siblings, Mindy and Martin, aren’t my dad’s but the affair partner’s children but we’ve dismissed them as we don’t have much of a relationship with them from the get-go.

Their mother is a really toxic person who we’ve avoided most of our lives and because of her, the relationship between our half-siblings has always been strained.

Dad is a hugely successful business owner and he has always provided for all his children.

He has paid for all our educations so we all could live a debt-free life, has helped us with businesses or getting us jobs, and even helped us buy our own homes. A few years ago when Martin was jailed for fraudulent cheques my father paid off all his fines, bail, and lawyer fees which included the amount he owed all 300k in total.

Yet he hasn’t received so much as a thank you from any of my half-siblings on the other hand they constantly fight with him accusing him of liking my siblings and me over them and resent my mother for no apparent reason.

They’ve always used father as an ATM and felt entitled to it in fact.

Mark recently came over to Dad and told him that he needs to know what Dad intends to leave them in his will to make sure they will be treated fairly.

This made me mad as Dad is healthy and fit as ever. I suggested ALL of Dad’s children take a DNA test then we can go over his will and what he wishes to leave us. Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say soon I was getting angry calls from my half-siblings and their mother calling me all sorts of names and my dad’s previous wife even called me a ‘wicked foolish little jerk’.

While Dad hasn’t said much on the matter he has become awfully quiet which is what he does when he’s upset whether it’s with me or my half-brother what I’m unsure about. My mother did say that I shouldn’t have said anything knowing how volatile my dad’s previous wife and my half-siblings can be and we could’ve dealt with this issue when the time was right.

So AITJ here?

Edit: While I thank my dad as I wouldn’t be where I am today without his help, I’m very financially stable and can live a comfortable life without his inheritance. The same goes for most of my siblings only the youngest who has chosen to join my father’s business is slightly dependent on him but he is a very hard worker and my father is very proud of him.

As for my half-siblings, when we were kids my father tried to take Mark under his wing and had him join the company. Taught him all the ropes and as in every work environment you’re expected to wake up early and do your job.

Mark didn’t like this calling my father a bad father as he was spoiling us rotten yet expected him to act as his slave. He was an adult then but wanted to be treated the same as a child to wake up late, not have any responsibilities, and get paid for doing basically nothing.

His mother backed him up and bad-mouthed my father wherever she went. After a huge fight where he insulted my father in front of his employees, my dad fired him (Mark says he quits). It was the same with the other two.

Mindy started a fight bringing her mother along to face my father as to why her mother doesn’t have nice jewelry like my mother does and how he raised them in poverty.

My father’s business was in the early stages then but they were far from poor.

They went to the best private schools and my father got their mother diamond rings, and expensive necklaces and even bought her gold bangles from a trip to Iran. Yes, it wasn’t as much as today but they still felt she was entitled to the same treatment as his current wife my mother.

All the while, their mother sat silent acting like the victim.

That’s why I say this isn’t the first time they’ve done this and I hate to see my dad’s blood pressure go up because of them. He’s the type of person who’ll go silent when angry then blow up like a volcano when provoked to the point of no return.

And it’s always because of my half-siblings. This might seem like a lie but we value our father more than the money. So I told them to get a DNA test to put them in their place. The money they feel entitled to and the father they have been bad-mouthing all these years all for a woman who has been lying and manipulating them all their lives. Yes, I did it out of pettiness but if I’m being honest I don’t regret it one bit. In fact, I wish I had said it sooner.”