AITA for reminding my dad's wife that she was supposed to be my mom's best friend but instead was a backs**bber who cheated with her best friends husband?
The user, a 17-year-old male, lives in a difficult home environment and questions whether his actions within that setting make him the bad guy.
When he was ten, his mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and on the same day, he discovered his father was having an affair with his mother's best friend, Hayley. His mother pa*sed away just over five weeks later.
Following the mother's death, his father and Hayley moved in together, attempting to raise the user and his 8-year-old sister.
The siblings strongly rejected this new relationship, leading to significant acting out from the user, including yelling, name-calling, and publicizing the affair.
Years later, the user continues to actively undermine his father and Hayley, leading to a recent severe confrontation that caused Hayley significant distress.
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The user is deeply hurt by the events of his childhood and is actively punishing his father and Hayley for their betrayal, especially focusing his resentment on Hayley for v***ating his mother's trust.
While the user feels justified in his anger and refusal to accept them, his actions involve continuous, targeted shaming and h***ssment, even years after the initial offense.
The central question is whether the user's ongoing, deliberate effort to make Hayley miserable and publicly shame her—even at the cost of family s**bility and his own mental peace—is a justified response to past trauma or an unacceptable form of sustained bullying.
Should he continue his campaign of retaliation, or is there a point where he must stop the h***ssment for the sake of everyone involved, including the younger children?
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