All my life, my parents labeled me as “lazy.” It didn’t matter that I worked late shifts, took on double jobs, and clawed my way toward independence. Meanwhile, my brother was the golden child. Everything he did was celebrated. If he tripped, it was “he’s tired from studying.” If I stumbled, it was “there you go again, being careless.”

I did something that I thought would finally make them proud.

Last year, after years of saving and pushing myself past exhaustion, I bought my first house. It was the proudest moment of my life. I told my parents, expecting, just once, to hear words of pride. Instead, they laughed. My dad smirked and said, “Let’s see how long before you mess this up.” My brother chuckled along. It stung, but I told myself their opinion didn’t matter.

Suddenly they needed me.

For months they ignored my success, I had almost given up hope on them noticing me but last week, my dad lost his job. My parents called me in tears, saying they had nowhere to go. They then asked to move in with me, into the house they had once mocked.

But I didn’t want them, not anymore.

The timing couldn’t have been worse because just days before, I had discovered something that broke me completely. I overheard my parents talking to relatives, bragging about my brother again. But when the conversation turned to me, I froze.

They said I didn’t really buy my home. They claimed my brother had helped me with the down payment, because “there’s no way he could have done this on his own.”

Not only had they dismissed my achievement, they had handed my success to the golden child. To my own family, I was still the lazy one, even after everything.

I had to take a tough call.

So when my parents asked to move in, I said no. Not just because of their laughter. Not just because of their favoritism. But because they had erased my achievement and handed it to someone else while I was the one breaking my back to build it.

Did I do the right thing? I’m torn in two ways. On one hand they have nowhere to go but on the other I think they should just ask my brother to help them rent a new place. After all, he did have enough money for “my downpayment,” didn’t he?

Source: brightside.me