A 30-year-old woman shocked Reddit with a story about how the man she once called “Dad” crossed a line she never saw coming.
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Her mom wasn’t very present growing up, so she longed for a real parental bond.
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When her mom remarried, she finally found it with her stepdad — he supported her during her darkest times, even driving her to therapy every day.
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She was so touched that one Christmas, she gave him a card asking if she could call him Dad. He cried, and she thought it was tears of joy.
But everything changed one night.
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After she met her now-boyfriend, her stepdad grew strangely protective.
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Then, during a late outing, he confessed he was in love with her and wished he were younger.
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He admitted his Christmas tears weren’t happiness, but sadness that she only saw him as a father.
She says she felt shattered: “I thought I finally had a parent’s love. Instead, it was something else.”
Reddit’s response was clear:
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“This is wrong and gross. He twisted your trust.”
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“He acted like a dad until it didn’t suit his fantasy.”
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“You deserve safety, not this betrayal.”
Now she feels stuck — too afraid to tell her mom, who has a history of choosing men over her own daughter.
