'AITA after my sister and BIL tried to take over my business and embezzle from me?'
"AITA for siding with my bf when my sister and BIL tried to take over my business?"
Outrageous-Walk9413 writes:
My sister and I had a falling out, and my husband and I want to know if we should apologize or just move on. I’ve been running a business for quite a few years. It was small, and I never really tried to make it anything big. I was content just getting by and doing something I enjoyed.
Eventually, I started dating someone who had the time, energy, and resources to help me grow. He rebranded my business, and it grew. It was fun, and I got him more involved. He went to a trade show with me, and we came up with an idea to expand the business even more. He suggested we include my sister and her spouse because we thought it could help them financially and bring us closer together. That turned out to be a big mistake.
Even though my boyfriend and I each invested about 50 percent into the expansion, and my sister and her stay-at-home husband invested nothing, it wasn’t long before they started telling everyone it was their business.
I would talk to people who said they had “talked to the owners,” which was strange because it was actually my boyfriend and I who risked everything financially to grow it. We invited them in at no cost and even gave my brother-in-law a job, since he had been unemployed for years.
Things went downhill from there. My boyfriend and I aren’t big on attention, so we didn’t care much that people thought my sister and BIL owned the business. But then they started giving their friends huge discounts, and sometimes even giving products away for free, all without our consent.
On top of that, we found out that my dad, who was handling the accounting, had been paying my BIL double the amount we had agreed on. We had no idea. Meanwhile, my boyfriend was working without a salary, even after investing his own money. I didn’t raise my own salary either while we were trying to grow.
I got upset and tried talking to my sister. My boyfriend tried talking to my BIL, but things quickly fell apart. My BIL told my boyfriend he wasn’t going to do certain parts of the job. So my boyfriend and I ended up taking on all the work while my BIL was earning double and my boyfriend was earning nothing.
At that point, we realized that including them was probably a mistake, even though we had good intentions. We tried to open a dialogue, but they became passive-aggressive. Recently, my boyfriend finally told my BIL to “go f^&k yourself.” My BIL replied that he would, and now they are no longer working with us.
My parents have sided with my sister and BIL, but they haven’t heard our side. This whole situation hurts because my sister has always been my best friend, and I honestly don’t understand what we did wrong. We’ve asked, but now they are just rallying others against us. I’ve reached out to my sister, but she won’t respond.
I want to protect my partner, and I think he was justified after putting up with my BIL’s bad behavior for so long. If we did something wrong, I want to apologize. But I don’t know what that would be.
Here are the top rated comments.
krakh3d says:
NTA. Please immediately remove your father's access to your business and accounting and hire a new CPA to review EVERYTHING. The fact your father took it upon himself to dispense out money, without your direct approval as the boss, indicates he might have done other things that were not only inappropriate but may have been done so at a cost to you and your partner.
DotSuspicious4925 says:
NTA and why aren’t you pissed at your dad for taking your money and paying BIL double? I think it’s time to go through everything your dad has been in charge of.
Maximum_Law801 says:
Get your priorities straight. Don’t worry about siding with your bf, that’s the wrong question. Worry about the fact your sister and BIL screwed YOU (and bf). Why didn’t you do anything when your dad paid bill double salary?? That’s throwing away your own money and security. Stop being a doormat and protect yourself and your bf.
OP responded:
We got a new accountant. It seems like I’m being blamed for destroying the family now because no one is talking. I tried to reach out, but I really didn’t feel like we did anything wrong. It’s just hard to know. I didn’t know if maybe we missed something.