From imaginary friends to different worlds, when kids make up something, it can actually be cute at times. However, we don’t really expect adults to fib about serious matters and keep lying about them for years. That’s just downright creepy, to say the least, right?
Well, this woman was also weirded out by her brother-in-law, who claimed to have been dating a woman for 10 years. However, his story unraveled when his “girlfriend” revealed she hadn't spoken to him in a long time! Scroll down to uncover how things got more creepy after that!
More info: Reddit
When adults make up lies and stick to them for years, it can be an alarming sign that something's wrong
Image credits: DC Studio / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The poster's brother-in-law had been dating the same woman for the past 10 years and knew all details about her, but she never came to meet his family
Image credits: benzoix / Magnific (not the actual photo)
He showed them pictures of her niblings, but when they saw her sister once, he had run away, which they felt was very odd
Image credits: simonapilolla / Magnific (not the actual photo)
When the poster texted her on Insta, she was horrified to find out that the woman had not spoken to him for 10 years, but he tried to cover it up with a vague story
Image credits: RudeTip8098
Image credits: user25451090 / Magnific (not the actual photo)
When the poster reached out to the woman again, she shared all the details that he knew about her, but the woman had only told them to her mother
It turned out that the woman's mother was still in touch with him, and the poster started to wonder whether the mom was helping him stalk her own daughter
Today’s tale is so strange that it may leave you confused and full of questions in the end as the original poster (OP) shares a bizarre incident that rocked their whole family. Her brother-in-law, "Jim," was a high school teacher, and there was a student, "Brady," there whom their family knew. Fast forward to the present, Jim claimed he had been dating Brady for 10 years now.
He knew all the details about her life, showed pictures of her niblings, and spoke with her on the phone often. Basically, all the things that couples do. However, the strange part was that he had never gotten Brady to meet their family. Also, when they ran into her sister once, Jim ran away. If his relatives thought that was odd, they had no clue how weird things were about to get.
The OP had never met Brady, so she texted her on Insta and invited her for her son’s birthday. Well, she was horrified after the woman replied she hadn’t spoken to Jim for 10 years. Moreover, the author got a very unconvincing explanation about this from her brother-in-law. The suspense was creeping her out, so she gave an update that she reached out to Brady again.
The conversation revealed that all the details Jim knew about her were stuff she had shared with her mom. Well, Brady was horrified when her mother claimed she was in touch with Jim. The poster and her family had joked that he was being catfished by Brady’s mom. However, after this interaction, she was starting to believe that the older woman was helping him stalk her own daughter.
Image credits: pvproductions / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Jim’s actions sounded extremely problematic, so Bored Panda reached out to Eden Lobo, a counselor and psychology professor, to get deeper insights. She claimed that his behavior pointed towards pathological lying with hints of delusional conviction. She believed that it likely started as a conscious lie to appear normal to his family, but over time, it became his reality.
“His five-month depression after seeing Brady with another man, paired with his nervous evasion when the poster confronted him, proves that he knows his fantasy world has mixed with objective truth. Brady is simply a prop he used to paint the life he wished he had,” she added.
When we spoke with our expert about the mom, she said it seems the woman is violating her daughter’s privacy to fulfill her own emotional needs, likely a desire to feel important, connected, or in control. Brady’s fury is 100% justified, as her mother essentially sold out her basic sense of safety for casual phone chats with an old acquaintance, Prof. Lobo elaborated.
She also commented on the effect this was having on Jim as his decade-old lie was finally unraveling. “Jim is entering a fragile phase of intense shame and ego-threat. His sudden distance, mixed with random attempts at restorative lying (like bringing up her dog again to see if the poster will still buy it), shows he is scrambling to salvage what’s left,” Prof. Lobo added.
She concluded that during such a situation, it’s advisable for the family not to shatter his remaining defense mechanisms by cornering him, as it could lead to an emotional breakdown. Well, I believe that he should be given professional help at this point. Don’t you think so, too? Let us know in the comments!
Netizens were equally creeped out by the man and came up with different conspiracies, but they also feared for his "girlfriend"
