Teen Says Her Stepsiblings Are Mad They Didn’t Get a ‘Grandkid Inheritance’ After Her Grandma’s Funeral

"This devastated them, and there has been an atmosphere ever since," the teen wrote on Reddit of her stepsiblings' reaction

A teenage girl is being accused of lacking "empathy and compassion" for her stepsiblings after they got upset when they didn't receive "a grandkid inheritance" upon her grandparents' deaths.

The 17-year-old girl detailed the drama in a post on Reddit's "Am I the A------?" forum, beginning by explaining the context of her blended family. She said her father and stepmother got married when she was 7 years old and her brother was 9, shortly before their mother died. The stepmother has two children of her own, who were 2 and 4 at the time.

The teen said the only extended family she has is on her late mother's side, and "when dad remarried he insisted my stepsiblings had to be included or they couldn't see us."

"Grandparents' rights were not available at the time, so my grandparents agreed but they made it clear to dad they were only including our [stepsiblings] because they loved us and wanted to see us," the teen wrote. "So whenever we saw our grandparents, my stepsiblings did, and they grew really attached despite my grandparents never feeling any different. My stepsiblings were a way to see my brother and me, not more grandkids or family in any way to my grandparents. It was the same for the rest of my extended family."

The teen's grandfather died in 2020 and her grandmother died one month ago. At her grandmother's funeral, her aunt and uncle "stepped in" and told the stepsiblings that they could not sit in "the grandkid section." And after the service, "each grandkid got our 'grandkid inheritance,' which was a lovingly made memory book that our grandparents did for us and had entries up until the day before grandma died."

Related: Bride Refuses to Visit Her Family for the Holidays Because Stepfather Won't Pay for Her Destination Wedding

The stepsiblings, however, "got nothing" — and this resulted in very hurt feelings. "This devastated them, and there has been an atmosphere ever since," the teen wrote. "My dad and stepmother are furious."

The teen said her father told her she needed to "show some sibling love and loyalty" and "take a stand against" her extended family, but she refused. Her father and stepmother are not happy with her stance.

"I told them none of this was my fault and I would not turn away from my family over it. They said I was by choosing my extended family. I told them they are my family. I will not push them away," she recalled of the conversations.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

The teen argued that her father and stepmother are at fault in the situation.

"I told my stepmother she knew my grandparents only included her kids because they wanted to see me and my brother and that dad had made them do it. I said they should never have let the kids believe they were grandkids to my grandparents," she explained.

"They flipped over me blaming them and they said my brother and I lacked empathy and compassion like our extended family did," she concluded her post, inviting fellow Redditors to weigh in with their opinions.

Related: Teen, Who Adopted His Late Mother’s Last Name, Tells Stepmom She’s Not ‘an Incentive’ to Change It to Match Father’s

The post garnered more than 1,000 comments, with many people agreeing with the teen that her father and stepmother caused this unfortunate situation by not being honest with the stepchildren.

"I’m with you on this; dad messed up. He made it incredibly difficult for your grandparents to form any real relationship with the kids, since he was using you as a cudgel to force them in where they weren’t welcome, and also gave the kids an expectation of a relationship that never really had a reason to exist," one person wrote.

"The kids didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong. Your extended family didn’t do anything wrong," they continued. "Your dad and stepmom managed to engineer the worst situation and they’re blaming everyone else for it."

Another person chimed in: "I feel really sorry for your stepsiblings, but this is 100% the fault of your father and stepmother. They lied to their kids for years, and the lie came out. And now they're mad at everyone but them."

The teen replied to the comment, "Yep. If my dad had accepted my grandparents and extended family wanted to see us, their actual family, none of this would have happened. Instead they got my stepsiblings to build a one-sided relationship [with them]."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Others expressed sympathy for the stepsiblings, with one person noting that they "have loved your grandparents from such young ages and when they had been growing up they would not understand the dynamics of everything going on."

One commenter shared that they had a similar experience as the stepsiblings growing up, but in their case they never expected any sort of inheritance.

"We weren't included in any 'grandchildren' stuff when they passed, or inheritances. At least, not directly. AND THAT'S OKAY. Because we KNEW they weren't our actual grandparents — they had been good to us, and that was nice, but they had biological grandchildren," they wrote.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.