‘I accidentally spilled my sister’s secret, now the family won’t speak to me’

“I genuinely thought I was helping and saving my parents from further embarrassment and financial loss. But now, I’m not so sure.” 

For as long as Celia* could remember, her older sister Tara* has always been the perfect one.

While she and her sister are in a very tight-knit family, who share everything with each other, there’s no doubt that Tara is the “golden child.” 

Tara has been dating her partner, Will*, for a little over a year, and recently announced they were engaged. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

Tara secretly got married months ago. Picture: iStock

“Predictably, my family felt devastated and felt betrayed”

In celebration of the happy news, Celia and Tara’s parents have been organising an enormous engagement party, going above and beyond to make it extra special. 

“They are super excited and have even booked a venue,” Celia said on Reddit. 

RELATED: ‘My sister wants me to reschedule my wedding for the most ridiculous reason’

Their parents have already spent thousands of dollars on the party, and can’t wait to celebrate their eldest daughter’s next steps in her life.  

However, recently, Tara’s younger sister Celia was hanging out with the family and accidentally stumbled on something devastating. 

“How did I find out, you ask?” Celia wrote. 

Introducing our new podcast: Mum Club! Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

Celia lent her older sister her laptop, which Tara used to log in to her “secret Instagram account.” 

The issue is, that Tara didn’t log out of her account, meaning Celia could see everything that her older sister secretly posted on her account, including a series of beautiful wedding photos. 

It turns out Tara and Will “got married two months ago in a secret ceremony.”

Celia was devastated by this, knowing her sister was keeping an enormous secret from everyone in her family, those she loved and cared for the most. 

“I was shocked and hurt that she didn't tell me or our parents,” she said. 

Celia confronted Tara about it and expressed her disappointment in her older sister’s actions. In response, Tara “begged me not to say anything to anyone because she and [Will] wanted to keep it low-key.”

Despite their secret ceremony, Tara and Will “plan to have a big ceremony later for everyone”, including the engagement party her parents have forked out thousands to plan. 

RELATED: ‘Why would you do that?’: Groom slammed for ‘shameful’ act on wedding day

However, since Celia learned the truth about her sister’s secret ceremony, she can’t shake the feeling of guilt from her mind. “I couldn't stand the thought of them wasting all that money on something that’s already happened,” Celia wrote. 

Thinking her parents “deserved to know the truth”, Celia confronted her parents and told them her sister’s secret news. 

“Predictably, they were devastated and felt betrayed”, she said, adding they instantly “cancelled the party”, which sparked the family into “chaos.” 

Celia quickly realised how fast her consequences would be felt; her family was divided and furious at each other. 

“My parents are barely speaking to [Tara], and she is furious with me for exposing her secret,” she said. “She claims I’ve ruined everything and that I’m an attention-seeking brat.”

It didn’t take long for the entire family to learn the real reason why the engagement party was cancelled, and they were just as split in their view. “Some say I did the right thing, while others think I overstepped,” Celia wrote. 

“I genuinely thought I was helping and saving my parents from further embarrassment and financial loss. But now, I’m not so sure.”

RELATED: 'I went to Taylor Swift on my wedding day'

“It was up to your sister to tell your parents, not you”

Celia’s family weren’t the only ones divided in this situation, with half of Reddit agreeing that she overstepped the mark. Others, however, weren’t as convinced. 

Some argued she had ulterior motives to get ahead of the favourite child. 

“It sounds like you wanted the opportunity to be the favourite (as you mention she’s the golden child) so you threw her under the bus before even giving her the option to tell them herself or else you would,” someone said. 

“Let’s be real, you didn’t tell your parents out of the good of your heart; you wanted an opportunity to be the golden child and stick it to your sister,” another agreed. 

“It was up to your sister to tell your parents, not you.”

“You make it sound like you had everyone's best interests at heart, but you didn't,” said a third. 

“You knew s**t would hit the fan and blabbed anyway. There was nothing wrong with having a private ceremony in secret and doing all of the big celebrations with others as well. It didn't need to be an issue.”

But others saw issues with Tara and her decision to get married without telling anybody, and expecting her parents to fork out thousands for the engagement party anyway. 

“Secrets always end with someone getting hurt,” read a comment.

“She could have told her parents they'd got married and wanted to have a second celebration with everyone. The deceit was unnecessary.”

*Names have been changed

Originally published as ‘I accidentally spilled my sister’s secret, now the family won’t speak to me’