Families often claim to support their kids’ independence, but some parents hold on tighter than anyone realizes.

One mother was blindsided when her husband secretly sabotaged their adult son’s job applications to keep him trapped as an unpaid caregiver for his disabled brother.

Once she finally learned the truth, she had to decide whether to stay silent or step in before her son’s future was completely stolen.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for moving my son into a rental apartment after finding out that his dad’s been cancelling his job applications?

My son “Aiden” (23) moved back in with us upon graduating college as my husband wanted.

My husband’s original plan was to have Aiden live with us for free but stay home and help with his disabled younger brother (16).

Soon, Aiden grew unsatisfied with this arrangement, so he started to work towards pushing himself out of the nest.

Aiden started complaining about needing money and wanted to find a job. My husband was against this and even offered to double his allowance, but Aiden was growing tired of staying at home.

So he began looking for jobs here and there for over a year, but none of his job applications came through. He’d just apply and they’d never get back to him.

But then, she learned the truth.

We were confused by this until recently, I found out that my husband was behind all the job applications being cancelled. He’d wait until Aiden applied, then he proceeded to cancel the application by impersonating him and using his email.

Her husband’s explanation only made things worse.

I blew up at him for this, but his justification is that he’s just trying to make sure that our younger son is cared for by Aiden, and said that Aiden has been a big help and him getting a job will affect his care for his brother.

So this mother knew she had to step in.

I went ahead and rented an apartment for Aiden and told him to stay there until he finds a job and starts paying for it himself. Aiden was hurt upon knowing what his dad did.

Which only made her husband madder.

My husband was livid when he found out. He called me unhinged and said that I was separating the boys and teaching Aiden to become selfish and care more about a job than family.

He also said it was a huge decision for me to rent an apartment without even running it with him.

He’s been giving me heck about it and is calling me a terrible mother for encouraging Aiden to be selfish and self-centered. He said I needed to see and understand why he did what he did.

AITA?

What a bizarre situation.

Redditors are sure to have a thing or two to say.

This husband is so far out of line, this commenter doesn’t even know what to say.

This mother needs to understand that her husband doesn’t have her son’s best interests at heart — or hers, for that matter.

Allowing her husband to knowingly hold their son back would be a huge disservice to Aiden.

Designating Aiden as the full-time caregiver just isn’t a good solution in this user’s eyes.

Letting her son stay trapped at home would’ve been the real selfish act.

If protecting her son’s autonomy makes her the villain in his eyes, she can live with that.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.