After being blamed for my parents divorce by my father at 12, i was forced to live with him as i had 3 siblings - a sister my age who my parents fought over getting and 2 you ger brothers who were swapped arpund fortnightly for custody. At 16 I ended up in a physical altercation with my father, which resulted in my grandmother throwing all of my belongings on the street. My mother couldnt afford to take me in so I lived with some less-than-desirables I considered friends. Unfortunately I ended up in trouble with the law and the group that took me in that I thought were my friends collaborated against me and attempted to use me as the fall guy.

My father was confronted by police to take me back in as I was around 17 at the time, which resulted in me being physically beaten at home, kicked back out on the street and told "somebody needs to be the fall guy".

At my grandmothers funeral, 16 years later, I met several people that I'd never seen in my life. General chit-chat happened at the wake and I received more than one "oh, I didn't know there was an older brother" conversation throughout the evening.

Turns out I had extended family that had no idea I even existed.

I'm 36 now, have a successful business, a couple of properties, a degree in law & psychology, no debt & no one who can claim I relied on them to get to where I am.

It sucks to be kicked into a corner and be the scapegoat for problems that people can't deal with, but now I have the amazing responsibility & ability to guide others through their hard times. I'm surrounded my loyalty and real love. No time for fake BS in my life.