My parents were pretty well off. We lived in a massive house and they owned a couple luxury vehicles, among other things.

However they were also extremely stingy when it came to me. I didn't have many material possessions, and the ones that I did have were low quality even by "poor" standards. People didn't understand why I always looked poor and disheveled -- they'd see my house and assume the problem was me instead of my parents.

Anyhow, the fact that I lived in a nice house was something my parents always hung over my head. Didn't matter how neglectful they were in terms of health care, emotional bonding, basic human decency and respect, fair treatment, whatever -- none of that mattered to them because I lived in a nice house that they were oh so gracious to let me stay in (despite the fact that I was, you know, their child and their responsibility).

Any time I needed something basic (trip to the doctor? Dentist? Lunch money?), suddenly my parents would cry poor -- they had no money, they were gonna lose everything, how dare I put them under that kind of pressure, etc. Then they'd turn around and drop 12 grand on some random toy so they could brag and show off to their friends.

When you live in a house like this, no one on the outside takes any complaint you have seriously. There are no outside resources for you because you're not from a poor family. People can't relate to you because your situation is so weird and they assume you must be mental / making shit up. Colleges can't do much in the way of financial aid because your parents can technically afford to pay sticker price (even though they refuse to pay anything anyway).

It sucks all around. Thankfully, my situation is a little different in that they didn't have much leverage over me because they never did anything for me (even though they constantly expressed otherwise). But once I started pulling away, it became very obvious that they had nothing to actually threaten me with.

I mean, they tried, at least. They did threaten to take me out of the will, but I knew they were itching for any excuse to do that anyway. If they couldn't even give me $2.00 for lunch money as a middle schooler, I seriously doubt they are going to bestow all their riches to me when they died one day. They also threatened to sue me for some insanely overblown sum -- but that threat dropped dead in the water because it was all based on lies. They wanted to sue me for "all the money they spent on my college and raising me" despite the fact that they barely spent any money on me growing up, and they never actually paid for my college -- I did! The whole thing was ridiculous.

Soon it was clear: Their threats were empty because they didn't have anything. They had been exposed. At that point they stopped trying because they knew I wasn't taking the bait. I haven't heard a peep from them since, and this was years ago.