The 47-year-old explained that his first wife left him and got custody of their children. She married her boss who subsequently ended up in prison for financial crimes. The user said he has since remarried and is happy with his second wife, her child from a previous relationship, and their own two children.

“So a few years ago my dad sold his company. He is an engineer and he had some patents that ended up being worth a fair bit of money. He paid off my house. He also made educational funds for my three kids. He figured the older ones were done [with] school and hadn’t bothered to visit them in years so they didn’t need anything from him,” he wrote.

However, his ex-wife allegedly took issue with the distribution of money from the grandparents. The user wrote: “My oldest kids are in a lot of debt. My ex is living with her parents. She recently tried to tell me that my parents needed to be fair with all their grandchildren. I told her it was their money to spend on the people they loved and who loved them back. She said that we were punishing her kids for her mistakes. I said that both of our kids were adults and hadn’t made any effort to see me or my parents in over a decade.”

Newsweek spoke to Ruth E. Freeman, a psychotherapist and founder and president of parental resource hub Peace At Home Parenting Solutions, about this tense situation.

“This story is both happy and sad. It sounds like this dad got through a lot of pain in losing contact with his kids, but found a new partner with whom to create the family he always wanted. He is absolutely right that it is not his responsibility to direct his parents about where to spend their money. On the other hand, while his relationship with his ex-wife was tragic in so many ways, he is still the father of these young adults.”

The expert added that children rarely get over the pain of parting with a parent. Freeman suggested the father would ideally reach out to his kids and make efforts to get to know them as they “would want and even benefit from a relationship with the dad.”

“They were innocent children when their mother cruelly turned them against their biological dad. He is also a parent and it is his responsibility to do what he can to repair those relationships. Whether he chooses to encourage his parents to help the kids out is not the key issue. He may want to try and influence them to help him to repair all these broken relationships and build positive connections again without the focus on money and more on repairing family ties,” Freeman said.

She added, “These young adults are the innocent victims of a harmful mom and a dad who couldn’t see how to protect his relationship with his kids. They deserve the opportunity to get to know their father and understand their past from an adult point of view. The kids have been taught by their mom that money is the most important thing. Whether dad and grandparents can change that perspective remains to be seen, but they deserve the opportunity.”

Reddit users voted that the father was not the a******.

User Htownaway, said, “It’s almost too good to be true! Cheating wife, entitled kids, OP becomes rich in the end, and everyone claps.”

Due-Compote-4723, commented, “At this point, any contact between OP’s elder kids and grandparents would be superficial and need-based.”

Steve_Rogers_1970 wrote, “Counselling might help the family recognize that the situation isn’t black and white.”

Newsweek has reached out to u/Careless-Effort4587 for comment.

Have you noticed any red flags that made you end a relationship? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.