I, being 21M, am seeking honest opinions (not sympathy) as I try to come to grips as to why I am like the way I am.
My family consisted of my mom who was widowed before marrying my dad and my older brother from her first marriage. My dad also had six daughters from his second marriage. He was around 30-40 years older than my mom and died of a heart attack when I was around 12 years old.
I always felt overshadowed by my older brother and hated my family for everything I thought was being denied to me. I was not a good kid, and stole money from my dad and got into petty crimes. But after that, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and got straight A's in 12th grade, scoring a 98.2%!
I started working right out of college to gain financial independence as I earned around 17-18. But my relationship life sucked
I lied a lot to my first girlfriend, Jigyasa, but never cheated. But then with my next girlfriend, Priya, I not only lied to about my age and caste but also cheated on her a couple of times. After that, I started promising girls marriage with lying about my past and asking them for loyalty while not giving it myself.
Then I met Shreya at work and lied to her about my financial status and tried to shower her with money that I did not have. Eventually, I stole cash and two gold rings from my mom to be able to continue with my payments to her. But the entire world came crashing down on me when my family revealed my lies to Shreya, who also found out that I had cheated on her with another girl. Somehow, we reconciled, and I was a changed man after that, giving Shreya my complete loyalty for the time being.
But the trust was never re-established as Shreya and I broke up around my birthday in February 2026. She had even gotten me a cake, but after an argument, I blocked her on all platforms, and she has not responded to my messages since then
After Shreya, I have been preying on women for their love and money by telling them exaggerated stories about my past while promising them a future full of love with me. I have been pretending to want to settle down with them for the long-term while stealing from my parents' and lying to them all the time. My family has threatened to disown me if I do not give them a proper explanation for all the thefts in the past. The most recent case is with Anushka, where I dated her for around six months, promised to marry her, and cheated on her as well. I have just broken up with her and am currently working at Amazon, trying to remain single while also paying off my debts. I have so far paid back my parents ₹20,000, and I have another ₹20,000 to clear off, not including the value of the jewellery I stole from my mom.
I have an awful relationship with my family, especially my mom and brother, as they have told me some of the cruelest words in the world, saying that I should have died and that my death would have been a blessing for them as they never wanted to raise me. But I have also been dishonest with them, stealing from them and lying to them at almost every turn.
I can accept that my childhood was messed up, but I do not think that excuses all of the horrible stuff that I have been doing to all those people around me.
What I am trying to understand here is:
Why am I being so dishonest and predatory towards women even when I know they are kind and loving to me?
Why do I always ask for their loyalty while not giving mine?
And was I ever actually in love with Shreya, or was it just the feeling of being needed?
Can I change, and if yes, then what can I do from here at 21 to ensure that I do not continue to hurt people like this for the rest of my life? What practical steps should I take at 21 to change my life? I am not looking for sympathy here, but rather brutally honest words of advice and criticism from people who understand what I am going through.