And how did she repay me? By throwing me out of my own home, like I was some outdated relic — all because I didn’t fit the picture-perfect image she wanted to show her followers.
You know how young people are these days? Glued to their phones, watching strangers do silly dances, lip-sync, and perform ridiculous pranks. They spend hours scrolling and laughing at people they’ve never met.
My granddaughter Lily is one of them. She films everything — her breakfast, her outfits, her makeup tutorials — and thousands of people watch her. She’s what they call an “influencer.”
I never understood the obsession with sharing every moment online, but I supported her anyway. After all, I was the one who raised her.
When my daughter and son-in-law died in a car accident, Lily was only eleven. My world crumbled, but I had no time to grieve. I had a little girl who needed me.
I gave up my peaceful retirement, went back to work as a seamstress, took every extra job I could. I poured everything I had into raising her.
I was there for every scraped knee, every nightmare, every school recital. I made her lunches, helped with homework, held her hand when she was scared.
When she discovered social media, I cheered her on — even if I didn’t really understand why people needed to know what she had for dinner.
I never asked for much. Just respect. A little love.
But everything changed when Lily turned 21 and tasted internet fame.
She started excluding me. Stopped inviting me to dinners when her influencer friends came over. She rolled her eyes when I asked simple questions. And then one night, I overheard her during a livestream, laughing with her followers:
— You don’t know how hard it is to live with my grandma… She still thinks a hashtag is a kind of waffle maker!
Her friends laughed. And I froze in the hallway.
My granddaughter — the child I loved more than anything — was ashamed of me.
That broke my heart. But the real betrayal came a few weeks later.
One morning, she sat me down with her phone in hand.
— Grandma, I think it’s time for you to move out.
— What?
— I love you, but my content is suffering — she said, dragging the words like she was making a huge sacrifice. — My followers think you’re depressing.
She turned the screen toward me.
Who’s that old lady in the background?
Lily, your aesthetic is perfect, but the grandma vibe isn’t working.
I swallowed hard.
— So you’re kicking me out because a few strangers on the internet think I’m too old?
She sighed.
— It’s not just that. My friends don’t feel comfortable partying here. And what if I start dating a famous influencer? You think he’s going to want to hang out in a house that smells like lavender and mothballs?
That’s when I realized… I had raised a stranger.
I didn’t argue. I stood up, went to my room, and quietly packed my things. Her words rang in my head like echoes I couldn’t silence.
When I walked out with my suitcase, Lily already had her phone on a tripod.
— Wait, wait! — she called. — I need to record this.
— Record what?
— A goodbye video! My fans love emotional content. I’ll make it look really dramatic, like I’m saying goodbye to my sweet grandma. Hardest day of my life and all that…
I left without another word.
I moved into the “senior living community” she had picked out. Lily thought she had won. That she’d gotten rid of me like an old sweater that didn’t match her brand anymore.
But she forgot something.
Her grandma wasn’t helpless.
While she chased followers and likes, I spent my life building real relationships.
One of my former clients was a lawyer. Another? A journalist with a serious following.
With their help, I exposed Lily.
The journalist ran a story about how the internet’s so-called sweetheart kicked her own grandmother out of the house to protect her online image. It went viral.
The article included screenshots of her livestreams mocking me, the fake crying goodbye video, and the GoFundMe campaign she created “to help grandma” — from which she kept every penny.
The backlash was immediate. Sponsors dropped her. Her follower count plummeted. Comments poured in:
You used your grandmother for content?
Disgusting.
You should be ashamed.
And the best part? The lawyer helped me get my house back.
Turns out I had enough proof to show that Lily manipulated me into signing it over under false pretenses. It wasn’t easy, but the house was returned to my name.
I left that so-called senior community with my head held high.
And Lily? She vanished. Probably couch-surfing at a friend’s place.
I thought that would be the end of our relationship.
But one night, there was a knock at my door.
It was her.
She didn’t look like the confident influencer anymore. Her hair was messy, her eyes red and puffy.
— Grandma… I lost everything. No one supports me anymore. I have nowhere to go. Please… I know I don’t deserve it, but… give me another chance?
I stared at her for a long time.
— Lily, you threw me out like I was nothing. You humiliated me for likes and clout. And now that you’ve lost it all, you expect me to welcome you back?
Her shoulders trembled. She opened her mouth to speak, but I raised my hand.
— If you truly regret what you did, prove it. Not with words. With actions. Go out there and become someone better. And maybe, just maybe, this door will open again someday.
And then I did something I never thought I’d do to my own granddaughter.
I closed the door on her.
I heard her sobbing on the other side.
But I didn’t open it.
Not this time.
A few days later, she did something I didn’t expect.
She went live. But this time, it wasn’t for attention.
— I lied to all of you — she admitted. — I hurt the one person who loved me unconditionally, just for fame. I don’t deserve your support. I need to change. So… this is goodbye. For now.
She ended the livestream. Deleted her accounts. Disappeared from the internet.
Months passed.
I heard through others that she got a job at a small café. That she stopped chasing likes and started volunteering at a senior center.
No cameras. No fake tears. Just real work.
Then one day, I saw her.
She was helping an elderly woman into a chair, speaking to her gently. There were no phones around.
It was real.
And for the first time in a long time, I saw the girl I had raised.
The girl who once made cookies with me and held my hand when she was scared.
And I cried.
But this time…
They were real tears.