I caught my mother stealing from my savings since I was 15

I started saving money at 15 from my first holiday job. Small small, I kept it inside a locked box under my bed. By 18, I had almost 80k. Then I noticed the notes were less than I counted. I set a trap with a tiny piece of thread across the lid.

One evening, I came back from school and the thread was broken. I asked my mother, calm calm, if she knew anything. She said, "Your father needed money for his blood pressure medicine. I didn't want to beg you." That was the first time I knew she had been opening my box for years. She thought I didn't know.

I never confronted her fully. I just started hiding my money in a different place. But the lesson stuck: even those who love you can take what you've worked for, if they think you won't notice. I still send her money every month. But I count my change before I sleep.