Last year I was going through (and still am) financial difficulties. In September, my aunt, my father’s sister (let’s call her A), invited me to work with her at a construction company. When I got there, even during the interview, I realized that another one of his sisters (let’s call her B) already worked there, and I would be working directly with her.
This aunt, B, is a narcissistic person who tends to target and harass people for no reason. She often calls my mother to speak badly about her side of the family or to complain about things happening at my maternal grandmother’s house. For example, if there’s a barbecue at my grandmother's house and she finds out, she calls to question what’s going on and why people are “getting drunk,” according to her. She constantly tries to control other people’s lives without being asked. She has even harassed my mother’s sister simply because she works as a secretary at a church and earns a good salary, at one point, she became fixated on taking her job. These are just a few examples of things she has done within the family.
Going back to the main point: because my family was going through serious financial hardship, struggling even to afford food and pay bills, I accepted the job, even knowing it would be difficult.
I started working at the construction company at my aunt’s invitation. Once I began, I was humiliated in many ways. Since I had no money for lunch and the company didn’t provide any, I depended on her to pay for my meals — and that was always on her terms. Sometimes we would eat at 4 p.m., and other times I simply wouldn’t eat at all because she decided to go on a diet.
I also depended on her for transportation, since the workplace was far away. The job didn’t require clocking in and was commission-based, so technically I could leave early, but she wouldn’t allow it. She said that if I walked to the bus stop, something might happen to me. However, she would take an Uber to her house, and I would only go halfway — from there, I had to take another bus home, which took a long time.
Both of my aunts were supposed to provide me with transportation money since I didn’t have any. But if I didn’t remind them, they simply wouldn’t give it to me. I ended up using money from my father, who already earned very little from informal jobs.
I decided to leave around New Year’s, during the holiday period, but I only formally resigned after the holidays, when I was expected to return to work. I informed the manager, left, and blocked contact.
I stayed there for about 5 to 6 months. Since the job was commission-based — you only get paid if you make a sale — and there was no financial support, I managed to get only one client. Meanwhile, my aunt was breaking sales records and winning awards. That part didn’t bother me.
I gave up on the money because I knew it would take a long time to be paid — and it did. It’s only being released now, three months after I left. I had no way to keep going to work without money, even though she said, “just keep working until your payment comes through.” How could I do that? She was also very hostile, and I was afraid to question her or confront her behavior.
I let her take over my sale, since the company didn’t provide proper support. There was a coach and a manager who could help with sales, and I became close to the coach, who was always kind to me. Still, my aunt constantly interfered — she wanted details about all my clients, asked for their contact information, and didn’t give me autonomy. If I questioned her, she would see it as ingratitude or a threat.
After I left and had already given up on the money, she continued handling my sale without my authorization. Now she is asking for half of the commission, claiming she completed the final part of the work.
I don’t want to give it to her. I had already moved on — I just wanted peace, another job, and to recover my health.
I keep asking myself why she wasn’t respectful enough to ask for my permission before finishing a sale that was in my name. I’m sure that if it had been another employee, she wouldn’t have acted this way.