Flipping Out
She was shaking with anger. The mom finally confronted her son. Everything she was scared of was true, and she had all the proof. He couldn’t deny it anymore.
What the mother did next was completely unexpected, but can anyone blame her? She had to act, or things could have worsened for everyone. Everyone on the internet who read her story was going crazy as well.
Loyal Mom
Eva Onc was a 50-year-old woman who’d always put her heart and soul into everything she did. Her work, community, and, more importantly, her family benefited from her incredible ambition.
Her son was her world, and she would do anything for him. So when his shady request came, she didn’t hesitate to help him.
Beloved Son
Ever since her husband passed away, she had raised her son alone. And life as a single mom comes with plenty of extra challenges already. Having a kid who’s always acting up would only mean trouble.
She felt like she was losing control of the situation for a while, but as her son Catalin grew, she thought things would calm down. She never expected him to turn out like this, though.
Difficult Times
During his teenage years, her son struggled with other kids bullying him for being poor, and she vowed to do anything to never let him go through that.
When difficult times hit her family, she worked even harder to support her son and even managed to buy a home eventually. But would this be enough for Catalin?
Getting Married
When he reached 25 years old, Catalin got married, and while it was the happiest day of his life, it cost his mother a lot of money. It didn’t matter, though. Her son’s happiness was everything, and she couldn’t be more excited about seeing him getting married.
But after the wedding, the problems soon started to pile up for the couple, and Catalin needed his mother’s help again.
A New Life
Catalin and his new wife began a new beautiful life together. They were leaving the dream and weren’t shy about showing it. Their happiness and Catalin’s style and tattoos brought them social media fame.
He decided to tattoo almost his entire body with various symbols and messages, saying that he wanted to inspire people through his body art. People’s reaction was not what he expected it to be.
Movin In
Things were getting more and more difficult for the newlyweds. Catalin and his wife had no choice but to move in with his mother.
Eva welcomed them into her home, as she still wanted to do as much as she could for her son, even if he was 25 years old already. He was her child, and she loved him but was that really the best course of action?
Getting Suspicious
Catalin and his wife didn’t have any income. They were still going through difficult times. His mother agreed to support them as she loved them both dearly, but things took an unexpected turn.
The couple’s expenses had begun to increase, and Eva wondered where all the money was going. And more importantly, if she could sustain all three of them with only her work.
Growing A Following
While things were getting worse, the young couple’s social media fame rose. Their style and inspirational posts garnered more and more followers.
This made Catalin very happy, but the dire financial situation worried his mother, who was struggling to keep them afloat. And when he asked her this, she knew things were only to get worse from then.
Not Enough
Catalin and his wife living with his mom meant more expenses, which Eva understood and agreed with from the beginning. That wasn’t an issue.
The problem was that Catalin began asking for more money. He complained that it was never enough and that he and his wife needed more to live well. His mother came up with a solution in the end.
Two Jobs
Eva understood the situation and decided to look for an extra job to support her entire family. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to support three people, but she never expected this much struggle.
She was now working two jobs for the sake of her son’s wellbeing. She believed that she had no choice and it was her duty to help her son no matter what. But when she found out why he needed extra money, things changed.
The Reason Why
Catalin and his wife continued to enjoy success on social media. Their followers kept growing, and they wanted to show even more awesome things. So they started to travel and showcase amazing photos from incredible destinations.
Catalin and his wife needed more money to keep posting this type of content, and since his only source was his mother, it all fell on her. When she found out how she was spending the money from her two extra jobs, she flipped out and quit one of them immediately. She only agreed to continue to pay for essentials from then on. Catalin didn’t like it one bit.
Backlash
Since his mother didn’t pay for his trips anymore, he started a GoFundMe campaign, trying to raise 16.000USD for a trip to Africa. The people on social media were quick to react. And it wasn’t pretty. People also found out he was funding his travels from his mom’s two jobs until then.
Everyone told the couple to go get a job or that maybe they should start a GoFundMe for his mother instead. The couple never expected this kind of backlash.
Stepping Away
The infamous influencer told his followers he would be “stepping away” from social media for a while to do some “soul work.” In the post captioned “Look within,” Catalin explained he would be doing the hardest thing he’d ever done mentally and physically. “Here it is. I am going on a walk. I will walk as long as I possibly can. No sleep, no social media, no distractions,” he said.
Catalin said he was ready to face whatever was buried deep inside him. “Time to do some soul work.” However, his followers weren’t as understanding or convinced of his social media detox. “Let’s be honest, you’re stepping away from social media because of all the flak you’re getting for begging normal people to pay for your lifestyle,” one person commented. He couldn’t catch a break anymore.
Return
Despite “quitting” social media, the influencer who begged followers for $16k to fund a cycling trip across Africa has returned to Instagram in less than a week. But after six days of “soul work,” Catalin has now posted a new video to Instagram, which shows him writing on a piece of paper before holding it up to the screen. “Sometimes it’s better to say nothing,” it reads before he drops it and forms a love-heart shape with his fingers.
“No one is taking you seriously anymore,” one person commented. “Instead of saying nothing, maybe realize that asking people to go fund your holiday to ‘make a difference was naive and a little narcissistic,” another added. The couple’s main reason for asking for funding, they claimed, was that getting a ‘real job’ would be ‘detrimental’ to their work. But their plea for funds didn’t sit well with many of the couple’s followers.