'A stranger online called me a terrible mum. Then I discovered my brother's secret account.'

As told to Ann DeGrey.

I've worked so hard to get my jewellery business off the ground. I started by making earrings and necklaces at the kitchen table during lockdown, just for friends and family. But then I decided to film a few TikToks; just simple clips of me making pieces, packing orders, or showing new designs. To my surprise, it took off. I was thrilled!

Within months, I had a thriving social media platform. Orders started pouring in, my videos were getting thousands of views, and what had been a side hobby turned into a proper business. My boyfriend Kane* helped me film and edit, and before long, we were making real money. I was really proud of what we'd built.

Then, a few weeks ago, Kane pulled me aside. He monitors my feed closely; answering messages and deleting spam. He told me he'd been deleting nasty comments from one persistent troll. At first, it didn't bother me. Trolls are part of being online, right? But when Kane showed me the comments, I was very upset.

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"You look like a clown with that lipstick."

"No wonder your voice is so annoying; how does anyone live with that horrible squeak?"

"Those earrings look like something a child made."

It stung, but we brushed it off. We assumed it was a bot or some random stranger. But the comments didn't stop; they got worse.

"Who would even buy this rubbish?"

"She's probably a terrible mum too. I know one kid is on the spectrum."

That one hit differently. I'd never shared much about my parenting online, but the fact they brought it up made me worry it was someone who knew me, or at least knew about me. For the first time, I felt uneasy posting. I even wondered if it was an ex-boyfriend, someone with a grudge, or someone I'd fallen out with years ago.

I talked to my family about it over dinner one night. We've always been close. I had a great childhood, but things changed when my older brother, Toby*, hit his teenage years.

He fell in with the wrong crowd; drugs, booze, shoplifting. There were fights with my parents, then police visits, then eventually a stint in juvenile detention. He's struggled ever since. He's had odd jobs, but nothing that lasted.

Meanwhile, I've built my own life with two kids, steady work, my jewellery business, a partner I love. I never rubbed it in, but I know Toby struggles with jealousy. It's always been there, under the surface.

The trolling kept coming. Kane and I decided to dig deeper. He took screenshots of every comment before deleting it, then started tracking the account. It had a fake name and no profile picture, but we noticed something strange; some of the phrases felt familiar. The spelling mistakes, the way certain words were used, sounded like Toby.

We checked the account's linked email through a forgotten-password prompt. It wasn't the exact address Toby uses, but it had his nickname from when we were kids, plus his birth year.

I was mortified. We confronted him. Kane and I drove to his flat one evening, screenshots in hand. At first, he denied it. He laughed and said, "Why would I bother trolling you? You think I care that much?"

But when we showed him the email connection, he went quiet. Then he muttered, "Yeah, alright, it was me." I couldn't believe it. I asked him why. Why would he write those things? Why would he tear me down, knowing how hard I'd worked for this business?

He shrugged, stared at the floor, and said, "I don't know. I've been drinking a lot. I wasn't thinking straight." He mentioned his mental health. He even said he thought it was "just jokes." But I don't think that's the whole story.

I think he's jealous. Jealous that I've built something for myself, that I've managed to turn my passion into a business, while he's still stuck, still searching. I left his flat feeling gutted. He's my brother. I've defended him for years, made excuses for his behaviour, even lent him money when he needed it. And all that time, he was sitting at home, typing cruel comments about my voice, my looks, my work.

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We haven't spoken much since. He's apologised in a text, but it was half-hearted. "Sorry you took it so hard," he wrote, not, "Sorry for what I did."

I've blocked him from all my accounts. My jewellery business is still thriving. Kane and I are filming new content. I won't let Toby's words stop me.

Still, when I post now, there's a small part of me that hesitates, because I know the cruellest comment I ever read wasn't from some stranger.

It was from my own brother.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Feature Image: Getty. (Stock image for illustrative purposes only).