A young woman says she formed an unusual bond with an elderly neighbor after being kind to her, only to end the friendship abruptly once the older woman revealed a disturbing detail about her past. The woman, who posts under the TikTok handle @doseofdestinyyy, shared the story in a video that has drawn wide attention online.
The creator, who goes by “astrogirl” on the platform, has more than 33,900 followers and over 2.1 million likes across her videos. Her TikTok bio lists her as based in Los Angeles.
According to her account, she lived near an elderly woman who was often seen wandering around the neighborhood. She said in her video that the woman’s mental state seemed to shift, sometimes calm and clear, other times not. She said she chose to treat the woman kindly regardless.
Woman says gifts followed an invitation to lunch that turned into shopping trips
That kindness, she said, led to an invitation to lunch, and eventually to repeated shopping trips where the older woman handed her large amounts of cash. The arrangement apparently continued for weeks before a conversation over food changed everything.
@doseofdestinyyy and now I keep it cordial with any crazies 😭😭😭 #storytime #storytelling #grwmstorytime #rant #story
♬ original sound – astrogirl 🎀🫧
The TikTok creator said the elderly woman approached her one day and thanked her for always being nice, then invited her to lunch at a mall, offering to pay. She said neither of them had a car or a driver’s license, so she booked an Uber for the two of them. Strangers offering unexpected generosity to younger people they’ve just met has surfaced in other viral accounts, including one where an elderly stranger made a startling offer to a mother at a store.
Once they arrived at the mall, she said the woman handed her a large amount of cash and suggested they go shopping instead of eating. She said she questioned whether the woman really wanted to do this, and the woman replied, according to the creator, that she was the only person who had been kind to her in the four years she had lived there.
The creator said she received $2,000 in cash that day and returned home with six pairs of shoes, on top of the money. She said the woman took her to Fashion Nova and the two bought matching outfits. She said she initially declined the offer multiple times before accepting.
She said she later brought the woman flowers and a card to thank her for the day. A few days after that, she said the woman thanked her again and invited her out a second time, which led to another shopping trip and more money changing hands. The creator said she began to feel uneasy but did not question it at the time.
During a third outing, the creator said she asked the woman directly why she kept wanting to spend time and money with her. She said the woman told her she reminded her of her daughter. When she asked where the daughter was, she said the woman told her the daughter was dead.
The creator said the woman then explained what happened, prefacing the story by saying she loved her children very much. According to the creator, the woman said she had killed her children in a fire. The creator said she ended the outing shortly after hearing this and it became their last shopping trip together. Other creators have similarly recounted unsettling family confessions online, including one account where a woman described how her partner’s family concealed the death of a child.
She said she later saw the woman spending time with another young woman and taking her shopping as well. She said the woman came to her house a few times afterward, but she did not answer the door. She said she tried checking in on the woman a few times after moving out, but the woman did not respond, and she assumed she had been replaced by the new companion.
The creator said she does not know what happened to the woman since. She said she believes the woman should face legal consequences but was uncertain how she avoided that outcome. “I think she needs to be in jail, but maybe she beat jail, that’s why she’s out,” she said.
In the video, the creator also reflected on the moment she said the elderly woman told her about her children. “She literally told me she killed all her kids in a fire,” she said, describing her own reaction as one of shock as she tried to process what she had just been told.
The video’s comment section is filled with viewers reacting to the twist in the story, with many questioning the source of the woman’s money and others admitting they might have made the same choices as the creator. One commenter raised questions about the origin of the cash: “She killed them as in purposefully set the fire?!?! bby that cash was insurance money lmaoo.” Another simply reacted to the reveal: “siSTER A FIRE??? you’re an amazing storyteller.”
Some admitted they related to the creator’s choices. “Me realizing I have zero survival instincts because the way I would’ve still gone shopping with her,” one person wrote. Another said they would have reacted differently: “Unfortunately I would’ve been got i woulda turned into a journalist bc WHAT MADE YOU DO THAT and were you caught?”
