While birthday parties after often considered to be more the merrier, it's easy for unwanted guests to go unnoticed in the large crowd.
However, one eagle-eyed woman quickly took matters into her own hands after spotting her former bully amongst the guests at her 20th birthday celebrations.
Rather than wallowing in self-pity, the woman claims that she stormed out of the birthday bash after confronting her childhood bully.
Taking to popular forum site Reddit, the anonymous user explained: "My friends and a few family members threw me a birthday party after I got home from class.
"I was so happy and felt so loved as I had always planned my own parties previously but never had a surprise one."
The woman went on: "I looked around the room and saw Sam (19f) who used to bully me for about 2.5 years back in high school. She would tease me, make comments about my appearance, spread rumors, and physically hurt me.
"I quickly walked up to my closest friend asking why Sam was there. Apparently, Sam had reached out as she wanted to apologize because she realised how mean she was back then. I met many of my current friends in uni so they did not know me or Sam back then.
"Seeing Sam again made me feel horrible and gave me flashbacks of all the things she did to me. I was so happy when they first surprised me but I felt like crying after I saw her. I went up to Sam and simply told her 'what made you think I wanted you here on my own birthday?' in front of everyone. Then I stormed out because I was extremely mad/sad that she had the balls to show up at my birthday knowing what she did.
"I got countless calls from friends but didn't pick up. I started getting messages saying that it is ungrateful that I left after they gathered everyone, spent so much money and time, and planned everything so far ahead. They also said that it was rude of me to confront and embarrass Sam in front of everyone as she was 'literally there to apologise'."
Despite causing controversy with her decision, the woman stuck to her guns and questioned how her friends would act in a similar situation.
She went on: "I'm wondering how they thought I would react if they invited a bully of mine to my own birthday. In what scenario would anyone like that? I'm happy that she realized what she did was wrong and I would have talked to her any other day, but not on a day that is meant to be special and happy for me."
Seeking advice, the woman wrote: "She picked the worst day of them all and I wonder why my friends said yes because they know I'm very sensitive.
"I'm starting to feel like I should have been the bigger person and stayed, but just ignored Sam. Am I the a**hole?"
Since sharing her thread, the woman's post has raked in over 800 comments to date. One person wrote: "This shows Sam 100% hasn't changed. She's still bullying you she's just covering it better. She knew exactly what she was doing."
Meanwhile, someone else penned: "This was a party for you on your birthday when you should not have to relive that bullying. It was a selfish act to only make herself feel better."
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