Reddit Stories - ARRANGED and FINANCED my spouse's mother's CELEBRATION but she informed me I was

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #relationships #familydrama #celebration #spouse #inlawsSummary: I ARRANGED and FINANCED my spouse's mother's CELEBRATION but she informed me I was wrong.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, familydrama, celebration, spouse, inlaws, finance, eventplanning, misunderstanding, communication, support, generosity, conflictresolution, etiquette, socialnorms, culturaldifferencesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Arranged and financed my spouse's mother's celebration but she informed me I was not invited because I am not related, so I asked her to leave and utilize the location for my own event own party instead. I'm a 26-year-old female, and I've been married to my 29-year-old husband for almost three years now. I've always known that my husband's family doesn't really like me. My husband has two younger twin sisters, 23, and a younger brother, 21, and none of them

seem to like me very much. The same goes for my mother-in-law as well. I've never been able to figure out why exactly they dislike me so much, but I was determined to fix it since I wanted to build a good relationship with my in-laws. So I decided to plan my mother-in-law's 50th birthday party this year. My husband advised me against it, saying that if his family doesn't seem to like me, then I should just let it be instead of going out of my way to be nice and win them over. but I ignored his advice since I really wanted to be on good terms with them. I'm just a people person, and I couldn't stand the thought that these people seemed to dislike me for no apparent reason. I had to make it right. A few days ago, I started planning for the party and even tried to get my husband's siblings involved,

but they weren't interested at all and told me to do it all myself if I wanted to. I booked one of my mother-in-law's favorite restaurants where she and her late husband used to go on dates all the time, and I paid for all the food and decor well in advance. In fact, I even oversaw it all myself and made sure that all of it was up to my mother-in-law's taste and standards, as she was really particular about things like these. I even invited a few of her closest friends and some of our relatives after consulting my husband regarding who she'd want there. Basically, I paid for everything and planned it all out on my own with a little help

from my husband, while her own kids did absolutely nothing to help and didn't even contribute financially. Yesterday, on the eve of her birthday, we visited her even though my husband didn't want to. Anyway, once we got there we noticed that her other kids were already there, and they looked pretty surprised to see us but didn't say anything. After a bit of small talk, I finally came to the point and told her that we'd be expecting her at the restaurant and the evening tomorrow since we had something planned for her. She smiled and thanked my husband for it, but he told her that it was all me and I was the one she should be thanking. Her face soured instantly, and I was pretty confused for a second. I told her

that I'd invited all her close friends and some of her family members, and I'd made sure that I picked out all her favorite food as well, in an attempt to get her to acknowledge my efforts. But a nasty look took over her face, and she proceeded to say thanks in the most false, sugar-coated tone before telling me that while she appreciated my efforts, she was sorry that I wouldn't be attending. I was shocked and asked her why. She replied that she wanted her 50th to be special, so she wanted it to be a family-only event. While she did consider her friends as family, she didn't consider me family at all, so she'd appreciated if I made myself scarce the next day.

My husband and I looked shocked to the core, and I realized in that moment that he'd been right all along. I never should have put in any effort at all since she was clearly never going to appreciate any of it ever. My husband's siblings, on the other hand, looked like they were going to burst out laughing any second, which is what pissed me off even more. So I got up, told her that she could go to hell, and if she dared to show up tomorrow, then I'd have security escort her out. That wiped the smug looks off all their faces, and my mother-in-law told me that I was being cold and cruel.

So I just laughed in her face and said that it was pretty rich coming from her. After a bit of back and forth where she tried to convince me that I was wrong, I told her that she didn't deserve anything nice and that my decision was final. She and her kids looked furious, and right before I left, she started crying, probably as a last-ditch effort to make me feel sorry, but I didn't care anymore. I was livid. On the drive home, I tried to cancel the reservation, but since it was too late, there was nothing I could do. My husband looked pretty uncomfortable about this whole thing but refused to make any comment apart from saying that I did the right thing. Then he went out for a smoke once we got home, which was fine by me since he'd never been

too expressive when it came to his family and preferred to stay out of these things. Moreover, I was the one who had ignored his advice, so it was nice of him to not rub it in my face. Anyway, since I'd already paid for the place and food, I decided to cancel all the invites, which was pretty last minute and ticked off a lot of the guests. but they were mostly my mother-in-law's friends, so I didn't care. Instead, I called over some of my own friends to make it all worth it since I was pretty annoyed about everything that had happened. My husband also joined in, and I also got him to invite a few of his friends so that we could party.

We got rid of the decor just in time before they came and had a total blast. I posted all the pictures after I came back home today. My sister-in-law texted me saying that I'd ruined her mother's birthday and said that it was incredibly selfish of me to use the venue for myself, especially when I knew how much it meant to my mother-in-law. I don't feel particularly sorry about what I did and think it was perfectly reasonable, though I'm just hoping I'm right. I'd for canceling my mother-in-law's birthday party that I'd planned after she told me that I wasn't welcomed there? Update 1, I told my husband about the message his sister had sent to me and asked him

if I should apologize to his family. He said absolutely not. In fact, he told me that that he'd had enough of their behavior and thought that it would be best if we decided to cut them off entirely. This was a huge deal since his family relied on him a lot for money and stuff, especially my mother-in-law. My husband is relatively well off and runs his own company, so cutting them off would mean that she'd have to rely on her other kids instead. Which was a problem as my husband's siblings were good for nothing and all switched jobs every few months. Truth be told, all of them were very dependent on him for money and stuff, So this was a huge decision.

I tried to discourage him from doing so, but he was pretty adamant. I'm sure that there's something deeper at play here because, truth be told, I've always noticed that his family grew apart from him the longer we dated. By the time we were getting married, he was quite detached from his family. It wasn't his own fault since I remember him telling me several times that he would invite his family over for dinner while we were dating and even in the initial stages of our marriage, but they'd always make up some excuse to avoid it. I was sure that I was part of the reason as well, and that was another factor that made me so desperate to build a relationship with my in-laws so that my husband could also reconnect with his family.

I'm quite sure that there's something that my husband isn't telling me or hasn't told me because he's not the kind of person to simply abandon his family. He used to tell me earlier about how much family meant to him, and so this sudden decision, although fair in light of how my mother-in-law treated me a couple of days back, is very strange and out of character for him. I'm determined to get to the bottom of this because I don't want my husband to be miserable because of me or resent me in the future. I'm just hoping that he finally feels comfortable enough to tell me what made him take such a drastic measure now. Update 2. After a lot of pestering him, my husband finally opened up as to why he's cutting his family off after all these years. I knew that his father had passed away when he was 21 and his siblings were all in school back then. His mother had never worked a day in her life, so naturally it was on him to get to work

and be the breadwinner of the family since the money his dad had left them wouldn't be enough to cover it all. He worked hard day and night, and finally when he was about 23, he found some investors for his startup and things finally started looking up for him. He went from just getting by to flourishing, which was great for him, but it made his family immensely lazy and materialistic. Now that he was making more money, they started getting more and more dependent on him, but he didn't say anything about it or protest since he felt that he owed them this, as this is what his father would have wanted him to do. They also treated his girlfriends quite badly since they believed that having other people

in his life would distract him, and his sole aim should be to provide for his family. This is why when we met and it became clear that I wasn't someone they could just mistreat and drive away, since I was just that determined to be with my husband. They started getting annoyed by my very existence and tried to poison my husband against me. However, by then he'd had enough, and there was a lot of fighting and bickering while we were dating that happened behind my back, where his family wanted him to break up with me but he was intent on marrying me. Eventually they started distancing themselves from him in an attempt to guilt-trip him, but

they still came to him for money. This tactic also failed to break us apart, and several years later, here we are, still going strong. After the whole birthday fiasco, my husband told me that while his sister texted me to guilt-trip me his mother had called him up to do the same to him and was trying to emotionally manipulate him into leaving me since I'd insulted her. That's why he decided that he'd had enough of this and it was time to let go. I'm still in shock that his family put him through all of this even though he was the one who's

been supporting them throughout, and I pretty much lost any respect I ever had for them because they're just plain greedy. I'm really happy that I decided to stick it out with my husband despite his family's attempts to separate us and drive me away so they could hog his money. Truth be told, I don't care how much money he is because I love him for who he is, and his bank balance has nothing to do with it. Now that I know the whole story, I'm surprised that he was able to put up with this and even keep it all a secret from me for so long to spare my feelings since I'd wanted to have a good

bond with my in-laws. But he knew that was never going to happen. I think he's making the right decision now, and that his family deserves to get cut off. They're incredibly selfish and greedy and have no responsibility. for the one man who had their back for so long against all odds. Update 3. Today my husband finally called his mother up and told her that he doesn't want to hear from her or his siblings unless they change their ways. They'll also have to find their own source of income since he isn't going to continue supporting them his entire life.

Just as I'd expected, this decision was met with uproar on their end. And I could hear my mother-in-law screaming at my husband even though his phone wasn't even on loudspeaker. There was a pretty nasty argument that broke out between them. And since I was in the same room as my husband, I heard every single word of it. My mother-in-law obviously tried to blame me for this and said that I must have influenced his decision to cut them off somehow. She also accused me of trying to break their family apart and said that my husband shouldn't let himself get manipulated by his wife again. The irony of her telling my husband to not allow himself to get manipulated was pretty funny to me. Obviously, my husband defended me to the best of his abilities and even told her that

his siblings need to find decent jobs because they're all adults now, and it's pretty pathetic that they still have to rely on him to provide for them. She started accusing my husband of letting the money and power of being in such a high-paying position get to his head, and that I was also probably encouraging him to cut his family off, which is why he was treating his own blood so cruelly. It was all classic manipulation and emotional blackmail to keep him under her thumb. but I wasn't going to let that happen anymore now that I knew what she and her other kids had been up to. When things started getting too heated and I could see my husband getting flustered and teary-eyed out of sheer frustration, I decided to intervene.

I told her that my husband's mind was made up, and if she and her kids didn't get in line soon, then they'd be losing my husband's support forever. Now the ball was in their court. They could either behave like decent human beings and respect me and my husband to continue being in our lives, or they could be the blood-sucking, materialistic assholes that they were and get cut out of my husband's life entirely. Having said that, I hung up and muted all notifications on my husband's phone so that he wouldn't have to deal with them for a while and had time to calm down. It's been an hour since the call ended, and we've kept our phones aside to watch a movie and keep ourselves distracted update four since harassing my husband and ruining his day wasn't enough, my mother-in-law decided to bother me instead. After the movie ended, my husband decided to finish up some pending work, and I decided to check my phone.

I had several missed calls from my mother-in-law and innumerable texts saying absolutely disgusting things to me that were full of curse words from my husband's siblings. I wasn't surprised in the least, though, since this is exactly what I had expected them to do. I just took screenshots of it all for later and ignored it. I continued to reply to work emails and stuff for the next ten minutes, but that's when my mother's in-law called again and I accidentally ended up accepting the call. She then proceeded to say the nastiest things about me and my upbringing, calling me a manipulative and selfish gold digger who was out to ruin my husband. I didn't even respond to any of her accusations and simply waited for her to be done with it. When she finally seemed to run out of steam, I told her that everything that she

accused me of doing was things that she herself was guilty of, so before pointing fingers, she should probably just introspect a little. I also told her that I was glad that my husband was finally getting rid of freeloaders like her and her other kids since they didn't deserve to even breathe the same air as he did. Then I hung up and blocked her and my husband's siblings everywhere that I possibly could so that they couldn't get to me anymore. It's just sad that people are willing to stoop so low just to be able to avoid doing any work for themselves. I haven't told my husband about his mother calling me up yet because I just don't want to stress him out even more.

but if this happens again, then I'll definitely be letting him know and ensuring that they're out of our lives forever. They have absolutely no right to disturb our peace in this manner. I don't know what they're going to do next, but I'm sure that my mother-in-law is definitely not going to stop until and unless we decide to take legal action against her or something. I'm praying that it doesn't have to come to that since that'll be a huge ordeal for my husband emotionally, but if it does, I'm ready to make sure that we see it through. They're not messing with my husband anymore, that's for sure. Update 5, almost two weeks have passed since the last update, and so much has happened since then. After I blocked my mother-in-law, my husband and I had dinner and went off to sleep, hoping that

there'd be some peace and quiet the next day. But the very next day, my mother-in-law showed up at our doorstep with her three grown children and demanded an explanation for everything that had been said and done so far. She looked pretty angry, and so did my husband's siblings, and I knew for a fact that this was going to be very stressful for my husband. I decided to stay in the room despite their protestations saying that I had no right to be there because this was a family issue and I'm not family. I let them know that they were intruding upon my privacy and were standing under my roof, so they had no right to tell me if I could stay or not.

Then they started verbally attacking my husband, bombarding him with accusations of being selfish and unreasonable, and even going to the extent of saying that he was abandoning his family just to keep his wife happy. My husband had stayed silent and was already looking pretty red in the face, so I knew that was my cue to take over since my husband is a really sensitive man, especially when it comes to his family and loved ones. I knew that he wouldn't be able to fight them and defend himself against their false accusations and manipulation because that's how soft-hearted and kind he was. While they were just using him for his money, he genuinely and truly did love his family. So I told him to compose himself and told his family to leave because

they were pissing me off and, more importantly, they were making my husband cry. My mother-in-law started arguing with me, saying that I don't get to push her around, especially in her son's house, and that she can stay for as long as she wants to. She still didn't stop speaking to my husband even though he looked pretty upset with everything. It was disgusting to see that she couldn't care less about her own son's feelings and what mattered to her most was the money. So she started telling him that she hadn't raised him like this and that she was disappointed that he was choosing his wife over his own family. His brother even said that the only duty he should be fulfilling was that of a son and a brother

since I was a gold digger anyway and didn't deserve to have a husband like him in the first place. That pissed me off, and I lost my cool at that point. I snapped at him and told him exactly what I thought of the lot of them. They were all lazy, good-for-nothing idiots who were surviving solely on the kindness and generosity of my husband since they themselves were incapable of doing anything for themselves, and that they were pretty much the definition of gold diggers. Moreover, not only were they hovering around my husband constantly for money, but they also had the audacity to be so ungrateful and target him after all that he'd done for them. They were stunned into being silent, and I could see that they were struggling to fight back but

had nothing to say. Taking advantage of that, I told them to get out before I reported them to the cops for showing up uninvited and then refusing to leave. So they left, but my mother-in-law still believed that she could convince my husband to choose them over me, so she said that his father would be disappointed had he been alive to witness the way they'd been treated by their eldest son today. I thought it was really just low and disgusting to play that card constantly to emotionally blackmail my husband, and by the time they'd driven away, I could see that my husband was barely holding it together. He started sobbing uncontrollably as soon as they left, and I had to spend hours calming him down. I felt terrible about this whole thing and wished that I'd

never tried to throw my mother-in-law a birthday party in the first place at all. But then again, that was what had led to this can of worms being opened, and I'm grateful that this happened sooner rather than later. Anyway, after his family left, I blocked them everywhere from his phone and social media as well and made sure that they couldn't get to us online. After he had calmed down enough, I told him that it was about time that we started looking into lawyers because I was sure this wouldn't be the last that we would be hearing from his mother and siblings. He agreed with that because, as much as he hated to admit it, he was well aware that his family was willing to go to any lengths to get some money out of him.

So we started looking for family lawyers just to be on the safe side, and we were definitely right to have done that because within days of that fight. My mother-in-law sent us a legal notice demanding that he pay them an extravagant sum of money as compensation for stealing tons and tons of money from them after his father's death to start his business. It was appalling to me that she and her children were willing to lie about something so huge and defame my husband. He'd never taken a single dollar from whatever his father had left them but had only used money that he'd earned himself. He was completely self-made, and even claiming such a thing was an insult to his integrity, and I was furious that they dared to propagate such a lie.

Since my husband's company is a pretty big one, it got a lot of people talking as well, which did affect his business too, and that was dumb on their part. However, we were able to prove after almost two weeks that they were lying and not one word of their claims was true. So now they're the ones who have to pay us a huge fine for trying to defame us and jeopardize my husband's career. Last I heard, my mother-in-law and her kids had been ostracized

by the rest of the family because of their nasty little stunt. And all three of those lazy idiots are scrambling to find jobs so that they can pay the bills that my husband has been taking care of so far. I'm glad that this is happening to them because they totally and absolutely deserve this. We can finally move past this whole episode and forget about them altogether. My husband and I are a lot happier now, and I intend to keep it this way forever.