Reddit Stories - Familial Deception The Culinary Conundrum ( Over 3 Hour Compilation ) - Episode 137

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #familialdeception #culinaryconundrum #familydrama #foodbetrayal #over3hourcompilationIn Episode 137, "Familial Deception: The Culinary Conundrum," a web of lies unfolds within a family as culinary secrets are revealed. The episode explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the complexities of familial relationships, leading to unexpected confrontations and emotional revelations over a three-hour compilation.redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, betrayal, family, deception, cooking, drama, secrets, relationships, emotional, confrontation, trust, betrayalstories, culinary, podcast, storytelling, episode137, over3hoursBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6816713/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.

Relax and enjoy the following compilation of stories. I hope you enjoy this story. My misguided close pal attempted to entice my partner and sabotage our wedding by alleging that he impregnated her. As a result, I instructed her spouse to present her with divorce documents in public. Everyone. My BFF, Samantha, who's 25, and I, at 24, have been tight buds for nearly eight years. We clicked from the get-go and have been left. like glue ever since. Sure, we had our tiny spats at the beginning, but nothing major.

However, in the last four or five years, we've had a couple of tiffs, and the latest one is the biggest. Normally, my friend is awesome. Always by my side, super nice, and an excellent listener. We both don't hold grudges and unlike me, who tends to get fed up with people quickly, I have never felt that way about her in our entire friendship. But there has always been this one issue. When she's had a few drinks, she gets super flirty with any guy in her vicinity, which seriously weirds me out because she's got a significant other. Some of our mutual friends have even dropped remarks like,

isn't she married? Or does her husband know she acts like that? It's making her look kind of foolish, and it's not cool. Around four or five years back, she met her husband. and Kyle. Their relationship had a bumpy start, but they managed to buy a house, get engaged, and tie the knot. A couple of summers ago, things took a turn. My best friend cheated on her partner, not just once, but twice, with two of my guy best friends guys I'm always hanging out with while she was away from him at my place. Sneaky, right? All this happened while I was

sleeping at the same house, both on separate occasions but in the same summer. The first time, she came clean about it, but the second time, she tried to keep it on the down low. I had this gut feeling that something fishy went down because she was acting all strange about it. So, I went straight to the guy involved, and he spilled the beans. He even showed me texts where she was practically begging him to keep things hush-hush. When I confronted her, she tried to play it off like he took advantage of her. But come on, two of my closest guy friends, both times when she was at my place, and all behind my back? That was a lot to swallow. I had this gut feeling that something went down, so I asked the guy, and he spilled the beans, showing me texts where she

was practically begging him to keep things quiet. When I confronted her, she tried to say he took advantage of her. But, we had screenshots of her talking to him, saying it was consensual, so I got really mad. She accused one of my good friends of something he didn't do. I told her she put me in a weird spot, and I wasn't happy about it. These are the two friends I see all the time, and she made it awkward for us to hang out since she cheated on her fiancé with him. I let her know it was really wrong to accuse him of that when we had texts of her saying she wanted to hook up with him. She kind of brushed it off, and said it wouldn't happen again, barely acknowledging what she did wrong on a lot of levels. Then, she acted like nothing ever happened, taking zero accountability.

I stopped inviting her to hang out with most of my guy friends. It got tricky because she asked me to be the maid of honor at her wedding, and her cheating on her fiancé was really bothering me. I felt bad for him but also didn't want to betray her. I guess I wasn't thinking straight. She never brought up the cheating again and kind of acted like it never happened. It was like she disconnected from the fact that she did it. For some reason, she started trusting everyone who knew about the cheating to never spill the

beans to her partner and even invited my two guy friends to hang out around her and her husband. I know it might not sound great, but at this point, I was going to be her a mo. I was trying to think the best of her and hoping that this was all in the past. I genuinely wanted her to be happy, so I just went along with her story that nothing happened and tried to move on for the sake of our friendship and her wedding. I was just hoping that no one else would spill the beans also. When we used to go out, she would still look for attention from guys when she was drinking, but it was mostly harmless, like flirting or dancing.

As far as I could tell, nothing serious. The most she did was try to get one of my guy friends, the same one she hooked up with, to spend the night with her again. I shut that down immediately, and nothing happened after that. It was kind of annoying, though, because I ended up having to watch over her when she was drunk, just to make sure she wouldn't actually cheat on her husband. It felt like I was parenting my BFF to not make any mistakes again. Jumping ahead to about four months ago, we went out for dinner and drinks.

We got pretty drunk and headed back to my place, where I lived with my boyfriend, van of two years. At one point, he was upstairs, working out with the door closed, and I left my best friend's sleeping in the guest room while I went down to the basement to watch some TV and do my laundry. The next day, my boyfriend called me after my best friend left and said she did something really strange that made him uncomfortable while I was downstairs on the phone. I asked him, already feeling tense, about what she had done this time. So apparently, while Van was working out in his boxers, Samantha just barged in without being invited and started talking to him about his workouts. At first, he thought she might be looking for me so he told her that I was in the

basement. But she brushed it off. She had lost some weight recently and began asking him, Do you think I look good? She even lifted her shirt to show her abs. Then, according to him, she went on the floor to do some but workout moves, saying, my ass looks so much better since I've been working out and kept trying to get him to say that she looks good. He found it really strange and didn't want to give her the validation she seemed to be looking for. He thought she was fishing hard for compliments. So he suggested she'd go downstairs and find me. When he told me about it, I was furious with her.

I knew she could act this way when she was drunk, but I never imagined she would do something like this with my boyfriend. First off, when you see someone in their boxers, wouldn't common sense tell you to leave the room immediately? And secondly, why would you even care about what your boyfriend? best friend's boyfriend thinks about your appearance or your butt. It just didn't make any sense. I decided to confront her the next day by inviting her to my place when my boyfriend was out. When I started to tell her about what my boyfriend had told me, she started apologizing,

saying she had no idea why she acted like that when she was drunk, and all that. I told her that I needed space and that I didn't know how I could ever trust her again. The next day, she totally changed her story. She started saying my boyfriend was lying and exaggerating, and she thought I would have seen the conversation as harmless. But seriously, in what world is telling your best friend's boyfriend how nice your ass looks is considered harmless? My boyfriend has always been an amazing partner, and he was scared to tell me about what happened because he knew it would hurt me to see her act like that toward him. He has no reason to lie. He's never betrayed my trust. On the other hand,

she has a history of this behavior, so my gut told me to believe my boyfriend. I was really upset that she changed her story and wouldn't take any responsibility, especially since this wasn't the first time she'd acted like this when she was drunk. I even told her a list of times she had done this with other guys who were taken or married, pointing out her pattern of behavior. Instead of owning up to it, she kept playing the victim, saying I was being rude for bringing up her past mistakes. She claimed she didn't know where to go from here. because she feels uncomfortable around my boyfriend now. This infuriated me because she was trying to flip it around on him, even though she was the one who made him feel uncomfortable and put him

in a weird position. At that point, my feelings were all over the place, but one thing was clear, I didn't want to continue the friendship unless she acknowledged her problem. I sought help, and tried to understand why she acted that way when she was drunk. I shared with her that I was fed up with constantly feeling like I had to parent her, especially to prevent her from cheating. It had become exhausting, and I expressed my frustration at her tendency to blame everyone but herself for the issues we were facing. I let her know that this pattern had strained our friendship. The conversation turned into a heated exchange as I confronted her about her actions. I emphasized that I couldn't tolerate the lack of accountability and needed her to acknowledge

the impact of her behavior on our friendship. She began to then blame me. She began to then blame me. asserting that I was a bad friend for not believing her side of the story. It quickly escalated into a tense exchange where she accused me of not being supportive and understanding. In the midst of this blame shifting, the tension reached a boiling point. Frustrated and hurt, she abruptly stormed off saying that she never wanted to speak to me ever again. It was a difficult moment since she had been my best friend for the last eight years but her

behavior was now starting to affect my boyfriend which I couldn't just let her get away with. I accepted her decision and didn't bother contacting her after that. On a Saturday night, while I was out with my friends, at 2 a.m., her husband texted me, calling my boyfriend a scumbag for exaggerating. He implied that I was insecure because his wife had been working out, suggesting that I was jealous of her new body. He accused me and my boyfriend of making a big deal out of nothing and told me that I had been a bad friend to her.

Just to set the record straight, I was extremely confident and had always been secure with myself. I texted him back, saying, maybe one day she will be honest with you and tell you what you don't know. He replied back immediately asking what I meant by that. I decided to ignore his message as it wasn't my business anymore. The next day, unexpectedly, the doorbell rang.

To my and my boyfriend's surprise, we found my best friend's husband, Kyle, standing there. His presence was unexpected, but we welcomed him inside regardless of. With a palpable tension in the room, Kyle had come to talk to me about the text I had sent him the previous night. He asked me to tell him the truth about why I had sent him that text and if it had any truth to it. I nodded slowly and Kyle pressed me to reveal more. I was a bit nervous about telling him the truth since I felt a bit uncomfortable telling him all the indiscretions that my best friend had done in the past. At that moment, my boyfriend stepped in and started to explain to him about what it had happened between him and Samantha. He told her how uncomfortable he was when she came into the room without his permission while he was wearing his boxers and working out alone. She wouldn't leave him alone and kept trying to show him her abs. It made him extremely uncomfortable and he had told me. Kyle looked shocked hearing this and told us that he had heard a completely different

version of the incident from her and had no idea that my boyfriend was in his boxers when she barged in. He looked embarrassed and fumbled an apology. As he sat there in disbelief, I suddenly felt bad for the guy. Here he was trying to apologize to us for his wife's behavior when he had no idea how his wife had behaved much, much worse with other guys. I took a deep breath and decided to spill the entire truth to him. I told Kyle about her past indiscretions, detailing the occasions when she had cheated on him with other guys that I was friends with.

Kyle looked at me dumbstruck and asked me if I was sure that Samantha had gone so far as to sleep with him. I nodded and showed him the screenshots that I had kept which proved that she had slept with these men while married to Kyle. Then Kyle, still shocked, asked me why I had not told him about these incidents before. This was a very valid question and I started to apologize to him for keeping these things a secret, explaining that I didn't want to betray her trust since she had been my best friend for all these years. I told him how every time we went drinking, would have to parrot her around so she wouldn't end up sleeping with someone else. The revelation hit him hard, and the weight of the truth became apparent in his eyes.

He expressed gratitude for my honesty, but made it clear that there was no way he could continue living with her after learning about these betrayals. I understood his point of view. He told me that he had a lot to think about and asked me to not tell my best friend anything about his visit. I nodded in agreement. He then thanked me for being up front and left. It was a surreal and intense moment,

realizing that my best friend's actions had led to the end of her marriage. In the aftermath of that tumultuous period, I never talked to Samantha or Kyle at all. From what I could gather, they appeared to still be together, indicating that their marriage hadn't crumbled despite the revelations. Personally, I decided to channel my energy and attention towards my own life and career, consciously distancing myself from the complexities that had defined that chapter. Fast forward to just two months ago, when a delightful time, twist unfolded in my life. My boyfriend decided to take our relationship to the next level.

In a heartwarming and unexpected turn of events, he proposed to me, marking the beginning of a new and hopefully more serene chapter in our journey together. It was the happiest day of my life and I posted our engagement pictures with my new ring to my social media. My friend started congratulating me and I guess some of our mutual friends might have informed Samantha as well. She called me multiple times in the middle of the night and when I picked up, thinking she might have called to congratulate me, she instead started yelling at me that I couldn't marry my fiancé. I was taken aback by her words. She continued to yell saying that I needed to break up with him as I couldn't have a happy ending after choosing him over her. My fiancé who was sleeping next to me woke up

grogily asking me what happened. I put her on speaker so he could hear how crazy she sounded. She continued saying how my fiancé was a piece of shit and that she was going to destroy his life for what he did to our friendship. Fed up with Samantha's angry rant, I had enough. I told her she was going too far, and I hung up, feeling irritated and not willing to put up with more of her drama. The next morning, I woke up to a bunch of angry messages from Samantha, all about how she would wreck our wedding. Feeling a bit uneasy, I decided to call Kyle. He shared that she had been acting super agitated since the previous night, but he had no clue why. I spilled the beans about my engagement and filled him in on what Samantha had yelled at me over the

phone. I even sent him screenshots of her furious messages. After checking them out, Kyle finally said, this is why she's been so worked up since last night. Perplexed, I asked him what he meant. He explained how she spent the night drinking by herself, mumbling about her. having to do something, but he had no idea until now that it was connected to our conversation. Worried about her threats, I told him I couldn't take them lightly, considering her history, and there was a good chance she might show up at my wedding to cause trouble. This is when Kyle revealed that for the past few months, he had been secretly meeting with his lawyer and moving his assets or signing them off to his parents. He wanted to divorce Samantha,

but before that, he needed to be ready since she would definitely play dirty to get her hands on his money. Even though there was a chance that she might never win any alimony she had cheated on him and he had proof, he still didn't want to take any chances. This is why these last four months, he had been rearranging his assets waiting for the right opportunity to officially divorce her. He told me that if Samantha wanted to show up at my wedding and make a scene, then he wanted to teach her a lesson by handing in the divorce papers to her. I was a bit uncomfortable at first with this, but my boyfriend who had been overhearing our conversation readily agreed with Kyle. The plan would only be set in motion if Samantha showed up to our wedding to create a ruckus.

Last week, we finally had our small wedding at the church. It was a cozy gathering with close friends and family, and we felt really happy exchanging our vows. During the ceremony, I kept a lookout, kind of expecting Samantha to appear and cause trouble as she threatened. The worry was still there, but Kyle was ready. He had the divorce papers just in case she decided to show up and create a scene. As the priest asked if anyone had objections to our union, a voice cut through the moment, revealing that she indeed had a problem. We looked back in shock and to my shock, it was Samantha. She was standing in the middle of the aisle and clearly, she wasn't about to let our wedding proceed smoothly. The joy and excitement quickly turned into a tense and awkward silence as all eyes turned to

her. Samantha started accusing Van, right there in front of everyone, that he was the father of the child that she was carrying. We looked at her shocked and I couldn't believe how ridiculous her lies were. She continued to yell that she was pregnant with his child and she couldn't let him get married to me. Every one of the guests, including our parents, looked at us in shock. The atmosphere went from pure joy to complete chaos in seconds. My dad looked at me quizzically trying to get confirmation from me. I closed my eyes in exasperation as I knew what was about to happen next. Samantha looked at me and smirked knowing that she had successfully embarrassed us.

Before Samantha could utter another word, Kyle got up from his seat. She looked stump seeing him suddenly, perhaps not expecting to see him among the guests. He approached Samantha with a calm yet stern expression on his face, clutching a small envelope in his hand. The tension in the room was palpable, and everyone watched as Kyle handed her the envelope. Samantha looked bewildered, not fully comprehending what was happening. With precision, Kyle declared, Samantha, you are the biggest liar and cheater I have known in my life and you have left me with no choice now. I think it's time you know that I have been preparing to divorce you these last few months.

for the multiple affairs that you have had. Here are the divorce papers. The room hushed as Samantha opened the envelope, revealing the divorce papers. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Her plan to disrupt the wedding had backfired spectacularly. Kyle, maintaining his composure, started to explain to everyone present that he couldn't tolerate her lies

and manipulations any longer and that she had been unfaithful in their marriage. He also announced to everyone that said, Samantha had a tendency to lie and because she had a grudge against me in Van, she had decided to show up and interrupt our wedding. My husband and I exchanged glances, relieved that Kyle had been there to reveal the truth. Samantha, now facing the consequences of her actions, seemed stunned. The guests, initially shocked by her accusation, whispered among themselves. Van took this chance to ask everyone to remain seated and then asked Kyle to escort Samantha out who stood there looking embarrassed.

Kyle nodded and took her out while the ceremony proceeded as planned. As you can guess, even though our wedding went well, all our guests did was talk about Samantha. Some had even taken videos of the incident and I have seen some of them on various friends' chat groups. I feel a bit bad about Samantha, but I guess she got what she deserved. Everyone is as shocked as I am that Samantha could go so low by accusing my husband of being the father of her child. Since the incident, she has tried to call me multiple times unsuccessfully. From the messages she has sent me, I can see that she blames me for her divorce and not warning her about it. Ida.

Update 1. Thank you to all for your advice. You all really opened my eyes to some things about my best friend that my brain had tried to avoid for the sake of our friendship, but I realize now that she was never truly a friend to me. She was indeed extremely toxic and manipulative. My husband and I are currently on our honeymoon, so I don't want to spend a lot of time dealing with Samantha's drama. I have also decided to cut ties with her completely this time. Despite her attempts to shift the blame onto me, I understand that her actions and lies were the cause of her failed marriage.

My parents, who had known Samantha for a long time, since she was my best friend of eight years, are also very disappointed with her. They had no idea that she would go to such lengths to try to interrupt my wedding. She had clearly tried to embarrass me and my boyfriend, but in the process, she got embarrassed when her husband handed her their divorce papers and revealed her lies. Since this incident, I have learned a valuable lesson about toxic friendships and the importance of surrounding myself with people who genuinely care for my well-being. My focus now is on building a happy and healthy life with my husband.

The support from friends and family during the wedding incident has been reassuring, and I am grateful for the love and understanding they've shown. Update 2. It's been two months since my last update. Van and I have remained in touch with Kyle and he continues to be a dear friend to us. Kyle is in the process of getting his divorce from Samantha and as expected, she is fighting tooth and nail to get alimony from him. At first, she had tried her best to convince Kyle that I had made things up about her having affairs but eventually confessed the truth when he told her that he had screenshots as proof.

She had then tried to beg him to forgive her, but Kyle was determined to stand his ground. As for Samantha's attempts to reach out to me, she had initially alternated between pleading for forgiveness and hurling accusations at me, claiming that I ruined her life. I chose to maintain my distance and then blocked her on all forms of communication. It was crucial for my mental well-being to prioritize my own happiness and not let her negativity seep into my life. She then started messaging Van who immediately let her know and know uncertain times that he had enough of her crazy behavior and would take the legal route to get a restraining order from her if she continued. Since then, she hasn't tried to

contact us. Some of our mutual friends have also stopped talking to Samantha since finding out about her antics and various affairs. It's clear now that Samantha can't hide herself behind blaming others and I hope this time she learns a valuable lesson of owning her mistakes for once in her life. Update 3. It's been seven months since my last update. The only reason I am back on Reddit is because I wanted to share with everyone my happy news I am pregnant with Van. I know all my previous updates have been filled with drama, but this time it's nothing but pure joy and happiness. Van and I are over the moon about expecting our first child, and it's a wonderful new chapter in our lives. As for Samantha, she's become a distant memory. We continue to invite Kyle to visit us and he is

officially a divorced man. Fortunately for him, Samantha couldn't get any alimony due to her multiple affairs and he is finally free to do whatever he wants. To those who offered advice and support throughout this roller coaster, thank you. Life is now filled with the excitement of starting a family, and we couldn't be more grateful for the love and positivity around us, wishing everyone the best in their own journeys. I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse's colleague described me as ignorant over the phone, so I waited until she was asleep to inspect her communications

and discovered they had been engaged in a romantic relationship for half a dozen years. Months and making fun of me. Okay, so, throw away a count because, well, you'll see. I'm still reeling from all this, and I haven't told anyone in my real life yet. I need to get this out, even if it's just to a bunch of strangers on the internet. It feels like my life's been turned upside down, and I'm just trying to piece together what the hell happened. It's probably going to be a mess, so apologies in advance if I ramble, but I need to get all of this off my chest, like right now. My wife, Claire, fake name, and I have been married for six years.

No kids yet, but we always talked about it. It was always on the horizon, you know. Just around the corner, we'd say. But we kept pushing it back. First, it was the house, we wanted to get settled in our new place. Then it was our jobs, wanting to feel secure in our careers. Then it was the money, saving up a bit more of a cushion. Looking back, I realized the perfect time was never going to come.

Maybe I was the only one who really wanted kids, and she was just going along with it. I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid now, but honestly, she's given me zero reason to trust anything she says anymore. Like I can't believe anything coming out of her mouth. Claire works in sales, and a huge part of her job is socializing and networking. She's always going to these lunches, cocktail parties, industry events, you name it. She says it's crucial for building social capital, which, I'll be honest, I still don't fully understand. Apparently, it's a big deal in her department. Most of these things were employees only, but sometimes partners were invited, and I'd tag along.

Honestly, it felt like one big excuse to get hammered on the company dime, but what do I know? Let me tell you, I hated those things. It was just a bunch of people in suits pretending to like each of a bunch of people. for a few hours, then sneaking off to talk business in hushed tones. I'm a roofer, so I'm used to honest, hard work, not all this. Shmoosing. But I went along with it to be supportive of Claire. That's how I met Gary. First impression. Total tool. He was one of those guys who's always sucking up, trying to act like your best friend but in this condescending way. You know the type,

calls you my guy when you've barely spoken two sentences to him. Yeah, that was Gary. He had this way of talking that just set my teeth on edge. He would always make these backhanded compliments that were supposed to be funny, but were really just insults. I got weird vibes from him from the get-go. I remember the first time we met, I told him I was a roofer, and he goes, well, that's certainly a career choice, in this tone that made it clear he thought it was a bad

career choice. Like, what's that supposed to mean? It's honest work and puts food on the table. Anyway, I usually just ignored his snide remarks for Claire's sake. I didn't want to create any bad blood between her and her co-workers. I mean, that's a fair thing for a husband to consider, right? But then, about a month ago, at another one of these corporate shindigs, he said something that I just couldn't let slide. I had to leave early because I had to leave early because I had a job the next morning, and I needed to get some sleep. I was going to head out without Claire, but then Gary chimed in with, don't worry, I'll keep taking great care of her for you. He was all smirk. It was the way he said it, it was dripping with this smugness, like he had

some inside joke with my wife that I wasn't in on. And the worst part? Claire's reaction. She called him an idiot, but it was in this playful, flirty way. She was all blow. She was all blushing and giggling, like she was enjoying the attention. Immediately, the whole work-wife-slash-work husband thing popped into my head, and I was not okay with that. Not at all. In that moment, all the pretense of being the polite, supportive husband went out the window. I told him, point-blank, that Claire was coming home with me. It wasn't what we'd agreed on, and she started to argue, but I think she saw the look in my eyes because she just shut it down, said her goodbyes, and left with me. The whole vibe was so off. The car ride home was brutal. We didn't speak for the

longest time, and when we finally did, it exploded into this massive argument. She accused me of overreacting to a harmless comment. I told her that I didn't give a damn about Gary's comment because I knew he was a tool, but that her reaction, batting her eyelashes at another man right in front of me, was completely disrespectful. It made me wonder what the hell she got up to when I wasn't around. It felt like she was flaunting it in my face. She completely ignored that part and just kept harping on about how I was rude to her co-worker. We went around and around in circles, getting nowhere. Things were tense as hell after that. I made a point of not going to any more of her work events. And she, in turn, became a lot more tight-lipped about what went on at work.

She stopped mentioning Gary altogether. I honestly didn't want to hear anything about that guy. But another part of me felt uneasy. It didn't feel like she was trying to spare my feelings. It felt like she was hiding something. Like there was this big secret she was keeping from me. The whole situation just felt so wrong. After a while, things seemed to go back to normal, at least on the surface. But that incident with Gary was just eating away at me. I didn't have any proof of anything, nothing concrete. Honestly, I mostly just suspected she had a crush on him.

Or maybe it was a bit of mutual flirting. But that didn't stop me from losing trust in her. Every time she said she had to work late, I'd picture her and Gary together, laughing, flirting, maybe more. It was driving me crazy, this uncertainty, this constant nagging doubt. So, yeah, I started keeping tabs on her. She hated it. But I started calling her more often when she was out at these work things. Most of the time, things seemed to check out.

She'd answer the phone sounding annoyed, and I'd hear the typical office party chatter in the background. But then, one day, I heard something that just confirmed all my worst fears. She was out for drinks with some clients they were trying to butter up, the usual deal. I called her, and I heard the usual background noise, but then I heard him. Gary's voice, loud and clear, he's calling again. It's unbelievable how clueless he is. She hung up immediately, but it was too late. I'd heard it.

It felt like I just walked in on them in bed together. I was furious. Beyond furious. The disrespect was so much deeper than I'd even imagined. Not only was she sleeping with this guy, but she'd had the nerve to flirt with him right in front of me. And they'd been making fun of me behind my back, calling me clueless. My first instinct was to drive right down there and punch that smug look off his face. I'm a pretty big guy, and he's, well, let's just say he's not exactly built for a fight.

I knew I could take him. He wouldn't be laughing about me being a roofer then, that's for sure. But I forced myself to cool down. I was so angry that I wasn't even sure Claire would be safe after I dealt with Gary, and I didn't want to do anything stupid, anything I'd regret. So I waited at home, just stewing in my anger, replaying that phone call over and over in my head. I felt like I was going to explode. And then it hit me, they thought I was clueless, right?

Then I'd play clueless. So this was my plan. When she got home, I'd pretend I hadn't heard a thing. Then, when she was asleep, I'd go through her phone and get all the evidence I needed. This was definitely heading to divorce, and I needed proof to make sure things went my way. But it wasn't just about the divorce. I wanted to make Gary pay. I needed to get my hands on solid proof and make him regret what he'd done to me.

I wanted him to feel the same pain I was feeling. Claire came home that night acting guilty as hell. She got back much earlier than usual, like she'd rushed home to do damage control. She called out my name in this cautious way, like she was afraid I'd be mad at her. And I was, of course, but I pretended not to be. I just asked her how the party was, how the business went, all casual like. She answered in this unsure voice, and within five, five minutes, she seemed convinced that I hadn't heard Gary. Oh, she'd find out soon enough.

For the rest of the night, I played the part of the trusting husband. We had dinner, watched some TV, but every time she glanced at her phone, I felt that anger bubbling up inside me again. I remember thinking it would actually work out in my favor if she texted him something incriminating that night. I wanted her to, in a way, so I'd have even more ammunition. It sucks to be right sometimes. When she finally went to bed, I waited until I could hear that soft, even breathing that meant she was asleep. Even then, I gave it another 15 minutes, just to be sure she was really out. Then, I went for her phone.

My hands were shaking, I'm not going to lie. I'm not an easy guy to scare, but my heart was pounding out of my chest as I navigated to her messages. The future of my entire relationship, my whole life, really, hinged on what I was about to find in there and what I found. It floored me, right from the very first message. I was completely shocked, but not surprised, if that makes sense. I was right that she'd been texting him that night. She was telling him how relieved she was that I hadn't overheard him.

And then they were making fun of me, mocking me for being so stupid, so oblige. to their little secret. But there was so much more. They'd been having an affair for six months. Six months. Hotel rooms, dates. It seemed like most of it had been happening on nights when she had work events where I wasn't required. I made sure to text everything to myself. It wasn't easy, going through all those messages. Not just because there were so many of them, but because the content was just disgusting. The pet names, the inside jokes, the explicit details. It made me sick to my stomach.

The anger was creeping back in, stronger than ever. I was done pretending. I couldn't take it anymore. This was so much worse than I ever could have imagined. I shook her awake, roughly. I didn't hurt her, but she was startled, afraid. She started to say something, but I cut her off and asked her if she had anything to say for herself. She was groggy and confused at first, but she sobered up real quick when she saw that I had

her messages open on her phone. Her face went white as a sheet. And you know what the first thing she did was? She went on the defensive. Apparently, I was the bad guy for going through her phone behind her back. She claimed I didn't have the right to do that. that I couldn't possibly understand things without the proper context. I was actually shocked at how much she seemed to believe her own BS. It was like she was living in some alternate reality. I couldn't stand to hear another word of it, so I ignored her and told her that I'd heard Gary's remark. I quoted how they'd made fun of me for being clueless and pointed out that I'd had my suspicions about them for a long time.

I told her I had more than enough reason to go through her phone. She didn't have an immediate response to that. She just stared at me, speechless, with this look of horror on her face. After a minute of silence, she started to get all misty-eyed and begged me to hear her out. And that's when she started playing the victim. She claimed that Gary had threatened to get her fired if she didn't go out with him, and that things had just escalated from there. According to her, it had all been to save her job.

She was trying to paint herself as this helpless victim, forced into this situation. I didn't believe her for a second. Not one second. The messages made it pretty clear that the whole thing had started with flirting, and most of it had come from her at first. I told her that I wasn't standing for betrayal, that we were over, and that I'd be filing for divorce first thing in the morning. This was non-negotiable. There was no coming back from this. And that's when the waterworks really started. She begged me not to throw away our marriage over a mistake. She insisted that she loved me, that we could still fix things.

I laughed in her face. Six months of sneaking around behind my back, betraying me, mocking me with another man. That's not a mistake, that's a choice. A conscious, deliberate choice. And now she wanted to patch things up because she got caught. What a joke. An absolute joke. I told her to save the theatrics for someone who cared.

I wasn't interested. She spent the rest of the night begging me to reconsider, alternating between pleading and accusing. When she got tired of me stonewalling her, she eventually cried herself to sleep. I was out of the house before she even woke up the next morning. I couldn't stand to be in the same room with her anymore. I had a lot of work to do, but I made sure to find some. time to talk to a divorce lawyer and get the ball rolling. I'm still messed up over all of this, obviously.

It's like my whole life has been turned upside down. But getting started with the divorce that made me feel like I had some control back, like I was taking back my life. I can't wait to be free of Claire, but I'm also looking forward to making Gary pay for what he did. I wanted him to suffer. Update, okay, so, I'm back. And I'm happy to report that I got back at both of them, in the end. The hardest part was honestly the waiting.

I wanted to strike back at Gary immediately, but my lawyer, thankfully, talked some sense into me. He told me I'd be putting my case at risk if I did anything rash. He said he was aiming to get me little to no alimony, and the best way to do that was if Claire still had a job. And there was a good chance she'd lose her job if her and Gary's affair became public knowledge at their workplace. It made sense, legally speaking, but it killed me to have to wait. It was tough, but I agreed to hold back. I won't bore you with all the nitty-gritty divorce details. Let's just say it was a divorce.

Not fun, a lot of hard feelings all around. But the real miracle was that Claire didn't get any alimony from me. She had a good job, after all. At least she did for now. Once the dust from the divorce had settled, I got to work on the next part of the plan. It was Gary's turn. I'd had all the screenshots ready for weeks, just waiting for this moment. You see, Gary was a married man, with two kids.

I'd always known he was married, I'd even met his wife, Amy, a few times at those awful work events. But finding out he had kids, that really disgusted me. He never stopped to think about that. about the damage this affair would do to his own family. I couldn't believe how selfish he was. He'd ruined two families with his actions, all for what? A few cheap thrills. He hadn't thought for a second about what this would do to his kids. I felt bad for the kids, and for Amy, but I still had to go through with my plan. It was better for them to find out who their father really was, sooner rather than later. And there was no way in hell I was letting Gary get away with this

Scott Free. He had to face the consequences of his actions. It was easy enough to find Amy's Facebook profile. The rest was even easier, although I'd been living this moment in my head almost daily for the past few months, and let me tell you, it was just as sweet as I'd imagined. I started off by introducing myself, reminding her that we'd met a few times at work functions. I didn't bother waiting for her to reply. I explained that our spouses had both lied to us and carried on an affair together for over half a year. I told her that it was only fair for her to know the truth so she could make her own decision about what to do. I let her know that my marriage had ended because of this, that I was already divorced.

I wanted her to know the full extent of the damage. In less than an hour, she replied, asking if this was all true. She said she'd heard about my divorce, but she'd never heard anything about her husband being involved. I'd expected her to attack me, or to insist that I was lying, trying to destroy her marriage or something. Instead, she was just asking me, almost pleadingly, to confirm that I was telling the truth. It was heartbreaking, honestly. So I did. I sent over all the screenshots I'd taken of their conversations.

Everything. The flirting, the planning, the I love use, the hotel arrangements, the crude jokes about me, all of it. I even sent over censored versions of the pictures they'd send each other. I figured she deserved to know the full extent of their depravity. She didn't reply for quite a while, and I didn't blame her. There was a lot to go through there, and not just in terms of quantity. It was heavy stuff to read, even for me, and I'd already been through at once. I remembered how bad I'd felt when I first saw those messages.

I couldn't even imagine what she was going through. I felt bad for her, truly. But I didn't regret what I'd done. Not for a second. We both deserved to be with people who respected us, who returned the love we offered. We both deserved better than to be lied to and cheated on. I didn't hear back from her until the next morning.

She told me she had confronted Gary with the message and they'd had a huge fight. The fight of the century, apparently. She'd kicked him out of the house and was seriously considering divorce. She was devastated, heartbroken, and furious, all at the same time. I felt a bit of sick satisfaction when I recommended my divorce lawyer to her. He'd helped me get a fair deal out of my divorce, and it felt like a nice little way to stick it to Gary, one last twist of the knife. We didn't keep in touch much after that, but I heard the rest of the story from, of all people, my ex-wife.

You can't make this stuff up. She called me the same day, absolutely furious. She called me petty and insecure for ruining Gary's relationship. I was a bit surprised at first that she would call me to defend the man she cheated on me with, but honestly, at that point, nothing she did could surprise me anymore. I just told her. I just told me, her that I couldn't sympathize with cheaters, unlike her. Her angry sputtering made the whole thing worth it, I'm not going to lie. It was music to my ears. It only got better when she accused me of ruining his life. It turned out that Gary wasn't just losing his marriage, he was losing his job, too. Clayle was close to tears as she told me that Amy had reported him to their company's HR department. Apparently, the company had a strict no-fretonization policy. and they'd launched an investigation immediately. There was a good chance that both he and Claire were going to be fired any day now.

Karma's a bitch, isn't it? She started going on about how she couldn't handle the stigma, how people were whispering about her at work, how some of her co-workers were being cold to her, and how she was certain some of the clients had heard about the affair. She was seriously considering just giving up and resigning. She asked me, pretty sarcastically, if I was happy now. now. Like she was the victim in all of this. I told her, completely seriously, that I was. It

wasn't my problem anymore. I was kind of pissed to hear her whining and making herself out to be the victim when I was the one who had been mocked, lied to, and betrayed. Suddenly, I wasn't enjoying hearing about how she'd ruined her life. I just wanted nothing to do with her anymore. I said, at least you can still have each other, and ended the call. It was the last time we spoke. And it turns out, they didn't still have each other. I heard from Amy later on that Gary had skipped town after the divorce. He'd lost his marriage, his job, his kids, and his reputation.

He was persona non-grata. I wish I could have seen the look on his smug face when it all came crashing down around him. I'm glad he wasn't calling anyone clueless anymore. But that's enough about them. They're not worth any more of my time or energy. I'm moving on with my life. I still have my pride, my business, and my dignity, and I'm going to keep building up my life, without her.

In the end, Gary and Claire were the ones who lost everything. They both thought they could play games, fool around with other people's lives, and just walk away and scathed. They thought they were so clever, so untouchable. Well, they learned their lesson the hard way. So, yeah, that's my story. It's messy, it's painful, but it's real.

And if there's one thing I've learned from all of this, it's that honesty and integrity still matter. And that karma, well, she's always watching. Always. Thanks for listening to me, Vent, Internet Strangers. It means more than you know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a life to rebuild. And for the first time in a long time, I'm actually looking forward to it.

I hope you enjoy this story. Allow my cousin to reside in our home during her college years, but she insisted on having a vehicle. Upon my denial, my spouse's relatives journeyed 1,200 miles to reprimand me for not being a decent host. wife because I refuse to fund spoiled Sills car. So my in-laws live quite far away and we don't really get to see them often. My husband, 26M, and I, 25F, have chosen to live away from his family on purpose because they can be a little overbearing at times. We have been together for six years and married for three and we only moved away two years ago.

To be honest, his family was not the only reason for us moving. since I got a pretty good job and the kind of money that I would make from the job justified having to move away from our city. My family was fine with it and they were even happy about us moving away because it meant that I would be working in a better place, but his family was the one who had a problem with it. They tried to talk us out of it and claimed that it would be very difficult for us to live completely by ourselves in a strange new place, but our minds had been made up. His family was also quite unhappy about the fact that my husband was going to have to give up with his family for my sake since I was the one who wanted to change jobs as if it was a crime

to want to move ahead in my career. And just for the record, my husband did not mind moving someplace else and leaving his family behind for my sake, because when the money came in, it would belong to both of us. Also, he mostly works from home so it doesn't really matter to him where he lives. Anyway, even though his family had always liked me in the beginning, for the past two years things had been pretty strained between us. My husband and I still try to be. tried to keep in touch though, and we do visit home at least once a month, but that's about it. We were fine with this, but then, around six months ago, my sister-in-law told me that she wanted to move in with us for a couple of months because she was planning on going to college nearby.

The college she got accepted into is literally just a 30-minute drive away from our house, and I didn't know if this was something she had planned or if something that just organically happened. But she asked my husband if we would be willing to let her live with us for free because she didn't want to live on campus and her parents were not ready to pay for an apartment. Apparently, the reason she did not want campus accommodation was because the rules were a little too strict and she wanted to have a certain degree of freedom, which she believed she would get if she stayed with us. And my husband's family was also fine with her staying with us, so we decided to agree after some discussion. It was mostly because from what I've known in the past, my sister-in-law is a good

kid, but I hadn't expected her to change so quickly over the past couple of years. When my husband and I moved away, she was just 16, and even then, she was pretty sweet. After we moved away, we only met a handful of times and hadn't exactly spent a lot of time together, so we didn't realize that she had turned into a totally spoiled brat. My husband is not really that close with his sister, mostly because of the huge age gap, so he had no idea that she had changed so much. Of course, she was being very nice to us when she wanted us to agree to let her stay rent-free while she was in college. But after she moved in with us, she started showing us her true colors, and in the past six months,

we have realized that she is not really this sweet little girl that we used to know in the past. She has been spoiled rotten and has a terrible attitude problem. We had agreed to let her live with us on one condition, that she would try to look for a job so she would be able to pay for accommodation herself and move out so she could get an apartment. And she had agreed that in a couple of months, she would start looking for jobs around here that she would work at alongside college. Then once she had saved enough money, she and a couple of her friends would find an apartment and she would be out of my hair. Even her parents had been fine with this arrangement, so I thought that she would be looking

for jobs but every time that I would ask her if she had made any progress on that, she would get annoyed with me and roll her eyes and it was just very weird because it's not like she was doing a favor to me. She also had no respect for our time and energy because she would come back home late frequently, without even bothering to tell us where she was the entire evening. And every time that this would happen, she would come back drunk in the middle of the night and my husband and I would have to let her in after having stayed up, worried sick since we didn't even know where she was. We told her not to do that several times and even threatened to complain to her parents about her behavior, but she would apologize to us profusely, be on her best behavior

for a couple of weeks, and then end up doing the same thing again. And to top it all off, she was also a huge slob who left her things all around the house and we were the ones who ended up having to clean up after her. So needless to say, she had been getting on our very last nerve for the past six months and we were just waiting for her to move out so we could go back to our old life. My husband loves his family and has always adored his little sister but honestly, There is a limit to what one can tolerate. And she and my husband's family crossed that limit recently, which is why we decided to kick her out. So far, we had only been putting up with her because she's a lot younger than us and we didn't

have it in us to be harsh with her. But a couple of days ago, she approached the two of us on the weekend and said that she had been finding it very difficult to commute to college every morning because she was used to sleeping and late. But if she wanted to take the bus, then she would have to wake up super early or else she would end up missing her first class. I thought that she was going to tell us that she had finally decided to live on campus so she would get some extra time in the morning, but instead, she told us that she had been thinking that maybe it was about time that she had a car of her

own here so she could just drive to college. She had already taken driving lessons in high school and had a driver's license, but when she used to live with her parents, she used to drive her dad's car. However, now, since she turned 18 just a couple of months ago, she believes that it is time for her to have a car of her own here since that would be pretty convenient. It was very confusing because we had no idea why she was saying that to us and not to her parents, and my husband even offered to speak to his father about it, but she told us that she had already spoken to her, and apparently, my in-laws had told her that she needed to talk to us about it because we were responsible for her since my father-in-law had retired recently. So now, if she

wanted a car, we were going to have to fund it for her and that's why she had come to us after speaking to her parents. At that point, I didn't even know who I was mad at, my sister-in-law or my husband's parents. I tried to explain to my sister, as politely as I could, what her parents had suggested was just not realistic because even though we were making good money right now. We planned on starting a family pretty soon and we were going to have to start saving for our own future as well. So there was no way that we were ready to take up her responsibility, especially not financially. I thought that she was going to be reasonable about it,

but I was obviously wrong because as soon as I started talking to her, she understood that we were going to decline and instead of just accepting it gracefully, she started stomping her foot and said that she didn't care how we arranged it, but she wanted a car in now. My in-laws and I could talk it out amongst ourselves, but she just wanted a car by the end of this month. And then she locked herself in her room

and refused to come out until dinner to be honest. it was only her brother who tried to talk to her for a couple of minutes, but after that, he gave up too because he was also quite frustrated. We were already allowing her to live with us without paying rent, even though she blatantly disregarded our way of living and now, on top of that, she expected us to bow to all her whims and fancies. We were also pretty mad at his parents since they had no right to tell her that we were not responsible for her just because my father-in-law had retired. So after my sister-in-law told us what her father had said, we called him up or at least we tried to contact him, but we did not receive any response. It also came as a huge shock to us that my father-in-law

had apparently retired, not because we didn't know anything about it, and nobody had even told us, but also because he was not even close to the age of retirement. He was just around 53 and it wasn't even like he was seriously ill and couldn't continue working. Besides, he and my mother-in-law had both quit their corporate jobs about seven years ago and had been running a moderately successful accounting firm since then. So it wasn't even as though they had very high-pressure jobs and were still not making enough money for themselves. They were definitely rich enough to cover all the expenses for my sister-in-law, but just didn't want to. But that day, they did not respond to us, and neither did we hear back from them for the next two days. My sister-in-law also did not speak to me

or her brother for those two days. Then, on the third day, my in-laws finally showed up at our house really late in the evening around the time that we were supposed to have dinner. It was a huge shock because ever since we had moved here, my in-laws had only come here once, on the day of our housewarming party. After that, they had never bothered to show up and always had an excuse ready, like it was just too far for them to travel at their age or that they didn't want to bother us, even though we had never said that it would be any trouble for us. The real reason that they never visited us here was because they wanted me to know that they did not approve of the fact that I had decided that my husband and I were going to live away from them and they didn't need to

tell me about it, I just knew. I guess they just didn't understand that it was not a decision that was solely mine, even their own son wanted some space away from them, but whatever, that's not the point. The point was that they had never come to visit us in the past two years, but just because we had refused to fund my sister-in-law's demand for a car, they had driven all 1,200 miles just to speak to us about it. Apparently, as soon as we had declined to fund the car, my sister-in-law had immediately called her parents up and told them all about it and that's why they had not been responding to our phone calls and messages. They had kept in touch with my sister-in-law for the past two days and since she had told them that my husband and I had apparently refused to speak to her

or even acknowledge her existence in the house after we had that fight, they had decided to come all the way here to sort things out. The day before they visited, they had decided that they couldn't let this go on anymore and they needed to talk to me. I was a bit surprised that they said that they needed to talk to me because I couldn't imagine that I had done anything wrong, but I still heard them out. And after they were done talking, I realized that they had basically traveled all the way here just to lecture me on how to be a good wife. Because throughout the speech, they kept insisting that my husband had made a lot of sacrifices for my sake in the least that I could do for for my in-laws was at least be supportive of my sister-in-law now. He said that he and my mother-in-law

had chosen to say that they had retired and now, my husband and I would have to support my sister-in-law because they had their own old age to think about. He hadn't actually retired, they just wanted to see how I would react and I had disappointed them by declining to help my sister-in-law out. They claimed that I was being selfish because I had already moved away from them and kept their son away for two years and now when I had the chance to make it up to them by financially supporting my sister-in-law, I was refusing to do even that. They started lecturing me about how, after marriage, my husband's family is also my own, and I should start treating them like my own family and respecting them the same way that I

respect my own parents. While they were speaking, I was actually in disbelief because I couldn't imagine anyone being so tone-deaf. It was the fact that they were calling me selfish for not wanting to fund my sister-in-law's decision to buy a car, especially since she didn't even need one right now. Even though they were the ones who were refusing to cover any of the expenses for their own daughter and my husband and I had been the ones to allow her to live with us without any rent. It was the hypocrisy of the situation that really ticked me off. And there was also the fact that they thought telling us that they had retired and were not going to be able to pay for any of my sister-in-law's expenses anymore, and she was our responsibility now, just to test us, that was

simply awful. So after they were done lecturing me, I could have yelled at them, but I just chose to deal with it as calmly as I could, and I told them that they were right about me being a selfish person. So now, since I was so selfish, I had made up my mind that my sister-in-law was no longer going to live with me since neither she nor her parents had been paying rent for the past six months, and I was done letting people take advantage of me and my husband and for free, on top of that. I knew that my sister-in-law had believed that she had won up me by contacting her parents and bringing them here to speak to me in person. She had probably believed that I would just fold, but I had had enough of my husband's family. And even my husband couldn't tolerate

their behavior anymore, so he decided to stand by me. So when I said that she was no longer welcome to live with us anymore, they started arguing with me, but there was simply no point, and even when they turned to my husband for help, he said that he agreed with me, and that made the argument even worse. After a certain point, all of us were just getting at each other and it was getting incoherent, so I told them that they could either all leave voluntarily or I would gladly call the cops to make them leave. My in-laws cussed me out, but eventually, they left, along with my sister-in-law, who was sobbing like a baby. That happened two days ago and since then, we had no contact with his family, my husband, and I had a discussion about it, but both of us were

actually fine with not having any contact with them. However, all of them showed up again this morning, but it was only to collect all the things that my sister-in-law had left behind. The energy was very different this time. It was very obvious that they were not here to reason with us, but they were done with us as well. It was all very quiet and cold between us and once they were finally done packing, they were about to leave, but my mother-in-law chose to turn around and tell me that even though we were fine with what we were doing right now, we would look back on it in a couple of years and would regret letting our family go so easily over something so petty. And addressing me, she told me that if my husband was in agreement with me right now,

he would definitely end up resenting me in the future because I know he has always loved his family, even though he hasn't always gotten along with them. But now, I'm the reason that he has had to choose between his family and his wife, and no matter how we are dealing with it right now, he will definitely resent me for it, and I will have known nobody to blame but myself because I've always been the kind of person to put myself above everyone else. Personally, I thought it was a very dramatic and unnecessary thing to do, but anyway, after that, she left with my father-in-law and sister-in-law. I was kind of weirded out by what she said, so I decided to address it with my husband and speak to him about it. I wanted to make sure that he was fine with our decision because honestly,

everything that we have done so far has been our decision and not just mine. And he reassured me that he was fine with whatever was going on because it was his family who were overstepping boundaries and we had every right to cut them out of our lives if we thought that they were getting too toxic. Most importantly, we had tried our best to be good to his sister, but she had just grown up to be extremely spoiled and entitled and he blamed his parents for that. And even in this situation, it was his family who was to be blamed and not me for reacting the way that I did. So he told me exactly what I needed to hear to feel better but for some reason, I still don't feel too sure that my mother-in-law was wrong. I don't know why exactly I've been feeling this

way, but ever since she said all those things, it has been playing in my head nonstop and I can't seem to get it out of my mind. I've spoken to my husband, my parents, and even my friends about it, and everyone thinks that we did what was right for us and we don't need to feel guilty about it. But I still kind of feel bad and guilty now since, in a way, I did tear him away from his family. Maybe not directly but all the issues that have been created have indirectly been because of me and I don't know, I just feel weird about it. I've never really sat and thought about it the way I have as of late and I'm just afraid that my mother-in-law might be right. So even though I've asked a lot of people about it, I felt that asking random people who don't know me, but only know the situation might be better for my own peace of mind. So, I'd have for kicking my sister-in-law out of our house because she had complained to her parents about me and my husband not

buying her a car? Update 1, hey. So I'll start by explaining exactly why my mother-in-law's words really got to me. Recently, I've been feeling a bit iffy about the fact that because of me, my husband really never gets to see or speak to his family anymore. My mother recently celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks back and I couldn't be there for her because I had to work and I couldn't just travel to go see her because I couldn't afford to miss even a single day that week. and I had been missing my parents a lot since I missed my mom's birthday because I've hardly ever missed any birthdays in the past couple of years apart from this one. My husband was there for me and both he and my mother reassured me that it was fine,

it wasn't a big deal but to me, it felt like it was. And while I was thinking about that, it just hit me that because of me, my husband's family hardly ever bothers to keep in touch with him anymore, and even his sister has become so spoiled that she doesn't seem to care about his feelings much either. His parents were right that he doesn't particularly get along with them and they disagree on a lot of things, but I always knew that he was very attached to his family in spite of everything. So that's why I had been feeling guilty

because I felt like I was the one standing between his family and him. And after making that post, I decided to speak to him about it once again, because I had to get it all off my chest. And thankfully, he reassured me that no matter what was going on with his family, He did not think that it had anything to do with me and had everything to do with their massive overinflated egos. If they couldn't keep that aside, he was not going to talk to them either and for him, his priorities were always going to be clear.

Ever since he got married, his priority has always been me, and he knows that he is my priority as well, which is true. So as long as we are clear about that, he is never going to resent me because nothing that has happened so far has been my own decision solely, but he has also been an active part of it. After speaking to him about it openly, I felt much better about everything. And of course, most of the people in the comments section also agreed that I did not have to blame myself and that my mother-in-law had just been trying to get inside my head and she had succeeded.

But my relationship with my husband is a lot stronger than she thinks and is going to take a lot more than just a couple of words to break us apart. Anyway, it has been a couple of days since we last saw them and we haven't had any contact with them since then. It's fine though, I don't really care anymore and I don't think my husband does either. Update 2, so two weeks ago, my sister-in-law left, and we stopped speaking from my in-laws altogether. Since then, we haven't had any contact with them, but recently, about three days ago, I heard from my parents that my in-laws had returned and the first thing that they did after coming back was contact my parents to tell them they were really disappointed in how I was behaving. because it's not like I've only known them for a couple of years, we have known each other and our families for the past six years and that's a really long time. My in-laws told my parents that apparently, they had always believed that I would treat them with the same kind of respect and

love with which I treated my own parents, but they had obviously been mistaken since I did not seem to care about them at all. And they were really disappointed because they had always considered me as their own daughter and had always treated me like that, too. That's honestly not true because even though they had been very kind to me in the beginning, ever since my husband and I moved away, they had been really passive-aggressive every time that we visited, and of course, there was also the fact that they never made an effort to come to see us. My parents had visited us several times over the past two years and it felt like they were willing to make an effort to keep in touch with us, but my in-laws didn't seem interested. Initially, my husband and I tried our best to be

there for them by visiting every month but every time that we would visit, they would just act very weird to me, and it was obvious that they were still not ready to accept the fact that we had moved away from them. Even then, we still kept trying because we felt guilty, but after one point, we got busy with our lives and then, they started guilt-tripping us about how we did not try hard enough to keep in touch with them. So honestly, there was never any winning with them and I'm glad that they're not in my life anymore. Even my parents did not take any of my in-laws' BS and told them that if my husband and I had decided not to keep in touch with them, we must have had our reasons and they were going to be respectful of that and maintain the distance as well.

I guess my in-laws had expected that speaking to my parents would be helpful to them because they had believed that my parents would speak to me and then eventually, we would end up apologizing to them, but I guess they didn't see this coming. Anyway, I'm glad that my parents are supportive of me and I really wish that my in-laws could have also been supportive of my husband because I know that it would have meant the world to him. Right now, though, he's just embarrassed by how his family has been behaving and I don't even blame him. Update 3, hey, so it has been a couple of weeks since I last heard from my in-laws and we are pretty much over it. I think it's been almost a month and a half, but I don't think they are over it yet, especially not my sister-in-law, since she sent me a message

last night on Instagram. She told me that apparently, after I kicked her out so heartlessly, her parents decided that they were going to get her everything that she wanted because clearly, they had failed in raising one son, but they were not going to fail her. So currently, she is living in an apartment with her friends and also has the car that we had declined to buy her. Like I said, it's not like my in-laws could not afford to cover the expenses of my sister-in-law. They just did not want to because they wanted to test us or whatever. I don't think it was a test. I think they just didn't want to waste their own money by throwing it all away on my sister-in-law. They wanted us to do it because obviously in one way, they wanted

to punish us for moving away, and moreover, I guess they really liked the idea of putting us to a test, and then when we inevitably failed because we're not idiots, they would get the opportunity to make us feel small. Honestly, I'm glad that my husband and I failed by their standards because that just means that we are reasonable people and not pushovers. I made my husband read the message that my sister-in-law sent to me and honestly, it was just disappointing so we decided that we were going to block all of them. So far, we hadn't done that because it's seen. We didn't do that because it's seemed petty and unnecessary but right now, I don't think that it matters anymore. So we have blocked them and we are going to focus on our own life now. And I know for a fact that in a couple of

months, his family is going to come crawling back to us, apologizing for everything because my husband and I are planning on starting a family. We are going to start trying for a baby in a couple of weeks and once the baby is born, I'm going to take some time off and move back so that I can be closer to my family. I've already spoken to my employers and they think it's a good idea because they have been thinking about branching out and I can help them with that. Nothing has been finalized as of now, but that's the plan. I can't wait for all of it to happen, though, because my husband and I have been thinking about this for the longest time and we finally know that it's the right time to go ahead with it and start a family of our own.

We are very happy with how things are right now and we know that in a couple of months, we are going to be even happier. I hope you enjoy this story. insane step-relative attempted to ruin my meal at my baby celebration because she's angry I'm having a baby in the identical month she's tying the knot. Therefore, I will address this issue directly. Point. My Mill and I don't have a good relationship. We have never had one since Mill has always been rude to me right from the start. Now, I know you must be thinking that the reason she is this way is maybe because she is overprotective about her son, right? Well, no, she's. She is this way because she doesn't like the fact that I am a good wife to her son.

For context, my husband, Rick, had a very rough childhood with my Mill. You see, Mill is the sort of woman who never believed in marriage, so she would constantly be dating random men. Even if she did get married twice, both of her marriages ended up as complete disasters. Rick is her oldest child from her very first marriage. He has told me that his parents were extremely toxic together and would sometimes even have physical fights between them, which Rick has unfortunately witnessed. Mill has always been an alcoholic, so she would sometimes go hours drinking while forgetting to feed Rick. His biological dad was no better. As a result, Rick was forced from a very young age to step up and take care of

himself. When his dad left his mom, Mill started using drugs so Rick would have to take care of her as well so she would not end up dead somewhere in the streets. When it was time for him to go to college, of my Mill so he immediately moved out to his dorm so he could have a new beginning. Mill would try to guilt-trip him by saying how he abandoned her. She would also force him to give her part of his monthly wages which he would earn from his part-time jobs. Rick felt guilty about the only parent he had left so he would give in to her demands. In his third year of college, Mill married again and had a daughter named Susan. Rick knew the kind of mother she was so he was always gentle and kind to his step-sister. It's impressive,

how close both Rick and Susan are even today. Once Mill married again, she stopped asking him for everything since she then had a husband to fulfill her needs and got busy with raising Susan. When Rick joined his first job at our company, he met me. I am a year older than him and I am his senior at work. I have to say that from our very first meeting, I noticed how attractive he was but being a working professional, I never thought about crossing the line. It was only eight months later, confessed how he'd always had a crush on me that we finally decided to go out on our first date. Once we knew that this was what we wanted and were serious about each other, we disclosed our relationship to HR. Fortunately, our company doesn't have any strict policies against co-workers dating

as long as it is reported beforehand. Rick has always told me that my coming into his life has changed him for the better. I don't know how true this holds, but I do have to say that after I came into his life, I started to notice how much control his mother had on his life. She would waste no opportunity to gaslight him and try to paint herself as this innocent victim. Every time she and Rick had a disagreement, she would put him down by remarking how he was exactly like his father. This would hurt Rick since his dad had abandoned them and it was very painful for him to relive it. But when I came into his life, I encouraged him to have a healthy space from her so she would not be able to affect him so much. Since we have come into a relationship, I have noticed a positive change

in Rick. He has stronger boundaries now with my Mill. Now Rick is the sort of man who loves bragging about his partner, me, even though I sometimes might get embarrassed and is very open when it comes to complimenting me. It is one of his best qualities which I absolutely adore. Whenever Rick and my Mill talked, he would tell her how he loves being with me and how good I take care of him. I guess this is how Mill first started resenting me because Rick would always tell her how his life is so much better now with me in it and how he has never been this happier. Mill would then try to gaslight him and say how she sacrificed so much for him but Rick would retort that it was him who sacrificed his childhood taking care of her while she would drink and do drugs.

Mill hated hearing this since according to her past should remain in the past and would then scold Rick for bringing it up. One night when Rick and I were living together, Mill showed up at our doorstep in the middle of the night crying about how she couldn't live with her husband anymore. It turns out Mill cheated on her husband with a complete stranger at a bar. When this stranger found out that she was married, he promptly found Mill's husband through Facebook and sent him a message apologizing for sleeping with his wife and how he had no idea about it. Understandably, her husband was furious and confronted her about it, but she refused to apologize saying that it was just a one-time mistake and that if he was a real man he should

forgive her for it and try to fight for their relationship. Fortunately for the husband, he was done being manipulated by her and promptly kicked her out. This is why she showed up at our doorstep begging Rick for help. Rick told her how this was all her fault and she needed to apologize to her husband immediately but Mill kept refusing saying how she didn't need a guy like him and that she had Rick to take care of him. I rolled my eyes hearing this since this was always her excuse. She would mess up and expect her son to take care of it. But things were different, I was living with Rick so I told him privately that his mother

could not stay with us for long and that she needed to find her own accommodation since I couldn't deal with her drama. Thankfully, Rick agreed, and after we let her stay for a week during which Mill did absolutely nothing around the house, she would leave her dirty dishes on the counter or the sink in her dirty laundry on her bedroom floor expecting me to clean up after her. She would demand that I cook her favorite meals only and on days when I was too tired to cook. She would taught me about how bad of a partner I was for ordering takeout and that her son deserved much better than this. I would keep quiet since this was her first time staying with us and I was trying my best to be mature.

I once also discovered that she had been smoking in our kitchen since she left her cigarette but on the floor for me to clean up. Living with her was a nightmare and as soon as a week passed, I talked with Rick about asking her to leave. He sat her down and calmly tried to talk to her about it but hearing this, Mill erupted in anger. She started saying how he was being insensitive and that as his mother, he should take care of her as long as she needed without any questions. She continued to say that she had every right to stay at our place and that he was being disrespectful by asking her to leave. I scoffed when hearing her words and told her that she was wrong and that this was our place

which both me and Rick were paying for so she had absolutely no rights to anything here without my permission. I continued telling her how we had been more than welcoming to her for a week, but she had done nothing to make it easier on us and now it was time for her to give us our own space. Rick agreed to my words and added how she should probably try to apologize to her husband or maybe go live with her sister. This is when Mill erupted in anger screaming at Rick about how dare I talk to her this way and that this was not my business so I should just keep my mouth shut. Now I am not a woman who takes shit from anyone so I calmly told her that her time of trying

to control and manipulate everyone was done and that we didn't appreciate her trying to bring her drama into our place so she needed to leave immediately. Her eyes widened in shock hearing this, but Rick interjected saying how she should never speak to me this way ever again since I was his equal partner and he didn't appreciate anyone talking to me this way when I had taken care of her this whole week. He told her how lucky he was to have me in his life and that I took care of him more than she ever did his entire life. Mill did not like hearing this and started yelling back saying how she had done the best for him and that he should be grateful to her for the life he is now and should allow her to live with us, but Rick was in no mood to listen further.

Ultimately, she had to pack up and leave the very next day. We found out later that she went to live with Susan. This incident just made our relationship even worse, but I have never regretted standing up to her. Anyway, I guess, this is why she has always been competitive with me and has continued to resent me. When Rick and I got married, she warned him saying that he would regret getting married to a woman like me and that he needed to marry a more homely wife who could take care of his house. I laughed hearing this irony coming from her when she was far from being a homely wife herself. She didn't

attend our wedding in protest but honestly, no one cared. We all had the best time of our lives. Now coming on to the incident at hand, I am three months pregnant. Rick and I had not informed this to anyone since I have had a miscarriage before. This second pregnancy has taken a long time so we were extra careful and didn't want to inform people beforehand. Now that we are out of the danger zone, we felt it was appropriate for us to inform our I-oved ones. We wanted to surprise everyone so we had called up everyone at an intimate gathering at our place. Rick wanted his mother to be present and I agreed since regardless of our relationship. I wanted our child to be loved by everyone. When people started arriving, they would notice my belly and would take a moment to process before

exclaiming in happiness. Everyone was so happy for us and were excitedly asking us if we had come up with baby names. When the doorbell rang and Mill arrived, I was shocked to see her walking inside arm and arm with a new man. I looked at Rick and he looked equally shocked. She then introduced him to everyone saying this was her fiancé and that she was getting married in a few months. My mouth dropped open as I couldn't believe how unbelievably entitled she was to not even inform us about her new partner yet to come to our place and make the announcement. Irritated, I looked at Rick and he was pissed as well, but we didn't want to ruin this moment so we politely congratulated her.

As I walked up to shake her hand and introduce myself to her new fiancée, Mill suddenly spotted my belly. I watched her smile falter as she looked for me to Rick angrily. She then asked loudly if I was pregnant and I nodded. Everyone around us started exclaiming how we all had such wonderful news that we had given. I glanced at Mill and she was red in her face. She looked at Rick and asked him why he hadn't informed her before, but Rick joked saying that she hadn't informed us about her fiancé either. Mill then started to say how as his mother she needed to be the first one to know about her

future grandson. I interjected and calmly explained to her that we didn't want to jump the gun and spread the news until we were sure that we were out of any potential risks. I reminded her how our last miscarriage had taught us to be careful and that we had called everyone today to our place so we could celebrate this news together. But Mill was not satisfied with the response. She told me that she was getting married in six months, which would also be the time I would be giving birth. I told her that she should be happy to have a grandchild in the same month that she would be married but Mill looked pissed. She retorted that she was still too young to be a

grandmother and that she would have appreciated us giving her a heads up since now she will have to speed up her wedding process as she didn't want anyone to call her a granny on her wedding day. Her reasoning sounded absurd, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her misplaced priorities. I calmly reminded her that the focus should be on celebrating the new additions to our lives, both the upcoming wedding and the impending arrival of our child, rather than worrying about what people might say. But Mill, like a child, decided to blatantly ignore me as if I didn't exist and walked away to talk to other guests. I shook my head since I knew her quite well by now and her immaturness was not astonishing to me anymore. Rick and I decided to let it go and got

busy with our friends. When Susan arrived, she greeted us warmly and congratulated us on our pregnancy. Rick asked her if she knew that their mother was engaged again, but she looked just as surprised as us and told him that she never told her anything about a new man. She joked that they should not be surprised by her since clearly, Mill changes her man like the weather. When it was time to serve lunch, I got up to bring the food out, but Rick and my parents urged me to remain seated telling me that I should not even lift a finger and that they would serve everyone. My Mill must have overheard them and was probably trying to act nice in front of everyone or impress her new fiancé because she interjected saying that she would help out by

bringing me a plate so that I wouldn't have to lift a finger. I smiled politely not knowing how to react since just a minute ago, she was blatantly ignoring me and now she wanted to bring me my food. She had never been nice to me, so I couldn't imagine why she was suddenly trying to act all nice to me. As we all sat down at the table to have our meal, Mill came and handed me a plate. She announced loudly that she had chosen more vegetables rather than meat so her future grandbaby would be strong and healthy. I didn't mind the vegetables since she was more of a vegetarian herself and everyone around me ooed and odd saying how well she was taking care of me, but I knew her better. This was completely uncharacteristic of her to bring me a plate.

I looked at the food suspiciously trying to see if she had done anything to my food, but it looked completely normal. Mill brought out her plate and then went back to the kitchen to get herself a kitchen which was quite usual for her. Unbeknownst to people around me, I surreptitiously exchanged plates since she had brought a lot of vegetables as well and hoped that she would not notice. I thought no one had caught me but I caught her fiancé sitting next to her looking at me but he didn't say anything so I prayed that he would not tell her anything either. Before she could come back, I started gobbling on my food so she would be less suspicious about what I had done. I watched her sit down next to me and then she asked me if I was enjoying the food. I told her I was and she told me that I should try out the salad that she had brought for me on the plate as apparently no mothers should have more salad. I nodded and kept eating.

Mill then took a bite of her food, chewed it slowly, and immediately spit it out loudly in front of everyone. My eyes widened in shock as I saw her looking at the plate closely while others asked her if everything was okay. This was the very plate she had given me and I had exchanged it with hers. She took a sip of her drink but continued to cough so she excused herself to go to the bathroom. I immediately whispered to Rick that we needed to talk since I didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone. Worried that she intended to harm me by mixing something with my food, I told him what had happened.

He looked at me incredulously when I recounted to him the entire thing and then asked me if I was sure about this. I nodded and told him that I didn't know what she had mixed up with the food, but I did exchange her plate with mine and he could ask his mother's fiancé about it if he wanted. Rick assured me that he was going to take care of it. I tried to stop him saying that we could confront his mother later, but he wasn't having it. He stormed into the house immediately, and I saw him talking to his mother's

fiancé. I couldn't hear their conversation, but Rick was visibly furious. His mother returned from the bathroom, looking confused and concerned. She tried to approach the situation casually, but Rick cut her off. In a firm and controlled voice, he asked, did you do something to my wife's food? The question hung in the air, and everyone around the table fell silent. sensing the tension. Mill stammered, denying any wrongdoing and acting innocent. She claimed that she only wanted to make sure I had a healthy meal for the baby. Rick wasn't buying it. He warned her loudly that if she didn't confess right then and there, then he would be calling the police. Everyone looked at them confused since no one had an idea that I had exchanged plates and she had eaten from the plate she had

apparently given me. Mill tried to get out of it by saying how she had not done anything and it was probably our wild imagination, but I walked into the room and told everyone what had happened. My mother gasped in shock and disdain and asked me if I was okay. I nodded and turned my head to Mill who looked furious that she had been caught. With everyone staring at her and judging her for what she had done, she finally confessed that she had just mixed up large amounts of salt to my salad as a harmless prank. My eyes widened in shock and I had. asked her why she would ever do something like that and Mill tried to justify saying salt was not going to kill me or anything and I would have probably gone and puked like she did,

so it was not a big deal. Before I could even react to her callousness, Rick looked like he had lost his mind and started shouting at her that she was crazy to do something like this and that she needed to be reported. Mill scoffed saying that this was being blown out of proportion and that salt could never kill anyone. She continued to say how as a new mother I should get used to puking so this prank was clearly not a big deal. My mother, who had never before disrespected Mill, marched up to her angrily saying, how dare you play with my daughter's health, especially during such a special moment? You should be ashamed of yourself. How dare you jeopardize the well-being of your own grandchild? You've gone too far, and I never want to see you near my daughter

again. Rick chimed in saying that what she had done was outright crazy and that her actions were unacceptable. He asked her and her fiancé to leave immediately. Mill, realizing the severity of the situation, attempted to downplay her actions, insisting it was just a joke but not a single person came to her support. The atmosphere was tense as Rick escorted his mother out, and I remained standing, still processing what had just happened. Our friends and family came up to me offering me their support. Everyone's excited mood had been brought down by Mill and her immature actions. Rick returned shortly, apologizing to everyone for the disruption and assuring them that we should continue to celebrate regardless of how toxic his mother was since he was going to

be a father for the first time. The mood had undoubtedly shifted, but our loved ones rallied around us, offering their support and understanding. Since that day, Rick and I have decided that we cannot allow our baby anywhere near his mother after what she has done. Clearly, something is inherently wrong with her and we can't put my life or the baby's life at risk by allowing her to disrupt our lives. Would it if we cut her off from our lives? Update 1, thank you, everyone, for your support and comments these past four days.

To everyone asking why are we even feeling guilty for cutting her off even after what she did, it's because Rick has never had a healthy relationship with a parent. He and his mom clearly have a toxic relationship, but it's not always easy for a child to cut off his parents matter how difficult they are. But because it is now about the health. health of our baby, Rick seems to have made up his mind about it. I just don't want him to regret anything which is why I wanted some unbiased opinions from everyone. He has decided to talk to her separately as I don't have the energy to face her ever again. Hopefully, things go well and I will update you soon. Update 2, so it's been a month since my last update.

Unfortunately, things have not been going well with our plan to cut off our mill. First of all, Rick went and talked with her about our decision and they had a huge fight which was quite expected. But after that, knowing that we don't want her in our lives, she keeps showing up at our place unannounced. She mostly does this during the weekdays knowing that Rick would be at the office and I would be at home alone. Luckily, we already have cameras installed so I never opened the door for her. She hasn't done anything crazy but comes around with chocolates or flowers. I never touch those things since I have paranoia now in case she has done something to them. Rick always comes back home and throws them straight into the bin.

It's unsettling to live with this constant anxiety, and it has taken a toll on my mental well-being as well. We are hoping that eventually, she is going to give up since she is blocked on our phones and we don't open the door for her either. My parents have been worried for me ever since the incident and my mother comes over and stays with me whenever she can. For now, I am just trying my hardest to focus on this journey of becoming a mother and being as healthy as possible for my child. Update 3, hey everyone, thank you for everyone's continued support these last few months and I would like to apologize for not giving an

update sooner. I have been quite busy with my life, but I have a very important update. Remember when I wrote that my mill would continue to show up to our place hoping to talk to me? Well, a few weeks ago, after repeated attempts to contact us, she left a letter in the mailbox. I opened it hesitantly, half expecting some manipulative plea or a guilt trip. To my surprise, the letter was more of a formal apology. Mill expressed regret for her past actions, acknowledging the harm she had caused. She promised to respect our decision and give us the space we needed by never contacting us again until we were ready to do so.

I was shocked to read the letter and when Rick came, I asked him to double check if this was really his mother's handwriting since this was quite unexpected. It turns out that she is married now, which happened way faster than unexpected so probably she wants to turn over a new leaf which I appreciate, and part of me wants to believe her sincerity. However, for the sake of our safety, we will continue to maintain our distance from her. For now, Rick and I are focused on preparing for the upcoming arrival of our child, hoping for a peaceful and stress-free environment.

I hope you enjoy this story. Tom admitted his fixation on my spouse and had a collection of covert pictures of her. Presently, his marital union is terminated as his spouse evicted him and is leaving. For full custody. My brother-in-law just told my wife he is in love with her. Anyway, yesterday my brother-in-law out of the blue

asks my wife if she can meet him for lunch, there is something he needs to talk to her about. My wife tells me about it before accepting and asks if it might have something to do with my sister. Maybe they are having problems and he wants to discuss with another woman. I find it odd but I tell her to go find out. So she accepts and they meet for lunch at a place near her office the next day. That's where he tells her that he is in love with her. He lays it on thick, how beautiful she is, how she makes him feel, how he would treat her

if she were his, how it was love at first sight, blah, blah, blah. Mind you, this man is married to my sister and has two kids. He and my wife had a friendly relationship, our families see each other often as we are a close family. He does text her frequently, but there was nothing overly sexual. My brother-in-law texts and calls my mom too. So none of us thought anything of it. I want to stop a moment and emphasize that my wife isn't cheating

on me with him. My wife and I share an iPad and I see every one of her texts from there. We are also looking at each other's phones all the time so none of that is going on. So she doesn't let him finish, walks out and calls me immediately to tell me what happened. While she is on the phone with me the texts from him start. He didn't mean it, he thinks it's only infatuation, blah, blah, blah. She leaves work early to come home to talk to me about this and her phone is blah. He didn't mean it, blowing up the entire time with calls and texts from him. I tell her to answer and she put him on speaker so I can hear. He's crying begging not to tell my sister.

Apparently when we were together this past weekend he thought that she was flirting with him and that he thought they had a moment when they were alone in our kitchen. Now, my wife is a major ball buster and I suppose I can see how that can be taken as flirting. He asks if she told me, to which I answer yes as I am on speaker. Then he starts begging me. This went on a while. My main question was whether he had cheated on my sister before. He said no, swore on his kids' lives.

It's just my wife, he said I should understand. So I'm done listening at that point and told him I wasn't going to do anything tonight and I would call him tomorrow. That's where we are right now and I really don't know what to do. My wife says drive over there right now and tell my sister but the I of wrecking my sister's family is killing me. Thinking about what it will do to my nieces makes me want to vomit. I know the right thing to do is tell my sister, but I'm also thinking about my wife as well. It's not her fault, but there is sure to be resentment toward her for my family. Even if my sister doesn't divorce him and they reconcile I can't see how we are ever together

again like we were before, if at all. This whole episode can tear my family apart. I don't give a shit about him, he tried to destroy my family, but I do care about everyone else. I don't know what to do. Any advice will help. Update 1, so everyone that told me last night that I couldn't wait to tell my sister was right. A little after 12 last night I get a call from my sister and says that she has to tell me that my wife tried to begin an affair with her husband. So he tried to pin it on her. I told her that's not the case and I will be right over. So I did Get on the phone, wake my mother and father, tell them what's going on, wake my younger brother, tell him. My mom and dad head to my sisters to sit with their kids and my brother comes to our house

to sit with ours and my wife and I head over. My sister is out in the front porch with my brother-in-law when we get there. He looks beaten, he knows we have texts and voicemail. I really don't know what he was hoping to accomplish. My wife gives my sister her phone, she sees the texts, listens to the voicemails and he starts sobbing before she can say anything. My brother-in-law is a firefighter, a big tough guy so this is a scene. My sister is pretty tough, she tells him to stop it, pack a bag and go. She can't stand to look at him. There's more begging but she has no patience for it. So my sister walks off to talk with

my wife. I see them hugging so at least I feel like they are okay. They have actually been friends since college, I met my wife through my sister. So they are tight. The thought of this wrecking her friendship had been weighing on me. This leaves me with my brother-in-law. He's broken so I feel more sympathy than anger. He says he's sorry, he just couldn't help it. It's not hard to fall in love with my wife so I get it but damn man. He eventually picks himself up and leaves. So we are there all night. My sister starts asking my wife why her husband would think any of this would work out.

He had to have some reason to believe that she felt the same way. My sister says they hadn't been having problems. Everything was as it had always been. My wife is crying at this point and says there's nothing you haven't seen. She gives my sister her phone again and they read every text ever sent over the past two years, nothing there. My wife was just herself. She has a playful personality and so does my brother-in-law so they tease each other. She does the same to my mom and younger brother as well. The only thing she could think of was the moment in the kitchen this past weekend he referenced. They both went

for the fridge at the same time and they playfully jostled for who would get their first. He lets her win but he reaches around her waist to get a beer slowly and she did feel the way that he did it was little inappropriate. She says she should have called him on it but didn't want to make it a big thing. She feels maybe the fact that she didn't give him hope. My sister doesn't blame her so at least that's good. So then my sister starts going through his MacBook to see what else she doesn't know about. She's angry and frantic at this point. She guesses the password, starts searching and finds a lot of pictures on of my wife on that computer. They went back years and always isolated on just her. We had gone as couples to the Caribbean a few years earlier. My wife wore a bikini, she usually doesn't but

since it was adults only she did. There were probably 50 of her in that bathing suit. So he's been secretly been snapping these for years. Does this now enter retraining order territory? This has taken a creepy turn. I'll update when I have more. Comments, Mace 1, the fact that you so casually said you wouldn't do anything tonight and you would call him tomorrow and not tell your sister ASAP is highly suspect. Can't imagine a situation where any man would want to have lunch with my wife alone to share something with her and I'd be okay with that. You really said wait until tomorrow after he professed their undying love to your wife. Something is afoot and there is more to this story you're not sharing, Op. We are all pretty close.

My sister and my wife are college friends and we are family. I know this guy well he's not a stranger. I just needed some time to process. My whole life just changed. Yo, yo, yo, damn, he does text her frequently but there was nothing overly sexual. So since the constant text to your wife from your sister's husband were only a bit sexual, you let it slide. Anyways, I can't believe you didn't go straight to your sisters tell her and beat his ass. Op, the texts never crossed the line.

I see all of them and he knows that. We are family. It never occurred to me or my wife that things could take this turn. Like I said my wife is a ball buster and she treated him like a brother, like family. Update 2, I've shared with my wife many of your comments. It makes her feel better that virtually everyone here holds her blameless, it makes her feel better so thank you. Unfortunately the mess continues. My sister agreed to talk to her husband last night and let him explain. She puts my wife on FaceTime during this conversation so there will be no lying.

I'm listening in as well off camera. My sister is also recording the whole thing. He admits he's been obsessed with my wife for years. It started the day he met her. My wife and I were dating at the time but he met my wife before he met me. Like I said my wife and sister are long-time friends and my sister wanted to introduce her boyfriend to her friends. He thought it was only physical for a while but over time he knew it was more. My sister nearly kicks him out right there but listens a little more and she eventually asks what made him think that my wife would leave me for him.

He answers that there is obviously mutual attraction and he figured it would begin as an affair and then things would progress from there. My wife and sister explode at that point, a lot of cussing, a lot of screaming. Phone call is over, my wife hangs up because at this point she is concerned for me. She's shaken and distraught, assures me the attraction was one-sided. I never thought it wasn't. Even if she did find him physically attractive, I know she would never act on it. She's just not the type. Early on in our relationship she caught me admiring her as she was dressing, asked if I liked what I saw before her face turned cold and told me never to fuck up or I'd never see it again. She meant it, she's serious about trust.

Anyway, I knew my brother-in-law was a little C-C-K-Y, but my God I never knew he thought that highly of himself to be able to pull off something like this. I talked to my sister later on and she is contacting the lawyer Monday to see what steps she can take to limit his exposure to her. kids. As far as she is concerned, he is detached from reality. That's all I have for now. I'll update once the dust settles a bit. Comments, Paul N. VA, my wife and I were talking about this and that's what we thought. He wanted to start an affair and then go from there. There is no way to recover from asking your sister-in-law to have an affair if the feeling isn't mutual. You've torched everything. Incredibly high-risk gambit with a low success potential. But, he would have done this sooner or later, with or without the kitchen incident.

Op, he had made comments to me many times through the years that my wife was out of my league. I would just laugh and agree, she is. I guess he thought his gamble was not so high risk. Update 3. This is likely to be my final update as I don't see much more happening. after this besides divorce processings. Thanks for all the comments, they have helped my wife's son with the guilt. Anyway, my brother-in-law returned home yesterday, not because my sister wants him back but because she can't legally stop him. They are done, I think he realizes that now.

The lawyer tells my sister that since my brother-in-law's behavior over the past few days has been documented there is a good chance she will be granted full custody. He doesn't seem to even want to fight her on that. My sister will be fine, any love she had for him is gone and she doesn't seem to broken up about it. The kids don't know what happened yet, but my brother-in-law was never around much anyway when the kids were home. He slept at the fire station many nights and put in a lot of overtime. But it is certain to be hard on them once they know what's going to happen. Many commenters have said that there must be more women, but as far as we can tell there hasn't been.

It's really just the obsession with my wife. She has blocked his phone but on the same night he returned home he sends my wife an email from account he just made. It started with an apology but then took a turn. He said he never got to finish at the restaurant that day. Then he went on for paragraphs and paragraphs about all the things he loves about my wife and the desperation he felt that lead him to do what he did. He mentioned their mutual attraction again and the sexual tension that he always felt was between them, and ended with a rather large section about me. Let's just say I didn't know he had such a low opinion of me.

He was quite certain that I was not satisfying my wife properly. Anyway, we sent the email to my sister and it will go to the lawyer. It might be enough to get him removed from the house. Finally my wife isn't great, but she is doing better every day. She does blame herself for being too comfortable around my brother-in-law. She is always careful to set boundaries with other men. In case you haven't figured it out already, my wife is pretty stunning and gets a lot of male attention. But with my brother-in-law she felt safe to be herself since he was family.

Surely no lines would be crossed. She and my sister are cool and there doesn't appear to be any resentment so that makes me happy. We will all be okay. It will just take time. Thanks to all who commented and voiced their support. comments any decision four seventy what a bomb that he threw in to blow everything up please take steps to secure your home and car recommend the restraining order so he can't come around trying to explain or convince or apologize to your wife hoping your sister can do what needs to be done and can move on to a better life-op i don't think my brother-in-law is dangerous just conceded the guy was quite the lady's man before getting married and still got plenty of of attention even after. His ego is bruised. But I do have cameras and an alarm. P.H. 1,226. Thank you for sharing this sad story. It has been helpful for me. My wife has been casually pursued

by a married member of my club and she is usually too surprised and modest to assume what he's after. When he first started, my wife thought it was just harmless banter, but I didn't and told her I didn't think so. As it continued, she finally realized I was right, so when I had to tell him to knock it off, she was relieved. It took three incidents for him to finally get the message. Op, my wife is mad at herself because she is usually so careful. She's had so many incidents when she was younger with guys she was friendly to that ended up making unwanted advances. Now on to the next story. Story 2. Wife was sleeping with her boss in exchange. for promotions and expensive gifts. I exposed their affair to his wife in HR, got them both

fired, then filed for divorced. Hey everyone. I was married to my wife for three years before she cheated on me. My wife and I were not strangers before we started dating. We had known each other through a charity volunteer organization we both joined. And even though we weren't friends initially, we used to say hi and hello whenever we saw each other. About a year after I joined the volunteer team, I realized I was heavily crushing on her, and this pushed me to get closer. We became friends and would go out together to eat after our volunteer sessions.

From there, our friendship bloomed, and my feelings for her grew. Long story short, after months of hanging out with each other, we started dating, and we married after a year and six months of dating. In the one year and six months, I dated my wife, I believed I knew everything about her. We had opened up to each other about our past. She insisted we open up because it was important for our relationship and marriage, and I agreed. I told her about myself, my exes, and everything she needed to know, and she did the same. But some years down the line, I realized that she only told me the things she wanted me to hear.

Before I learned that my wife was cheating on me, our marriage was beautiful and blissful. We were like Lewis and Clark. Loved each other so much, and I was always happy to be around her. My wife worked for a top marketing agency in our state and was great at what she did. At least, I believe so because of the promotions she got, the increase in her earnings, and the bonuses. On my end, I worked as a business consultant, but my earnings were less than. than hers. For once, I was never jealous of her. Instead, I encouraged her to work harder and hit her monthly targets. It was even a relief on my end that she had a great job, and we could collaboratively

take care of the bills, rent, and other expenses at home. While we were still together, she told me about how her colleagues in her office hated her for no reason, and I had even noticed the look on their faces once I had to drop her at the office. When she said this, I didn't think it was that serious, and I believed her colleagues acted that way because they felt threatened by my wife's success and the speed she used to climb the ladder. Also, my wife was one of those sassy drama queens that loved to draw attention or be the center of attention wherever she went, and she was a high-taste fashionista who loved to wear expensive things. So, I thought it was also one of the reasons some of her

colleagues did not like her. Most times, when she talked about it, we would laugh and joke about them, but it was never anything serious. We were so close that we talked about everything and anything that happened during the day at our different workplaces, and this helped us bond better. When we were dating, I knew my wife was a career-driven woman, and she always said she could do anything to be successful. Whenever she said this, I thought she meant dedication, working harder, committing fully to the organization she worked for and the other attributes that could make anyone successful. I never knew that she would go as far as giving her body in exchange for success. I honestly believe she earned everything she got from her hard work and dedication to her company.

The day I found out, I was cleaning our home office. In the past, it was always my wife that cleaned our home office. But she didn't have time to clean it for a while because she had been so busy with work. Also, our home office was in no condition for use because it was so untidy, so I decided to clean it up. After cleaning, I was trying to move things back and organize them, and that's when I stumbled on a hidden stack of gift cards and receipts for expensive jewelry and other stuff from an undisclosed source. Initially, when I saw them, it didn't make sense to me that they were hidden, I could tell they were hidden because of where I found them. But after going through the gift cards and receipts, I knew something.

was off. Before I made this discovery, I never questioned my wife about the expensive stuff she wore or bought. I knew she was earning well, and she loved things like that. And I also believed she must have gotten most of them during discount season like she claimed. I knew I would do my own digging, so I returned everything to the position I found them, organized our home office, and waited for her to come home. When she came home, I welcomed her as usual, and we had our regular chats and gossip. Later that night, when she was sleeping, I went through her phone, and to my greatest surprise, I found out she had been sleeping with her boss. This was a shock, but after I went through their conversation, I understood why she got all the bonuses and promotions.

I was angry and thought of the best way to pay her back, then an idea came. Her boss was a very popular man in our state, and that was because his wife was a well-known real estate agent. I decided to find her online, and I got her direct contact in no time. The next day, I contacted her and asked that we meet. When she agreed, we met at a coffee shop, and I presented all the gift cards, receipts, and asked her if her husband gives her as much as he gives my wife. When she saw the screenshot of the text messages I had sent to my phone, and all the receipts and gift cards, she was so mad and heartbroken at the same time.

and on my end, I forwarded everything to my wife's company HR, and after an investigation was carried out, she was fired, and her boss was demoted. While all this happened, I confronted my wife and told her I knew she had been sleeping with her boss. At first, she tried to deny it and said I was beginning to sound like her colleagues, but after I showed her the receipts and chats, she began to cry and said she could explain. She said she had to sleep with her boss because she realized that hard work alone would not take her to the level of success she wanted and that she did it for us. When she said she did it for us, I almost lost it. I ended up kicking her out of the house, and by this time, she didn't know I had forwarded everything to her hour. She found out after being fired and was forced to move locations to find a new job. After she moved out of my house, my next step was a divorce.

So to make things more difficult for her, I made sure our divorce case was taken to court several hours away from her new workplace. Eventually, we divorced, and she is out of my life for good. I pity the next man she will end up with because she won't stop cheating on her future spouse until she gets the kind of success she wants. Meanwhile, never listen to what women say, especially about their past. My wife told me she had never cheated on any of her partners before and wouldn't do such a thing in the future. But she was getting favors and promotions in exchange for her body the whole time.

I have no intentions of being in a relationship anytime soon because, at this moment, my peace of mind is my top priority. I hope you enjoy this story. Guardians forced me to leave my studies to care for my younger sibling without compensation, prompting me to flee. Now, my mother is persistently following me, warning of abduction following an unsuccessful endeavor to bring me back home. 15F will be a junior in high school once the new school year starts. I have a little brother I'll call Matt, 3M. My parents both worked full-time jobs in the business district.

I was a planned baby, but Matt wasn't. My parents considered putting him up for adoption, but couldn't do it, they don't know I know this. When mom ended her maternity leave, two weeks early, there was a schedule of who watched. watched Matt when. Mom leaves for work at 4.30 a.m., waking me up on the way. I watch Matt until I need to go to school at 7 o'clock, and by that time, my dad is up and takes over. I get home from school at 3.45 p.m., and my dad leaves for his work at no later than 4 p.m. I watch until my mom gets home at 6 p.m. For the first year, that's how it went. I was fine with that. Now, my mom's has shifted her hours to work later. I watch Matt till he sleeps and I can't sleep till my mom gets home, which is usually 10 to 11 at night. On top of that, I do anything that needs doing at home. I'm in AP classes and have my homework to do as well. Matt's not very well behaved, he's had health issues since birth that cause him discomfort. He's a toddler, and I get that,

but his tantrums and general demeanor make it hard for me to get things done. The two things that tore me down most happened a week before school ended back in May. I managed to talk to my mom and asked her if we could please hire a sitter to look after I want to take on some extracurriculars. Her response was they didn't need to waste money on that, because they had me. Two days later, my mom got home at 5 p.m., early, for her, and after eating dinner, told me to ask the school if I could shorten my class load next year in order to spend more time at home, since my dad also apparently wants to shift his hours. I told her no. She got mad, saying I needed to be more understanding and accepting. I had enough and blew up. I can't remember what all was said, but I do remember yelling that I

wasn't my little brother's parent. I left my room, stuffed some things in my backpack, and left while my mom was distracted by my brother. I'm safe, I called my grandmunt. I called my grandm and explained what was going on. She and my mother are estranged, but we managed to stay close. Once she picked me up and got the details, she said she understood. My parents blew up my phone, demanding I come home and telling me I should be ashamed I'm acting this way. My grandmother blocked their numbers. She did talk to them, and they agreed I can stay where I'm at until I get my head on straight. I feel guilty for leaving my brother, but at the same time, I feel so worn out. Other family weighed in. While most are on my side, others say I need to accept my

duties in the family and suck it up. I'm conflicted and don't know what to do. Ida for running away. Update, in comments, same day. Update. Posting here in the comments since doing it in the post pushed me over the limit. Thank you to everyone who left comments. I feel more confident in my decision now. A couple of people said I needed to talk to my parents about a sitter or boundaries. I've tried, before the last time. They either brushed me off or said things like that cost so much money and but you do such a good job and you're the big sister, it's your duty to watch him. I looked up parenthification since I'd never heard it before and all the boxes were ticked. I had no idea.

My grandmother is talking to an attorney and wants to set up an arrangement that will let me stay with her my last two years of high school. After I graduate, I plan to go to college in another state. Thank you again for your kind words. If something major happens, I'll let you all know. OOP is voted anti-A. Update post, July 16th, 2023, almost one month later. It's been a few weeks, but quite a bit has happened. I'll try my best to keep things concise. Once again, thank you for for all your comments and support. They meant a lot to myself and my grandmother, who says hello. Firstly, my father managed to find my post despite my efforts.

He told my mother about it, and she proceeded to blast me to the members of my extended family via social media, saying I made them look bad. She deleted the post a few hours later according to my cousins, who support me. A few days later, during a meeting between my parents and myself, my grandmother, and our lawyer, my father apologized to me, and I felt it was sincere. As for my mother, she was silently fuming. Matt was at their house with one of my aunts. They agreed, with great reluctance on my mother's end, to give my grandmother full custody of me for my remaining three years as a minor. The next day, my grandmother and some of my supportive family members

helped me get what I had for belongings out of my parents' house. I didn't feel true relief until that moment. Now, I'm trying to enjoy my summer. I'm hanging out with friends. Going swimming. I'm relaxing. I'm finally reading books I bought three years ago that I never got a chance to read. I'm planning extracurriculars for next semester, and even planning a birthday party, my first and three years, for my sweet 16 in February. I'm also helping my grandmother around the house. I do chores, but this time, I'm getting an allowance. Even my sleep has improved. It's a whole new way of living, and it's kind of overwhelming, but I've never been happier. Hopefully, this is the last time I post. I'm going to log off Reddit and go out with my grandmother for some shopping. Thank you all.

Relevant comments. Did you get all of your documents? Our lawyer was with us when we went to get my things and requested all my important documents. My father handed them over. My mother hid in the master bedroom. Make sure to go completely no contact. Back when I first left the house, my grandmother blocked their numbers and I blocked all their socials and emails. I don't hate them, life's too short for hate, I don't even think I'm angry anymore.

Just disappointed and let down. Any chance they will neglect or abuse Matt when you're gone. Have they before? I don't believe they did. Mom would get frustrated because of how fussy he was, but never abused him. Dad was more patient with him. I think they honestly thought I had some gift when it came to him, like I was able to keep him behave slash calm. I wasn't.

About her brother. I hope to reconnect with him once he's older, but with our mother being who she is. Who knows? Update Post 2, February 18. 2024, seven months later. Hey everyone. I previously posted in the IDA sub-reddit about a situation between myself and my parents, mostly my mother. TLDR, I was perennified and forced to devote 99% of my free time to my younger brother.

I got fed up and ran to my grandmother. I surrendered legal custody of me to her. There are more details in the two posts I made about the topic. Things have been going smoothly, I'm doing well in school, taking some extracurriculars, robotics and debate team, and still have time to read and hang out with friends. I have started to communicate with my dad, my decision. Never in person, just over the phone. Mostly at small talk. I talk about school and classes, and he gives me updates on Matt, my little brother. I've not said a word to my mother directly since the day custody was given to my grandmother.

The last time we spoke, my dad told me that Matt had realized I was no longer around, and became more agitated. They hired a nanny to help out, but both my parents were still forced to cut back their hours. That was a week and a half ago. This past Saturday, I had my dream birthday party, which was themed after books. My birthday cake looked like a stack of books, snacks were themed after literary genres, and everyone came dressed as book characters, I dressed as Sherlock Holmes. We had a very cozy venue all to ourselves, and it was great. It was a very chill, relaxed party. My grandmother hired security for the party, with a strict list of who was allowed. This was due to a couple of bullies at school who heard about my party

and threatened to crash it. The party ended after a few hours, and most of the guests left. The ones left were my grandmother, myself, one of the guards, and my two closest friends. I excused myself to go to the restroom, and when I came out, one of my friends met me halfway down the hall. She tried to push me back into the restroom, saying my mother had shown up and was demanding to see me. I told nobody from my family about this party, not my dad, not even the ones who supported me, because of this exact possibility. I also didn't post about it on social media.

I heard yelling from my grandmother and decided to confront the situation myself. The security guard was holding my mom back, and my grandmother was livid. The second my mother saw me, she became irate, screaming that I was a disgrace, that she was never going to let me just cut her off, and if I knew what was good for me, I'd come home. I didn't feel scared or even angry. I was just tired. I kind of sighed, pulled out my phone, and told her I was calling the police. It was up to her if she stayed to face them, but either way, I was filing a no-contact order. She went pale, screamed at me one last time, then ran off, getting into her car and speeding away.

I was glad it didn't happen during the party, but it left me shaken. Needless to say, my grandmother and I will be speaking to our attorney tomorrow. I'm still not sure how she found out about the party, which is what spooks me the most. You entitled slash narcissistic parents just have some ability that lets them repeatedly attempt to screw up their kids' lives. I'm starting to feel like I'll have to watch out for my mom the rest of my life. Relevant comments. This exchange

Commenter, to answer your question. Yes, they try to ruin their children's life whenever they can. Why? Because they don't see that they are in fault because they are too self-absorbed to have common sense. In their eyes always others will be at fault. Have you spoken to your dad since this incident or do you intend to? Or are you going and see with him too? If you speak to him maybe he can give you information who told your mom because this person needs to get out of the picture.

I have this for you. Sums up pretty perfectly how narcissists are. Boop, I have not spoken to my dad since the incident. I really don't want to go no contact with him. He seems the most apologetic over what I went through and is trying to change, from what I've gathered through speaking to him. I never told him about the party, so he couldn't have informed my mother. I do intend to call him today and see what fallout happened after my mother left.

Thank you for the link. Yeah, that adds up. Could she be tracking your phone? I thought about that, and my grandmother agreed. We checked over my phone to see if there was anything of the sort and found nothing. Definitely considering a new phone. Therapy Thank you.

I am in therapy. It's really helping me with a lot of the guilt and pressure I felt after running away. I won't lie, despite my posts in IDA, a good chunk of me wanted to give in and run right back home. But I knew that wasn't what I really wanted, and also knew that if I did, I just keep sacrificing unnecessarily. Update Post 3, March 4, 24, two weeks later. Sorry for how late this update is. A lot has happened and I've also been busy with schoolwork. I talked to my dad and told him what happened. He sounded horrified and apologized profusely. I told him not to, since it wasn't his fault. He said he'd get to the bottom of it and get back to me.

In the meantime, we spoke to our lawyer and he agreed to my idea of filing a no-contact order against my mother. It's currently in progress. My grandmother contacted my school to ensure that my mother was not permitted on campus or allowed to get any information about me. Both my grandmother and I got new phones, and had my grandmother's car checked for air tags, none were found. I checked out all my friends' social media and nothing was posted before the party. I was baffled. Five days later, I got a call back from my dad. Apparently, he put a lot of pressure on my mother and she finally spilled the beans. She bumped into another parent at a store, the mom of one of my most recent friends who was unable to make the party, they caught a cold. Said mom was not

aware of all the drama between my mother and I, giving enough information for my mother to put two and two together and figure out where the party was. I am just thankful she was unable to get the exact time of the party. She tried calling the venue, but we password locked, I think that's the right term, everything and they gave her no info. She didn't regret any of it, and even suggested waiting off school grounds once school let out and tried to drag me back by the hair one day, just typing that makes me shiver and feel sick to my stomach. My dad was appalled, and apparently that was the breaking point. They had a huge argument, and to make a long story short, he said he was done. He's in a process of moving out and staying in a hotel currently.

He's filing for divorce and full custody of Matt. He offered to pay the nanny extra to hire her himself for Matt's sake. Now, even the relatives that were on my mother's side have started to cut her off. She insists she did nothing wrong and that everything happening was my fault for being ungrateful and disloyal. All in all, there's hope for my dad and my brother. I think we can definitely have a better relationship in the future, so long as my mother stays out of the picture. Time will tell, I guess. And I guess that's it. Someone asked in the comments of my last, Post asked if I was planning on completely cutting my mother out of my life once the no-contact order was filed. I didn't want to, she's my mom. But the way she is now, I don't think I have a

choice. It's for my safety and mental slash physical slash emotional well-being. She doesn't have my best interests at heart, only her own. It's sad, but I know it's not my fault she's the way she is now. Now on to the next story. Family and friends. ruined my marriage by making me paranoid about my wife cheating. After divorce I confronted them. They admitted trying to steal her away. I've been divorced for almost two years and a few weeks ago my father, 67M, my two brothers, 37m and 40m, and four friends, 35m, 37m, 38, 41m, while very drunk joked about how they can't believe I left my wife. They said that they all tried to get with her since the divorce, but she had repeatedly saying it would be inappropriate

and unkind to do such a thing to me. I laughed at what they were saying just to ease them into saying more and once they thought I found it funny they really opened up. They had all purposely made me feel paranoid about my ex-wife cheating on me and using me because why would a woman like her be with a man like me if it wasn't for the money I made? They often hinted at her sometimes even directly said that she wore the pants in the relationship and that she was only with me because I'm easily manipulated. They constantly planted negative things into my mind. If I went to talk with them about something happening in my relationship, they would put a negative twist to it or they'd purposely give me bad advice. Then when I lost my job during COVID,

they all hinted at how she's definitely cheating now that there's no financial benefit in being faithful to me. I obviously trusted them and often took their words to heart and it ruined my marriage. I frequently argued with my wife and I was always accusing her of something or suspecting her of not really loving me. I questioned everything that was between us. I often told her bullshit things like how I'm a high value man and that she needed to appreciate me and when I was not working for six months I flipped the script and started accusing her of not respecting me for not working. I was unappreciative of all her hard work and for being the one who took care of our household bills and any other bill during those six months of unemployment. I continued to let their words drive me into paranoia and I started accusing her of

cheating with her co-workers. Eventually my wife had enough of my moods, constant mistrust and accusations. She left me and to be honest for a long time it felt like it came out of nowhere and so I had myself convinced she left me for another man. Now here I am knowing that every man I've called my family, my friend were all my enemies who I let destroy my marriage. I obviously lost my mind once they were done telling me all the ways they conspired to ruin my marriage, and we did get to blows. I've cut off all contact with each and every one of them. I want to reach out to my ex and make amends and hopefully get her back. My ex-wife has agreed to meet up with me and she doesn't know exactly what I want to discuss with her and I don't know how to go about making

amends and hopefully mending our relationship. How do I tell her how much I regret everything and that I want her to give me a second chance. Is there even a chance for us? Edit. Some of you all keep saying you took the words of your friends over your wives and I don't think that's a fair or complete assessment. I trusted my father and brothers. My father was the main driving force behind this manipulation campaign and it's not often that your entire family is conspiring against you. And not only your family but also your friends. I'm not running away from accepting the fact that it is wholly my fault and how my marriage ended. I take ownership of that. I take ownership of the fact that I accused my wife of being a cheater or a user. I regret it all. If my ex-wife doesn't

accept my apology, I would accept it gracefully. If she said she never wanted to talk to me or ever get back together, I'd also accept it. I would not stand in the way and I would not try to change her mind. I would wish her well and leave her be. Relevant comments. Fun statistician 550. Well, they certainly knew you're easy to manipulate, don't they? I'm glad you cut these people off. And I would also make a concerted effort to hear your ex out. I don't know if she'll ever forgive you, but at least give her closure if that's what she needs. Oop. As much as it hurts to read this and to see myself as such a person it is true. I trusted these men. I especially trusted my father and brothers. I never thought my own family would be plotting to ruin my marriage and get with my wife.

I absolutely won't get in the way of her unburdening herself. I can only hope she can find a way to forgive me and to possibly trying to get back together but I'm not holding my breath. I would respect her wishes even if that means she'll never forgive me. Jess, M.O., Jew. So are you telling me that you dad and brothers also tried to get with your wife? Island underscore Lord 830. I'm shocked they are still alive after a confession like that. I command Bahamians just a volatile to hear something like that and not go off. That's just vile. I didn't include the violence that broke out once heard at all because I didn't want get my post-band. Blood was absolutely spilled.

And of course I had my ass beat because it was seven against one. But I did do damage in an ambulance and the police were called. None of us pressed charges against each other and left it at that. Honestly, I am still raging and I've been heartbroken since. Update March 4, 2024. Six days later. On Sunday I got to meet up with my ex-wife. I apologize profusely and she was kind and understanding but said she couldn't and wouldn't forgive me.

She said that it simply isn't in her nature to forgive and that despite it all she holds no grudges or anger against me and wishes me nothing but goodness in my life. She did give me some advice and told me that I have been in an abusive relationship all my life and that in order to heal whatever is broken in me that I should cut out my father as he sets the tone for my treatment by the rest of my family. She had pointed out the many ways my father has hurt me or had encouraged my family to mistreat me. She said I'd always be stagnated and unhappy if I continue to associate myself with my family and former friends. I told her that I cut them out of my life and that I've got my first therapy session scheduled in a few days. She said she was proud of me for taking my first step into healing. Our conversation was heartfelt and emotionally devastating as we discussed the many ways our marriage had failed as well as the abuse I've experienced by my father and family. We cried the entire time.

We cried a lot. We ended our conversation with a long hug and then we said our goodbyes. Final comment from OOP. Forgiveness is earned through changed behavior and recognition of your harm but it isn't guaranteed or something you deserve. Some things shouldn't be forgiven and that doesn't mean it eats away at the person or that it somehow holds them back. So I do I do agree with her when she said that you don't need to forgive in order to heal or gain emotional maturity. And sometimes forgiveness is not even an option. For her this one of those things that she simply can't and won't forgive and all I can do is accepted. As much as I'd like her forgiveness, it is simply not available to me and that's perfectly fine.

I hope you enjoy this story. Exited my own marriage ceremony after my partner's top female companion distributed fabricated images to all attendees. alleging I was unfaithful with him supporting her actions. She was joking. My name is Nancy, 28F. My now ex-fiancee, Jacob, 29M, and I were together for seven years. We were supposed to get married yesterday. Jacob's childhood best friend, Chloe, 29F, has always been a significant presence in his life. In our relationship, her presence was a recurring point of minor friction. Jacob consistently described her behavior as that's just Chloe, and I often felt my concerns were downplayed or dismissed.

Our relationship, aside from the issues stemming from Chloe's involvement, had been stable, and we had spent over a year planning our wedding. Over the years, there were numerous instances involving Chloe that I found unsettling. These were not isolated incidents but formed a pattern that, in retrospect, was alarming. For example, about two years ago, I was preparing for a cruise. work presentation. Jacob was meant to help me review my slides the night before. Chloe called Jacob in hysterics, claiming a minor plumbing issue in her apartment was a disaster. Jacob left immediately to assist her, staying for several hours. The disaster was a dripping faucet that a building

superintendent could have handled. I ended up prepping alone, feeling secondary. On another occasion, during what was supposed to be a celebratory dinner for our fifth anniversary, Chloe joined us, uninvited. She explained that Jacob had mentioned where we were, and she happened to be in the area. The dinner shifted from a romantic evening to Jacob and Chloe reminiscing about their childhood, with me as an outsider. Jacob saw no issue with this, stating Chloe was like family. Chloe also had a habit of making comments that seemed designed to subtly undermine me or our relationship. She would frequently praise Jacob's ex-girlfriends in my presence or make jokes about Jacob's wild days before he met me, often winking at him as if sharing a secret.

When I expressed discomfort to Jacob, he would usually say Chloe didn't mean anything by it and that I was being too sensitive. He rarely, if ever, addressed her behavior directly. The planning stages of the wedding amplified these issues. Chloe had strong opinions on many aspects, from the venue to the guest list, and Jacob often seemed to defer to her preferences or press me to accommodate them to keep the peace. She insisted on being heavily involved in tasks traditionally handled by the bridal party or the couple themselves, like accompanying Jacob to a suit fitting, where she apparently vetoed his first choice.

Yesterday was the wedding day. I was in the bridal suite with my bridesmaids and my mother, getting ready. About an hour before the ceremony was due to start, I received a text message from an unknown number. It contained a series of screenshots depicting a supposed direct message conversation. In these fabricated messages, I appeared to be confessing to an ongoing affair and expressing doubts about marrying Jacob. The accompanying text from the unknown number read, thought you should see what she's really like. This is being talked about among the guests. My maid of honor, Anne, saw my distress and I showed her the message.

She was horrified. A few minutes later, another bridesmaid received a text from her cousin, who was already at the venue, asking if the wedding was still on because somebody named Chloe started a group chat with a ton of wedding guests and sent them screenshots saying Nancy was cheating on Jacob. It became clear that Chloe was the source and had deliberately spread this information to guests arriving for our wedding. And and my mother were trying to understand what was happening, suggesting we find Jacob immediately. I walked out of the bridal suite, found my brother, and asked him to get Jacob and bring him to a small private room adjacent to the main hall.

I didn't want to see anyone else. When Jacob arrived, he looked flustered, probably from being pulled away from greeting guests. I showed him the screenshots on my phone and explained what Chloe had done, that she had sent this to the guests. His initial reaction was a nervous laugh. He said, come on, Nancy, you know Chloe. She has a weird sense of humor. It's probably just some stupid, elaborate prank. She wouldn't really try to stop the wedding. I stared at him, waiting for more. I asked him if he thought this was a joke. I asked him what he was going to do about it, about Chloe, about the guests who now thought I was unfaithful. He ran a hand through his hair and said, look, we're minutes away from the ceremony. Let's not make a scene. We can talk about it

later. It's just Chloe being Chloe, don't let her ruin our day. Just ignore it for now. He made no move to confront Chloe, to address the guests, or to even acknowledge the severity of her actions. His priorities seemed to be avoiding embarrassment and proceeding with the ceremony as if nothing was wrong. The calmness with which he dismissed something so vile, his immediate shielding of Chloe, and his complete disregard for my public humiliation and emotional state in that moment, was a final, clarifying event. I told him that if he believed this was something that could be ignored, or that Chloe's actions were just a joke, then I couldn't marry him.

I stated that his refusal to stand up for me, for us, Against such a malicious act, spoke volumes. He started to argue, to plead, saying I was overreacting, that we were about to get married. I didn't engage further. I turned, walked out of the room, past my confused and concerned family members and bridesmaids in the hallway. I told my brother I was leaving. He tried to ask what was wrong, but I just shook my head and kept walking. I exited the venue through a side door, found a taxi, and left.

The drive away from the venue was a blur. My phone started ringing almost immediately, Jacob. Then my mother, then my father, then Anne. I didn't answer. I couldn't speak. I checked into the first decent hotel I found. Once in the room, I saw the missed calls pile up, dozens from Jacob, many from my parents, siblings, and some from Jacob's parents, and texted me, saying there was chaos at the venue.

Jacob was apparently frantic, alternating between trying to find me and trying to manage the guests. Chloe, according to Anne's texts, was telling everyone that I had inexplicably gotten cold feet, that I was unstable, and that I was making up accusations against her to cover my own reasons for backing out. My parents were trying to get answers from Jacob, who was reportedly overwhelmed. It has been approximately 10 hours since I left the venue. I've spoken briefly to my parents, only to assure them I am physically safe but not ready to talk in detail. The barrage of calls from Jacob has not stopped. His messages alternate between bewildered, where are you? What happened? Accusatory, how could you do

this to us? To me? And pleading, please come back, we can fix this. I am currently in a hotel room, trying to process the implosion of what was supposed to be my wedding day. Jacob is continuously trying to contact me. My family is in shock in waiting for a full explanation. I have received messages from friends who were guests, some confused, some already taking sides based on Chloe's narrative. Chloe is actively painting me as the villain who ruined the wedding out of nowhere. Jacob's failure to defend me, his minimization of Chloe's malicious act, felt like a betrayal, more so than Chloe's actions themselves, which were just a confirmation of her long-standing attitude. So, Reddit, I'd offer walking out of my own wedding, leaving my fiancé at the altar, because

he dismissed his best friend's deliberate, public, and false accusation of my infidelity as a joke and expected me to proceed with the ceremony? Update 1, about a week has passed since I posted. I want to thank everyone who commented and sent messages. Reading through the responses provided a sense of clarity during a very chaotic time. Many of you asked for clarifications, and I'll address some common point. Firstly, to clarify the dissemination of the false information, Chloe didn't just send the fabricated screenshots to a few individuals. She created a large group chat that included a significant

portion of the wedding guests, friends and family from both sides, and distributed the messages there. She then followed this up with texts to other individuals who weren't in that initial group. The intent was clearly to cause maximum damage and humiliation just before the ceremony. Secondly, regarding Jacob's reaction, when I confronted him, he didn't just say it was a joke in passing. He explicitly told me not to make a scene, that I was overreacting, and that we should just go through with the ceremony and sort it out later. He seemed more concerned with the public appearance of the wedding proceeding smoothly than with the accusation itself or my feelings. There was no immediate anger towards Chloe on his part, only a desire to placate me enough to get through the vows.

A number of comments questioned why I didn't confront Chloe directly at the venue. In that moment, my focus was entirely on Jacob's reaction. He was the person I was about to marry. His response was, to me, the only one that mattered. Confronting Chloe would have been a sideshow, the core issue was his lack of support and his immediate defense, however passive, of her actions. The overwhelming sentiment in the comments validated my feeling that Jacob's response was not just inadequate but a significant betrayal. It wasn't merely about Chloe's behavior,

which was undeniably malicious, but about Jacob's choice to prioritize her feelings, or perhaps the avoidance of conflict with her, over mine, even in the face of such a damaging public attack. This was the ultimate culmination of years of him minimizing my concerns about her. My decision to walk out was an immediate reaction to that specific moment of him failing to stand by me, but the weight behind the decision came from that accumulated history. The day after the wedding that wasn't, I turned off my phone for several hours to stop the incessant calls from Jacob. I then called my parents and arranged to go to their house. I needed a safe place, and I knew they would support me, even if they were still trying to

understand the full picture. My brother came to pick me up. Before leaving the hotel, I blocked Chloe's number and all her social media profiles. I had to be a little bit of her social media profiles. have not initiated any contact with Jacob. I have seen numerous missed calls and messages from him and his mother. My father has also fielded calls from Jacob's father. Upon arriving at my parents' house, I sat down with them and my siblings and explained everything in detail, from Chloe's message to Jacob's reaction, and the history leading up to it. My parents did hear snippets about what was happening during the wedding but didn't believe them, then my father was visibly angry, primarily with Jacob. He expressed that Jacob's first and only concern should have been my

well-being and defending my reputation. He wanted to call Jacob immediately, but I asked him not to, at least for now. My mother was quieter initially, then she admitted that Chloe had always made her deeply uneasy. She recounted several instances over the years where she had noticed Chloe subtly trying to sideline me or make herself the center of Jacobs' things my mother hadn't mentioned before to avoid interfering. She said she always had a bad feeling about Chloe's attachment to Jacob. Jacob's mother, Karen, left several voicemails on my phone before I turned it off, and then started calling my parents' landline. My mother answered one call. Karen was apparently furious, talking about the embarrassment we had caused, the money wasted,

and demanding that I stopped this nonsense and fix the mess I created. My mother told her firmly that I was the one who had been wronged and that she would not discuss it further with her at that time. Later that evening, my mobile phone, which I had briefly turned back on to check for any critical messages from work or non-wedding-related contacts, rang. It was Jacob. I hesitated, then answered, putting it on speakerphone with my father present in the room. Jacob sounded frantic and desperate. He asked where I was, why I had left like that, and said that Chloe was really upset and felt terrible that I had misunderstood her intentions. He started to say it was all a huge misunderstanding and that Chloe would never deliberately hurt me.

I listened, then stated calmly that his response at the venue, his dismissal of my feelings and his defense of Chloe, was the primary issue, not just Chloe's actions. I told him I couldn't talk any longer and ended the call. He tried calling back several times, but I didn't answer again. In the days that followed, several friends who had been invited to the wedding reached out. Some offered unwavering support, expressing shock at Chloe's actions and Jacob's reported response. Others were more hesitant, clearly having heard Chloe's narrative that I was unstable or had simply bolted for no good reason.

Chloe has apparently been very active on social media and in group chats, portraying herself as the bewildered friend and me as the irrational one who ruined everyone's day. A few of my close friends, who were also acquainted with Chloe through me and Jacob, admitted to me that they had seen signs of Chloe's possessiveness towards Jacob for years. They mentioned occasions where Chloe had monopolized his time or made passive-aggressive comments about me, but they hadn't spoken up forcefully, either because they didn't want to rock the boat in our social circle or because they hadn't fully grasped the extent of her influence until now. Their admissions were painful to hear, but also validating. The venue has been

contacted regarding the cancellation. As expected, most of the payments are non-refundable. The financial aspect is a secondary concern right now, but will need to be addressed. My focus has been on creating distance and processing the immediate events. Update 2, it has been two weeks since my original post, and about three weeks since the day of the non-wedding. The initial wave of chaos has subsided somewhat, but the situation remains complex and deeply painful. Thank you again for the continued messages and perspectives. Many of you asked for more context on why Jacob's actions were the final straw, and I'll try to elaborate. I explained in my previous update that walking away wasn't solely about Chloe's malicious

message. It was about Jacob's reaction, which was the culmination of a seven-year pattern where my feelings and concerns, particularly regarding Chloe, were consistently dismissed or minimized. There were countless smaller incidents. For instance, Jacob shared intimate details of our relationship with Chloe, arguments we'd had, my personal insecurities, even details about our plans for the future that I believed were private. I only discovered this accidentally when Chloe referenced something I had told Jacob in alone. When I confronted Jacob, he defended it by saying Chloe was his best friend and he talked to her about everything, seeing no breach of my trust.

On at least two occasions, Chloe coincidentally booked vacations at the same resort or nearby locations when Jacob and I were on anniversary trips. Jacob insisted it was just a funny coincidence and that it would be rude not to spend some time with her, effectively turning parts of our romantic getaways into group outings. My objections were framed as me being jealous or insecure. There were also birthdays of mine where Jacobs seemed more concerned with Chloe's enjoyment or inclusion in the plans than my own preferences. One year, he invited her to a small, intimate dinner I had specifically requested with just him,

stating Chloe would be upset if she was left out. These instances, and many others like them, created a dynamic where I often felt like an accessory to Jacob and Chloe's lifelong friendship, rather than Jacob's primary partner. His response on the wedding day wasn't an isolated lapse in judgment. It was consistent with his established pattern of prioritizing, Chloe's perceived needs or his comfort in avoiding conflict with her, over my emotional well-being and the security of our relationship. The wedding incident was merely the most public and damaging manifestation of this. My brother, David, and sister, Emily, have been incredibly supportive.

They were, and still are, furious on my behalf. After my initial explanation, they took it upon themselves to contact mutual friends and some of our family members who had been at the venue or her distorted versions of events. They calmly and factually explained what Chloe did, including sharing screenshots of Chloe's group chat messages which some of my friends had forwarded to me. They also relayed Jacob's reaction as I described it. This has had a mixed but generally positive effect. Several guests who had initially expressed confusion or had believed Chloe's narrative reached out to me or my parents with apologies. One of my aunts, who had initially called my mother quite upset about the scandal, called back to apologize, saying she hadn't understood

the full context. However, many of Jacob's family members and some of his friends, remained firmly on his, and Chloe's side, believing I overreacted catastrophically. Jacob did not stop trying to reach me after that first call I took at my parents' house. He called multiple times a day, every day, for the first week. I did not answer. He then started sending long, rambling emails. These emails were a strange mix of apologies for how things got out of hand. Justifications for his behavior, I was just in shock and didn't know what to say, blaming Chloe. Chloe really messed up, I'm so angry with her, and pleading for me to just talk to him so we could fix this. About 10 days after the event, he showed up unannounced

at my parents' house. My father met him at the door. I was upstairs but could hear the exchange. My father was very firm. He told Jacob that I did not want to see him, that he had deeply hurt me, and that he needed to leave and respect my request for space. Jacob apparently tried to argue, to plead to speak with me directly, but my father did not relent. Jacob eventually left, but not before reiterating that he just wanted to make things right. He also tried to get my siblings to mediate or convince me to speak with him, but they both

refused and told him to respect my wishes. The financial consequences are substantial. The wedding, in total, was budgeted for around $40,000, with contributions from both our families and our personal savings. As anticipated, most vendor contracts had clauses about cancellations, especially so close to the date, meaning the majority of the money paid is non-refundable. My parents had contributed a significant sum, as had I, Jacob's parents had also paid for several aspects. My parents have been very understanding and have offered to absorb the losses from their contribution and help me cover some of what I personally lost. I have made the decision that I will not be seeking any reimbursement from

Jacob or his family for my portion of the expenses or for the deposits I paid for my own funds. The thought of engaging in financial negotiations with him or his family is unbearable. I prefer to take the financial hit and have a cleaner break. I have started the process of trying to sell my wedding dress through a consignment shop, though I don't expect to. to recoup much of its value. The rings are another matter, the engagement ring is with me, and I will likely return it to Jacob via my father at some point, though I haven't addressed that yet. The emotional toll of this experience has been immense. Many friends, and indeed many comments on my original post, suggested therapy. I have taken this advice seriously. I spent some time

last week researching therapists in my area who specialize in relationship trauma, emotional abuse, and recovery from significant life upheavals. I have an initial consultation scheduled for next week. I recognize that processing this betrayal and the years leading up to it will be a long journey. Update 3. It's been approximately two months since my last update, which means it's been just over two and a half months since the wedding day that didn't happen. A fair amount has transpired, and I felt it was appropriate to provide a final update, as many of you have followed this story and offered considerable support. After a few weeks at my parents' house, I made the decision to temporarily move in with my close friend. While my parents were incredibly supportive, being in my childhood home, surrounded by

so many memories and in a place where Jacob knew he could easily find me or attempt contact via my family, was becoming stressful. Laura had a spare room and offered it to me without hesitation. Moving there provided a much-needed neutral space, a degree of anonymity, and a chance to have some emotional distance from the immediate epicenter of the fallout. Despite my clear indications that I wanted no contact, Jacob persisted. About three weeks ago, he managed to obtain Laura's phone number through a mutual acquaintance, a person with whom I have since severed ties, as I had explicitly asked them not to share my new living situation or contact details. He called me on Laura's phone, she passed it to me, looking concerned. His tone was different this time. He said he had done

a lot of thinking and that he finally understood the extent of Chloe's manipulation and, more importantly, his own failings in our relationship and on the wedding day. He claimed he had a massive confrontation with Chloe, during which he told her he recognized the toxicity of her behavior and its impact on our relationship. He stated he had cut all ties as supposed proof, he later texted Laura's phone, as I had blocked him on mine, a screenshot that appeared to show Chloe's contact blocked on his phone and a brief, angry text exchange. He pleaded for an opportunity to meet, to talk in person, to show me he was serious about changing and to see if there was any way to rebuild what was broken. I listened to what Jacob had to say on that call without much

interruption. When he finished, I told him that while I acknowledged his apparent realization and his decision regarding Chloe, it didn't change what had happened. I explained that Chloe being out of the picture, even if true and permanent, didn't erase his actions, his words, or the cumulative effect of the preceding seven years where he consistently chose to ignore my feelings regarding her and other matters. I stated that the trust between us was irrevocably shattered and that I could not envision a future where it could be restored to what it once was, or what it would need to be for a healthy marriage.

I told him I did not want to meet. following that phone call and after discussing it with Laura and my therapist, I started sessions shortly after my last update, I decided to send Jacob a formal communication. I composed an email with a copy sent to my father for his records, though he was not directly involved in its sending. In the email, I reiterated what I had told him on the phone, that our relationship was over, and his continued attempts to contact me were causing significant distress and hindering my ability to move forward. I explicitly requested that he cease all forms of communication with me, my family, and my close friends.

I stated that any further unsolicited contact would be documented and could be perceived as harassment. A few days after I sent the email, Jacobs' aunt, his mother's sister, called my mother. She apparently tried to plead Jacob's case, saying he was heartbroken, remorseful, and that I should find it in my heart to forgive him, especially now that he had gotten rid of Chloe. My mother listened politely for a short while and then told her that this was a matter for me and Jacob to handle, or not handle, as the case may be, and that my decision was made. She then passed the phone to me, as I was there at the time visiting. I took the phone and spoke to Jacob's aunt.

I was polite but very firm. I told her that I appreciated her concern for her nephew, but the situation was deeply personal, my decision was final, and I was not prepared to discuss it further with her or any other member of their family. I then ended the call. I want to thank everyone who has read my posts and offered their perspectives. It was unexpectedly helpful to explain the situation and receive feedback from an impartial audience. This will be my final update on this matter. I am currently focusing on my therapy sessions, which are proving to be challenging but also very necessary. My living situation with Laura is stable and provides a calm environment. I don't know what the future holds,

and there are still practical matters to sort out, like the final disposition of the engagement ring, which my father will be returning to Jacob's family on my behalf next week. However, I know with certainty that my future will not include Jacob. I hope you enjoy this story. Insane new mother tried to sabotage my wedding by alleging my partner was unfaithful with another woman. However, it failed. Just seven days ago, Kyle and I got hitched. Not, surrounded by the people we hold dear. The wedding unfolded just as we had hoped, with the presence of our loved ones turning our day into a beautiful celebration. Our close family and friends had gathered to witness our union, creating an atmosphere of warmth and happiness. It was a day filled with shared

laughter, joyous embraces, and the simple pleasures of togetherness. Everything had gone perfectly except for one hiccup. My dumb stepmother tried to ruin my wedding. My parents split when I was a kid, but they've been great at co-parenting ever since, making sure I always had both of them in my life. These days, my mom's seeing a guy named Holt, and my dad's happily married to Gigi. Even though I was pretty young when my dad tied the knot again, I never felt weird about it. In fact, I was pretty stoked that our family was getting bigger. Gigi has a daughter from her previous marriage, called Naomi, just a year older than me. When dad introduced me to her, I thought we could become good friends.

But turns out Naomi was only sweet when dad was around. Behind his back, she used to pick on me quite a bit. I am not one to back down easily, so when Naomi teased me about my hair or clothes, I would give it right back to her. Our arguments sometimes escalated, like any typical kid, and occasionally turned physical. Gigi would rush in at the sound of Naomi's tears, always quick to separate us. Naomi, cleverly pretending that I had slapped or punched her, managed to turn Gigi against me. No matter how hard I tried to explain that Naomi was the instigator, Gigi never bought it. She would then wait for my dad to return home to unload her complaints about

me. My dad, thankfully, never took sides and would just be upset that Naomi and I fought. As the years passed, our relationship continued to sour. Mom started to notice how Gigi and Naomi treated me when dad wasn't around, so she talked to him about it. Since then, dad started taking me out on these weekend outings, just the two of us, creating a space where we could spend quality time together. I have grown to cherish these moments, appreciating the undivided attention and the chance to share all my thoughts and concerns with him. When Gigi discovered this, she wasn't pleased at all. She insisted that Dad should include Naomi in these outings, but fortunately, Dad stood his ground and refused. Before tying the knot with Kyle,

we spent six wonderful years dating. During that time, I introduced him to my parents during numerous family dinners. On one occasion, amidst the cheerful atmosphere, while we shared stories and enjoyed the meal, Gigi suddenly stopped eating and looked at the both of us intently. I looked at her curiously and she then boldly remarked that Kyle was too good looking for me. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, prompting my mother to inquire angrily about her remark. Gigi attempted to brush it off as a compliment to Kyle. However, Kyle was just as upset and stood up for me, expressing that she should not talk about us this way. He continued to tell her how fortunate he felt to be with someone like me. His words brought a smile to my face, and I felt

grateful for his support. The dinner continued after that, though Gigi's failed attempt at humor lingered like an uninvited guest. Returning home, her words continued to sting, lingering in my mind. It was undeniable that Kyle, standing at six feet two inches with a well-built physique from regular workouts, fit conventional standards of attractiveness. In contrast, I stood at five feet five inches and carried a bit of weight. Surprisingly, Kyle had never made me feel insecure about my body, our love life was healthy, and he never uttered a word about my weight. Despite this, my self-esteem sometimes took a hit, particularly when I noticed other girls admiring him. Gigi's comment that night hit close to home, yet the knowledge that Kyle

had immediately defended our relationship reassured me. Over the years, Gigi continued to make subtle yet hurtful comments about my appearance whenever we were left alone during my dinners with my dad at his place. Whether it was a remark on my choice of clothing or a sly comment about how I should consider hitting the gym more often, her words chipped away at my confidence. These comments, often disguised as concern or casual observations, created a persistent undercurrent of self-doubt. Kyle, whenever he overheard her remarks, always defended me. Besides Gigi, Naomi wasn't exactly friendly towards me either. She often acted overly familiar with Kyle, getting uncomfortably close and making him uneasy. Despite Kyle expressing his discomfort to her multiple times,

she continued to behave inappropriately with him whenever she got a chance. On one Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends, during a truth and dare game, someone dared Naomi to sit on the person she liked the most. We assumed she would sit on her mother's lap, but she boldly walked up to my fiancé, pointing at him to indicate that she intended to sit on him. Kyle promptly stood up, refusing her request. I watched Naomi's face turn red in embarrassment as she knew everyone was watching her get turned down. I couldn't help but burst into laughter,

realizing that Kyle would never reciprocate her interest, no matter how desperately she wanted it. During the remainder of the Thanksgiving gathering, Naomi seemed visibly embarrassed by the ordeal. The atmosphere became a bit awkward, but Kyle and I brushed it off and continued enjoying the celebration with our friends and family. Now coming on to the story, as our big day drew nearer, I was filled with excitement and joy. Kyle and I were head over heels in love, eagerly anticipating the ahead. Despite my reservations, I extended an invitation to Gigi and Naomi at my dad's insistence. He assured me that if they caused any trouble, he would swiftly show them the door. Reluctantly, I agreed to my dad's request, hoping for the best on our special day. On the day

we were set to exchange our vows, the atmosphere was electric with anticipation. Surrounded by the love of friends and family, I was in the midst of getting ready my dress adorned, and my hair gracefully braided. My bridesmaids were all set to accompany me down the aisle. Yet, just when everything seemed perfect, Gigi barged into my dressing room, asking if she could talk to me privately. My mother told her to leave me alone as I needed time to be ready before it was time to walk down the aisle. Despite my efforts to maintain composure, Gigi persisted, emphasizing that she needed to share something crucial before what she perceived as a huge mistake. Growing weary of her persistence, I requested everyone to give us some privacy.

My mother looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I assured her that I would handle the situation with Gigi swiftly so that I could return to the preparations. My mother nodded understandingly and walked out, leaving Gigi and me alone. I turned to Gigi and told her she had two minutes to explain herself before I kicked her out of the room. Gigi, with an air of faux concern, conspiratorially pulled out multiple pictures and put them down on the table. She claimed that these pictures would change everything I knew about Kyle. I was shocked. I glanced at the photos, only to see Tom innocently chatting with a distant cousin at a restaurant.

Gigi told me that she had found Kyle talking to this mysterious woman while she was out for dinner last week and had snapped these pictures so that I wouldn't be surprised later to find out about his alleged infidelity. With an air of false concern, she urged me to reconsider the wedding, making it sound like I was about to make a huge mistake. I calmly took a deep breath and decided to play along with her games. Determined not to let her turn my wedding day into a nightmare, I opened the door and requested my mother to bring Kyle and my dad to my room.

Gigi, under the impression that I was about to confront Kyle regarding his alleged affair, reassured me that everything would be fine once I confronted him. Little did she know, a different kind of confrontation awaited her. Kyle was a bit hesitant to enter my room as he didn't want to see me in my wedding dress. But at this point, I didn't care about traditions anymore and urged him to come inside. As Kyle stepped into the room, Gigi wore a triumphant smirk, anticipating a confrontation. I gestured toward the picture she had spread across the table and calmly asked Kyle if he could explain the images. He looked at the photos, a puzzled expression on his face.

I could see Gigi reveling in the drama she had orchestrated. Kyle, maintaining his composure, explained that the woman in the pictures was his cousin, whom he had met for dinner last week. He clarified the context of each image, pointing out the family resemblance and the innocent nature of their conversation. Gigi's confident demeanor began to waver as Kyle's explanation dismantled her scheme. My dad, who had joined us by then, listened intently. I could sense the frustration building in Gigi as her plan unraveled.

In a moment of triumph, I turned to Gigi, revealing that the woman in the photos was indeed Kyle's distant cousin, who I had in fact met at one of his family events. I couldn't help but smirk as her face faltered, realizing that her attempt to ruin my wedding had failed miserably. My dad, who was listening to us silently, caught on to Gigi's deceit. seat. He looked at me and asked if Gigi was the one who brought those pictures to me. I nodded and explained how she disrupted my wedding preparations, attempting to claim that the man I was about to marry was having an affair. My dad, visibly upset, turned to Gigi and questioned

why she would even consider pulling such a stunt. Gigi looked defeated and embarrassed at this point. My dad sternly demanded an explanation, and that's when she revealed her true intentions. Gigi claimed that I didn't deserve to marry someone like Kyle and claimed that we would never be happy together. She asserted that her daughter, Naomi, had fallen in love with Kyle over the years. We stared at her in disbelief as Gigi went on, insisting that Naomi, being more beautiful than me, deserved to marry Kyle instead. She went on to explain that, over the years, she had attempted to plant negative thoughts about our relationship and our minds, but it had not worked. But when she saw Kyle with a mysterious woman, she saw an opportunity to finally break us up.

At this point, we all stared at her as if she had completely lost her mind. My mom, already upset with her behavior, told my dad that this was unacceptable. In turn, my dad immediately agreed and sternly asked Gigi to leave immediately. She tried to protest, but my mother dragged her out of the room. Naomi stormed into the room, demanding answers as she sensed. something was wrong. My dad then explained the deceitful actions of Gigi. Hearing this, Naomi then turned her attention to me and without a moment's pause started yelling at me. She launched into a barrage of accusations, blaming me for tearing her family apart.

I remained calm, trying to explain the gravity of Gigi's deceit, but Naomi's anger only kept intensifying. Naomi sneered, saying my relationship with Kyle was a sham, built on lies and her mother was right to try to break it off. While I tried to defend our love, she laughed it off, telling me that I was deluding myself. She reiterated that she deserved to be with Kyle, and he was only with me because he thought I was richer than her, given that I had a fancier job. At this point, Kyle, unable to contain his anger any longer, stepped in. He sternly confronted her, setting the record straight. His words carried a mix of disappointment and firmness as he rebuffed Naomi's advances. In no uncertain terms, he conveyed that he would never be interested in her

and he thought he had made it very clear to her publicly several times. He pointed out that we were getting married and she and Gigi had no right to spoil our day. Naomi, now faced with opposition, hesitated for a moment, realizing that her attempts to sow discord were falling flat. Throughout this confrontation, my father tried to act as a mediator, attempting to bring reason into the chaotic exchange. Despite Naomi's relentless accusations, he stood by my side, and eventually realizing that Naomi was not going to give up, he asked her to leave our wedding with Gigi. Naomi appeared taken aback by this unexpected turn, and a sense of satisfaction spread across my face. After their embarrassing exit, I turned to Kyle, a mix of frustration and amusement

on my face. We shared a knowing glance and he burst into laughter, looking at the innocent images that Gigi had twisted into something so devious. We were grateful that our relationship had weathered this bizarre storm. The wedding continued, unaffected by Gigi's ill-conceived interference. Our vows were exchanged, and the celebration with our loved ones resumed. It turned out to be a day filled with joy and laughter, just as we had dreamed about. As the festivities continue, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Gigi's plan had backfired, and her attempt to cast out on my relationship had only strengthened the bond between Kyle and me.

Kyle and I had a wonderful honeymoon. Since returning back home, I have been hearing from my dad that all is not well between Gigi and him. She thinks we were too harsh and kicking her out and blames me for embarrassing her in front of Kyle, Mom, and Dad. Naomi, too, has sent me several messages, claiming I am sick for embarrassing her mother, and continues to warn me that I would never be happy with Kyle. This is starting to get to me so I would like to know Ida for exposing my dumb stepmother's

allegations and then kicking her out of my wedding? Update 1, it's been a few days since my last update. Apparently one of my bridesmaids, who was my cousin, Fiona, had overheard the entire conversation with Gigi and Naomi that day. She couldn't keep the shocking revelation to herself. Disturbed by what she had heard during the confrontation with Gigi and Naomi, she felt compelled to share it with a few close family members. As the news slowly spread, the collective disapproval grew,

creating a ripple effect that reached the ears of other relatives. The story of their disruptive actions during my wedding became a topic of conversation within the family, triggering a cascade of disapproval and disappointment. All of our relatives were as shocked as we were when we first found out about their deceitful scheme. The unanimous sentiment within the family is one of agreement that what Gigi and Naomi did to me was undeniably wrong. Gossip and shared indignation worked swiftly, causing the family to collectively shun Gigi and Naomi. I have received several concerned phone calls and messages from relatives, who were previously unaware of the disruptive events that unfolded during my wedding.

Today, I invited my dad over dinner as I hadn't seen him since the wedding. When he arrived, I noticed how visibly different he looked, not like his usual self. During our meal, my dad opened up about how Gigi and Naomi were making his life increasingly difficult. They were insistent that I owe them an apology for kicking them out. Kyle and I were shocked listening to how entitled they felt to get an apology from me when they had tried to ruin my wedding in the first place. It was a surreal moment, trying to comprehend their audacity. My dad sensing my frustration, expressed he was equally disappointed in their behavior.

He assured me that I owed no apology for protecting my wedding against their disruptive actions. It worried me to see Dad dealing with all the toxicity, so I shared my concerns with him. We both acknowledged that the constant conflicts with Gigi were taking a toll on his mental well-being. Dad also went on to reveal that Naomi was threatening us with legal actions, claiming emotional distress from the wedding incident. It sounded absurd, and I couldn't help but laugh, but beneath the laughter, I recognized the strain their demands were putting on our family dynamics. I plan on confronting Naomi and Gigi regarding this and hopefully resolve it once and for all. Update 2 today I met up with Naomi and Gigi as I had mentioned earlier. I invited them both

for lunch at a cafe instead of my place. Kyle wanted to go with me but I insisted that this was something I needed to do on my own. As we sat down, the air was thick with tension. I calmly expressed my concerns about their actions during the wedding, emphasizing the hurt they caused. Gigi, however, remained defensive, insisting that she stood by everything she had told me. She insisted that she was acting in Naomi's best interest. This really pissed me off and I retorted that Kyle was my husband now and I won't stand by their

persistent disregard for our relationship. I pointed out that, at the very least, she could have apologized to me for how she interrupted my wedding day. The conversation quickly escalated into a heated exchange. Gigi, with a stubborn demeanor, refused to admit any wrongdoing, claiming she was only looking out for her daughter. Naomi, on the other hand, started accusing me of being insecure, suggesting that my reaction was fueled by my jealousy of her. This made me laugh

in her face. I couldn't help but laugh, clarifying that I had never seen her as a competition. I reminded her of my academic achievements, securing a scholarship, graduating from my dream college, and landing a job that provided financial comfort. I expressed my frustration, emphasizing that, unlike her, I had a partner who genuinely loved me, and I didn't need to go behind someone's back to try and steal them. Naomi's face twisted with anger as she retorted, spewing hurtful words in my direction. She claimed that I was living in a fantasy if I thought Kyle truly loved me. She insinuated that he was only with me out of pity or convenience and that he deserves

someone better. Her words were venomous, but I tried to maintain composure, refusing to let her undermine my relationship or tarnish my happiness. Gigi, standing beside Naomi, couldn't resist adding her own bitter remarks. With a condescending tone, she questioned my ability to handle a marriage, implying that I was naive and inexperienced. If I remember her exact words were, Honey, I don't know what Kyle sees in you. I mean, come on, a man like him with a woman like you? It's laughable. You might have a good job, but can you really keep a man unlike him satisfied? In the face of Gigi's spiteful remarks, I took a moment to collect myself,

suppressing the anger bubbling within. I then responded that her opinions about my marriage were irrelevant. Kyle and I shared a deep connection that went beyond her shallow judgments so if she couldn't respect that, then it's best for us to part ways. Naomi, fueled by a mix of anger and frustration, also accused me of being selfish, claiming that I had ruined her chance at happiness by marrying Kyle. As the argument intensified, Gigi played the victim card, asserting that my decision to kick them out was an overreaction. Despite my attempts to reason with them, it became evident that reasoning with them was futile. Their refusal to acknowledge their mistakes and the depth of their actions

only fueled the intensity of our argument. It became clear that maintaining a relationship with individuals so hellbent on causing harm was untenable. The meeting ended on a sour note, with unresolved issues and lingering tension, leaving me with the realization that some conflicts are irreparable. Returning home, the weight of the confrontation pressed heavily on my shoulders, and I broke down in tears. The emotional toll of the encounter left me drained, both physically and mentally. It wasn't just about Gigi and Naomi's disdain for me, it was also the understanding that my father was likely enduring a similar, if not more intense, emotional storm at his end. I have since talked with my mother and made the difficult decision to permanently cut ties with

Gigi and Naomi. She was shocked hearing how much they had hurt me and wanted to go off on them. I stopped her emphasizing that they weren't worth our time or emotional energy. The toxicity they brought into our lives was not worth the emotional toll it took. I am choosing to prioritize my mental well-being and the stability of my marriage over their relentless negativity. It is a painful but necessary step toward a healthier, happier life. Update 3, thank you for everyone's comments since my post. It's been two months since my last update and a lot has changed in our lives. Firstly, my dad and Gigi are now separated. As many foresaw, Gigi's refusal to acknowledge her mistakes, coupled with constant pressure and conflicts, took a toll on my dad. Consequently,

he moved out of their place and is consulting with lawyers to initiate divorce. proceedings. After dad blocked her on all fronts, Gigi attempted to reach out to me, but I also blocked her, prompting her to call Kyle. He didn't pick up her calls knowingly so she sent a long message to him about how her daughter, Naomi, was heartbroken. Gigi blamed me for orchestrating their separation and accused me of turning my dad against her. Kyle and I read the message together, shaking our heads at her attempt to shift blame. We didn't bother to reply to her and Kyle blocked her as well. As for my dad, since his separation, he seems lighter and happier. He's gradually finding peace away from the constant turmoil with

Gigi and Naomi. Kyle and I have been there to support him through this challenging time. We have encouraged him to focus on his well-being and pursue activities that bring him joy. Despite the difficulties, it's heartening to see my dad rediscovering himself and embracing the freedom from toxic dynamics. A month ago, I went on a vacation with my mom to spend some time with her. Since the incident, she has been really worried about me and fuming at how they treated me. This beach vacation was much needed as we strolled along the serene beaches, reminiscing about our joyful memories and discussing plans for the future. In the quiet moments of our vacation, surrounded by the comforting presence of my mother, I felt so much peace. It was a therapeutic reset,

allowing us to strengthen our bond and cherish the moments of peace away from the chaos that Gigi and Naomi had brought into our lives. As I am writing this, I find myself feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for the love Kyle and I share. His unwavering support and understanding have been the pillars that have held me up through the storms. If I didn't have a supportive and loyal partner like him, I don't know what I would do. As I reflect on our journey, I am immensely thankful for the joy he brings, the laughter we share, and the strength he provides in the face of challenges. Looking ahead, I look forward to embracing the prospect of spending the rest of my life with Kyle. I hope you enjoy this story. Just a kind prompt before the clip commences, you will listen to two

anecdotes in this video and both contain recent developments. Moving on to the initial narrative. My closest companion is dating my brother. I am worried it will end back. Sadly. I recently found myself in a bit of a predicament and need an outsider's perspective. My brother has started dating my best friend, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. At first, I was excited for them. My brother has not really had many girlfriends, and my friend has been crushing on him for a while now.

I thought it was sweet that they were finally giving it a shot, but as time went on, I began to have concerns. I started to notice little things that bothered me. My brother seemed more distant for me than usual. He was spending all his free time with my friend, and I was worried that he was neglecting his family and friends. He seemed to be totally besotted with my best friend and would do anything for her. My friend, who was far more experienced than my brother,

seemed to enjoy parading him around like a little puppy and getting him to do whatever she wanted. It's fair to say that she was more preoccupied with my brother than anything else, and I felt like I was losing both of them. I tried to talk to my brother about it, but he brushed me off. He said that he was happy and that I should be happy for him, too. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this relationship was going to end badly. I decided to talk to my friend about it instead. I expressed my concerns and asked if she had thought about the possible consequences of dating my brother. She seemed taken aback at first, but then she told me that

she had thought about it and that she was willing to take the risk. I didn't know what to do. On the one hand, I wanted my brother and my friend to be happy. On the other hand, I didn't want to see them hurt each other, or worse, hurt themselves. Update 1, Hey Everyone, it's been a few months since I posted about my brother dating my best friend, so I wanted to give you all an update. In the end, I decided to step back and let them figure it out for themselves. It's not my place to control their lives, and they're both adults who can make their own decisions. I just hope that they know what they're getting themselves into and that they can handle the consequences, whatever they may be. Update 2, I've come to accept the situation and let them

get on with things. I've realized that it's not my place to control their relationship or interfere, so I've tried my best to support them and not let it bother me too much. Of course, there are still some awkward moments here and there, but overall things seemed to be going well for them. Thanks to everyone who offered their advice and support when I was struggling with this situation it means a lot to me. Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse. Last night, I went to a party without my brother, and my best friend was there. Things were going fine until my friend started flirting with another guy at the party. I had to watch them all night, and it made me feel sick. I tried to try to. I tried to

to talk to my friend about it, but she just brushed it off and told me to chill out. Later in the night, I saw my friend and this guy disappear into an empty bedroom, and I'm pretty sure they slept together, even if they didn't have sex. It's still incredibly inappropriate given that she's dating my brother. I'm really upset and don't know what to do next. Any advice would be appreciated. No, I haven't asked my friend directly if she slept with the guy at the party. I feel like it's not really my place to ask, and I don't want to come across as accusatory or confrontational. At the same time, though, I can't shake the feeling that something happened between them. It's possible that I'm overreacting, but it just seemed really

inappropriate given the circumstances. I'm not sure what to do next. Update 3, Hey There, I wanted to provide an update on the situation. I did try to talk to my brother about what happened at the party, but it seems that my best friend got to him first. My brother thinks that I'm just jealous and trying to break them up. My best friend must have told him a completely different story about what happened that night. She made out that I was really what happened at the party, but it seems that my best friend got to him first. My brother thinks that I'm just jealous and trying to break them up. My best friend must have told him a completely different story about what happened that night. She made out that I was really drunk and had wrongly accused her of sleeping

with the guy at the party. She also said that the drunk and had wrongly accused her of sleeping with the guy at the party. She also said that the guy and her tried to help me by stopping me from driving home while under the influence. This is simply not true. I hadn't been drinking that evening. As I was the designated driver, I did try to leave the party because I was upset. But my best friend stopped me because she thought I was overreacting. It's really frustrating that my best friend is twisting the truth to make me look bad and that my brother is taking her side. I don't know how to make him see what's really going on. Update 4 Hey guys, it's been a while since I updated you on what's been happening with my brother and my former best friend.

Well, as you predicted, their relationship eventually fizzled out. My best friend got bored of my brother and kept making excuses not to see him until he got fed up chasing. It's been really tough for my brother, he's been drinking more and seems really down. I just hope he will eventually get over it and move on. I'm still angry with my best friend for treating my brother this way and damaging the relationship between us. We're not as close as we once were, and I'm not sure if we'll ever be as close again. We still hang out in the same social circles. But it's not the same. I feel really betrayed and disrespected by her. Anyway, I just wanted to update you guys and say,

thanks for all the support and advice you've given me throughout this whole mess. It's been really tough, but I'm getting through it. Update 5 Hey, Everyone. It's been a year since my last update and things have gotten really crazy. As it turns out, my best friend was actually pregnant and didn't tell anyone until she was eight months along. My brother knew, but he was too scared to tell our family and asked me to break the news to them. It was a shock, but our parents said they would support him and be there for him and my brother and his girlfriend got back together and even got engaged, but things took a turn for the

worse after the baby was born. The girlfriend started making excuses for why my brother couldn't see the baby and would constantly put him down, saying he would be a bad father. It got to the point where my brother just gave up trying to see the baby, even though. though he continued to pay child support. Whenever someone suggested that he tried to see the baby, he would just say that the baby was better off without him. It's been really hard to watch him go through this. I still visit my friend and the baby, but it's becoming harder and harder to listen to her complain about my brother and how he's not good enough. I'm at the point where I feel

like I have to choose between my friend and my brother. If I choose my brother, I'll most likely lose a lot of our mutual friends and lose contact with the baby. I don't know what to do and I could use some advice. Update 6, I just wanted to give an update on my situation. After a lot of thought and consideration, I've decided to go no contact with my former best friend. While it's been a difficult decision, I know it's the right one for my mental health and for my relationship with my brother. I'll miss my niece growing up, but I just can't continue to subject myself to the emotional abuse and manipulation from my former friend. Some of my other friends have been understanding, but others have taken her side and believe the lies she's been spreading about my brother.

It's been a tough road, but I'm ready to move on with my life. I'm actually moving to a new town soon and I'm excited to make new friends and start fresh. Thanks to everyone for their support and advice throughout this journey. I decided to invite my friend out for a few drinks to tell her my decision and my reasons behind it. I didn't want to just ghost her without ever explaining. Well, my best friend did not take the news well and lashed out at me, accusing me of choosing my brother over her and my niece. Since then, she began spreading rumors and lies about me to our mutual friends, causing further tension in the group. She told them that I was trying to help my brother take baby away from her and had accused her of being an unfit mother. Unfortunately, several of my friends

have bought into this and are now no longer speaking to me, despite this. I have stuck to my decision and am trying hard to focus on my own well-being and that of my family. I hope that in time, the truth will come out and my former friends will realize that I was caught up in an impossible situation and had no choice but to break contact. Thanks to everyone here on Reddit, I can see now that my friendship with this girl was utterly toxic and quite possibly always was. I know I am better off without her. I feel very sad that I will not get to see my niece grow up and that my brother will miss too. But for both our sakes, to protect our mental health, this is the only way. Some people have suggested that I could try to reconnect with my niece in the future. While this is what my heart

wants, something tells me that I need to prioritize my own well-being and move on from the situation entirely. Thank you to everyone for your input. I feel that I have made the best decision for me and my family and I am looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life. Now on to the next story, story two. I threw cheating fiancé out of the house with her AP, when got home early and caught them. Hello everyone, I'm currently in a difficult situation, and I'm unsure if I'm making the right decisions. By the way, this is my first post here, so please forgive me if I miss any details. Feel free to ask for more information.

Let me share my current situation. I'm a 25-year-old male and I've been in a relationship with my wife, who is 27 years old, for 8.5 years. Last August, during our trip to the USA, I proposed to her, we legally got married 10 weeks ago, had a church ceremony five weeks ago, and went on our honeymoon two weeks after that. our honeymoon, I noticed something unusual for the first time. She was constantly texting on her phone and tried to hide it or turn off the display whenever I glanced at it to see who she was talking to. When I asked, she claimed she was texting her friends or her sister. This made me

suspicious, and in the beginning of the second week, I decided to check her phone while she was asleep. It was the first time I had ever felt the need to do this because I had always trusted her. To my shock, I discovered that the woman I believed loved me, the one I had married just a month prior, was cheating on me with someone else, a 39-year-old man. He works as a cook where she is employed, so they see each other daily during the week. We still had to stay together for the rest of the week in our flight home during our honeymoon, so I didn't confront her about it at that time because I didn't want to have a fight while on our honeymoon. I have no idea how I managed to hold it in. After further investigation when we returned home, I found out that their relationship had begun at the end of November last year, which was after our engagement but well before our wedding.

I don't understand why she didn't mention this to me earlier when we had plenty of time to cancel our wedding. Somehow, I didn't catch on until it was too late. I haven't talked to my wife about this yet, so she doesn't know that I'm aware of her affair. However, I think she might suspect that I'm suspicious of something. We still have tasks left like selecting our wedding photos for the album and writing thank you letters for the gifts we received, which is why I haven't brought up this issue until now, but I'm feeling really tormented inside and I need to address this situation. I'm currently looking into whether I can legally remove her from our house.

We rented it together and both our names are on the contract and whether our wedding can be annulled or if I need to go through a divorce process. Here's an important detail. The other guy is separated from his wife and has two teenage children. He's not getting a divorce right now because they have some outstanding loans to repay. Additionally, they frequently express their love for each other and a desire to be together fully, but they can't do so at the moment. From what I know, their plan involves my wife having children with me, since the other guy already

has some, and then, when he's ready, either divorced or otherwise, they will pursue a relationship together. My dilemma is that I feel guilty for contemplating divorce less than two months after our wedding, especially after the big celebration and all the gifts we received. However, I can't continue living like this. I'm not sure what I'm expecting from you all, maybe just confirmation that I'm making the right choice by leaving her and seeking a divorce. Small update. I'm planning to speak with our office lawyer today to see if they have any information on this matter. If they don't, I'll contact a specific lawyer to get some advice on how to proceed. Regarding our financial situation, neither of us is wealthy, we're both doing okay.

If she worked full-time like I do, she currently works 75% due to her employer's restrictions, she would actually earn more than me, my parents, on the other hand, are reasonably well off, but not excessively so. I guess you could say their upper middle class. However, everything I own before our marriage remains. mine, and everything she owned before our marriage remains hers. Anything acquired or purchased after our marriage will be divided. She also won't inherit anything from my parents because it's my right to receive it. And this was the case before we got married. Update 1, I've discussed the

matter with the lawyer in our office who doesn't have much knowledge about it. They provided me with contact information for someone who should be able to assist me. I'm planning to call them today or tomorrow and arrange a meeting as soon as possible. I'll keep you all updated on how things progress. Thanks to everyone for your support in the meantime. Update 2, I've spoken with the lawyer, and she needs to research whether having another relationship is sufficient grounds for annulling the marriage. In all her years of handling divorces, it's the first time someone has contacted her so soon after getting married, and she expressed her sympathy for my situation. However, she's looking into it and will inform me of the available options in a few days. I'll keep you posted

once she gets back to me. Update 3. I have up to six months from the marriage to initiate an annulment. So, I have some time to talk to the priest and explore the possibility of annulling the wedding in the church. I plan to focus on my upcoming school exams over the next two weeks and then discuss this matter with my wife calmly. The challenge is figuring out how to start this conversation with her without making it sound harsh, like, Hey, I know you're cheating on me. Update 4, I've had a discussion with our priest, and it turns out he can also initiate an annulment process.

However, he suggested that I first talked to my wife about it, without immediately jumping to divorce. He wants her to decide whether she wants to stay with me or not. I'm unsure about giving her that choice because I'm not sure I can ever trust her again. The tricky part is figuring out how, how to begin this conversation with her. I know there's no perfect moment, but perhaps you can provide some advice.

What should I say? What should I avoid saying? The priest advised me not to focus on her faults, but instead express how my feelings are hurt and how our marriage feels strained. I shouldn't bring up forgiveness but should offer my help. I should provide enough information so she understands that I'm aware of her cheating, but I shouldn't reveal too much. It's probably better to consult my lawyer first to understand the next steps and discuss the house we're renting together.

The contract has both our names and only then have the conversation with my wife. Update 5. Hello everyone. A lot has transpired since my last post. Previously, I inquired about whether I should address the issue or proceed with divorce or annulment. I provided updates regarding my conversations with a lawyer who informed me that I could request in a moment within six months of marriage. However, since cheating isn't explicitly mentioned in the law as grounds for annulment, she couldn't guarantee a 100% success rate for annulment. So, in the worst case scenario, I'll proceed with the divorce. I also consulted our priest, and from the church's perspective, I can request an annulment provided I can prove that the cheating occurred before,

during and after the marriage. Fortunately, I have all the necessary evidence to establish this. When I confided in my friends, they unanimously recommended that I ask her to leave my home immediately. Consequently, after gathering all the requisite information, I confronted my wife about this matter three weeks ago. Our conversation was filled with tears, some raised voices, although I managed to remain composed, and we discussed a multitude of issues in the subsequent days. We even spent a weekend away together to address everything privately.

In summary, she doesn't have a clear reason for why she cheated on me. It just happened. She didn't bring it up earlier because she feared my reaction, thinking I might get angry, leave her alone, and go away, which raises the question of what she expected to happen when I found out after we got married. She assured me that she still loves me, so I asked her to figure out what she truly wants and what she's willing to do to salvage our marriage. Depending on her decision,

I would then determine whether I wanted to give it another shot with her or not. Even though I was already about 90% inclined to leave her, after a week, I still hadn't received a clear answer from her about whether she wanted me or the other guy. So, I made the decision for both of us. If she couldn't decide between her husband and her lover within less than three months of marriage, then I could certainly decide whether I wanted to spend my life with her own.

or not. Two weeks ago, we mutually agreed to end our relationship. The unfortunate part is that during this whole time, she didn't ask me once to stay. She was sad about me leaving, but I think she was also happy about the prospect of pursuing a relationship with the other guy. Last week, I disclosed the entire situation to my parents and brothers. They were all saddened by the news but understood the situation and agreed that it's the best decision for me. On the same day, my wife also informed her parents, and they asked her to leave their home. She had to stay with some friends temporarily but has since rented an apartment and is in the process of moving her belongings out of my house.

In ten days, I'll be meeting with the lawyer to initiate the process for an annulment of our marriage. I also need to give the priest an update that my wife has moved out of my house and then the church. At this point, I'm at a loss for words, my marriage didn't even last three months, and and it seems my wife was almost relieved to part ways, so, I feel there's nothing more to be said. I realize that I still need some time to heal from all of this, but things are slowly improving. I'm getting accustomed to being on my own and handling all the household responsibilities. I appreciate your support.

Now, I have to start over with my life, and I hope to find someone who truly loves me one day. forward slash forward slash I hope you enjoy this story This tale was shared several months back, but there have been some recent developments. The sibling of the wife, who is a model, has been showing romantic interest in me for half a dozen years, and recently attempted to initiate a kiss.

In the garage, when I rejected her, she sent a DCK pick to my office and tried to get me fired. My wife's sister made a pass at me at a recent, family gathering and I have no idea what to do. For context, I think my wife Jenna is absolutely gorgeous, but she has some really negative body image issues. This is in large part because of her sister Mary who is very conventionally attractive, as opposed to Jenna's more unconventional but emo, striking beauty. Mary was a successful model until a couple years ago and now works in the fashion industry. In our early days of dating when I would tell Jenna she's beautiful,

she would always say just wait until you see my sister. When I did finally meet her family, she would randomly press me for weeks to talk about her sister, whether I thought she was more attractive than her, etc. I always told her the truth, that I think Mary is attractive in a boring way, and that I think my wife is much more beautiful and interesting to look at. She wouldn't let it go until I confronted her about how uncomfortable it made me and asked her what was going on. This is when she told me that she always had a chip on her shoulder about her looks because of being compared with her sister growing up.

They fell into the classic smart one-slash-Pretty-one dynamic their whole lives. She also said Mary had a habit of being flirty with all of her exes, and warned me that it would happen to me eventually. She then started sobbing and begging me to not cheat on her with her sister, to which I forcefully said I would never cheat on her with anyone, let alone her sister. I've been crazy about my wife since day one and there's literally no woman on earth who could come close to her. I honestly didn't believe her about the flirting at first, I assumed it was just an extension of her insecurity, but I was wrong. Whenever we get together with my wife's family, Mary always finds ways to touch me and make little innuendos slash comments about me or my body. It's super uncomfortable for everyone, especially my wife, and I've called her out on it before. She'll cool it for a while but eventually start doing it again.

It's been six years of this, and every time it happens my wife is upset for days and I have to do a lot of reassuring. On to the current problem. A few days ago we were at my mill's birthday party, and Mary asked me to help her grab some things from the garage. As soon as we walked into the garage, she turned and pressed me up against the door with her whole body and started trying to kiss me. I immediately pushed her off and asked her what the fuck she was doing. She started giggling and saying she was just doing what we both have been thinking and kept insisting you know you want to. I told her she was out of her mind and ran out of there. I went straight to my wife and told her we were leaving.

The whole ride home she was asking me what was wrong, I wasn't sure whether to tell her because I knew how much it was going to hurt, but I also thought Mary would probably try to spin it as me making a move on her so I knew I had to just say it. I told her everything and she cried the whole way home. For the last several days Mary has been calling and texting my wife doing exactly what I thought she would do, even telling my wife that I said she, Mary, was the hottest girl I've ever seen, which I had to assure my wife a million times that I did not and would never say even though she believes my account of the situation. She's been a complete wreck the last several days, she's hardly eating, she pulls away from my touch when I try to hug her or just hold her hand.

She says she feels hideous and disgusting and I don't know what to do. This is the lowest I have ever seen her, and it hurts to see how much she's hurting. I have no idea what to do to help her heal from this. Reddit, what should I do? Update 1, I got a few requests for updates, so here it is. I first want to thank everyone so much for your advice. It was extremely helpful and gave me a lot to think about. I'm especially thankful for the folks that asked me how I was doing.

I realized that I have literally never had a chance to check in with myself after these things happen, and I've actually been holding a lot of frustration and resentment about it all. I've been harassed for years and it has either been brushed off or it's been eclipsed by the impact it has on my wife. I don't blame her for it, but this has been a good lesson in me not burying my feelings for the sake of others, even for her. I also want to clarify a couple of things that came up. Several people asked about how my wife's family feels about all this, and I explained in a comment that her parents are toxic and treat Mary as the golden child, even though my wife is a freaking neuroscientist, amazingly talented musician,

speaks three languages fluently and another two conversationaly. My wife and her family are seriously the only people who don't seem to understand how exceptional she is. I remember meeting one of my wife's family friends and talking to them about her research, and they said, oh wow, her parents just told us she works at a university. Whereas my parents literally introduce her as the family genius to everyone. It makes me so fucking angry to think about how her asshole family, has stolen her shine her whole life. She's literally a Renaissance woman, but all they care about is looks and money.

Some folks ask me why I would ever put myself in a situation alone with Mary given everything she's done. I have no good answers for that other than I never thought she would actually try to do anything. That possibility just didn't exist in my head. I realize now that I should have seen this would happen eventually, and that I should have been less concerned with keeping the peace and more concerned with shutting Mary's shit down before it escalated to this point. Hindsight is 20 to 20. Anyway, on to the update. The night I posted, I told my wife that if she wanted to try to repair her relationship with her sister, I would

respect that, but that I don't feel comfortable being around her for the foreseeable future. I said Mary has obviously been deeply jealous of my wife her whole life because she is a hollow, ugly person whose entire value has an expiration date while my wife actually has substance. I said that I think her whole family is toxic and has done nothing but put her down her whole life, but that only she can decide whether she still wants them in her life. I also told my wife that while I don't blame her for her emotional reaction, her insecurity is something that she needs to work on for our relationship to be healthy. What Mary did was sexual assault and she's been sexually harassing me for years,

but I have consistently put aside my own feelings about this problem because of how it affects her, and that has prevented me from getting the support that I need, too. I told her that her reaction only serves to punish herself and me for her sister's behavior, and there's no reason to give her that kind of power. I also told her something that a commenter said that really resonated with me, the only people who have ever considered her second best are her and her family. Everyone else sees her for who she really is. She was crying the whole time and agreed that she needed to go to therapy to work on her insecurity.

We were able to find a therapist who specializes in body image slash self-esteem issues to work with her individually, and were looking for a couple's therapist, too. My wife sent a message to her parents and sister had explained exactly what happened and told them she would reach out to them if she ever feels ready to repair their relationship. We blocked all of them everywhere, but Mary has of course been spamming my family and our friends with nonsense, claiming I attacked her, I'm a drug addict, I abuse my wife, all kinds of bullshit that, thankfully nobody believes. My wife is still down in the dumps, but I can see that things are getting a little better. She's eating and sleeping more and she's cuddling with me in the mornings again, which is nice. Now I'm planning a surprise getaway for us this weekend. We're going to one of our favorite places and I'm going to whine and dine her and try to make her feel like the goddamn queen she is. I want to thank you all again for your help.

You really help me understand the severity of the problem and again, thanks for helping me connect with my own feelings about all this. Y'all are the best. Update 2 First I want to say that I've gotten so many questions about who Mary is, and I'm just not going to say. Suffice it to say that she's never been household name famous, but she made a living solely on modeling for about a decade from what I understand, so she must have been popular enough that fashion people might know her. I really don't know how that whole world works. But emo it doesn't matter how many names you drop, you're not famous if you don't have a Wikipedia

page. Also got lots of comments that, mostly, jokingly called me a simp, and I can't argue with that. I totally am a simp for my wife. She's the coolest. I hope you all find a love that makes you feel this way. Okay, I think that's it. Here is the actual update. My wife loved the getaway weekend. We had a blast and by the end of it she said she felt like herself again.

For a few days after we got back things were really quiet, so we were hopeful that Mary had finally given up, but I felt uneasy about it all. Many of you warned me that Mary would try to interfere with my work and while I initially dismissed it, I figured I would reach out to my boss just in case. I've been working at the same company for almost 10 years and she's heard me vent about Mary before so I didn't have to explain too much. My boss just reassured me that she knows my real character and would let me know if Mary tried anything. As you predicted, Mary did try to contact my boss a couple of days later, and the following is a recounting of what my boss. boss told me. Apparently Mary said that I needed to be fired because I was a predator and claimed to have proof that I assaulted her. My boss said that was a very serious accusation to make and

asked Mary to explain what proof she had. Mary claimed there was a camera that caught the whole incident, and my boss asked her to send the video. Then Mary got flustered and said the police had it, so my boss asked her to send over a copy of the police report. Then Mary said it had a lot of private information in it, so my boss asked her to redact the private information and send it over. Then Mary said she didn't feel comfortable with that, and my boss told her that she could not take action against an employee based on word of mouth from a stranger. Then Mary shouted at her about victim blaming and hung up. Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. Last Wednesday, Mary somehow sent an email from my personal email account with a dick pick, not mine obviously,

to the entire office. My best guess is that I must have left my email logged in on one of my in-laws' devices. She's definitely not smart enough to actually hack me. And I know this is completely beside the point, but of course she chose the weirdest-looking dick I've ever seen. I played team sports all my life, I've seen a lot of dicks, and this was something else. It's honestly kind of funny to think about Mary Googling gross penis or something and sifting through hundreds of images to find Jew as the right one. I had to apologize to everyone on staff and thankfully folks were surprisingly understanding. It's actually been kind of a nice bonding experience with my co-workers,

I honestly didn't consider myself to be super well liked in the office, but it feels like everyone has been going out of their way to be kind to me and it means a lot. Anyway, at this point it was clear we had to escalate things legally. I really wanted to avoid it, but she forced my hand. My wife and I have a lawyer friend who helped us draft a cease and desist letter outlining her continued harassment and the material and emotional damage this is causing us. My wife then sent a message to Mary and my in-laws with a copy of the letter and made it very clear that we would pursue criminal and her civil proceedings if her harassment continued. My wife's mom then called her crying and begged her to just let it go and leave Mary alone.

My wife calmly explained that Mary is the only person responsible for this whole situation and that their parents have always enabled her awful behavior. She also said something she later regretted but I think was pretty badass. Mary is going to stick you two in a nursing home and steal your money the minute she has the chance, and you deserve it. After the way her mom reacted, my wife is firmly settled on cutting off her family completely. This happened on Friday, and on Sunday Mary's best friend of me and sent my brother a message on Facebook to say Mary is going to leave us alone and to please not sue her. I told my brother not to respond, then just sat and enjoyed the idea that Mary was out there somewhere freaking out about the potential of having to actually face the consequences

of her actions. It must be such a strange feeling for her. Since then, we haven't heard a peep from the grapevine. It feels like things are finally starting to go back to normal. My wife is starting therapy next week and will be starting couples therapy in a month or two. She wants to do some work on herself first. She's also taking a short leave from work to rest and recharge. I'm so proud of her for standing up for herself with her family and finally putting her mental health and well-being first.

Thanks again for everyone who offered advice. This was a messy situation, but it definitely would have been Messier without your help. Update 3. I forgot about this account completely until today and logged in to see so many comments and messages asking for an update. It's honestly touching to see how many people care about this situation and want the best for me and my wife. This will be a brief update. I don't want to make this a regular thing and the original situation has resolved enough that I am hopeful this will be the end of the saga. Mary and my in-laws have pretty much left us alone. My Mill still tries to contact my wife every now and then, but she's made it clear to her family that if the first words

out of their mouths aren't I'm sorry, she isn't interested in a conversation. As you can see, the past six months have made my wife a badass. She has done some amazing work in therapy and her confidence is growing all the time. It's not just with her family, she's more comfortable asserting herself at work, with strangers, with friends, etc. She's even stopped putting up with some of my shit. To be fair that shit is stuff like my leaving my socks everywhere around the house, but I'm seriously proud of her for telling me to cut it out. I'm becoming a more responsible and supportive partner because she's able to communicate her needs and expectations without feeling guilty about it. And I'm able to communicate

things to her without intense emotions fully eclipsing the conversation. I didn't mention this in my earlier posts, but my wife does struggle with rejection sensitivity even outside of her family. Often if I brought up something that I felt needed to change, her emotional reaction to feeling like she did something wrong would be really intense and instead of dealing with the problem, it would become about regulating her emotions. Now my wife has really good coping tools that allow her to talk about the problem without thinking. thinking she is the problem. And the biggest update.

She's pregnant. We have a baby girl due in February. I am shitting my pants with excitement. We are going to love her so much and teach her that she is more than her beauty. She's going to have happy parents who love each other and work through issues as a team. The toxic cycle will be broken. Jenna's family doesn't know and she's not sure of slash when she'll tell them, but if she does there are going to be strong boundaries in place for how they can be a part of our daughter's life.

And it'll start with family therapy. For now, she has one set of grandparents that will go to the end of the earth for her. And that's more than enough. My family has been absolutely incredible in their support and they're so excited for us. Things are looking better than they ever have. That's all folks. Thanks again for your support on this wild journey. Update 4, new update. Hello everyone, I have come here for advice before and you are all incredibly helpful and I could really use some support again. Jenna and I had our first daughter in February. She's amazing and we're doing great. We ended up moving away from Jenna's home state, New York, to mine, MA, to be closer to my family. And they've been incredibly helpful with the baby.

We have not seen Jenna's family since cutting contact and blocking them everywhere. And we didn't tell them about the baby. Yesterday we received a letter in the mail from My Mill and Phil. No idea how they got our address. Apparently my Phil has been diagnosed with late stage cancer and is being told he could be dead in weeks. In-laws went on about how sorry they were for the way they handled the situation with Mary. They also apologized for the way they've treated my wife for whole life. Again, check post-history, but basically Mary was the golden child and Jenna was an afterthought despite being super-accomplished.

They ended by saying they recently heard about the baby through the grapevine and want to meet their grandchild. To me, the apology seemed genuine. They went into detail on what they did wrong, apologized and expressed remorse, and explained what they should have done different. They said they hoped to earn our forgiveness with time and were willing to do family therapy to heal our relationship. Jenna is not having it. She feels like it's too little too late and doesn't want to respond. She also suspects that they're lying about Phil's cancer and just want to pressure us into reconciliation so they can meet the baby. It seems ludicrous, but I guess I wouldn't put it past them.

I want to respect my wife's feelings around this, but I'm worried that if you're not that if you're the cancer is real, she may regret not taking this opportunity for reconciliation before he dies. I expressed this to her, but she is adamant and I haven't broached the topic since. My instinct is to wait a few more days until the shock wears off to talk about it again. I just don't know what the best way to approach it would be. I certainly don't want to force my wife to do anything she doesn't want to do, but I feel like she's not thinking clearly about this right now. It also must be noted that our baby is still struggling with sleep and we're both tired and emotional all the time, so I feel like this might be influencing how she feels about all

this. What should I do here? Should I try again or just let it be? Edit, people, stop being mean to me. I too am tired and emotional and my feelings are getting hurt. I am not forcing my wife to do anything. I brought it up one time. I know this is not about me. I don't personally care either way, I just want to support my wife. I intend to tell her I am here to listen slash talk about it if she wants to but I fully support her decisions around this. She has a great therapist she trusts and I'll be here to support her however I can. Update 5, new update, Hey everyone. Thanks for the comments on my last post. They were really helpful. Some were a little mean, but Reddit is what it is. Things have taken a disappointing turn, but we have some

answers and we're working through it. First, my wife was right. The cancer story was bullshit. They were just trying to manipulate us. The same night I wrote my last post, I just let my wife know that I was here to listen if she wanted to talk about any of it, but that I would always support her no matter what she decided. She thanked me and I didn't bring it up again. She had her therapy session and afterwards said she wanted to talk. She said she wanted to get more information before making any decisions. She reached out to a trusted mutual connection and asked them to discreetly find out if the cancer was real. They reported back to say my Phil appeared healthy, my in-laws are apparently planning a European vacation for August, and they're telling people

we are going with them. Connection was also able to confirm Mary is supposed to go on this trip along with her new boyfriend, much older rich finance guy, shocker, and that my in-laws have not told anyone about what happened with me and Mary last year, they just told people we moved away for work. Obviously, at this point, any possibility of reconciliation was gone. I don't think I've ever seen Jenna angrier than when we found all of this out. Just the utter gall of them lying about something like terminal cancer to manipulate my wife into forgiveness. I'm still amazed they would stoop so low, but it was eye-opening to see comments on my last post talking about how common it is.

They even call it Christmas cancer. Some people just have no shame. Jenna decided to write a letter this weekend explaining that she knew they were lying about everything. She told them that they and Mary are essentially already dead to her, she's processed that grief, and recommends they do the same. She also said that if they try to reach out again, the next letter they receive will be from a lawyer. She told me that writing the letter was healing for her, so that's one small thing to be grateful for. We were left wondering who told them about the baby slash gave them our address. I'm sure the address is not hard to find

with public records, but we have been so careful about the baby. The connection we reached out to didn't even know about her until Jenna called. We like slash trust them just didn't want to take any chances of it getting back. We went over for dinner at my parents' place a couple of days ago and Jenna started telling them about what happened. I noticed my mother reverting eye contact and my heart sank into my stomach. I asked her if she had been the one to contact them, and she just started bawling, saying, she couldn't imagine never knowing her own grandchildren and just wanted us to heal and be a family

together. My dad had no idea she had reached out and was shocked and disappointed in her as well. I went absolutely ballistic while Jenna sort of just shut down and got this blank look on her face. I can't remember half of the things I said, but I ended by saying she would now know what it's like to not have access to her granddaughter, just like my in-laws. We took the baby and left right away, ignoring calls slash texts from them and eventually my siblings. So now we're both feeling betrayed and heartbroken. Never in a million years did I think my mother would violate our trust like that. We're so close.

She loves Jenna and the baby so much. My family knows exactly what happened with the in-laws. She can't claim ignorance. Obviously we're taking a lot of space from them, but funnily enough, Jenna is advocating for us to not be too hasty in cutting them off. She feels like my mom was not acting maliciously and is open to giving her a second chance, especially given she's been nothing but supportive of me slash my wife until this. Somewhere down there I know she's right, but it's too fresh and I'm still so angry.

We've asked for space for my family and they're being respectful about it. We'll take the weekend to cool down before we figure out next steps together. Thankfully, we have this cute little chubby grub in our house that giggles and makes silly sound so it's hard to stay super upset or in your head about anything for too long. I know it's going to be a hard road rebuilding trust with my mom, but I feel somewhat hopeful that things will be okay in the long run. Thanks again for your help. I hope you enjoy this story. Discovered my expectant spouse's sibling pilfering my information due to her mother's extreme beliefs that I would be unfaithful to my spouse because, she is overweight during her pregnancy. Hello, everyone. So I, 27M, have been living with my in-laws

for the past three weeks now. My wife, 25F, and I have been married for three years and she's eight months pregnant now. She wanted her family to move in to help her out since on maternity leave right now, but I still had to work and she didn't want to be home alone all day, so I agreed that she definitely did need someone to stay with her at home. She told me that. She told me that she was going to invite her family over to live with her until the baby was born, but I hadn't exactly been comfortable with that idea so I tried to convince her to invite only her mother. I don't like that woman one bit, but she was my wife's mom so I was willing to put up with her for a while for my wife's sake. But she insisted that she wanted her entire family living with her

so I had to give into it eventually. So three weeks ago, her parents and two younger siblings, her brother aged 22, and her sister aged 18, all moved into our house. I'm very thankful that my parents let me live in their house after I got married. They moved out of the city and live on the outskirts of the city with my uncle now. They're all retired and run a B&B for a living. After my in-laws moved in, my wife took over the shared bedroom entirely and my mother-in-law insisted that she sleep in our bedroom as well since she has a bad back. My father-in-law mostly stays in the guest room.

My sister-in-law sleeps on the pull-out couch in the living room and my brother-in-law sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor. Because of the sleeping arrangement, I've been forced to confine myself to my childhood bedroom and I was not happy about this at all. My wife is pregnant and I really wanted to be there by her side whenever she went into labor, which could be any time now according to her OB-G-YN. But instead, it's my mother-in-law who's going to be there first and I'll admit, I did resent her for it. My wife has always been very close to her family, but I didn't think she needed her entire family to move in for her pregnancy and felt this was a bit excessive.

But since she was really pregnant and emotional, I didn't argue with her and let her have it her way. I knew that my wife wanted them around because her family's presence comforted her and if that's what my eight-month pregnant wife wanted then I wouldn't deny it. her that. But unfortunately, the past three weeks were incredibly difficult for me because her family are not the easiest people to live with. Her siblings are really lazy and constantly need to be reminded to clean up after themselves and my mother-in-law just keeps nitpicking everything that we own and has made it a habit of complaining about my parents' taste in furniture and colors since she didn't approve of the way my childhood home had been done up by my parents. The only person who wasn't much trouble to deal with was my father-in-law,

who mostly restricted himself to the guest room and didn't come out for anything except for meals. I will be blunt, I didn't mind my wife's siblings or her father, but I did mind my mother-in-law since she had been exceptionally rude and crass ever since she'd moved in. Her nitpicking got on my nerves and the way she'd speak badly about my parents' taste was annoying because they'd been kind enough to let us have such a spacious house with the furniture for free. In this economy, a house like this would have cost my wife and me a fortune since it's a it was really big and was located in a nice neighborhood as well. I don't even want to think of the price had it been pre-furnished,

but I was still willing to put up with all of this simply because my wife wanted these people by her side and that's all that mattered to me. So I let them stay and tried to stay out of any unnecessary drama as far as possible. I can't count the number of times I've had to bite my tongue in the past three weeks, but I finally could no longer take it and forced all of them to get the hell out two days ago. I'd left for work like every other day in the morning and my wife had also been out with my mother-in-law for a routine check-up. My sister-in-law was on winter break and had decided to spend the day with a couple of her friends. The only people at home were my father-in-law and my brother-in-law because everyone else would be out.

About half an hour away from home, I realized that I'd left my laptop back at home and it brought along my wife's laptop instead. I wouldn't get any work done without it anyway since all the files I needed were on my company's laptop, so I was forced to go back and I'm really thankful that I forgot the laptop because once I got home, I realized that something really fishy was going on. I walked into a completely empty living room which was weird because the couch was usually occupied by my brother-in-law or my sister-in-law or both. But I didn't have time to worry about that so I decided to walk back to my room instead. There, I found my brother-in-law sitting with his back to the door and using my laptop.

He's very into tech stuff and I knew that if he was using my laptop, it couldn't be for a good cause. So I confronted him, but he refused to tell me what exactly he'd been up to and I'm not very tech-savvy myself so I couldn't tell what he'd been doing either. I told him that I'd call the cops if he didn't tell me and he seemed to be a little intimidated by that so he confessed that he'd been copying all my data from my laptop to a pen drive that he'd then give to my wife. He'd already done so with my phone a few days back while I was asleep but getting a hold of my laptop had been a little tricky since it was always either in my room or with me in the office. So my wife had swapped it for her own this morning, hoping that I wouldn't realize until the work was done but unfortunately, I'd realize that I'd

realized midway and had come back home sooner than expected. He tried to explain that he hadn't been on board with this since it was unethical and a gross invasion of my privacy, but my wife had actually paid him to do this for her. I was shocked that my wife had done such a thing and luckily, she came back home from her appointment with her doctor within half an hour of my return. She knew as soon as she saw my face and her brother's face that she'd messed up and immediately dragged me to her room to talk to me in person. Her mother stood there in the corner, sulking and glaring at my brother-in-law, so I knew that she was definitely involved in this somehow and I turned out to be right as well. My wife apologized for going behind my back first and foremost, but then,

she confessed that she'd been trying to spy on me and that's why she'd asked her brother to copy everything he found on my devices so that she could go through it all and check if there was anything suspicious that I'd been hiding. I was incredibly insomely. I was incredibly insubes. I was incredibly insulted and asked her why exactly she'd done such a thing because as far as I was concerned, I'd never shown any interest in any other women and neither did I ever indicate that I was bored with my marriage. I loved my wife and I thought she loved me, too. So I couldn't understand for the life of me why she had felt the need to spy on me all of a sudden. I was furious and couldn't keep my cool which she did realize from my voice. I'd already been struggling to keep my temper

under control because of how my in-laws had been getting on my very last nerve and this was just the last straw for me. So I kind of blew up at her and she ended up breaking down into tears afterward. I obviously felt guilty because I didn't intend to make my pregnant wife cry and felt like a total jerk for doing so. So then I tried to comfort her and while I held her hands, she told me why exactly she'd done something like this. And just as I'd suspected, this was all my mother-in-law's fault. For the past three weeks, at night, her mother had been warning her about how men tend to cheat on their wives if they get too big while they're pregnant and she needs to lose

some weight as soon as she has the baby because her mother believes that my wife is too big in spite of the fact that she's eight months pregnant. For days, she'd been reminding her that she needed to eat less to look attractive or else I inevitably end up looking for love somewhere else. This woman had been filling my wife's head with all sorts of bull crap about how she was getting too big and making her feel insecure every damn day. This is what would go on in her head before going to bed and her emotions were already in overdrive due to the hormonal changes so she ended up doing something really stupid and

paid her brother to hack into my devices to make sure her mother wasn't right and I wasn't actually cheating. She hadn't had the opportunity of going through anything yet and she was practically requesting me not to leave her over this after she explained her reasons to me. I felt horrible, not just because my wife had felt compelled to do this and had suspected me of cheating but also because I knew exactly why my mother-in-law had been doing this. My wife's family is mostly on the skinnier side and their women are really petite, as they say. My wife, however, is kind of tall, well-built, and on the Kovya side.

Now to most people, this would seem attractive, but it's always been an insecurity for her. My wife had told me about her complicated relationship with food, her body, and her mother in the initial years of our relationship. Growing up, her mother was an almond mom who believed that strictly monitoring my wife's portions and making sure she ate way less than what was required of her would ensure that she doesn't up to be a fat cow, which is what she used to refer to my wife when she was in her teens and had gained a lot of weight. Her mom's strict diet regimes had led to an eating disorder which was inevitable because my mother-in-law was obsessed with how her daughter's body looked and didn't want it to appear unseemly and the slightest. And by unseemly I mean chubby, which my wife

naturally is. It's God-given and I don't mind it. Heck, I don't even give a damn about it because I love my wife for who she is. Not because of her body or because I find her attractive, which I do, but there's way more to her as a person that I love and admire. My wife did manage to lose a lot of weight in college since she was then living away from her mother and was finally able to build a healthier relationship with food and exercise and she stayed at the same weight since then more or less. She's tried her best to win over her mother and I used to think that things have changed, but clearly not. Her mother was still the same awful person and it's unlikely that she was even capable of changing anymore. Even while her own daughter was pregnant,

she kept pushing her to lose weight which is insane because my wife's literally growing another human being inside her. In fact, their visit to the doctor was regarding her weight because her mother believed that she was too fat and was overeating again. She told me that she'd been really stupid and was sobbing while telling me not to leave her and promise to lose weight, that's how hysterical she was. Not being able to bear it anymore, I decided to give her a comforting hug to calm her down. I told her that I didn't care about how much she weighed and that I just wanted her to be happy and healthy, which seemed to pacify her a bit.

I told her to stay in her room and then left to force my in-laws to leave because I'd seen enough and I'd hurt enough. I couldn't take this anymore and there was no way in hell I was like. letting my mother-in-law near my wife again. So I told them to leave and my father-in-law and brother-in-law were ready to go, but it was, as expected, my mother-in-law who kicked up a fuss and refused to leave saying that this was her daughter's house and she didn't need my permission to live here. I reminded her that this was actually the house that I'd inherited from my parents whom she seems to hate and so, she could either leave on her own or I'd be

glad to call the cops and have her escorted away. After some arguing, my father-in-law finally forced her to leave with him. Since then, I've been spending all my time at home with my wife and reassuring her that she'll be just fine because that episode had taken a toll on her. I can't imagine why a mother would put her own child through such emotional turmoil, especially when they're pregnant and already going through so much. But that's the kind of woman my mother-in-law is and she even had the audacity to text me yesterday and demand that I let her move back in so that she can take care of my wife. I was livid when I read that and in the heat of the moment, I told her that she'd be lucky if I ever even let her around my wife or baby in the future ever again. Having said that, I blocked her but this morning, my father-in-law, who's a usually silent man, called me up and told me that I owe my mother-in-law an apology because she's been inconsolable since last night.

She can't bear the thought of being separated from her daughter and her future grandkid and insists that she only wants the best for us. Ida for refusing to let my mother-in-law see my wife after she'd been forcing her to feel bad about her body while she was eight months pregnant. Update 1. Hey, everybody. So first of all, thanks to everyone who commented on the original post. My heart truly goes out to everyone out there who's had to face similar experiences. I really can't imagine how awful it must have been for you guys, but I truly and genuinely hope that someday, you guys are able to move past the trauma of being shamed and harassed just for your body type. I truly wish that for everyone. My wife's been doing a lot better now that we've gone completely NC with her family and it's been close to a week since we last heard from any of them.

She hadn't even wanted her family to come live with her in the first place, but her mother had forced her to arrange that, evil old hag. Not only had she driven her nuts during her stay here, but she'd been bothering my wife since the beginning of her pregnancy and nagging at her about her weight constantly. I felt guilty because this thing with her mother had totally slipped my mind and I was just focused on providing a safe space for her and the baby during the pregnancy and had forgotten to consider other factors like my dear mother-in-law. My wife told me that she'd been feeling really insecure about her body once again now that she was living with her mother and that's what had made her act so crazy and suspicious, but she was over it now and promised to never

do something so weird ever again. But honestly, I was more worried about her and her mental health. I'd forgiven the whole situation with her brother and what she'd made him do because that was just her being overly emotional and paranoid, thanks to all the bull crap that her mother had been saying. I told her that she could eat all that she wanted to and it literally was nobody else's business but her own. I also informed her about what I'd said to her mother when she'd texted me a few days back and she said that I'd done the right thing. Even though she doesn't want to see her again and I'm not about to let it happen either because that woman is literally the devil incarnate. She'd made my wife's life a living hell and I wouldn't even have let her set

foot into my house had it not been for my wife's insistence. That had been a huge mistake, but at least I know better now and I'm not about to let that happen again. If she needs any help at all before or after the baby is born, we'll get in touch with trained professionals because clearly, her family is not a go-to option for us anymore like it had been earlier. And while I'd love to have my parents involved, I'm not about to bother them since they love their peaceful life on the outskirts. They've promised me to come visit when my wife goes into labor since they're only a three-hour drive away, but I'm not going to bother them before that day comes. For now, I'm working from home and trying to make up for lost time with my wife since she'd really

been through a rough patch and I'm making sure she's eating enough as well. I really, really hope things go smoothly for us from now onwards because I don't think either of us is mentally equipped to deal with more hiccups. Not at such a late stage. in the pregnancy, at least. My wife's due in a couple of weeks and I just want these last few weeks to be just as smooth sailing as it had been earlier. Update 2. So my mother-in-law decided to make a reappearance just as we'd started to think that we'd managed to get rid of her. It's been close to 10 days since I kicked her out and this morning, my wife and I woke up to someone banging on the door and screaming their head off. She recognized her mother's voice and instantly demanded that we

call the cops, which we did and within half an hour, they'd come by and escorted her off our property, but it didn't end there. Even after the cops had taken her away, she decided to continue trying to contact us and even involved our next-door neighbors by demanding that they pass on a message to us. Our neighbor is a single woman in her late 40s and it was pretty awkward for her, but she told us that my mother-in-law had come by a few minutes ago, handed her a note, and told her to pass it on to us. The note is a note that was a note that was a was for my wife and it said that she needed to leave me and go back to her family so that her mother could look after her. Or else she'd be really disappointed in my wife. Well, good for my wife that

she's an adult woman doesn't need to be looked after by someone like her. I don't know if I did the right thing or not, but I crumpled that note up and tossed it in the bin, where it belongs without even reading it to my wife and she didn't ask about the contents of it either. I told my wife that things had gone far enough and we needed to start thinking about legal action against her and she agreed. So we've decided to file for a restraining order against her because, after everything that's happened so far, I can't think of a single conceivable way that can end happily for all of us with her still being a part of our lives. I just cannot envision her in our future anymore. Maybe if the rest of her family apologizes then I still might consider it, but not her mother.

That woman has put my wife through hell and back throughout her childhood, her teenage years, and now even during pregnancy. I made the mistake of letting her into my wife's life once, but I'm not about to make that same mistake yet again. Update 3. Hey, everybody. So I'm here after almost a month and a lot of things have happened since my last update here. My wife and I are parents to a wonderful baby girl now and trust me, we're going to do a way better job as parents than what my in-laws did. My wife is already an excellent mother and I'm trying

to be a good father as well. Part of that was making sure my mother-in-law had no access to her grandchild so we managed to get a restraining order against her for two years a few weeks before my wife gave birth. Her mother was hysterical when she was served and contacted a bunch of people including my parents, a couple of our friends, one of my wife's cousins, and other relatives of her so that at least one of them would put her through to my wife, but all of them knew how terrible our relationship with her was now so they were wise enough not to contact us on her behalf. They did tell us about the calls, but we didn't care. A few weeks after that, my wife finally went into labor and after almost 18 hours, we had our daughter with us. It was crazy that we were

finally parents and it was very emotional for us. I could tell that my wife was very upset a few hours after birth that nobody else from her family had bothered to show up or even asked her how she'd been doing for the past couple of weeks and I was worried that this would put her at risk for postpartum depression so I got in touch with a counselor as soon as I could and convinced my wife to start seeing a mental health professional so that she wouldn't have to feel like she was taking on the world all by herself. Luckily, she did heed my advice and has been doing online sessions with the guy I put her in touch with and I'm hoping it makes her feel better. Apart from all of that, we're seriously having the time of our life with our daughter and I hope that she grows up to be just as wonderful a human being as her mother is, if not more.

My parents are going to visit in a week or two. They've had to postpone their visit since my uncle fell sick, but I'm actually kind of glad to have this time with my family. It's just the three of us right now and I feel so at peace with everything when I'm around my two loves. I don't mean to gush, but this just feels like our family is complete now. Thank you.