A few days ago, my life suddenly turned into drama after an old thread I once posted on Threads somehow resurfaced. Apparently, one of my husband’s relatives accidentally read it, took a screenshot, and then sent it to my husband’s younger sibling. Like a domino effect, the story eventually reached my mother-in-law.
But what really shocked me was the plot twist: I finally found out who had spread that screenshot. As soon as I knew, without thinking too much, I immediately called them. At first, I just wanted to clarify. But their answer made my blood boil.
Casually, they said,
“Eh, Sis, you should be grateful—you’ve already been given a car, your living expenses and your child’s are all covered by your mother-in-law, and yet you still make a thread like that? Aren’t you ashamed?”
I was truly stunned. My emotions exploded. How could my mother-in-law spread such a story to her family? What hurt more was realizing that all this time she had been slandering both me and my husband—telling everyone that all our living expenses were paid by her.
But that was a complete lie. We bought our car ourselves, in cash, without a single rupiah from her. She never even bought clothes for her grandchild. We cover all our living expenses on our own, and if there’s any help, it comes from my side of the family. Even the house we live in belongs to my parents.
Yet out there, my mother-in-law built a narrative as if she were the one supporting us. No wonder my husband’s extended family had always looked down on us. They thought I was just freeloading, having kids, and then sitting back at home doing nothing.
The deepest wound isn’t just from the slander, but from having my dignity and my family’s dignity trampled on. I even called several people to confirm, and all the information turned out to be true. Even in my mother-in-law’s neighborhood, my husband’s name was tarnished because of her habit of borrowing money in his name. Sometimes she would say,
“I’ll borrow 5 million, okay? For my son, because he needs it.”
But we had absolutely no idea about it.
And then I realized, maybe this is why our relationship has been strained since last year. Ever since I found out, my mother-in-law has secretly been influencing my husband not to obey me and not to respect my opinions. As if, in this marriage, my husband must completely submit to his parents, instead of sharing decisions with me as his partner.
I couldn’t even focus on work, having to calm myself down in the restroom just to regain control of my heart and mind. My feelings were all over the place: anger, sadness, disappointment, and a deep sense of being disrespected.
If you were in my position, would you also be angry?
I think I have the right to be angry. Because it’s not only me who’s been hurt, but also my family who has sacrificed so much for us. We are not freeloading—we’re fighting for our own lives. And this slander truly stabbed my heart.
If people say karma is real, maybe it is. Right now, my mother-in-law is suffering from a stroke and can’t walk. It’s not that I wished for it, but perhaps the universe doesn’t stay silent when someone keeps spreading slander that hurts their own child and in-law.
Photo by Emile Guillemot on Unsplash
