After moving with her husband into his parent’s home to care for his ailing father, a 26-year-old woman who was reduced to a scullery “live-in maid,” decided she’d had enough.
Taking on the financial and physical burdens of the entire household, the woman, who was at the mercy of her cruel in-laws, made a shocking decision that shook up her husband’s family.
Keep reading to learn what this incredible woman did!
Sharing her woes on Reddit, a 26-year-old woman was looking for advice on how to handle a situation where she became a live-in maid to her in-laws. Apparently, it all started when her and her husband, 27, moved in with his parents to help with his sick father.
“[Father-in-law] is generally doing better now, but there’s still a few things he can’t do anymore that my husband does now instead,” the original poster (OP) wrote. “We’ve discussed moving out (I want to) but my in laws are very resistant to the idea, stating that there’s plenty of room here and they don’t know what they’d do without us etc.”
The wife went on to explain that her and her husband do not pay to live in the house (which has no mortgage) but that they have been covering every other expense, like household groceries, several bills (electricity, internet, TV), and half of household upgrades. “‘It’ll be your house one day,’” she said she was told.
She also shuttles the family pets back and forth from veterinary appointments that she arranges.
Because she works full-time from home, the OP explained that she has flexibility to help with errands but demands from the in-laws are never ending. She does all the cleaning and cooking, seven days a week with no breaks and no support.
“Recently I have begun to feel resentful of the fact that once they are all done with work they can come home and relax, whereas I finish work and have to cook and clean and have no help,” she said.
Generally compliant, OP said the situation came to a head when she became really sick, and the in-laws continued to be unforgiving with their expectations, unwilling to let her rest. “I felt the worse I’ve ever felt and wanted nothing more than to sleep, however once it got around to dinner time I was woken by my [mother-in-law] to ask when I was getting up to make dinner,” she wrote.
“I didn’t want to cause an argument, so I just got up and made dinner for them, but as I was in the kitchen struggling not to pass out, the three of them sat watching a movie, waiting for me to bring in their food,” the post continued.
Acting like a dutiful servant, the woman struggled to cook and clean, and without making a scene, she waited until later to quietly present her concerns to her husband, who seemed sympathetic.
“My husband apologised and offered to help more which I accepted, but the next day was an exact repeat.”
Dragging herself out of bed from the little quarters she slept, the OP cooked dinner, fed her husband and his parents, and then his mother pushed her over the edge.
Her mother-in-law blithely said: “‘Oh you look truly awful! Poor you! Oh [by the way] later would you mind giving everywhere an extra clean? I don’t want to get whatever you have.’”
Though the OP was so weak that she could barely stand, she stood up to the cruel monster-in-law. “I accused them of treating me like a live-in maid [and] not caring about me outside of the services I provide for them,” she wrote. “I pointed out that I wouldn’t be in the communal areas if I hadn’t been dragged out to cook [and] that they could have handled one meal themselves.”
Meanwhile, her husband sat there silently, refusing to support his wife. Later, he suggested she was “too emotional,” and though she agrees she could have taken a calmer approach, she explains “I was sick [and] stressed.”
In the following days, her mother-in-law gave her the silent treatment and there were no apologies.
Online users rallied behind the woman, offering her the support she did not get from her husband.
One wrote: “Worse than a live-in maid, actually. Employees are entitled to sick leave,” while a second urged her to leave: “Get out now, with or without your husband. Nothing will change because everyone, except you, is fine with the situation.”
Another netizen added: “Any payments [you’re] making stop immediately, and [your] money goes into a personal account…[your] contribution is labor, and [you’re] still getting grossly underpaid with just room and (not even) board, since [you’re] paying for four people’s food. this is wildly imbalanced in the in-laws favor.”
Gran-monster
Two months after her post, the woman shared a shocking update. Taking the advice of her online friends, the OP started depositing her wages into a personal bank account, removing her savings from the account she shared with her husband.
“This turned out to be the best decisions because I found out I was pregnant roughly two weeks after this post. I’d been told at 15 that due to some medical conditions I’d never be able to get pregnant naturally, so it was a complete shock.”
And then, monster-in-law became a monster grandmother. “Immediately names were being thrown around and [she] started talking about reducing her hours to part time/early retirement so she could be around to raise the baby. This rubbed me completely the wrong way, I didn’t want anyone else raising my baby,” the OP said.
Though, the mother-in-law’s meddling didn’t stop there. “Colors for the nursery and themes etc. were all being discussed constantly but never with me… within a week I felt as though I was just an incubator,” the mother-to-be wrote.
Next, she was told the baby would be bottle fed “so everyone could help out.” And the baby – the in-laws wanted a boy – would be dressed by her husband’s mom.
The OP left and started the divorce process. Armed with “disgusting messages” from her husband and his family about her and her unborn child, she explained: “They won’t get any form of custody. Although, since I announced the gender, they’ve all gone quite silent.”
She’s having a girl, and the two will live together in a small three-bedroom house near her own family.
Expressing her immense gratitude to the scores of Reddit users who offered her advice, she concluded: “Thank you again for all your kind words, the situation didn’t play out how I’d hoped, but I can’t help feeling like it’s for the best.”
This story is similar to Cinderella but with a cruel mother-in-law instead of stepmother! And though it didn’t play out as she hoped, it seems like she will find her happily ever after without her soon to be ex-husband, whom she called “mommy’s little prince.”
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