My mother-in-law gave everything to her other daughter and now demands that my husband and I fund her retirement. I refused. She screamed, “You ungrateful brats will regret it!” I called her bluff.

The next day, my husband came home late. When he finally called, he was in tears: “You have to come to Mom’s house right now. She’s locked herself in the bathroom and won’t come out until we agree to her terms.”

When I arrived, I could hear her sobbing dramatically, wailing about how “unloved” she felt. Apparently, she’d spent the entire day calling my husband at work, crying about being abandoned by her family.

My husband was completely panicked, convinced something terrible might happen if we didn’t give in. She had manipulated him into believing that refusing her meant we wanted her to end up homeless—even though she already owns her house.

What shocked me most was finding out she’d been telling neighbors and relatives that we were “cruel and heartless” for not supporting her. She conveniently left out the part where she spent $150,000 on her other daughter’s house down payment and college expenses, while we struggled to cover our own wedding.

The bathroom drama dragged on for three hours. Every so often, she’d shout through the door about how she had “sacrificed everything” for her children and deserved better. Finally, I calmly told her we were leaving and she could call us when she was ready for a rational conversation. That was the only thing that got her to come out.

Since then, she’s been alternating between guilt trips and silent treatment—trying every manipulation tactic in the book to wear us down. My husband feels torn between supporting me and avoiding conflict with his mother, and the stress is weighing heavily on our marriage.

I love my husband dearly, but I cannot—and will not—fund someone else’s retirement when we’re trying to build our own future.

I need advice on how to handle this situation without completely destroying our family relationships.

Source: brightside.me