After giving birth to my first children, I thought my husband would start choosing us more over his mother, but that wasn’t the case. This time, he’d chosen her side over me for the last time, so I exposed her for the bully and liar she was.
You’d think bringing home your newborn twins would be one of the happiest moments of your life. For me, it started like that, but it soon turned into an absolute nightmare!
An upset mother with her newborn babies | Source: Midjourney
After three days in the hospital, recovering from a grueling delivery, I was finally discharged and ready to head home with my beautiful twin daughters, Ella and Sophie. I’d imagined this moment for months: Derek, my husband, picking us up at the hospital with flowers, tears of joy in his eyes as he took one of the girls into his arms.
But instead, at the last minute, I got a hurried phone call that changed everything…
An upset woman on a call | Source: Midjourney
“Hey, baby,” my husband said, his voice clipped. “I am so sorry, but I can’t come pick you guys up as planned.”
“What?” I asked, adjusting the swaddle around Sophie. “Derek, I just had twins. What’s so important that you can’t—”
“It’s my mom,” he interrupted. “She’s in bad shape. Hectic chest pains. I need to pick her up and take her to that hospital close to her.”
His words hit me like a bucket of cold water. “What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Derek, I need you here.”
“I know,” he said, exasperated. “But this happened suddenly, and it’s serious. I’ll come to you as soon as I can.”
An anxious man on a call | Source: Midjourney
I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to scream because of how disappointed and frustrated I felt, but I replied, “Fine. I’ll just get a taxi.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled before hanging up.
My husband’s mother lived in a different city, so the chances of him getting back that same day to get me and the babies were unrealistic. Knowing how obsessed Derek was with his mother, he wasn’t going to leave her by herself, hence the taxi.
An upset woman on a call | Source: Midjourney
As the line went dead, my heart sank. I wanted to believe Derek wasn’t being callous, just overwhelmed and a mama’s boy. Still, the disappointment stung. The same mother-in-law (MIL) who insisted we make a separate set of keys to our house so she could help me with the babies was now suddenly unwell.
I tried shaking it off as I bundled the girls into their car seats that their father had dropped off the previous day and got us into a cab.
A woman in a cab with her children | Source: Midjourney
When we pulled into the driveway, I froze. My suitcases, diaper bags, and even the crib mattress were scattered across the front lawn and by the doorstep! A knot formed in my stomach. I paid the driver and stepped out with the twins, glancing around nervously. Something was obviously very wrong…
A messy front yard | Source: Midjourney
I approached the front door, fumbling with my keys while absentmindedly calling out my husband’s name, even though I knew he couldn’t be home yet. The key wouldn’t turn. Confused, I tried again. Nothing. Then I saw it, a folded piece of paper taped to a suitcase.
Get out of here with your little moochers! I know everything. Derek.
My breath caught, and my heart stopped. My hands trembled as I read the note again and again, trying to make sense of it while hoping it was a hallucination. This couldn’t be happening. Not Derek…
A shocked woman reading a note | Source: Midjourney
Not the man who held my hand through every doctor’s appointment, who cried when we heard our daughters’ heartbeats for the first time. Then the worst part of that day began…
Wanting answers, I called him immediately. Straight to voicemail. Again. Voicemail. Panic set in as Sophie’s cries joined Ella’s. I rocked their car seats, forcing myself to think.
A stressed woman holding a phone | Source: Midjourney
“Mom,” I whispered. My hands shook as I dialed her number.
“Jenna?” Mom answered on the first ring. “What’s wrong? Are the twins okay?”
I choked out the words, barely able to hold it together. I hadn’t wanted to involve my mother due to her ailing condition, but I believed this was one of those dire moments.
“Derek… He changed the locks. He threw my stuff outside. Mom, he left this awful note.”
“WHAT?!” Her voice shot up. “Stay there. I’m coming.”
An upset older woman | Source: Midjourney
Minutes felt like hours before she arrived. Mom took one look at the mess and narrowed her eyes, fuming.
“This doesn’t make sense! Derek wouldn’t do this; he loves you and the girls!”
“That’s what I thought,” I said, rocking Ella to calm her cries. “But he’s not answering. And what does ‘I know everything’ even mean?” I asked showing her the offensive note.
“I am so sorry, my darling,” she said while hugging me close. “Let’s go to my place until we can get a hold of your husband, okay?”
An older woman hugging a younger one | Source: Midjourney
She helped me load the bags into her car and whisked us back to her place. After my mother and I dissected what had happened and repeatedly called Derek with no answer, my anxiety spiked. That night, I barely slept.
The next morning, I decided I needed answers. Leaving the twins with Mom, I drove back in her car to the house. The yard was empty, my belongings gone. I knocked on the door. No response. I walked around to the back, peering through the windows, and froze.
A shocked woman peaking through a window | Source: Midjourney
Derek’s mother, Lorraine, sat at the dining table, sipping tea! I banged on the door, and she looked up, startled, almost spilling her tea before she saw me and smirked.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, banging on the door.
Lorraine rose leisurely and opened it just a crack. “Jenna. You’re not welcome here, didn’t you see the note?”
“Where’s Derek?” I snapped. “Why did he—”
“He’s at the hospital in my city,” she said smoothly. “Taking care of his sick mother.”
A nonchalant older woman standing by a door | Source: Midjourney
I stared at her, disbelief washing over me. “Sick? You’re standing right here!”
She shrugged, her lips curling into a malicious smile. “Maybe I’m feeling better. Miracles happen.”
“You lied to him, didn’t you? You faked being sick!”
Her smile widened. “And?”
My hands balled into fists. “Why? Why would you do this?”
She crossed her arms, her smugness growing.
A smug older woman | Source: Midjourney
“I told Derek from the start that our family needs a boy to carry on the name. But you? You gave us two girls. Useless,” she confessed unapologetically, finally speaking her truth after all these years I’ve been with her son.
Her words knocked the air out of me. I was too stunned to speak, and she took my silence as permission to keep going.
“I knew you’d ruin my son’s life, so I took matters into my own hands. The note was a bit much, but I needed you to believe he wanted you gone. I even ensured he couldn’t call you by taking his phone right out of his pocket when he wasn’t looking. You were supposed to take your things and get out of our lives, but here you are…”
An angry older woman | Source: Midjourney
I couldn’t breathe. This woman had orchestrated everything, lied to her son, and got him to take her to the hospital under false pretenses before sneaking away, locked me out of my home, and stole his phone all because she disapproved of my daughters!
“You threw us out over that?”
“Of course,” she said, unbothered. “I even bribed a nurse at the hospital to keep him there. And it worked, didn’t it?”
I felt sick. “You’re deranged!”
“Call me what you want,” she sneered. “I call it protecting my family. Besides, my Derek always takes my side and will see things my way as usual.”
An arrogant older woman | Source: Midjourney
Her words echoed in my mind as I drove to the hospital where my husband was still waiting. With every mile, my anger grew. How could she justify such cruelty? My hands gripped the wheel tightly, knuckles white with fury.
I knew my MIL was mean, but I didn’t think she was evil! She never approved of my relationship or marriage to her son, always believing Derek deserved someone wealthier and fancier, unlike me.
An upset woman driving | Source: Midjourney
When I reached the hospital, I found my husband pacing in the waiting room, his eyes shadowed with worry.
“Jenna!” he said, rushing toward me. “Where have you been? I don’t have my phone or know your number by heart, so I couldn’t call you!”
“Your mother took your phone,” I cut him off. “She faked her illness and locked me out of the house!”
He froze, confusion and anger flashing across his face. “What? That doesn’t make any sense.”
A man at a hospital | Source: Midjourney
“She set me up, wrote a fake note from you sending me away, and bribed a nurse to lie to you,” I said, my voice trembling. “Lorraine’s at our house, sipping tea like she’s the queen of the world!”
“Wait. What? Why would she…”
“Because our daughters aren’t boys,” I said bitterly.
The shock turned to rage on his face. Without saying a word, he grabbed his keys and stormed out, with me following close behind. When we got home, Lorraine was exactly where I’d left her, looking utterly unbothered.
An older woman having tea | Source: Midjourney
But her smugness vanished when she saw the determined look on Derek’s face.
“Mom,” he said, his voice cold and sharp. “What did you do? I thought you were in the hospital?”
She opened her mouth, likely to lie, but Derek cut her off. “Save it. I know everything.”
“Derek, I was just trying to—”
“You’ve done enough,” he snapped. “You made me abandon my wife and children for a fake emergency! Then you locked my wife, who just gave birth, and our newborn babies out of our home! On top of that, you cut our ability to communicate during such a crucial time by stealing my phone!”
An angry man shouting | Source: Midjourney
“Derek, darling… I just wanted to keep you safe. This isn’t how this was supposed to go,” my MIL replied pleadingly.
“Keep me safe from my wife and children? Who told you I wanted boys? What makes you think my girls aren’t good enough for me just because of their gender? That’s a problem you have, not me, and if you want sons, I suggest you go make them yourself!”
I stood with my mouth agape, having never seen Derek this angry! I won’t lie, a part of me was proud that he was proving himself worthy of me by defending my and the children’s honor. At that moment, I loved him more than ever before!
A happy woman | Source: Midjourney
“Pack your things and leave,” he demanded.
She gaped at him, tears forming. “You can’t mean that. I’m your mother!”
“And Jenna is my WIFE! Those are my daughters! If you can’t respect them, you’re not part of our lives!”
For once, Lorraine was speechless. She stormed upstairs to pack, slamming doors as she went. Derek turned to me, his eyes full of remorse.
“I’m so sorry, my love. I didn’t know.”
I let out a shaky breath, the tension easing just a little. “I just want us to move forward.”
A happy woman with her man | Source: Midjourney
Lorraine left that night. My husband apologized repeatedly, vowing to make things right. And he did. He changed the locks, blocked his mother’s number, and even reported the nurse who had taken the bribe!
It wasn’t easy, but for months we worked on rebuilding our life. One evening, as I rocked Ella and Sophie to sleep, I realized Lorraine had tried to destroy us but only managed to bring us closer together.
A happy couple with their twins | Source: Midjourney
Sadly, Jenna isn’t the only daughter-in-law who has had to face a difficult MIL. In the following story, Michelle’s MIL surprises her and her husband with a DNA test for their son thinking it would finally break them up. But things didn’t play out in her favor, the way she imagined.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Things in My House Started Moving Around — I Installed a Security Camera and Was Shocked When I Saw the Footage
I had started acclimating to living alone when something strange began occurring in my house. I partly wondered if it was a ghost, maybe my late husband playing a sick game, but I didn’t believe in all that. When I finally found the truth, my jaw dropped, and my head couldn’t stop spinning from the shock!
At 62, I’ve been living alone since my husband passed away 15 years ago. Our son left us two decades back and now lives full-time in another country. However, I’ve noticed strange things happening in my house for the past month. At first, I brushed it off, thinking I might have just forgotten where I put them until one day.
A distressed woman | Source: Midjourney
For weeks, my furniture, photos, and little things like vases and picture frames started moving around by themselves in my house. I chalked it down to old age, but it became impossible to ignore as the days passed.
One day, I found a chair from the dining room pushed up against the living room wall! Then, I noticed a family portrait I hadn’t touched in years lying on the kitchen counter! I thought I was LOSING my mind!
A dining room chair in the living room | Source: Midjourney
To avoid jumping to conclusions and to reassure myself, a few days later, I started taking photos of each room before going to bed. I then compared them to the following morning’s view.
To my shock and dismay, the furniture HAD INDEED moved! And not just by an inch or two; sometimes, entire items were in different rooms! This wasn’t just me misremembering or being forgetful!
A woman comparing a photo | Source: Midjourney
I couldn’t sleep due to the paranoia. I stayed awake, listening for any sounds that would give me a clue of what was happening. But the nights were silent.
I realized I needed solid proof, so I decided to set up a security camera system around the house. I installed two cameras in the living room, one in the kitchen, another in the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and one in my bedroom.
They were simple devices, but I was desperate to get to the bottom of this. That became the best choice but also a bad one because the truth turned out to be much darker than expected.
A camera system | Source: Pexels
For the first few days, nothing unusual showed up on the footage. No movement, no shadows; just the same empty rooms and the stray cat who sometimes wandered around. But on the fifth day, I found something I hadn’t expected.
I played back the recording from my living room camera and froze when I saw it: a figure dressed entirely in black!
Whoever it was, they were careful not to expose any part of their body. Even their face was hidden beneath a mask! I nearly lost it when I saw what was actually happening!
An intruder in a house | Source: Midjourney
I watched in horror as they moved slowly, almost cautiously, as if they knew exactly where the cameras were. It sent shivers down my spine!
The figure rearranged the items in my house, shifting furniture, placing objects in new positions, and even standing eerily still at times, just looking around. The footage showed them sneaking around the house at odd hours, mainly when I was out running errands or during the early morning when I’d just stepped out to get groceries.
The burglar moved so silently and systematically that I wondered how LONG this had been going on!
An intruder placing a living room item into the kitchen | Source: Midjourney
Panicking, I called the police and told them about the intruder. I played the footage back to the officer who came by, and he, too, was visibly disturbed.
“We’ll increase patrols in the area, ma’am,” he said, glancing uneasily at the paused image of the figure on my screen. “But until we catch this person, you need to be extra careful. Lock your doors and windows; all of them.”
I nodded, but couldn’t shake the feeling that more had to be done.
An upset woman talking to a cop | Source: Midjourney
I realized I couldn’t live like this; constantly on edge, feeling unsafe in my own home. So, I asked the officer to help set up a plan. He suggested I leave the house during the day but stay nearby and watch the footage live. That way, if the intruder returned, the police would be ready.
The next day, I packed a small bag and left the house as if going for my usual errands. But instead of running to the store, I went to a small café across the street from my house. I could see my front door clearly from the window seat.
A woman looking at a laptop in a café | Source: Midjourney
My laptop was set up in front of me, and I anxiously watched the live feed from my cameras. For hours, nothing happened. My heart pounded as the minutes ticked by. I sipped coffee, pretending to read a book, but I couldn’t focus on ANYTHING except the screen!
Then, just when I thought maybe today would be another false alarm, the front door creaked open.
My breath caught in my throat!
An intruder at the door | Source: Midjourney
There, standing in my hallway, was the intruder; dressed the same as before! I grabbed my phone with trembling hands and called the same police officer I’d dealt with the other day.
“He’s here,” I whispered as if the intruder could hear me while I tried to keep my voice steady. “He’s in my house right NOW.”
The officer assured me they were already on their way. They had a team positioned just a few blocks down. I watched, my stomach twisting in knots, as the intruder moved through my house again. But this time, something was different.
A worried woman on a phone call | Source: Midjourney
He wasn’t just moving things around; he was going through my belongings. He opened drawers, pulled out old photo albums, and sifted through my personal documents!
I watched, helpless, as he walked into my bedroom and opened the closet. He picked up one of my late husband’s old sweaters, holding it up to his chest for a moment. Then, he dropped it carelessly to the floor. It was like he was taunting me, trying to show me he had control over my life!
An intruder holds a sweater | Source: Midjourney
Just as he was about to leave the room, a loud banging sound echoed through the house, the police had arrived! I saw the figure freeze for a split second before he bolted toward the back door. The officers burst in, guns drawn, shouting commands!
The figure tried to flee, but it was no use. They tackled him to the ground in my backyard!
I could see everything unfolding from my laptop like it was a movie. Relief washed over me, but it was quickly replaced by a sickening dread as they pulled off his mask.
Officers apprehending an intruder | Source: Midjourney
It was my son.
The same son I hadn’t seen or spoken to in 20 years! He looked up at the officers with wild eyes, struggling against their grip.
“Let me go!” he shouted. “This is MY house! I have a right to be here!”
The officers exchanged confused glances and turned to look at each other as I rushed out of the café, stumbling across the street. I felt like I was moving in slow motion! When I finally reached the backyard, I stared at him, disbelief and heartbreak swirling inside me!
An intruder apprehended by a cop | Source: Midjourney
“Why, Trevor?” I managed to say, my voice barely a whisper. “Why would you DO this?”
I was taken aback when he laughed… a bitter, almost unrecognizable sound!
“Why do YOU think? You cut me off all those years ago! You left me with nothing!” He struggled against the officers holding him down. “I needed money, and you were just sitting on all of it, living in this big house by yourself!”
I felt my legs go weak. I had to clutch the side of the patio table to keep from collapsing!
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
“So, what?” I asked, my voice shaking. “You wanted to drive me insane? Make me think I was losing my mind?”
“YES!” he spat, glaring up at me with a look of pure hatred.
“If I could get you declared mentally unstable, I’d become your guardian. I could sell the house, get access to your accounts…”
I couldn’t listen anymore. I turned away, tears blurring my vision. I’d spent years missing him, wondering if I’d done something wrong as a mother, and now this? My son, the little boy I’d held in my arm, had come back to torment me for money?
A shocked woman crying | Source: Midjourney
After the police took him away, I sat down in the living room, the room that had once been my sanctuary. Now, it felt like a stranger’s house. Everything was where it should be, but it didn’t feel right anymore.
Days later, I got a call from the station. My son had confessed, on the record, to everything. His debts were enormous, and he was desperate.
I agreed to pay off his debts, not for him, but for the sake of ending this nightmare… he was still my child, after all.
I even dropped the charges against him but got a restraining order.
An upset woman on a call | Source: Freepik
But I made one thing clear: “I never want to see or hear from you again, Trevor. And if I do, you’re going straight to jail! Your father would be so disappointed in who you’ve become. You’re no longer my son.”
I hung up the phone feeling emptier than I ever had in my entire life. I thought losing my husband was hard, but this… this was a pain I couldn’t even begin to describe.
A distressed woman sitting and thinking | Source: Freepik
In the following story, Lily was by her mother’s side when she started deteriorating from cancer. After her mother died, her greedy aunts and brother attended the will reading where they got millions! Lily got nothing and was distressed until the lawyer handed her something that would help her mourn her mother peacefully.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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