My DIL Secretly Ruined My Place after I Refused to Trade Houses with Her – I Had Nothing Left but to Teach Her a Lesson of Respect
A few months after her husband, Adam, passed away, Anne’s son, Charlie buys her a new home closer to him. Initially hesitant, Anne finally decides to move. But then she has to deal with her jealous daughter-in-law, Angela, who just wants the house. After Angela pulls a stunt that results in the house being fumigated, Anne has no choice but to teach her a lesson.
After my husband of 53 years passed away six months ago, I felt heartbroken. Everything in the house reminded me of Adam and the memories we had made there.
An old woman sitting down | Source: Pexels
Sometimes it was comforting, but at other times, the loneliness felt too suffocating, making me curl into a ball and sleep on Adam’s side of the bed for some form of comfort.
My son, Charlie, saw how difficult it was for me, and he wanted me to move closer to him and his wife, Angela.
An elderly woman sitting on a blue couch | Source: Pexels
“Mom, I’ve already found a place for you. It’s about five minutes away from us, and I’ve already put in an offer,” Charlie said.
“Honey, I can’t ask you to do that for me,” I said, speaking to him on the phone. “I cannot ask you to buy me a house.”
An old woman on a phone | Source: Pexels
“You’re not asking,” he replied, chewing on trail mix on the other end. “I’m offering. Mm… and we can have it ready for you to move in at the end of next week if you’d like.”
I was initially hesitant, but I eventually agreed to move. I knew that Charlie and Angela were trying to have a baby, and I thought that the most healing thing for me would be to care for that baby when it arrived.
A person holding a pregnancy test | Source: Pixabay
So, Charlie helped me pack all my things, and soon, I was ready for a new chapter. Despite missing Adam, I knew that I needed to move on.
I moved into my new home easily, because my son had sorted everything out for me.
A pile of packing boxes | Source: Pixabay
“Anything for you, Mom,” Charlie said when he came over on the first night in the new house.
He sat at the table and told me about work while I cooked our first meal in the kitchen.
An older woman in the kitchen | Source: Pexels
“Are you ready for the housewarming this weekend, Mom?” Charlie asked me. “I’ve invited everyone you said you’d like to see. And I’ve told Angela to come over early and help you with the food and drinks. Do you need me to do anything else?”
I shook my head. Everything was perfect, and my son had gone out of his way to make sure that everything was going according to plan.
A close-up of a plate of pasta | Source: Pexels
But then, things took an unexpected turn.
On the day of the party, I was actually excited. For the first time in a long time, I was looking forward to being around people. I was ready to sit in a group and not feel the weight of my grief for one of the first times since Adam had passed on.
I stood in front of the mirror and put on lipstick, something that I hadn’t done since I lost Adam.
An older woman applying lipstick | Source: Pexels
Angela came over early, as Charlie had said. She went around the kitchen, adding final touches to the dishes I had spent hours cooking.
Suddenly, Angela turned to me.
Platters of food | Source: Pexels
“Look, Anne,” she said, washing her hands. “You can’t live in this house. You just can’t do it. It’s too big and too modern for you.”
“What? No, I think that it’s absolutely fine for me,” I said. “I’ve spoken to Charlie about getting a dog, too.”
A golden retriever | Source: Unsplash
“You’re not listening,” she said. “I want you to trade homes with us. Charlie earns well, but he didn’t want to renovate our house to make it modern. He said that he would rather use his money to sort out your home.”
Angela went on for a long time. She spoke about how she understood that Charlie wanted to take care of me, but that he needed to put her first.
A smirking woman | Source: Pexels
I was hurt by her words but I said nothing, not wanting to cause an argument. Of course, I didn’t want to trade houses because Charlie and I had put so much effort into moving into the new home. I had also decorated it to my taste, with Adam’s belongings all over.
I had planted a garden and set up everything precisely how I wanted.
A modern living room | Source: Pexels
But little did I know, Angela left me with more than just hurtful words.
Two days after the party, I woke up to a horrible smell permeating the entire house. No matter where I looked, I just couldn’t find the source.
An older woman reading in bed | Source: Pexels
“Oh, my goodness, Mom,” Charlie said when I called him to come and take a look around the property, in case I missed something.
“This is so bad!” he said, checking the entire kitchen to find the smell.
A clean kitchen | Source: Pexels
“I know!” I exclaimed. “And I’ve searched everywhere I can think of.”
It was driving me crazy because no matter how much I looked, I just couldn’t find the source of the stink.
After a week of enduring the horrible smell, Charlie suggested bringing in a professional to locate the source.
A man blocking his nose | Source: Midjourney
“You cannot live like this anymore, Mom,” Charlie said. “I’m going to hire someone. You can stay with us or I’ll rent out a hotel room for you.”
It turned out that the expert discovered a rotten egg hidden in the vent in the living room. It had been deliberately placed there to ensure the stench would spread throughout the house.
A rotten egg in an air vent | Source: Midjourney
As the house was cleaned out, and fumigated because Charlie thought that it was necessary, I was devastated to have caused my son more hard work.
But I knew, deep down, that it was Angela. She was behind it all.
A person fumigating a house | Source: Pexels
I was determined to teach Angela a lesson. So, I devised a plan. I invited her and Charlie over for dinner and played the gracious host. When they arrived, I warmly welcomed them, acting as if nothing was wrong.
If Angela suspected anything, she didn’t show it. Instead, she smirked from the moment she came through the door.
“At least it doesn’t smell in here anymore, Anne,” she said, helping herself to the pile of freshly baked cookies that I had made for Charlie to take home.
A close-up of cookies | Source: Unsplash
We sat down for dinner, Charlie talking animatedly about his day at the office. Angela barely ate her dinner, just nibbling in between her smirks.
“Angela, I’ve always believed in treating others with kindness and respect, especially when it comes to family. Do you agree?” I asked her, looking her in the eye.
A person holding a fork | Source: Unsplash
She nodded.
“Good,” I continued. “Because respect is a two-way street. It’s about understanding and valuing each other’s feelings and spaces.”
My daughter-in-law’s discomfort grew, and I knew that my words were hitting home. On one hand, I did feel bad for Angela. But on the other hand, I wanted to make it known that I wasn’t going to be pushed into a corner.
An older woman sitting at a table | Source: Pexels
I wasn’t going to be taken advantage of, just because she wanted a house that she couldn’t have.
“Darling,” I told her. “You seem to have a knack for gardening. Would you mind helping me with a little project tomorrow?”
I knew that she wouldn’t refuse without appearing rude, so she agreed and turned away.
A side profile of a woman | Source: Pexels
The next day, Angela arrived at my house, expecting a simple gardening task. Instead, I handed her a pair of gloves and a shovel.
“I need help digging up the old compost pile,” I said with a smile. “It’s been neglected by the previous owners, and it’s time to start fresh.”
A compost pile | Source: Midjourney
Angela’s face paled as she realized the task ahead. The compost pile was massive and the stench was worse than the single rotten egg. But still, she had no choice but to help, considering the previous night’s polite agreement.
After hours of hard work, we finally finished the task. Angela was exhausted and covered in filth.
“Come, let’s clean up and have a drink,” I told her.
Glasses of lemonade | Source: Unsplash
But I had another surprise waiting.
I took her to the study, where I had kept most of the photos of Adam and myself, among other mementos of his. But more than that, I also had gifts from Charlie and Angela displayed.
“These are the things that remind me of the people I care about,” I said softly. “Respecting each other’s space and memories is so important.”
A vintage globe in a study | Source: Pexels
“Some of these things are from me,” she mumbled, her expression morphing her into a new person altogether.
“It was me,” she confessed. “I left the rotten egg in the vent. When I was doing the egg wash on the pastries for the party, I came across the egg. I’m so sorry. Please don’t tell Charlie, he would hate me.”
A woman with tears in her eyes | Source: Pexels
She apologized for her sudden wave of jealousy about my new home. But the twist wasn’t over. A few days later, Angela came to my house with a gift. It was a beautifully crafted wooden box. Inside were seed packs to many different types of plants and flowers.
And a note saying: Thank you for teaching me about respect. I hope we can plant new memories together.
From that day on, our relationship changed completely and Angela became more like a daughter.
A beautiful wooden box | Source: Pexels
What would you have done?
Why Michael Jackson Wore Smaller Clothes at the End of His Shows (and 8 More Revelations About His Costumes)
Michael Jackson was a picky dresser, and he wanted to stand out. That’s why his costumes had a lot of details that made everyone wonder why they were there and what they meant. For example, almost every jacket Michael Jackson wore had an armband on the right sleeve, and some of his jackets also had “777” sewn onto them.
We at Bright Side are fascinated with Michael Jackson`s wardrobe, and we`re ready to reveal some of the secrets behind his costumes!
1. Why he wore smaller costumes at the end of his shows
Michael Jackson`s dance routines were very physically strenuous, and he gave his all during his performances. By the end of the show, he would often lose up to 5 lbs, and his waist would become one inch thinner. And since it was important that his clothes fit perfectly, so that he could show off his dance moves, every next costume was a bit smaller than the previous one.
2. How his lean shoes worked
Michael Jackson`s shoes that helped him defy the laws of gravity had a V-shaped clasp at the bottom of the heels. With its help, he could hook into a nail attached to the floor and perform his famous 45-degree forward tilt. However, to be able to do that and to keep his whole body straight, an incredible amount of core and leg strength was also needed.
3. Why he only wore one glove
Michael had vitiligo, a skin condition where patches of your skin lose pigment. It started on his hand and he wanted to cover it up. And he thought it would look too ordinary to wear 2 gloves, so he would only wear one.
4. Why almost every jacket had an armband on the right sleeve
Michel Jackson just wanted his clothes to be different from everyone else’s. And having an armband on a sleeve makes your look distinguishable. Michael also liked to make his fans wonder why that armband was there.
5. Why there are 3 № 7s sewn onto his jackets
Michael was the 7th child in his family. Also, he was born in 1958, and if you add 19 plus 58, it equals 77.
6. Why he never polished his shoes
Once, the singer`s managers were concerned about the condition of his shoes and asked his costume designer to polish them. He did it, but it made Michael extremely angry. He explained that the leather was worn off exactly as he needed it to be, and that polishing would make it too slippery for him to perform his dance moves.
7. Why he wore white socks
Michael loved wearing white socks for several reasons. No one else wore white socks with black shoes. Moreover, they would catch the light and attract attention to the movements of his feet when he was dancing.
8. Why he taped his fingers
Hand movements were an important part of Michael Jackson`s dance routines. So he and his costume designers decided to wrap white tape around his fingers in order to attract more light. Michael also decided it would be more unusual to only tape his index, ring, and pinkie fingers. It was also fun for him, because fans would ask why only 3 of his fingers were taped.
When Michael danced, he would unconsciously put his 2 untaped fingers together. And that would also add mysteriousness to his performances, since the fans would think this sign had a secret meaning.
9. What the letters CTE on his jackets stand for
These letters don`t stand for anything. In the 90s, Michael`s costume designers created a few new shirts for him. He liked them, but he wanted to add some letters on the epaulets. He said it didn`t matter which ones, so his costume designers put all of the letters of the alphabet into a hat, and took 3 of them out at random. That`s where the letters “CTE” came from.
Do you think Michael Jackson had great taste in clothes? Is there any costume of his that you like in particular? We`d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Preview photo credit Smooth Criminal / Quincy Jones Productions
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