and it will be something that won’t make me look good. He thinks we should go and if my sister gets out of line, it would be the perfect opportunity to put them in their place right in front of everyone. There would be no excuses for them to tell relatives or friends a different story later. I’m not saying it’s a bad plan for my husband, but I’m thinking about it because it could also go horribly wrong.

Update two. Well, we decided to go to my parents wedding anniversary, and honestly, I think the outcome is pretty positive. During the event, my parents were clearly excited to see me. My mom gave me a big hug and said she honestly didn’t think I’d come and was so happy I did. I just nodded and smiled. Everything was going relatively well until dinner.

We were all sitting around the table catching up making small talk. Then one of my aunts casually mentioned that all the cousins were already married or in relationships except my sister Diana. She laughed a little and asked her half- jokingly why she was still single and if maybe she was dating someone she wanted to marry soon. My sister just smiled awkwardly and blushed like she was trying to hide something.

And then one of the cousins playfully shouted, “Come on, Diana. Spila, do you have someone hidden away somewhere?” That’s when my mom, without missing a beat, said loudly, “Oh, I don’t know if she has a boyfriend, but she’s got a big crush on her sister’s husband.” And she pointed to my husband and laughed like a 5-year-old kid with a crush on her teacher.

My dad joined in the laughter, laughing even harder. I glared at my mother from where I was, but she didn’t even notice. She was too busy laughing and talking to my aunt, saying something about how my sister had a crush on my husband for so many years. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, my aunt turned towards my husband and asked him loudly and thoughtlessly, “Do you have any brothers or cousins Diana could date? Maybe.

” Some of the relatives actually laughed when they heard this. My sister just stood there blushing, smiling slightly. She didn’t try to stop my parents. She didn’t try to change the subject. She just stood there enjoying the attention like it was a compliment. I felt the heat rising in my face, but I calmed myself down because we had prepared for this.

I was going to say something, but I was going to say it loud enough for everyone to hear. I wasn’t going to wait to get a text from a slightly deaf cousin the next day asking us why I humiliated my parents. I turned towards my mother and said, “How dare you talk about my husband like this?” The whole table went silent and started listening.

I told them, “You promised me both of you that you wouldn’t cross this line again. You swore you would respect our boundaries and stop putting us in awkward situations, but here we are again. You’re laughing about my sister having a crush on my husband. You find it funny because you’re just as idiotic as she is.

Then I addressed the rest of the table, my cousins, aunts, and uncles, and said, “Let me ask you a question. How many of you think it’s okay for someone to openly say they have a crush on their own siblings partner and for the whole family to laugh about it like it’s a comedy scene? Do you really think this is normal?” Suddenly, no one had an answer. Then I turned towards my sister.

I just let it all out. You’ve been acting like a pervert towards my husband for years. You flirt with him every time we’re around. You’ve sent him text messages late at night even though he’s never replied and has asked you to stop. You try to stand too close to him. You touch him when he’s clearly uncomfortable.

And you act like it’s all a joke. My sister’s face fell immediately. I looked around the table and continued, “And you all think this is funny? You really think it’s okay for someone to act like this towards their sister’s husband?” I turned to my parents and said, “And you, too? How many times have you made comments about how my husband and Diana would make a great couple? You’ve been doing this for years.

You even said things like that on our wedding day. Do you realize how sick that is? How incredibly disrespectful it is, not just to me, but to my husband. Everyone was completely silent. I was so mad at my aunt, too, for going along with my mother’s joke. So, I looked her directly in the eye and asked, “Would you ever say these kinds of things about your own daughter’s partner? Would you tell your son-in-law he’d be a better match for someone else in the family? Would you let your daughter act like this towards someone else’s husband? She looked surprised and then slowly shook

her head. Exactly. That’s what I damn well thought. So why is it okay when my parents do it to me? My dad looked like he was about to explode. His face was red, his fist clenched on the table, but I told him, “Don’t you dare say much. Don’t even try. I think mom and your sister seem to have excellent chemistry.

Maybe they should be together, too.” Nothing. Just a thought always ingest, right? Of course, he was furious after that. My mother, on the other hand, started to panic. She tried to laugh it off with a shaky voice, saying, “I didn’t mean anything by it. Come on, it’s not a big deal. It’s just an innocent crush.

We’ve always joked like that about your husband and Diana. I’m sorry, but it really is funny, and I wasn’t trying to offend anyone.” That’s when my husband, who had also practiced his part, spoke to my mother. “Oh, I get it. Since everything is a joke to you, I guess cheating on your husband years ago was just fun, too, right? I think it’s time for all of us to have a laugh.

Come on, start laughing. All while gesturing for them to laugh. My mother froze with wide eyes. My husband continued, “I mean, I guess you also had an innocent crush on the neighbor, right? And I guess when you decided to sleep with him, it didn’t mean anything. It was just for fun, wasn’t it? What my husband had said was completely true.

This was an ugly little secret they had kept for years and kept secret from everyone. A long time ago, my mother had cheated on my father with the neighbor, and when he found out, she begged him not to leave. He only stayed for me and my sister. Over time, he seemed to have forgiven her, or at least moved past it.

But my husband knows this truth because I told him he’s kept it a secret for many years. But before coming to dinner, he asked me if it was okay for him to use all this to defend himself. And my answer was, “You have free reign to use all the ammo you want. My mother came out of her shock and immediately started yelling at my husband.

She wasn’t in joke mode anymore. She yelled that my husband had no right to throw that in her face and that he had crossed the line. My dad also defended my mother, calling my husband disrespectful and incredibly low. But I was also going to defend my husband and I told them, “You crossed the line the moment you turned my husband into the punchline of your weird jokes.

The moment you kept defending Diana like she was a harmless child when she has been making my husband uncomfortable for years. It’s pretty creepy that a big girl like Diana has a crush on her brother-in-law. She’s not a kid. She’s a damn grown semifunctional adult who should become completely functional with a wakeup call.

I don’t know, maybe a kick in the pants to send her out on her own. My mother started crying in front of everyone to see if she could gain some sympathy points, trying to turn the situation around as if she were the victim now because here was a horrible daughter, meaning me, yelling at her and telling her a few truths. But people kept thinking about what she had said, added to the fact that my mother had cheated on my dad.

Finally, Diana opened her mouth just to yell at me for ruining the party. You always act like you’re the victim, I told her. None of this would be happening if you hadn’t started it. You sat there like a seal, waiting for its fish, while you let mom announce your crush on my husband like it was a joke. You didn’t say a word to stop it.

You blushed like a school girl watching the quarterback walk through the halls. All that was missing was you twirling your hair with your fingers. Are you mad at me? Well, damn right, because your anger matters less than nothing to me. She said, “Oh, please. You always act like the victim.

Nobody said anything that bad.” While my parents and Diana kept yelling and blaming each other, my husband and I decided to leave. The yelling didn’t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon, and we had already done our job. What was the point of staying there any longer? My parents and sister were going to keep sticking to their version while everyone else had heard everything there was to hear.

I just quieted them down a bit to tell them it’s over. Don’t you dare contact us unless you grow up and are ready to take responsibility. If that doesn’t happen, then don’t call us when one of you dies either. And that was that family members started sending mostly supportive messages. Even my aunt apologized for not saying anything when my mother started talking about my husband.

In the end, it turned out better than I expected. So, I have to admit my husband was right. It’s good to have ripped the band-aid off all at once. Update three. Everything has been disturbingly quiet. I don’t know. I expected more calls from my parents. There were only a couple that went to voicemail, but as far as I know, they’re so humiliated they don’t want to say anything to make it worse.

I’ve listened to their messages and they’re pretty calm compared to how we left the house the other day. I get it. They’re afraid we’ll explode again and tell them more truths. But I think we’ve said everything. We haven’t held anything back. Sure, we had other ways of saying what we said, but in the moment, it just came out that way.

For example, my husband planned to say my sister was a loser. He would never even consider dating, but in the heat of the moment, he forgot and only remembered the important thing, talking about my mother’s infidelity. Looking back on the dinner, I think it was positive. We had to stop at a fast food restaurant after leaving there because we barely ate anything during the night, but we had a good time talking about it over some burgers and fries. Update 4.

Almost 6 months have passed since my last update with several things worth mentioning. Now, first of all, despite cutting off all contact with my sister and warning her multiple times, Diana has sent creepy and unsolicited love letters to my husband. Even after our threats to involve the police, she didn’t seem to care.

We had to take further action later. Then, about a month ago, my husband and I received incredible news. We’re expecting a baby. We were filled with joy and shared the happy news on social media. This was clearly a big mistake because earlier this week, things took a terrifying turn. My husband got home from work and was surprised to find Diana sitting on our porch waiting for him.

She started to get up as soon as she saw him. He immediately felt unsafe, so he ran to his car and started driving away while she ran towards the car and begged him to stay and talk to her. I can’t even begin to describe the panic he must have felt in that moment. He called me and I rushed home as fast as I could.

We both called the police right away. And since we already had reports against her for the creepy letters, it wasn’t hard to get her locked up for a few days, all until she was released by my parents on bail. But she still has to face trial. Our lawyer had also filed for a restraining order against her, but it was still being processed when she showed up at our house, we’ve also talked to our lawyer.

And while we can press charges against her, as well as testify in court, we wondered how much a criminal trial against my sister might cost. He told us that if my parents pay for a lawyer, it could cost between $10,000 and $20,000 to defend her. But it could be much more if they choose an expensive lawyer.

That gives us some peace of mind because even if Diana doesn’t get a significant sentence, my parents will have to pay substantial legal fees. Between a retirement income and Diana not contributing anything to the household, this financial burden will be considerable. It sounds vengeful, but if Diana after the party is still in romantic emo mode and still doesn’t take no for an answer, and my parents don’t do anything, then it will be justice or the cost of it that takes care of things.

Now, these things take time, but I promise to come back with news on everything when that happens. Update 5. So much time has passed that we’re already parents. But I said I come back and here I am with much more than I thought I’d have to write during all this time. We weren’t scared answering some people’s questions because shortly after getting the restraining order which was granted shortly after the previous incident for obvious reasons.

Diana tried to approach my husband again and violated the order. My parents lost their bail money because of that. That’s the first thing. The second thing was that Diana also lost her trial. Although I don’t know the exact amount my parents spent. I know she didn’t have a public defender and they had to pay which didn’t do much good because Diana ended up serving a 6-month sentence between pre-trial time and post-trial time plus mandatory court-ordered therapy for as long as necessary.

Third, my parents have gotten divorced. You know how some people finally develop a backbone when pushed to their breaking point? Well, my father finally found his courage and decided to divorce my mother. Apparently, the humiliation of everyone in town knowing he was cheated on, combined with the financial stress and public embarrassment from Diana’s behavior, was too much my mother has gotten custody of Diana, not in the traditional sense since she’s not a minor, but she’s taken her to live with her. They’d both gone back to work

because between the expenses with Diana’s legal troubles and the divorce, neither of them could live on savings alone. Imagine having listened to the people who said I had already done enough with the dinner and that not dropping the charges against Diana was too vengeful on my part. I don’t feel the same way.

Fourth, the family has been sidelining them. They’ve shown it by not lending money during the trial or unfriending blocking them on social media. Fifth, social media has also been important in this because it hasn’t been us. But let’s just say the town knows who my parents are now and who Diana is. That’s why they’ve had a very hard time being able to rent something after losing their house between the trial and the divorce.

My father has moved out of state while my mother has only moved a few towns farther away since the court has ordered that Diana cannot leave the state. And sixth, nothing much, just that life is much happier. Diana might seem like a danger because she’s still close by, but we have a restraining order and she has a record.

Not even she is stupid enough to try to spend more time in prison. Seventh, it’s time for more thanks and hellos while I’m still enjoying being a

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