My Sister-in-Law Tried to Ruin Our Lives - My Wife and I Taught Her a Lesson Instead

A man was harassed by his sister-in-law for several years. However, things drastically changed when he involved a legal representative so that he and his wife could have peace of mind.

In January 2023, a 37-year-old man on Reddit shared his life's troubles involving his wife, "Jenna," then 34, and her family. According to the Original Poster (OP), his spouse has a sister, "Mary," then 24.

The sister siblings were constantly compared with each other by their parents growing up, leaving Jenna with body image issues. But her husband thinks she is stunningly beautiful in his eyes even though she does not believe it herself. "This is in large part because of her sister 'Mary,' who is very conventionally attractive, as opposed to Jenna's more unconventional but (IMO) striking beauty," OP wrote.

In the early stages of the couple's relationship, OP would tell his future wife how pretty she was, and she would respond, "'Just wait until you see my sister.'" Once he finally met the family, Jenna would often force him to talk about Mary, asking him whether he thought her sister was more attractive than she was.

"I think Mary is attractive in a boring way, and that I think my wife is much more beautiful and interesting to look at," he wrote. But Jenna kept bringing it up until he eventually asked what the problem was.

Jenna eventually told her about being compared with her sibling, as their parents always mentioned that Mary was intelligent and more beautiful. According to Jenna, her sister also had a habit of flirting with all her exes and warned OP the same would happen to him.

She cried and begged him not to cheat on her with Mary, and he reassured her he would do no such thing. He admitted that he thought Jenna was only being insecure by saying Mary would make advances on him. But that became a reality during a family get-together.

OP revealed, "Mary always finds ways to touch me and make little innuendos/comments about me or my body." This made him uncomfortable, including his spouse, and he told Mary to stop doing it.

She would only stop for a while but continued either way, which went on for six years. Another incident occurred during OP's mother-in-law's birthday party. Mary asked him to help her get something from the garage. He remembered:

"She turned and pressed me up against the door with her whole body and started trying to kiss me. I immediately pushed her off."

He asked her what she was doing, and she started giggling, saying she was doing what they both had been thinking the whole time. But OP said she was "out of her mind" and hurried out.

He told his wife they should leave, and on the way home, he also revealed what had transpired. Naturally, Jenna was devastated. Her sister attempted to contact her, saying OP told her she was "the hottest girl [he had] ever seen." OP had to reassure Jenna again; she believed him instead of her sibling. But she took the news hard, as she stopped eating and pulled away from OP, feeling worse about herself.

OP decided to post about the situation on Reddit afterward, asking fellow users how to handle it. That night, he told Jenna that he would support her if she wanted to fix her relationship with Mary. However, he would not be comfortable being around her for the foreseeable future.

He mentioned that it was apparent Mary had always been jealous of her their entire lives because she was the complete opposite of her. OP also said Jenna's family is toxic because they have put her down her whole life and that she should decide if she still wants them in her life.

He assured her that she was not to blame for her emotional reaction but that she needed to work on her insecurities and go to therapy for the betterment of their relationship. OP also said he would go to therapy, especially after harboring feelings of resentment toward Mary, who had been sexually harassing him for years – which ultimately affected both of them as a couple.

He made Jenna see that her family always made her feel second best while others saw her for who she was. She agreed to go to therapy, and the pair also decided to see a couple's therapist. Jenna informed her parents about what happened and told them she would reach out if she wanted to repair their relationship.

They blocked her family everywhere, but Mary continued to harass OP, bad-mouthing him to his family and friends. She claimed that he attacked her, that he was abusing his wife, and that he was a drug addict.

A month later, OP gave a third update, saying Mary escalated the situation by trying to ruin his reputation at his workplace. He recalled that she told his boss needed to be fired because he was a "predator" and that he had assaulted her, and she had proof of it.

Mary told OP's boss that she had a video that showed him assaulting her, but when asked to provide it, she kept on making excuses until she hung up the phone. That was not the last of her tactics.

Somehow, she managed to send an email from OP's personal email account with a photo showing a male's genitals to the entire office where he works. He had to apologize to his co-workers, who understood.

This was the final straw for OP, as he and Jenna decided to take the legal route since Mary was hellbent on not backing down. They involved their lawyer friend to draft a cease-and-desist letter stating her continuous harassment and the emotional and material damage it was causing them.

"My wife then sent a message to Mary and my in-laws with a copy of the letter and made it very clear that we would pursue criminal and/or civil proceedings if her harassment continued," said OP.

His mother-in-law called Jenna while crying, asking her to let it go. But Jenna told her Mary was to blame and that they had enabled her unacceptable behavior long enough. After that phone call, Jenna was ready to cut ties with her family entirely.

Days later, Mary's best frenemy, "Anne," contacted OP's brother, telling him that she said she would leave them alone if they did not pursue legal action against her. Since then, the couple had not heard from her.

Months later, in August 2023, OP gave another update, saying Mary and his in-laws finally decided to leave them alone. Things had now started to return to normal as Jenna started doing well personally and learned to stand up for herself.

Finally, OP revealed they were expecting a baby girl due in February 2024. They would still allow Jenna's family to be involved in the child's life, but only through strict boundaries. OP said, "The toxic cycle will be broken."

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