When I inadvertently overheard my mother-in-law’s conversation with my wife, I was left utterly stunned. To my surprise, it emerged that my wife’s sister had brought her husband to our house, where he presented her with an ultimatum: she had to choose between him or her own mother.

Before I proposed to Alina, I had been working for three years with the sole aim of saving up enough money to buy an apartment – and I succeeded. Upon my return, we wasted no time in searching for our dream home, driving around pre-selected neighborhoods until we stumbled upon it: a three-room apartment in the city center, conveniently close to shops and a school. However, there was one glaring issue with this otherwise perfect apartment – it was in dire need of renovations. Despite our depleted funds post-purchase, we resolved to tackle the renovations ourselves.

Determined not to delay the repairs any further, I turned to my mother-in-law for a loan, promising to repay her with each paycheck. However, she declined, citing the need to assist her younger daughter. Fast forward four years, and we barely managed to complete the renovations on our own. I toiled from dawn till dusk, but ultimately accomplished everything we had set out to do. Soon after, I began saving up for a car, but our plans took an unexpected turn when my wife and I discovered that we were expecting a child.

Meanwhile, my mother-in-law started making frequent visits, and I couldn’t help but notice her whispered conversations with my wife in the kitchen during each visit. Upon inquiry, I learned that my wife’s sister had brought a man home to her parents’ house, and they were now demanding that my mother-in-law vacate the premises. The audacious boyfriend of my younger daughter issued an ultimatum: either he or my mother-in-law could stay. Now, my mother-in-law found herself in a dilemma. Having exhausted her savings on her daughter’s education, she couldn’t afford to buy her an apartment. Instead, she requested to live with us.

My wife readily agreed to accommodate her without consulting me. However, I firmly asserted that this arrangement was out of the question. When I had asked my mother-in-law for financial assistance during our most trying times, she had refused. And now, she expected us to bail her out of a situation she had turned her back on helping with? I believe she should face her predicament and resolve it on her own terms, just as I did in my time.