There are stories that are messy, and then there are stories that are so unhinged, so full of terrible human behavior, that you have to read them twice just to believe them. This, my friends, is one of those. It’s a story about grief, desperation, and a mother-in-law-that-was who is acting absolutely ghoulish.
Our story begins with a phone call. A 30-something woman gets a call from her ex-boyfriend’s mother. The news is a one-two punch of pure shock. First, her ex, who she split with six years ago, had passed away from cancer in March. And second, he had never changed his life insurance policy. She and his mom are the only beneficiaries.
Before this poor woman can even process the fact that a man she once loved is gone, the mom hits her with the demand. She “instantly” tells her that she “doesn’t know why” he never changed it and that the narrator can just “decline or sign the cheque over to her” as soon as it comes.
The audacity is breathtaking. No time to grieve. No moment to process. Just, “he’s dead, give me the money.”
The narrator is, understandably, reeling. Why would he leave her on there? They split up six years ago. It was a civil, mutual breakup, but still. He had a new girlfriend. A girlfriend who lived with him and had two kids of her own. Why wasn’t she on the policy? Was this a mistake, or was it a message?
This is where the story goes from “tacky” to “emotional terrorism.” The mom, not content with one rude-as-hell demand, has been “terrorizing” the narrator all week. When she didn’t get an immediate “yes,” she escalated in the most horrific way imaginable.
She has been sending the narrator “the most hurtful things.” And then, in an act so manipulative and grotesque I can barely type it, she has been sending “the most disrespectful photos and video of her son in his last moments.”
Let’s be very, very clear. This is not a grieving mother making a mistake. This is a cruel, calculated act of emotional blackmail. You do not get to use your own son’s dying moments as a weapon to extort money from someone. That is a one-way ticket to hell, no questions asked.
And here is the part of the story where the “right thing” becomes crystal clear. Our narrator’s life has not been easy. She’s not sitting on a pile of cash. She says it’s “been a long hard few years.” And she’s not kidding. Her house burned to the ground three years ago. Her mom passed away from cancer two years ago.
This woman is so far from “okay” that she admits this money would literally allow her to “buy myself a new bra for the first time in 3 years.”
This isn’t a “greedy ex” story. This is a story about a woman who has been through hell, who can’t even afford basic necessities, and who has just been offered a lifeline from a man she once loved.
She woke up and realized she is “100% keeping this money,” and she’s not going to feel bad about it. And she shouldn’t.
That ex-boyfriend isn’t a ghost who made a mistake. He’s a man who watched his ex-girlfriend’s life implode from afar. He saw her house burn down. He knew her mom died. And he made a choice. He knew his new girlfriend and her kids were fine. He knew his mother was… well, the kind of person who would send death videos to a stranger.
So he left the money to the one person he knew desperately, truly needed it. That wasn’t an accident. That was a gift.
So, is she the ahole? Absolutely not. She is the rightful recipient of a final act of kindness. The mom isn’t just an ahole; she’s a ghoul. Keep the money, buy a hundred bras, and build a new, fireproof house. You deserve it.
He had to pay the premiums so he knew, he chose to keep her on there. She should take the money and block the mom, what mom did was NOT ok
Absolutely keep the money, he had to renew that every year at enrollment time. He knew what he was doing. He wanted you to have it. Completely block the crazy mother, she is a witch!