I thought lending my car to my daughter-in-law would be a chance to mend our strained relationship. Instead, she returned it battered and covered in lies, refusing to pay for the damages. What I did next left her feeling helpless.
I’m a 60-year-old woman who’s been living alone ever since my husband passed away five years ago. Nathan died after a tough battle with cancer, and there wasn’t much we could’ve done to save him. I still remember what he said to me the day before he closed his eyes forever.
A sick man in a hospital room | Source: Pexels
“Jennifer, always look after Toby,” he said as he held my hand. “I know he’s 30 and he can look after himself, but that boy is a bit too sensitive, and I know he’ll need his mother to support him.”
He was right. Toby did need me in the days following Nathan’s death. I remember how we would sit together, reminiscing about how Nathan used to take us to his favorite restaurant and make us all laugh.
A woman talking to her son | Source: Midjourney
Toby and I would laugh and then cry thinking about the disturbing fact that we’d never see Nathan again. It made us feel devastated, but I guess that’s part of the healing process.
However, things changed when Toby found someone to replace his aging mother. About a year after Nathan’s death, Toby introduced me to a beautiful 30-year-old woman named Layla, whom he met at work.
She wore a lovely dress, her hair neatly tied back, perfectly dressed to meet her boyfriend’s mother. I had to admit that she knew how to make a strong first impression.
A young woman | Source: Midjourney
“Hi, Jennifer,” she hugged me the first time we met. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” I smiled, totally mesmerized by my son’s choice. “You look wonderful, Layla!”
At that moment, I had no clue how this woman would soon come into our lives and pull my son away from me. She seemed so nice; I never would have guessed just how cunning she really was.
A young woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
Toby and Layla tied the knot just six months after our first meeting. I was so happy for my son as he started a new chapter of his life, and my heart was full of good wishes for him. I remember how I couldn’t stop weeping when my boy said his vows like a grown-up man.
Not long after the wedding, Toby and Layla invited me over to their place for lunch. I thought it would be a nice bonding session with my daughter-in-law since it was just the three of us, but it was anything but that.
A woman looking at herself in the mirror while getting ready | Source: Midjourney
Toby had asked me to be there at 2 p.m., but I arrived about 10 minutes late, and Layla took that as an opportunity to create a scene.
“Why are you so late, Jennifer?” she asked as soon as I stepped inside the house. I couldn’t see Toby anywhere near the entrance. “I’ve been waiting for you for so long!”
“I… I got late because of the traffic,” I stammered, taken aback by the unexpected confrontation.
A woman looking at her daughter-in-law | Source: Midjourney
“I don’t like hosting people who can’t value my time,” she muttered.
“I’m sorry for that, Layla,” I apologized. “But it was just 10 minutes.”
“I don’t care if it was 10 minutes or 10 hours,” she shot me an angry look. “You need to be on time when you come to my place, underst—”
“Oh, Mom! You’re here!” Toby interrupted. “How are you, my lovely lady?”
A man looking straight ahead, smiling | Source: Midjourney
“I’m fine, Toby,” I said, hugging him, still reeling from Layla’s behavior. “How are you, my love? Looks like you haven’t been eating well.”
“Nah, I’m good, Mom,” he smiled. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Your wife was say—”
“Nothing, babe,” Layla cut me off. “I was just telling her how beautiful she looks today.”
A woman smiling while talking to her husband | Source: Midjourney
“Yeah?” Toby’s gaze shifted from his wife to me. “My mom always looks the best!”
At that point, I was stunned by Layla’s behavior. Why was she being so sweet to me in front of Toby? And why didn’t she let me tell him what she had said earlier?
I spent the rest of the afternoon at their house, observing how Layla effortlessly switched on her sweet personality whenever Toby was around. But when he wasn’t looking, she’d throw mean remarks to make me feel unwelcome.
A woman talking to her daughter-in-law | Source: Midjourney
That day marked the beginning of my strained relationship with my daughter-in-law.
Then, one day, I noticed how Toby began taking her side whenever Layla and I argued in front of him.
“Layla’s right, Mom,” Toby said one day when we were at a restaurant deciding what to order for dinner. “We don’t need a large bowl of salad. It’s just the three of us. We’ll manage with a small bowl.”
A close-up shot of a man’s face | Source: Midjourney
“See, I’ve been telling your mother to order the small bowl, but she never listens to me,” Layla chuckled. “I don’t know why she never trusts me.”
She played the victim in front of him, and my poor boy always fell for it. I don’t blame him; he had seen his father always side with me. But I wasn’t like Layla. I wasn’t pretending to be a good daughter-in-law in front of my husband.
A close-up shot of a woman looking straight ahead | Source: Midjourney
Layla’s behavior toward me didn’t change until the day she called me. I was genuinely surprised to see her name on my phone screen.
“Hi, Jen!” she chirped through the phone.
Jen? I thought. That’s weird.
“Hi, Layla,” I played along, trying to sound as sweet as possible. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she said. “I was wondering if I could borrow your car tomorrow. Would that be okay with you?”
“My car?” I asked.
A woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Actually, I was supposed to visit my friend today. She lives a few hours away, but I couldn’t go because my car broke down. The mechanic says it’ll take a few days before he can fix it.”
“Oh, my! Sounds like there’s a major problem,” I said, genuinely concerned.
“I was so upset, but then Toby suggested I ask if you could lend me your car for a day,” she continued. “I’ll be back in a week.”
A week? I thought. That’s a lot.
A woman thinking while talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
But I felt bad for her. She sounded desperate, and she mentioned Toby had suggested it, so I didn’t want to let her down. I also saw it as a chance to mend our relationship.
“Sure, I don’t mind,” I said. “You can come over today if you want.”
And that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
An SUV parked outside a house | Source: Pexels
A week later, Layla and Toby returned my car, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. It was covered in scratches, dents, and dust. And the inside? It smelled like rotten onions!
“What have you done to my car?” I spat out. “What happened?”
“Excuse me?” she said, squinting her eyes as if I’d said something outrageous. “What did I do to your car? It was like this when I picked it up the other day.”
A woman talking to her mother-in-law | Source: Midjourney
“Stop it, Layla!” I yelled at her. “Stop lying.”
“You think I’m lying?” she snapped, turning to Toby. “Babe, look at her! She’s accusing me of lying! How dare she?”
“Mom, Layla’s right,” Toby said. “She told me your car was like this when she picked it up the other day. She’s not lying.”
“Toby? Are you serious?” I stared at him in shock, realizing there was no point in arguing with them.
A woman looking at her son | Source: Midjourney
I had no proof, and neither did she. But Toby sided with her because he was so blindly in love with her.
I realized that arguing might even push my son away, so I decided to teach Layla a lesson instead. I spent the night researching online and stumbled across an incredible idea. A quick call to the nearby pet shop, and my plan was in motion.
An older woman using a phone | Source: Pexels
The next night, I drove over to their place armed with animal attractant sprays. I carefully sprayed them all over their backyard, driveway, and front porch, making sure to stay out of sight.
With the lights off, I knew they were asleep. I quickly executed my plan and quietly drove away, feeling a mix of nerves and satisfaction.
I was certain this would teach Layla not to mess with me again.
A young woman looking straight ahead | Source: Midjourney
The next morning, I woke up to my phone ringing. It was Toby.
“Mom, I need help!” he cried over the phone.
“What happened, honey?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “Are you okay?”
“We just woke up, and it’s awful here! The yard stinks, and wild animals have turned our place into a toilet! The whole house smells horrible, and we don’t know what to do!”
I secretly smirked, listening to him rant about the mess. The irony was delicious.
A woman talking to her son on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Oh, my!” I pretended to be surprised. “That sounds horrible. I guess that’s what happens when you ruin someone else’s property.”
I don’t know if Toby caught my meaning, but I’m sure his clever wife knew those animals didn’t show up by chance. She had to know it was me, her oh-so-nice mother-in-law, who never fought back before.
A close-up shot of a woman looking outside her window | Source: Midjourney
Since that day, Layla hasn’t dared to mess with me. We met at a dinner once, and she didn’t try to be rude or complain about me wasting her time. Meanwhile, Toby started calling me regularly, checking in to see how I was doing.
I guess my dear husband Nathan was right after all. My son did need me to pull him out of the trance Layla had drawn him into. He needed me to stand up for myself and set a boundary his wife wouldn’t dare cross again.
A young man standing outside his house | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done if you were in my place?
If you enjoyed reading this story, here’s another one you might like: I thought I was a good mother-in-law and grandmother by availing myself to my son and daughter-in-law as they needed. But I soon realized that I was getting the raw end of the deal when my DIL disrespected me. I had to take matters into my own hands to remedy the situation once and for all!
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Michael Jackson’s only daughter Paris proud of African-American roots, identifies as black
Paris Jackson, the sole child of the late Michael Jackson, said lately that she considers herself to be a black woman even though she is mixed-race.
“I consider myself black,” Paris declares, honoring her father’s lineage and traditions, both musically and physically, adding that her father would have wanted her to “be proud of your roots.”
To find out more about Paris Jackson’s identity, continue reading!
Paris Jackson is an American actress, model, and singer who was born on April 3, 1998. Her parents are Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.
Newly arrived members of the Jackson family, Paris, 25, and her two brothers Bigi, 22, and Prince, 27, came into the spotlight, attracting a large number of admirers who wanted to know everything there was to know about them.
The Billy Jean singer used masks, veils, and blankets (for Bigi) to shield his kids from curious onlookers when they were little.
Jackson’s security described the three children to People in 2007 as “well-mannered, well-behaved kids.”They really do have good judgment. Michael’s top priority was them.
But when their father passed away in 2009, the children’s shield was lifted, and they were thrust into the spotlight on their own, becoming easy pickings for the paparazzi.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FJanetJackson%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0hcfG3yXNJrWvAfcGgBsMZu67AiUmF6Ku3qSVeLcFzqh66dgYGk4cn6tvQdEypsjHl&show_text=true&width=500
And it caused post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Paris.She said, “I’ve been going to therapy for a lot of things, but that included audio hallucinations with camera clicks and severe paranoia.”
At the age of 15, the young lady acknowledged that she had made “multiple” attempts at suicide. In 2019, she checked herself into a rehab facility.
“It was just self-hatred,” she remarked.Low self-esteem, belief that I was incapable of doing anything well, and belief that I was no longer worthy of life.”
“My dad is who she is.”
She explains that Prince Michael Jackson, her older brother, has had a significant influence on her today, saying, “He’s everything to me, you know?” Regarding her relationship with Prince, she said to People in 2020, “I’ve always looked up to him and always wanted his approval and everything, and wanted to be more like him.”
He continues by saying that his younger sister “shares almost all of her weaknesses as well as all of her strengths with her father.” She has a lot of passion.
She has walked the catwalk for high-end labels like Chanel and is the lead singer and guitarist for the band The Soundflowers. In addition to her intense dedication for her work, she is dedicated to carrying on her father’s legacy.
My entire family is involved in music. She remarked in 2020, “I mean, I’m a Jackson.” “Being a musician makes sense, but like, a Jackson doing folk indie?”everything pertaining to raceShe shares a racial bond with her late father.The hitmaker, who was African-American and had a darker complexion in his younger years, was said to have suffered Vitiligo, a condition that alters skin color, unlike the Beat It singer, who had fair skin later in life. Throughout his career, Jackson’s look has been the subject of much suspicion, although he has consistently denied bleaching his skin.The rapper said in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey that his skin’s depigmentation was caused by vitiligo and that his nose operation was the only cosmetic procedure he had done.
“I take pride in my race. At the time, Jackson said to Winfrey, “I am proud of who I am.” Paris claims to identify as black, keeping in mind her dad’s African-American ancestry.Paris stated that she “considers [herself] black” and that “[Michael] would look me in the eyes and he’d point his finger at me and he’d be like, ‘You’re black,’” when discussing the situation with Rolling Stone magazine in 2017. Take pride in your heritage.She talks about her lighter skin and says that many people think she’s from “Finland or something” because of her bleached blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. “Okay, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?” she asks. I just take his word for it. Because he has never lied to me, as far as I know.
Not surprise, she faced considerable backlash after her statement of race was made public. “I get that she considers herself black and everything, but I’m just talking about the visual because you know…black is not what you call yourself, it’s what the cops see you when they got steel to your neck on the turnpike,” said a very outspoken talk show host mockingly of Jackson’s only daughter for identifying as a black woman.That’s what people see, she continues. But that’s adorable and beneficial to her.What do you think about Paris Jackson identifying as a black woman in order to carry on her father’s legacy?Kindly share this story with others and share your comments with us so that we can hear from others as well!
Leave a Reply