I thought my husband and I were on the same page, but when he suddenly won a lot of money, he changed towards me. I decided to teach him a valuable lesson about what partnership and marriage mean!
A woman watching a man celebrate by throwing money in the air | Source: Pexels
John and I, Emma, have been married for two years. I earn more than him, which means I cover all our expenses, including the rent for our house, groceries, and other major bills.
This generally means I deny myself a lot of things, like new clothes or study courses that I really wanted to attend, so we can get by, and John pays for almost nothing.
A woman waving her card while looking at a laptop with her partner | Source: Pexels
On top of that, my husband likes playing the lottery, and we had this deal where I’d chip in $20 weekly for his hobby, thinking it was a fun little support thing. However, he recently actually won big, like $50,000 big!
A man holding lottery tickets | Source: Flickr
Since I’ve long desired to pursue acting courses that I couldn’t afford before, I mentioned how he could give me about $1,500 from his winnings to make my little dream come true.
A man sitting in front of a laptop counting money | Source: Pexels
But his laughter filled the room, a sound that once brought me joy now twisted into a melody of mockery. My heart shattered into pieces like a broken vase when I heard him say:
“Emma, darling, you must be joking. My win, my money. Surely, you can’t think you’re entitled to a penny of it?”
A man insisting on something during a disagreement with a woman | Source: Pexels
The hurt from his words cut deeper than I expected. “John, it’s not about entitlement. It’s about us, about supporting each other as partners. I’ve supported us for so long, denying myself the smallest luxuries while paying for everything. Is it so wrong to ask for this one thing?”
His face hardened, the joviality replaced by a cold detachment. “Support, Emma? That was your choice. This win is mine. I don’t see why I should have to spend it on your whims.”
An angry woman shouting and gesturing with her hands | Source: Pixabay
I stood there, hurt by his words, disbelief mingling with a rising fury. “WHIMS? John, for two years, every cent I’ve earned has gone into this life, our home. And now, when fortune finally smiles on us, you call my dreams whims?”
The silence that followed was oppressive, a tangible force that seemed to push us further apart. His next words were a whisper, yet they landed like a blow.
“If you can’t understand that, maybe we’re not on the same page after all.”
A man insisting on something during a disagreement with a woman | Source: Pexels
It was a declaration of war, a line drawn in the sand. The days that followed were a tense ceasefire, each of us retreating into our corners, nursing wounds, and resentment.
The day he left to visit his brother, something in me snapped, and I eventually decided, “Oh, so we’ll play by your rules.” I decided to teach him an important lesson by taking advantage of his absence.
The house, once a symbol of our shared life, now felt like a prison of my own making. And so, I freed myself, taking every piece of it I could claim as my own.
A woman smiling while surrounded by boxes | Source: Pexels
When he came home in the evening and opened the door, I literally saw his face turn pale when he realized that all the things I bought for our house had disappeared somewhere!
He dropped everything he had in his hands, and you could see the shock coursing through him when I implemented my plan and he saw the hall!
“What is this, Emma?! Where is everything?”
A man reacting in shock | Source: Pexels
I faced him, the weight of my decision grounding me. “It’s simple, John. I’m just playing by your rules. Since I paid for everything, and I will now be living in another house, I took it all with me. My win, my things!”
You should have seen his face. He was trying to tell me something, somehow to interrupt me, but I saw that he didn’t have a single argument.
His attempt to argue was almost pitiful. “You can’t do this! This is our home!”
“Our home?” The words were bitter on my tongue. “No, John, it’s just a house, and you’ve made it very clear that what’s yours is yours alone. So, I guess what’s mine is mine. Enjoy your winnings.”
A couple disagreeing | Source: Pexels
My response seemed to infuriate him further as he started shouting about how I didn’t dare take things from our house. He also dug his heels in deeper, insisting he could buy whatever he wanted with his money, could pay the rent by himself, as I didn’t need to spend another cent, and so forth.
Not interested in hearing him rant further, I chose not to spend another minute listening to him. I turned on my heel, leaving him standing in the shell of what used to be our life together.
The door closed with a finality that echoed through the empty rooms, a stark reminder of the cost of greed.
A woman walking away from a house | Source: Pexels
The silence from him in the days that followed was a balm to my wounded heart as I found refuge at my mother’s place, where all my things were.
But when the apologies came, they were desperate, tinged with the realization of the magnitude of his mistake. The path to forgiveness was arduous, paved with late-night conversations and tears, a journey of rediscovery and reconciliation.
An upset and remorseful man talking to someone on the phone | Source: Flickr
“We lost ourselves, Emma,” he whispered one night, his voice cracking with emotion. “I lost myself in that win, forgot what mattered most. You, us, our dreams together.”
It was a new beginning, a chance to rebuild on the ruins of our past. The journey wasn’t easy, fraught with challenges and moments of doubt. John really needed to learn this lesson, and I was proud to realize that he had.
But in the end, it was our story, a testament to the power of love, understanding, and the strength to forgive that helped us start healing.
A couple embracing while the man prepares a meal | Source: Pexels
In the following story, a husband wins the lottery and ends up losing everything. Here’s how:
Once upon a sunny afternoon, a man we’ll call Michael, found his life turned upside down — not by a twist of fate but by the golden ticket of a lottery win. Now, picture Michael, a mix of elation and shock, phone pressed to his ear, breaking the news to Emily, his ex, who’s been the family’s unwavering lighthouse through the stormiest of weathers.
A man celebrating something | Source: Freepik
The air was thick with irony; the man who once caused drama and heartbreak with his affair was now a millionaire! Fast-forward to the plot twist, where Michael, in an unexpected move, decides to hand over the entire windfall to Emily and their kids.
Why, you ask? Perhaps a gesture of atonement, or a late realization of where his true treasures lie. But ah, the drama unfolds further when Rachel, the other woman turned current partner, catches wind of this! Let’s just say, she wasn’t thrilled!
A couple arguing outside | Source: Pexels
Cue the tension, as Rachel’s not about to let this slide without a fight! What’s her weapon of choice? Blackmail, with a pinch of revenge, threatening to spill a family secret that could shatter their son’s world. The stage was set for Michael’s ultimate test — a choice between safeguarding his newfound fortune or protecting his son’s innocence.
In a turn of events worthy of a soap opera, Michael chooses the latter, sacrificing his wealth and home to silence Rachel’s threats. This grand gesture doesn’t just close the chapter on his relationship with Rachel but opens a new one with Emily, but not as lovers rekindled.
A man, child, and woman posing together for a selfie | Source: Freepik
And there you have it, folks, a tale not just of winning millions but of rediscovering what truly matters. In the end, Michael learned that the real jackpot wasn’t the cash but the chance to right his wrongs and strengthen the bonds of family.
A feel-good finale if ever there was one, reminding us all that sometimes, the greatest wealth lies not in our wallets but in our hearts.
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.
I Yelled ‘I Don’t!’ at My Own Wedding after Conversation with Groom’s Mother Whose Plan Almost Worked Out
After a chance encounter and years of dating, Ryan and Hanna are about to walk down the aisle and commit to each other. But when Ryan’s mother reveals an incriminating video of Ryan with another woman, Hanna feels her heartbreak. But later, the truth of the video is revealed, along with more deceit than Hanna ever expected.
Do parents just enjoy dropping bombshells before weddings? When I say before—I mean 30 minutes before?
Because that’s exactly what Ryan’s mother did.
An old clock on a piece of newspaper | Source: Pexels
Ryan and I met two years ago—it was one of those by-chance meetings. I was at the community theatre because one of my friends, Mila, was in the local musical with her directorial debut.
So, there I was, standing outside after the performance, holding a bouquet of flowers for Mila. Ryan walked out, and because of the crowd, walked directly into me, crushing the flowers.
A red curtain at a theatre | Source: Unsplash
“I am so sorry,” he said, picking up the bouquet.
“I hate crowds,” I said.
He chuckled and gestured for us to move away from the door.
“I’m not a fan either,” he said. “I’m Ryan.”
“Hanna,” I said, introducing myself.
Crumpled rose petals | Source: Pexels
Just three months into our romance, Ryan proposed in a pub while drinking Guinness and eating crispy potato skins.
Last week, we should have sealed that promise with our wedding vows. But our wedding went in the complete opposite direction it should have gone.
An interior of a pub | Source: Unsplash
Initially, my family welcomed Ryan with open arms. As the only daughter, my parents were thrilled that I had met someone who genuinely made me happy.
“This is a different side to you, Hanna,” my mother said one evening when we had Ryan over for family dinner.
“He makes her happy,” my father said, smiling. “That’s all a father could want.”
An elderly couple embracing a younger couple | Source: Pexels
Ryan felt welcome—he felt the warmth that they showered him, and through that, we grew stronger as a couple, too.
On his side, it was more or less the same thing. The Coles opened their home and hearts to me, and they wanted nothing more than to have us over as much as possible. Mrs. Cole, Audrey, had gotten into a coffee date and manicure routine with me, too.
A person getting their nails done | Source: Pexels
Everything felt right—until the very moment it wasn’t.
Leading up to our wedding, I was the calmest I could have been. It was a small church wedding, and Ryan and I had planned the intimate affair right down to the little details. We knew exactly what we wanted and how to make it special for our day.
But on what was meant to be the happiest day of my life, just before the ceremony, my soon-to-be mother-in-law pulled me aside.
Flowers and tulle along church pews | Source: Pexels
“Darling,” she said. “Can we chat for a moment?”
I nodded and told her to wait until my glam team was done with my hair and makeup.
Something about her demeanor made me feel anxious and nervous. I watched her movements from my reflection in the mirror.
Her eyes moved around the room quickly, often settling on my wedding dress hanging from its hook.
When I was ready, and my mother was buttoning up my dress, I turned to Audrey.
A hanging wedding dress | Source: Pexels
“I’m ready when you are,” I said, smiling at her.
Her eyes glazed over, seeing me in the dress. She had been at my fittings before, but this was the moment that Audrey and my mother would see the full effect of my bridal outfit.
“Hanna,” Audrey said. “There’s no easy way for me to say this.”
A bride in her wedding outfit | Source: Pexels
My heart thundered in my chest. While my hair was being done, and I sat watching her, I knew that nothing good was going to come from our conversation.
“Just say it,” I said. “Tell me.”
Audrey pulled her phone out of her clutch and held it out for me.
A woman holding a phone | Source: Pexels
“There are videos on this phone that will explain everything. I am so sorry, Hanna, but Ryan needs to be caught out.”
My mind raced. I couldn’t fathom what I was about to see once her phone was unlocked.
“Here,” she said, handing me her phone as a woman’s voice echoed through the room.
The videos on Audrey’s phone revealed Ryan with another woman, in clandestine affection, undeniable betrayal.
An upset woman | Source: Pixabay
“Are you sure?” I asked. “This is him?”
Audrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Well, look at the jacket on the bed,” she said. “Isn’t that the one you got him?”
I pressed play again, and looked at the jacket. The hotel room also looked familiar—I was so sure that we had been there before.
“But Ryan’s face isn’t in the frame,” I said.
A man wearing a black jacket | Source: Unsplash
I was struggling. I couldn’t believe that my almost mother-in-law was standing in front of me with a video showing her son’s affair.
“Hanna,” she said slowly. “It’s right in front of you. You can choose to overlook it, but think of the man that you would be marrying if you choose to ignore it. Could you live with yourself knowing that? Could you live with him?”
I shook my head. I wanted to cry because of how overwhelmed I was.
“Fine,” I said.
“You’re calling off the wedding?” Audrey asked, hope lining her voice.
A smiling older woman | Source: Pexels
“No,” I said. “I’m going to walk down that aisle. I’m going to walk to the man who has been unfaithful to me. And when the time comes for our vows, I’ll break it off then.”
“Okay, dear,” Audrey said, putting her phone back into her bag. “It’s almost time now, anyway.”
I sat down on the chaise, and waited for my father to come and get me when it was time to marry Ryan. I wanted nothing more than to get into a car and drive away to some place where I could eat my feelings in a mountain of fries.
A father and bride walking down a hallway | Source: Unsplash
My heart violently pounded with fury as I approached the altar on my father’s arm. Ryan, aware of the storm brewing beneath my skin, smiled tenderly at me. He took my hand and squeezed it.
It would have been absolutely perfect, except for the fact that he had been with someone else.
Our priest went on to quote scripture about love and matrimony from the Bible. And when it was time for our vows, my heart quietened down—finally realizing what was about to come.
A groom at the altar | Source: Pexels
“I don’t,” I said softly, more to the ground than to Ryan.
“Speak louder, Hanna,” the priest said.
“I don’t!” I said more confidently, the words echoing like a resounding shockwave.
Ryan’s shock morphed into confusion as I repeated those two words again.
“Hanna? What?” he asked, hurt and betrayal deep in his voice.
A couple at the altar | Source: Unsplash
“Ask your mom,” I said, pointing at Audrey. “Mrs. Cole, please tell everyone what you told me earlier.”
The church hushed immediately, as if everyone were holding their breath. With shaking hands, she opened her bag and took out her phone. Like earlier, she held it out to me.
“Look,” I said to Ryan.
Ryan took a step back, almost falling over the wedding arch.
“That is not me, Hanna!” he said loudly. “Hanna, you know it’s not me!”
I refused to look him in the eye.
A woman holding a phone | Source: Unsplash
Then he confronted his mother.
“Mom, what is all this? What is that? Where did you get that video?”
Audrey shook her head and walked down the aisle, leaving the church in silence.
I could not bear to hear Ryan’s excuses.
“Hanna, please,” he said. “I need you to believe me.”
And I wanted to. Of course, I wanted to believe the man I loved. But it was clear, the jacket that I bought him lay across the bed in the video. He had been with someone else.
An upset man | Source: Unsplash
And if there was the possibility that he wasn’t with another person—how would he explain the video? And the woman who was barely dressed? And the sound effects?
“I can’t do this,” I said. “I won’t.”
I ran out of the side door, my parents following closely behind.
Ryan continued to reach out to me for the rest of the day—and when night settled, I finally blocked his number.
A woman using her phone | Source: Pexels
Yet, two days later, when I was wrapped in a blanket wondering where everything had gone wrong—Ryan showed up at my parents’ house with takeout and flowers.
“You expect this to fix everything?” I asked.
“I need to talk,” he said simply.
Against my better judgment, I listened.
What Ryan revealed next sent me down another spiral.
He had confronted Audrey after the wedding.
Tulips in a vase | Source: Pexels
“I went straight to her house,” he said. “She was sitting there, in her kitchen, eating toast and listening to old records as though she hadn’t just ruined our wedding.”
“I think you did that,” I blurted out.
“Hanna,” he warned. “My mother orchestrated that video. The people in it are her students. And it was all because she didn’t want us to get married.”
My jaw hit the ground.
A shocked woman covering her eyes | Source: Unsplash
Audrey was a high school teacher—but she also tutored first-year college kids in English. So, when it truly came down to the fact that Ryan and I were actually getting married, she panicked. She called two of her college students, who were too eager to make a bit of extra money, to play the part.
“I thought she liked me,” I said while digging into the food Ryan had brought over. “Clearly she doesn’t if she put an entire video together.”
“She did say that the sounds were edited,” Ryan chuckled nervously. “But I’ve got to hand it to her, adding my jacket was a good touch.”
A black jacket lying on a bed | Source: Unsplash
I didn’t understand how I felt. For the past two days, since walking away from my own wedding—I convinced myself that Ryan had been the bad guy in my story. That he was the villain who broke my heart, while his mother exposed him for who he was.
And yet, the reality was so much worse.
Here was a woman who had claimed me as the daughter she never had, only to break my heart before marrying her son.
She believed I was unworthy of Ryan.
I forgave Ryan immediately, and he did the same in return—I did accuse him of cheating on me in front of all our guests.
A woman sitting and looking out the window | Source: Pexels
We’re still together, but I don’t know what the future holds. For now, I feel hurt and betrayed by Audrey. And I know that forgiveness will be difficult to come by for her.
What would you do?
If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |
My Mother-in-Law Tried to Ruin Our Wedding by Pitting Us against Each Other
Maya, as a wedding planner, is used to crazy weddings. So, when her wedding rolls around, she thinks that she has planned everything right down to the final detail. Until her fiancé goes missing and her mother-in-law plots for the end of their relationship…
As a wedding planner, I’ve had my fair share of crazy weddings. From bridezillas to lazy grooms, to the most insane requests. Once, I had a couple who wanted to say their vows on a hot air balloon — only for the bride to realize that she was afraid of heights.
For my wedding, I was so sure that Fred and I were ready. That we had finally gotten everything done right. But I even so, I wanted my colleague, Jenna, to take over the logistics behind the wedding. I wanted to have my moment as a bride.
An orange hot air balloon | Source: Pexels
Fred knew that I was in my element when it came to our wedding, so he left everything to me — other than making sure that there would be sliders are the wedding reception, everything was on me.
We met Jenna in a restaurant about a year before our wedding, and I gave her everything she needed to know in a planner. It was going to be easy for her — all she needed to do was the admin behind the plans. And to bring the vision to life.
“Maya,” she said, sipping on her drink. “This is perfect. You’ve planned everything.”
A wedding planner’s notebook | Source: Pexels
Everything was ticking along perfectly, with each detail meticulously planned and poised for what was meant to be the happiest day of our lives.
Until three nights before the wedding, when all hell broke loose.
A couple sitting at a table | Source: Pexels
It must have been around 8PM, and I was unwinding by watching reality television and eating a slice of pie.
I had my nail appointment the next morning, and I was finally starting to feel like a bride. In the past few weeks, Fred and I seemed to find anything and everything to fight about. We argued with no reason, until it was time to sleep.
At least, this week, Fred was staying with his best man.
“Just to get him out of your hair for a bit, Maya,” he said.
“You’ll get no complaints from me,” I told him. “Just keep him out of trouble.”
A brown duffel bag on the floor | Source: Unsplash
But it’s never so simple, right?
No. My doorbell rang, disrupting my night in.
The person standing on the other side was a delivery man, holding a huge bouquet of flowers.
“That’s beautiful,” I said. “Who is it from?”
“There’s a card, ma’am,” the delivery man said.
He handed the bouquet to me and turned around to walk down the stairs.
A bouquet of flowers | Source: Pexels
“Oh, Fred,” I said, sniffing the flowers.
Sending me random flowers was something that he would do.
But then I read the card and my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.
I Don’t was written on the card.
All the air inside my lungs suddenly went out. I sat down on the couch and cried my heart out.
After a few hours, I called Fred about twenty times. He never picked up.
A woman holding a phone at night | Source: Pexels
Want to know what happens next? Read the full story here!
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.
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