One Day, My Husband Came Back from His Mother’s House, Sighed, and Suggested a Paternity Test for Our Two-Year-Old Daughter: “Not for Me, but for My Mother

One day, my husband came back from his mothers house, sighed, and suggested we get a paternity test for our two-year-old daughternot for him, but for his mum.

Some time ago, he returned from his mothers, took a deep breath, and proposed the same thing: “Its not for me, its for my mum.”

“Six months before our wedding, she kept telling him, ‘Dont marry hershes not good enough!'” recalls Emily, thirty, her voice trembling with hurt. “Shes too prettyshell stray!” Back then, we laughed and joked that Thomas shouldve picked a ‘mermaid’ instead, so thered be no confusion. But now, were not laughing. Not at all.

Emily doesnt think of herself as some stunning beauty. Just an ordinary girl from the outskirts of Manchester, she takes care of herself like anyone else. Slender, well-groomed, and modestly dressed, shes always been particular about relationships and knew how to command respect. Why her mother-in-law, Mrs. Whitmore, decided Emily was flighty and unfaithful remains a mystery. But that woman turned her daughter-in-laws life into a nightmare.

Married four years, they have a daughter. Emily is on maternity leave, her days an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, and nappy changes. The only people she speaks to are other mums at the playground. But her mother-in-law wont let up. She suspects Emily of cheating, watching her like a detective from a cheap telly drama.

“Shes always spied on me!” Emily sighs, eyes welling up. “Shed call, check up, drop by unannouncedtried to control every move. At first, I brushed it off, told Thomas, and wed laugh. But its exhausting! Ive lost my temper more than onceweve had awful rows. Shed quiet down for a bit, then start up again, worse than before.”

The first scandal happened months after the wedding. Mrs. Whitmore showed up suddenly at Emilys workplaceno warning, no reason. She wanted proof: did her daughter-in-law actually work there? Or was she lying to her husband, pretending to be at the office while sneaking off with lovers?

“I dont even know how they let her in!” Emily recalls, voice shaking with anger. “The building has securityvisitors need appointments. I nearly fell over when the receptionist brought her to me: ‘You have a visitor.’ I asked, ‘Mrs. Whitmore, what are you doing here?’ She just said, ‘I came to see where you work.’ And she kept looking around! The office is open-planeveryone at their computers, nothing hidden. I dread to think what shed have done if I had my own office.”

Later, the receptionist, Claire, admitted Mrs. Whitmore had grilled her. How long had Emily worked there? Was she ever late? Who did she talk to? Was there anyone ‘special’ in the office? “She even said, ‘Shes married, she has a husband!'” Claire added, baffled. Emily was furious. At home, she vented to Thomas: “Your mothers crossed every line! Talk to herthis isnt normal! She didnt check under the desk for a lover, but who knows whats next?”

Thomas seemed to have a stern word with his mother. There was a truce. Mrs. Whitmore only called in the evenings, asked how things were, sent homemade cakes. Emily began to think the storm had passed. She was wrong.

The next incident happened when Emily was pregnant but still working. Off sick with a cold, shed turned off her phone and was asleep when violent banging and relentless doorbell ringing jolted her awake. “I jumped up thinking it was a fire or emergency!” she remembers. “Peeked through the peepholeand there she was! Face like thunder, kicking the door and hammering the bell. I was too scared to open it. I called Thomas: ‘Get here nowI dont know whats happening!’ He made it in twenty minutes. And she waited the whole time, right outside!”

They both scolded Mrs. Whitmore. Emily threatened to call the police and a psychiatrist if it happened again. “Keep her away from me!” she demanded. And again, there was calm.

Emily gave birth to a girl, but her mother-in-law barely glanced at her granddaughter. Later, the reason became clear. She didnt believe the child was Thomass. “Of courseIm out gallivanting, how could the baby be his?” Emily laughs bitterly. The logic? In Thomass family, only boys were born. A girl, to Mrs. Whitmore, was proof of infidelity. “I ignored the madness,” Emily says. “I dont speak to her. Thomas visits once a month, but without us. Maybe its better that way. Id never trust her with my daughter.”

But the worst was yet to come. Then, one afternoon, Thomas came back from his mothers, took a deep breath, and hesitantly suggested the paternity test. “Not for my sake, Emilyhonestly!” he insisted, waving his hands. “I dont doubt you. Its for my mum! I want her to finally let this go. Shes lost the plot, and Im stuck hearing it!”

Emily laughed, a hollow sound. “For your mum?” she repeated, voice quivering with rage. “Might as well admit you believe her! You know shell never stop. We could do three tests at different clinics, and shed say the doctors were bribed and the results were fake! I wont dance to her tuneit ends here!”

“Its just a simple test,” Thomas pressed.

“Why?” Emily stared at him, holding back tears. “I know who the father is. Do you? If you need the test, fine. But first, we file for divorce. I wont live with a man who doesnt trust me.”

Her words hung in the air like a verdict. Trust in their family was shattered, all because of a mother-in-law whose suspicions poisoned everything. Emily feels on the edge of a cliff, unsure how to pull her family back from this madness.