Stacy never had a good relationship with her mother-in-law, Mildred, and things reached a boiling point on the day she was actually set to marry her longtime boyfriend, Marco. Without anybody able to hear it, Mildred pulled Stacy in close and told her, “I will ruin your marriage.
It was a shock to Stacy who never would have imagined such a thing, but it would only take a day for Mildred to deeply regret her actions.
Stacy was still shocked by Mildred’s words. She could not believe that her mother-in-law could say something like that right before she and her son Marco were about to tie the knot. She knew that they were not getting along, but this crossed every line. Could Mildred actually be serious about trying to ruin their marriage before it even began? But Stacy was not going to accept this and had already thought of a way she could take revenge on the bitter old woman.
And she had been taking a lot of negativity from the woman for a long time, and she was tired of it. She wanted to make Mildred regret everything she had done to her. Not only telling her that she would ruin her marriage the next day. Stacy was eagerly waiting by the phone, and sure enough, Mildred called. Stacy could not help but smile when she heard those magic words on the other end of the line, “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done.” She had been waiting to hear just that, and now she was finally getting what she deserved. But what had Stacy done that made Mildred regret ever interfering in her marriage?
Stacy had never gotten along very well with her mother-in-law, Mildred. Ever since that very first day when they met, things hadn’t gone well. While Stacy always got the feeling that she was unwanted by Mildred, convincing anybody of this was almost impossible. Mildred had developed a reputation of being an absolute darling, that meant no one wanted to believe Stacy when she did say something. So she tried to avoid it as much as possible.
After all, no one wanted to believe anything bad about Mildred. Mildred was always helping out her family wherever she could and seemed to always love doing a lot of voluntary work. And she also just always had a smile on her face. As Marco often went alone when he went to visit his mother, as Stacy did with her own, but she could not help but worry about these meetings. She wished that things were better between herself and Marco’s mother, especially as time went on.
She feared that Mildred would use this one-on-one time with her son to speak ill of Stacy or to put ideas in Marco’s head. Marco also believed that this would help in strengthening the bond Stacy and his mother had, but he still thought Stacy’s issue with Mildred mainly rested on a miscommunication. The relationship between the two was very strained, and Stacy didn’t want to put herself into the middle of it if she didn’t have to. Though they only saw each other at family gatherings until a very important event happened in the lives of Stacy and Marco: marriage.
Stacy had known for a while now that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Marco. He was the perfect man for her, and she definitely didn’t want to lose him. But he never brought up marriage. When she was sick of waiting for him to ask the big question, she decided to put marriage on the table herself. Stacy found it difficult to read Marco’s reaction when she first mentioned them getting married. He told her he was excited about the prospect of marrying her, but Stacy still thought that he was a little hesitant. Could this have something to do with Mildred? What could it mean that he might not want to marry her? But Stacy decided to put these worries to the back of her mind. She had a wedding to plan.
They both decided to tell their family the next day. Stacy’s family was very excited, and nearly all of them also texted Marco to congratulate him. They can’t wait until the big day already. And Marco’s family did the same with Stacy. They, too, were excited about having a big wedding and welcoming Stacy into their family. But there was one noticeable absentee in her messages: Mildred. Stacy immediately went to Marco to show this to him. With all the other congratulations, his mother hadn’t sent a single word. In her mind, it is proof that Mildred doesn’t like her. But once again, Marco managed to make an excuse for his mother. Stacy heard nothing from Mildred from then until the day had finally arrived.
Between work and helping with the preparations for the wedding, Marco had no time whatsoever to talk to his mother on the wedding day. Stacy finally came face to face again with the woman she despised so much. Stacy extended a hand to Mildred, which she accepted. But then the old woman pulled Stacy towards her to seemingly give her two kisses on the cheek. But this was just a cover. Mildred actually pulled Stacy closer so that she could give her a special message without anyone else hearing.
When their faces were right next to each other, Mildred whispered into Stacy’s ear, “I will ruin your marriage,” before letting her go again with the same fake smile still on her face. Looking around, Stacy tried to see if anybody else had heard what she heard, but everybody continued with the business of celebrating like nothing had happened. Stacy had to shake off her confusion and fear and continue as if it was the happiest day of her life. She was supposed to be having the best day with her new husband and all of their friends and family. But Stacy wasn’t, and all because of Mildred and her cruel, vague words.
As Stacy found herself at the edge of the room watching her own wedding passing her by, she could feel herself getting angrier and angrier at Mildred. She finally started thinking more clearly, the anger sharpening her thoughts. The wedding day drawing to a gradual close, Stacy contemplated telling Marco about what his mother had said to her, but she eventually decided against it. Firstly, because when had he believed her before, and secondly, because there was no point ruining the wedding day for both of them. By the morning, she had the perfect plan.
As Marco was so drunk that he fell asleep as soon as they got back home, there was no wedding night fun for Stacy. Part of her wished she could blame this on Mildred, too, but she knew it was more that her husband had just had a really good time and drunk too much. The next morning, Stacy bounced out of bed with a boatload of energy. Despite only sleeping for an hour or two, immediately she sat down at the computer, ready to put her plan into action. For over an hour and a half, Stacy worked tirelessly behind the screen of her computer. What Stacy had just done was unnoticeable, but she knew that Mildred would figure it out soon enough.
The two of them shared the food, giggling and chatting as they recounted funny moments from the wedding, loading the delicious breakfast onto a tray. Stacy crept back upstairs to wake Marco up with her special surprise. And for the rest of the morning and afternoon, Stacy tried to act as normal as possible despite her misery the day before. She was having a great time with Marco preparing for their honeymoon. Stacy knew that at any moment, Mildred was going to call her full of regret.
It was a moment that Stacy was going to relish, the sweet sound of her mean mother-in-law apologizing to her. And sure enough, just before dinner, it happened. The shrill sound of the house phone filled the air. Stacy practically sprinted toward the ringing phone, much to Marco’s visible confusion. He only became even more confused when Stacy answered the phone and cheerfully told him that it was Mildred calling to talk to her. They almost couldn’t believe that it was Mildred at the other end of the line. The older woman’s tone was entirely different from how it had been 24 hours earlier.
She sounded humbled and somewhat embarrassed. The first words out of her mouth to Stacy were, “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done to you.” She apologized for trying to push Stacy out of the family and for also doubting Marco’s choice of life partner. It had been cruel of her, Mildred admitted, to not even give Stacy the chance to prove her biases wrong. But things were going to be different now, she promised before ending the phone call.
Marco was more than a bit confused as he listened to his mother’s short speech over the phone. By the look on Stacy’s face, Marco also figured that this unexpected turn of events was not something he should probably question. For now, it was probably best to apologize to his new wife by making their upcoming honeymoon the best experience he could. Stacy was so very happy with how her plan had worked out perfectly, leaving Marco to continue with the honeymoon packing. She returned to her computer, knowing she had one very special thank you to give out.
After all, she could not have done it without the help of a very special somebody who luckily had been willing to help her. Apparently, the reason for the divorce had been that Mildred had cheated on Paul, and he left her as a result. It had deeply saddened Mildred, and it was obvious that she was taking her own pain and shame out on Stacy. That morning, the person that Stacy had gone in contact with was Marco’s father, Paul, the ex-husband of Mildred.
They explained the situation to Paul, telling him about what Mildred had said at the wedding the previous day. Stacy then asked if he could talk some sense into Mildred, hoping that maybe the man she had been married to for years might be able to make her see just how cruel her words and actions had been. Stacy’s theory had been that Mildred, so Marco’s father, had called Mildred after Stacy had messaged him that morning to make sure Stacy didn’t get any backlash.
He had lied that he had overheard what Mildred had said at the wedding the previous day. Was holding a mindset that if she could not have a happy marriage, then nobody could. Then he didn’t stop until Mildred had got the message loud and clear.
And judging by the very heartfelt apology, it was very clear to Stacy that Mildred had understood. If things were going to be better from now, Stacy just knew it. Paul made it very clear to Mildred that she could not say such things and act like that for her selfish reasons.
