My Ex-MIL Tried to Sue Me for ‘Defamation’ After I Divorced Her Cheating Son—But I Turned

My ex-mill tried to sue me for defamation after I divorced her cheating son, but I turned the tables and exposed their family’s fraud. I, 26, female, recently got divorced from my husband, Caleb, 28, male, who I’d been married to for a year. The divorce came through a couple of weeks ago, and just last week, I found out that my ex-mother-in-law, Fiona, 54, female, was suing me for defaming her son.

I had literally no clue what that was for at the time, but then her lawyer told us that this was for the emotional damage I caused her son by telling everyone about his affair. Apparently, nobody wanted to speak to anymore, and that was taking a toll on him. I wouldn’t have taken it seriously at all. But her attorney was one of the most renowned ones, and he just so happened to be her brother-in-law.

That’s the reason why I even entertained that lawsuit, because otherwise, I knew for a fact that they didn’t have a strong case against me. Had her attorney been someone else, someone she wasn’t personally related to, they probably wouldn’t have even bothered to prepare and file a lawsuit against me because it would have been pointless.

First of all, their grounds were baseless because it can’t be called defamation if it’s true. Secondly, I’d only told a couple of our close friends about his infidelity who were now not speaking to him. So, it wasn’t as though I publicly defamed him like Fiona was making it out to be. Most importantly, even if they did have their reasons, I really don’t think they’d be able to prove that in court.

So, a $50,000 lawsuit was a stretch just to get me worried. I wasn’t too anxious about it, though, because once I had my lawyer look through it, I knew that their grounds were almost laughable. On top of that, I also had a lot of things that I could use against my ex-husband that, if I posted, could land him in a lot more trouble than just emotional damage.

The day after I was served with the suit, I called Fiona. At first, she was very curt with me. She said that pleading with her or begging wouldn’t work anymore and that I should have thought about what I was doing to her son before I uh talked crap about him to our friends, but I stopped her before she could make an even bigger fool out of herself.

I told her that that’s not what I was calling about and said that if she didn’t stop the legal proceedings, I’d expose both her and her son on social media. Then things would turn very ugly for them once people knew what kind of a fraudulent scammer family they came from. I was referring to Caleb’s arrest at his past job where he was fired for embezzlement.

Only I and his family knew the truth about why he was let go from that job. But his family didn’t know that I was aware of the truth. He told everyone that he quit because he didn’t see a future there. But actually, he’d been caught trying to embezzle the company’s money. And it wasn’t some insignificant amount either. It was almost $25,000.

The only reason he didn’t lose his reputation and the company didn’t go public was because his uncle, the attorney I was talking about, had fought for him tooth and nail and prevented the case from going to court. He paid the settlement amount from his own pocket to prevent his nephew from ending up behind bars, which is where he belonged.

His uncle was the reason the news of his fraud was quashed before it got out of control. And that’s why he even has a job now. Caleb’s been working at one of his uncle’s friends firms for the past couple of years, so that someone can keep an eye on him while he holds a respectable position. Everything worked out well for him in the end, all thanks to his uncle.

I know about all of this because when the embezzlement incident had taken place, he and I had been living together. Despite his family telling him not to talk about this, he had told me, and I’d even consoled him like a fool. I was too much in love with him to see him for the slimy douchebag that he was.

So, I kept my mouth shut about it as well, and even used to reassure him that everything would be fine when he’d be crying to me about how tough life had become for him, how he regretted getting greedy and things like that. I was his shoulder to cry on at his lowest. And then he cheated on me after 5 years of being together with his high school ex.

But that’s all water under the bridge for me now. I’ve moved on. The reason I’m here is not for him, but because of his mother. I’m sure the fraudulent genes were something Caleb inherited from his mother because she was also quite the conwoman herself. I knew about this from one of Caleb’s sister’s exes.

Caleb has two siblings, an older brother Kyle and a younger sister, Arya. All three of them have an age gap of 2 years. Arya’s college boyfriend, Marcus, is a co-orker of mine and a really good friend, too. When I told him about my relationship with Caleb, at first, he’d been really happy for me. But then a few months later, when I showed him a photo of me with Caleb’s family at Thanksgiving, he seemed a little shocked.

That’s when he warned me about Fiona and her tendency to go after her kids’ exes just to rip them off for a ton of money because she thinks they’re all naive and stupid and that she can get away with it. After Arya and Marcus had broken up, she’d called him and screamed at him for breaking Arya’s heart so badly that she’d apparently ended up in the hospital after binge drinking.

She demanded that he pay the bill for it. Marcus was not some wealthy guy. He was just a college student. But he still sent her all the money he could manage at the time because he felt guilty about whatever was happening to Arya. 2 days later though, he saw her back on campus and she was doing just fine.

He did try to question Fiona about the truthfulness of what she claimed, but she lashed out and sent him photos of Arya in a hospital bed. He felt guilty for questioning her, so he didn’t push it. But months later, he realized that those photos were not from the same time as their breakup. Because at the time, Arya had had a couple of pink streaks in her hair.

In the hospital photos, she had no streaks at all. By the time he realized it, it had been months since their breakup, and he didn’t want to drag it all back up and stir the pot, so he just let it go. He was the first to warn me about Fiona, but I didn’t listen because to me, Caleb was the perfect guy and I was going to get married to him come what may.

Then there was another instance at Kyle’s birthday dinner party where I was sitting with Caleb’s family and his brother Kyle told us all that his ex had wished him a happy birthday. At this, everyone laughed really loudly. Then Caleb said something like a joke about her having to pay for her sins in the past and then his mother said literally and they all laughed again.

It felt like an inside joke that I wasn’t in on. I didn’t understand what was so funny, so I’d asked about it on the way home. Caleb had said that it was just an inside joke, so I didn’t need to worry about it. Now, I know that they must have pulled some similar crap with his ex as well. This was their family’s pattern to harass and rip off their exes with Fiona’s help after each and every breakup, taking advantage of their naivee.

It was only after our divorce that I realized what all this was really about, and that I should have listened to Marcus and taken those jokes a lot more seriously than I did back then. But anyway, this was what I meant when I told Fiona that if she didn’t take back the lawsuit, then I’d be exposing her and her son online, and that wouldn’t be pretty.

It wasn’t because I was afraid of having to go against them, but I just really didn’t want the hassle of going through the trouble of negotiations again so soon after my divorce had been finalized. I was exhausted. It was mostly because of Caleb and his family since they’d been absolutely horrible to me throughout the divorce and didn’t leave any opportunity to make cryptic posts to insult me, which I never said a word about because it wasn’t worth it.

But even that could be considered defamation if it really came down to it. So on the phone call, I told Fiona that if she didn’t take back that lawsuit, then I’d tell the world about her and her family’s cons. She got all huffy and nervous and then disconnected the call after calling me some names. But a few days later, she did take back the lawsuit.

I thought that that would be the end and I wouldn’t have to hear from her or her son again. However, yesterday, Caleb showed up at my door and was furious with how I treated his mother. He told me that me threatening her was a disgusting move, and it just showed that he’d been right to dump me for a better woman.

I was already pissed off, so I told him to shove off and slam the door in his face, but he continued to scream at me loudly from right outside the door. I would have called the cops on him, but I thought it was going to backfire because he was actually accusing me of blackmailing his mother. He said that if I was so sure of myself and knew that I had no fault in this, then I should have gone ahead with the lawsuit and duked it out legally.

But instead, I called her and threatened to expose them all, which is the phrase I’d used. He told me that it sounded a lot like blackmail and that if that’s what I was intending to do, then I should probably just give up on the idea that I’m better than them somehow because I’m not. He said this to taunt me and then said some more things about how his mother had always looked out for her kids unlike my parents.

So, I wasn’t used to this. He was referring to my strained relationship with my own parents since we’re not very close after a couple of big fights. That was a low blow, so I told him to go away. Then he went off topic and started yelling at me about how I had taken everything away from him, referring to the house, which I got to keep in the divorce and also the car.

I tuned out at that point because these were things I’d already heard over a thousand times over the course of the divorce. But the thing he said about blackmail kind of stayed with me even after he left. I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way, but when he put it like that, I suppose that’s what it really was.

I don’t know now what I’m supposed to do because I was just trying to protect myself and it seems like it backfired. I don’t understand how to go about this. AITA for telling my ex-mother-in-law that if she didn’t take back her defamation suit, then I’d expose her and her family’s cons to everyone online. Update one. >> Hello you guys.

Thanks for all the help and advice. It means a lot to me that so many of you commented on my post and stuff. >> I’m very grateful that a lot of you supported me. I mean, I guess what I did technically falls under the general category of blackmail behavior, but it’s not like I’m in the wrong. Anyhow, the only reason she even took back the suit was because she knew she’d get screwed over if she went ahead with it.

I can sue her. I can get Marcus to sue her. And I can talk to all the other exes about this, but I don’t want to. It would be the right thing to do. And a lot of you have suggested I do exactly this. Talk to all the other exes and then together file a petition against Fiona and her kids. But that’s a lot of work to put in for something I just want to forget and move on from.

I don’t know if it makes me a bad person or whatever, but I’m not a vigilante and neither am I interested in being one at the moment. Maybe sometime in the future if they try to mess with me again, I might go ahead and do it, but not right now. I’m just recovering from a very hectic, tense, and stressful phase of my life.

And what I need is to relax and unwind. I don’t want to get caught up in Caleb and Fiona’s drama all over again. So, I hope you guys understand where I’m coming from. I haven’t heard back from Caleb yet, even though it’s been 3 days since his last visit when he threw his temper tantrum right outside my door.

So, it’s either that he’s forgotten, chosen to let this thing go, or maybe he’s planning something. I think the first is very unlikely because he and his family are clearly suckers for any sort of drama and will do everything in their power to create some, even if it’s themselves that they’re making a total and complete fool out of.

I already saw that petty side of theirs during the divorce. So, I’m expecting something bigger and better this time since I have picked a fight with the biggest goon of the lot. She’s not going to let this go and I know it. I’ve really insulted her by threatening her. And now that their teenytiny egos are hurt, they’ll do everything in their power to hurt or humiliate me.

I’ve kept my lawyer on hold in case things get out of hand. Even though I’m planning to avoid suing them as far as I can because I don’t have that sort of time and energy. Frankly, I don’t want to spend tons of money on this again. I’m just praying for the best right now because there’s nothing else I can do. Update two. Okay, so I was right about them having something worse in mind for me than just letting me off the hook with a phone call or some half-hearted lawsuit that they knew they were going to lose.

They decided to drag my parents into this, and it was a disgustingly low move. As I’ve already mentioned, my relationship with my parents is not the best. Caleb was already picking on me about it and trying to make me feel bad the last time we interacted, and this time they doubled down on it.

It’s sickening and I still can’t believe they did it. For context, my parents and I have never been on the best terms anyway. Right from when I was a kid, I knew that they weren’t exactly ready to have me and I was mostly taking care of myself. I wasn’t neglected, but it wasn’t as if my parents were constantly hovering around me to check how I was doing.

They did the bare minimum and called it a day. And I suppose they thought it was okay since they were young when they had me. Then, as I grew up, the less they spoke to me. All my bills would be paid. I’d have nice clothes and I was wellfed. But I didn’t really have a relationship with my parents. They were just there.

They were alive and they were there. So I didn’t feel too bad leaving for college. And neither did we have some tearful emotional goodbye. I think all of us were kind of relieved that we wouldn’t have to live under the same roof and make each other awkward and uncomfortable while crossing paths or sitting in the same room without talking.

During college, I barely spoke to my parents because I was busy with my new life and new friends. They didn’t check on me either, so we just stopped calling. I didn’t even go back for the holidays since I didn’t think they’d appreciate or even want me there. From whatever I saw on social media, I didn’t think they missed me at all.

They’d post photos of themselves traveling, hanging out with friends, attending parties, and stuff, and they seemed happy. I was a little upset that they didn’t seem like they cared at all and wouldn’t call me, but that just made me mad because if they weren’t going to call me, then I wasn’t going to be the weaker one and call them.

It was a weird, bad, unhealthy space for all of us, I guess. When I finally contacted them a couple of weeks before graduation to invite them to the ceremony, they were very cold. They weren’t usually cold before, but on that call in particular, they sounded mad. So, I couldn’t help but ask them why.

That’s when they told me they were upset that throughout my years at college, I’d barely bothered to put in any effort to keep in touch with them. That pissed me off because I could say the same about them as well. So, that’s what led to a lot of fighting and they didn’t even attend my graduation ceremony because of it. But afterward they did reach out to me and I turned them down.

This went on for a couple of years until a while ago before my wedding. I told them about it because I wanted to let the past be in the past and start a fresh. Things haven’t been great, but we’re going to family counseling and trying to be better. We still end up fighting a lot like crazy sometimes, but we’re putting in a conscious effort to work on our relationships.

Caleb and his family just made a total mockery out of it all. They called my parents up 3 days ago in the middle of the night and then put them on blast about my pathetic behavior and how badly I’d been raised. Apparently, they even insinuated that I might have pushed Caleb to cheat because of how screwed up my own relationship had been all my life.

It was just a total and complete crapfest. By the end of it, my parents were in shock. They’d never been dragged into any of this drama before, so this was a first. But they had the good sense to call me as soon as they recovered from the shock and filled me in on what happened. I hadn’t told them anything about Fiona’s lawsuit and stuff after the divorce, but on the call, I kind of broke down and ended up telling them everything.

Surprisingly, they were really there for me and were very supportive of me. In fact, my parents seemed furious that I’d been treated this way and were very protective of me, which felt new since I’d always felt like I never even needed them to protect me. So, this was a nice change of pace for me where I could actually rely on my parents.

I told them that I didn’t want to take legal action, but they convinced me to go after them. They said that if I felt mentally tired, they’d be there for me to talk to and do their best to make it easy on me. But if I let this slide, then they’d just keep up and continue to harass me for as long as they could. So, I had to set an example and make sure they don’t have the opportunity to do this again.

I’m already in talks with my lawyer, and we’re going to sue them for harassment, I think. Update three. Hey guys, so I’m sorry I’m so late with this update, but with all the hassle of the lawsuit and stuff, I’d forgotten to post here. I’d also forgotten the password to this account since I created it as a throwaway one.

I had posted an update separately, but now that I finally managed to remember the details and log back in, I’ll post one here, too. I went ahead with the lawsuit like my parents told me to, even though I initially said I didn’t want to take any legal action because it would be too much. About 2 weeks ago, we finally settled out of court.

They’re the ones who had to pay me $10,000 for all the emotional distress they’d caused me and even my parents. This is not where their troubles end, though. Once I told my parents everything, and they supported me. I also told them about the scam Fiona had tried to pull by involving her lawyer brother-in-law and sending me some bogus lawsuit just to force me to entertain it and then give them a ton of money for nothing.

I told them about the past instances of my ex-husband’s dishonesty at work and Fiona’s tendency to try and rip off her kids’ ex’s payback. It was pretty messed up. And my parents told me that since I was going after them anyway, I should probably tell Marcus about it too and see what he wanted to do about it. I did do that. And even though he didn’t go after them legally because it had been such a long time, he made a post about it on social media and it blew up.

Apparently, they’d been running this scam for ages and it had happened to all of their exes. Fiona had been involved in ripping off all, and I mean every single one of her kids’ exes, regardless of what financial background they came from or what their age was. This family didn’t even spare their high school exes, which is ridiculous to even think of.

It was always the same tactics, emotional manipulation, lies, and then guilt tripping. Sometimes it was a small amount, but sometimes, like with Marcus, it was a substantial amount, like the hospital bills that he’d been forced to cough up. It was crazy how long this had been going on and even crazier that all of us had tried to keep this quiet because that family had made us think we were somehow the bad guys here.

But long story short, they’re getting a lot of hate on social media. And it got to the point where they pretty much had to deactivate all their accounts because they couldn’t defend themselves from all the trolling. It wasn’t just the exes, but their ex’s friends and others who joined in actually demanding the money back from them.

It’s become a whole thing now. And I love how nasty everyone’s being to them because this is just like giving them a taste of their own medicine. I suppose when Fiona and Caleb tried to mess with me, they really overplayed their hand. Now they’re regretting everything because not only did they have to pay me back, but it now seems they might have to return all the money they scammed people out of.

No wonder their family was so well off. I’m sure they’ve been just as dishonest in their jobs as well, just like Caleb had been. There’s not a decent bone in their body, and this is just proof of it. At least I’m not part of that family anymore. I’ve managed to get a restraining order against them, too. So, I’m not worried about them bothering me after this, either.

I’m glad that this gave my parents and me an excuse to kind of get back on better terms because ever since that phone call they made to harass my mom and dad, we’ve all been a real unit and have dealt with this like a real family would. I’m so proud of us for doing so. Life’s good right