When this woman is furious with her stepsister, she asks Reddit:
I (24f) currently room with my stepsister Wendy (25f). My dad married her mom. My dad inherited this apartment years ago and let us live there rent free when I got into the same university Wendy did. Wendy and I get along well though we work in different fields and have our own groups of friends.
I have an aunt on my mom’s side, Anna (31f). Anna’s mom, my mom’s former stepmother, used to date Wendy’s dad until he moved to another city.
Anna has an extremely wealthy older husband (46m). She met him in high school when she babysat his niece. They dated when Anna graduated from college. They’re now married with a son (3m) and Anna a SAHM since his birth.
Anna lives a luxurious life and shares a lot on social media. I and Wendy are friends with her on several platforms but Wendy is jealous, there’s no other word. She often talks about Anna and her husband age gap. She said it was creepy and there was no way she would date someone so much older.
I always tried to get Wendy to stop but she would just bring the topic back again and again. This Christmas our parents went abroad so I went to spend Christmas at my mom's side.
My mom passed several years ago but it was nice to see the family. Wendy was set to spend Christmas with her friends but the host was busy last minute, so I invited Wendy to spend Christmas with me.
The day before Wendy and I headed back home, Anna and her family joined us. Anna’s husband broke his ankle so he pretty much sat in a chair and just chatted with anyone who came to talk with him.
Anna spent a good deal of time making sure he had food and drinks (meal was buffet style) and checked on him like every 10 minutes.
Wendy of course noticed this and kept whispering to me about how this was just a taste of Anna’s future, having to wait hand and foot on her much older husband in his old age. Wendy said she wouldn’t wish Anna’s fate on her worst enemy. She said her husband has a devoted wife since he groomed her so well.
I have had enough. Wendy was acting like the biggest Grinch with all her joy sucking gossips. So I purposefully raised my voice “Wendy, what do you mean grooming?! Just because they’re 15 years apart doesn’t mean there’s grooming involved!”
Everyone around us went quiet. Anna and her husband stared at us, knowing full well it involved them, but they didn’t say anything. Wendy was so embarrassed she excused herself and left the party. In the morning when we left, Wendy only said good bye to my grandma before heading out.
Wendy was angry and said I embarrassed her and drove her to her room without even getting dinner. She said I could have told her in private like I have always done and not shame her in public.
She said it was normal for people to talk like this about every woman marrying a much older, richer man and Anna should know people say things like this behind her backs no matter what. I was just tired of her jealousy and hoped this would shut her up. AITA?
mountaincoldcold writes:
ESH. You are major AH here - not for exposing Wendy, who was behaving shi&ty. But for making this visible to the people it concerned. People were having a good time and you spoiled it by bringing this into the conversation for everyone to hear. You could have just asked Wendy to shut up.
brejeck writes:
YTA. Why didn’t you ask Wendy to stop saying this while she was there? Did Wendy know she was making you feel uncomfortable? You were the only person she really knew there. Her holiday plans fell through and she only could go to your event, where she likely didn’t know anyone.
Did you ever think to ask her to stop saying that in private? That what she was doing was making you uncomfortable? Why do you want to embarrass your aunt and his husband in front of all of their friends? Even if you had said something in private and she kept it up, you could have loudly told her “stop your petty gossip” instead of something controversial.
competitiverac6 writes:
NTA. For some people, talking about others behind their back is normal. That doesn't make it right. And by the way: if I hurt my foot I also wanted my partner to keep me company and make sure I have food and drink.
That's a nice thing to do in a partnership. I'd do the same for my partner if the roles were reversed. But well, if someone wants to find something to get outraged about, they will.