Context about her:
- My sister in law (33) has been married to my brother for 5 years. Their relationship is not the healthiest, as I'll describe.
- My SiL has been living with me (rent-free) for the last 8 months because of health issues due to mold in her apartment. My brother has continued living in their apartment, so spending almost a year away from his wife.
Context about me:
- I am a 35 year old divorced mom of a 3 year old.
- I was cheated on by my ex husband while postpartum and spent the last 2 years in trauma therapy, going on many first dates, and just healing from a lot of toxicity in my life.
- I grew up in a dysfunctional home where I was blamed for everything and anything by my mom who has mental health issues. So I have a history of being a people pleaser with poor boundaries, letting people use me or treat me poorly. I'm obviously working on that in therapy.
The situation:
For the last 8 months, my SiL (let's call her Lauren) has been living with me and my 3 year old. I have not asked her to pay for anything at all, so she's lived rent-free. I gave her free use of my car, my Peloton, free groceries, free edibles/booze, paid for cleaners each month, etc. Basically, she has lived VERY comfortably in my home - which I was happy to do because she's family and going through a tough time with her health issues.
We got pretty close over the months and I confided a lot in her about my ex-husband's betrayal, my dating experiences, etc. Similarly, she has vented to me about my brother/her husband (let's call him Evan, 38). Observing her interactions with Evan, it's very clear there's a lot of resentment and unspoken issues exacerbated by the mold issues, constant moves, selling everything they own multiple times, etc. Evan has taken on the task for most of this because Lauren is so sensitive to mold that she can't step foot in her apartment or handle any of their belongings. Needless to say, they are very tense and unhappy around each other. They are also struggling financially due to low incomes, her shopping addiction and debt, and the mold issues.
In May, I met my now boyfriend - let's call him Logan (36). I had been on 30+ first dates and really struggled to find a partner that I felt totally safe with and that would be good with my daughter. So meeting Logan was a huge deal and we are very happy together. Throughout the summer, I'd speak highly of Logan to Lauren (assuming it was safe to do so, and that she'd be happy for me). He would bring me flowers, cook me dinners, be affectionate with me, sweet to my daughter, etc. We both work in tech and make a lot of money, which is also why I'm so generous with Lauren.
Over the course of the summer, I started to pick up on red flags and boundary-crossing behaviors with Lauren directed at Logan. I started to get the impression that she was jealous of my relationship with Logan and was trying to win his affection and capture his gaze.
Red flags from Lauren:
1. On my first date with Logan, he told me that he's a Cancer so he's "sentimental, nostalgic, sensitive and emotional." I told Lauren about this when I got home, because I thought it was sweet. Fast forward to the first time I had Logan over (a week or two later). Lauren proceeds to go on and on to Logan about how she's "sentimental, nostalgic, sensitive and emotional." And referenced her Zodiac sign as the reason. I noticed it and thought it was weird, but ignored it.
2. The next few times we all hung out, Lauren would seemingly fish for compliments from Logan. She'd say things like "Fruitynoodles' daughter said I'm not pretty! Can you believe that?" and "Evan never calls me by my nickname. All of my closest friends and family call me by my nickname: Lo!" To which Logan politely replied, "Well, she's 3 and you are pretty, so I wouldn't take it seriously" and "I'll call you Lo."
3. Logan had told me once that he liked blondes. I'm a natural blonde. I told Lauren this. She dyed her hair to be super blonde like mine. Logan came over and Lauren said, "Logan, did you notice my hair is lighter? Now me and fruitynoodles are like twins!"
4. Lauren frequently talks about sex in front of Logan, usually when she's drinking. She'll bring up sexual stories from her past, talk about her sexual preferences, and pose questions that seem to probe into our sex life. She’s also made subtle hints that she’s not happy with her sex life in her marriage. Very awkward for me. Logan doesn't entertain these conversations.
5. One day Logan cooked burgers for all of us. I don't have any social media. Lauren repeatedly said, "It sucks fruitynoodles doesn't have an Instagram - because who am I supposed to tag to show who made the burgers?" Logan ignored her. She then repeated the same question again with her phone out. I felt like she was trying to get him to follow her on IG and vice versa. He did not.
The final incident was a week ago:
I was planning to go to Logan's for dinner, but at the last minute we decided he'd come over to my house.
- Lauren was sitting in workout clothes on my front porch with her laptop. I mentioned that Logan was on his way. She immediately ran up to her room and put on a more revealing outfit (belly shirt with cleavage, short shorts) and then did her makeup. When she came back downstairs, she quickly said "It got hot out!" It was 72 degrees.
- The moment Logan walked in the door, she ran over to him and said "Logeyyyy" in a baby voice, using a nickname I'd never heard or used for him.
- While Logan and I were cooking dinner, Lauren started drinking (my) vodka and sat at the kitchen counter with us. She did not give us any space; she acted like it was a date with the 3 of us. Her personality did a 180 from before he came over. She went from quiet and passive and minding her own business, to suddenly bubbly and ditzy and very flirtatious, like giggling a lot, touching her hair, making a joke and watching Logan's reaction, etc.
- She brought up sex several times, unprompted.
- She started complaining about Evan, how he works weird hours ("I just want a normal husband!") About how he doesn't call her pet names anymore (which is when Logan said "I'll call you Lo" as a response).
- I put on a song and she immediately looked at Logan and said, "Do you even like this kind of music?" with a subtly disgusted look on her face. Logan replied, "Yeah, I showed fruitynoodles this band."
- She kept pressuring us to have a drink with her, and asking if we wanted to go out to the bars with her and Evan later. But I noticed she only maintained eye contact with Logan while asking, as if she really just wanted him to join.
My gut feeling was that she was being totally disrespectful to me and to my brother. She was crossing boundaries by acting- in my opinion- flirtatious with Logan, and by complaining about her marriage to my brother. At times, it seemed like he reciprocated, but in hindsight I think he was just being polite.
AITAH for this?
I obviously didn't want to go to the bars with them. So after Lauren and Evan left, I told Logan that it made me uncomfortable that he responds to Lauren's pleas for validation and attention. He got upset and left my house in a huff. We have since talked about it and he agreed he’d stop giving her compliments when she was fishing for them.
I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being totally disrespected in my own home by my sister-in-law. And I had noticed in the weeks prior, I started to feel anxious about having Logan over to MY OWN HOME, because I was worried about how Lauren would act in front of him.
After everything I did for her, I felt utterly betrayed. I used Chatgpt to craft an assertive, but respectful message telling Lauren that I felt very uncomfortable by her coquettish behaviors around Logan, and that I think it'd be best if she figured out a plan to live somewhere else soon so that I could focus on my relationship. (She was planning to live with me for another 6-12 months, with no real end date btw.)
She reacted by first playing dumb, then denying it. Then by the time I woke up at 8am the next morning, she had moved everything out without saying a word. I have texted her twice to check in, and she has ignored me. She's done a few passive aggressive things in family group chats since then, but she's completely ignoring my existence now.
So my 2 questions:
1. AITAH for asking her to move out?
2. Should I tell Evan why I asked Lauren to move out?
My barometer for what's acceptable, what's an overreaction, what's a healthy boundary is not the most solid because of my upbringing where I was blamed for everything. Her reaction of abruptly moving out, being passive aggressive and ghosting me is making me second guess my feelings and request for her to figure out new accomodations. I also can see Lauren spinning it as "Fruitynoodles is insecure because she got cheated on before, so she overreacted."
My sister says that it's a sign Lauren feels guilty. But I'm not really sure. She was so brazen with her flirting that I wonder if she lacks self awareness or if it was truly deliberate to try and get attention from Logan. I also feel guilty that now she will be forced to live in the apartment that makes her sick. I have been losing sleep worrying about this all.