Tearing off the Mask of the Internet-Famous Mother-in-law

I felt much more at ease during the few days I stayed at my parents’ house.

However, no one knows their daughter better than a mother. My mom took one look at me and knew something was wrong.

“Chelsea, did you and Jake have a fight?” she suddenly asked, her tone serious.

“No…” I started to deny it.

“Is it because of Amelia?” she pressed further.

I sighed and nodded.

“I told you to think twice about getting married. But you were so sure about Jake, you wouldn’t listen to anyone. Jake is a good man, but your father and I were never comfortable with him coming from a single-parent family. And now look…” My mom’s words made me hang my head in shame.

Yes, Jake came from a single-parent household.

His father had passed away in a work accident, and I knew it hadn’t been easy for Amelia to raise Jake on her own.

In recent years, with the rise of the internet, Amelia started sharing videos of her cooking and daily life with Jake online.

Everyone praised her for how hard she worked, and with Jake’s good looks, she had gained thousands of followers.

I had thought that someone like Amelia would be easygoing and pleasant to get along with, so I didn’t worry too much.

When I went to visit her for the first time, she even recorded a video and posted it online, adding a caption that read, “Welcome our new family member.”

At the time, Jake and I were in a great place in our relationship, and I convinced my parents to give him a chance.

Jake was constantly bringing gifts to my parents, from big appliances to small items. If anything happened, he was always the first to step in.

My parents eventually softened their stance.

I thought that after Jake and I got married, we could focus on living our own lives together.

But soon after, Amelia started complaining that her videos were losing views because Jake hadn’t appeared in them for a while.

She said she needed to stay with us temporarily, but once she moved in, there was no end in sight.

She would wake up before dawn to knead dough, make pastries, and cook pancakes, creating a racket starting at four in the morning.

Jake and I were both in the midst of building our careers, often working late into the night.

We spoke to Amelia several times about it, but she always insisted, “I have to get up early to attract viewers!”

Everything was about getting more views! Amelia’s presence severely disrupted my life, so I ended up staying in a hotel for two weeks.

Jake, unable to get any sleep either, joined me at the hotel.

Only then did Amelia finally stop.

On social media, she portrayed herself as the perfect mother-in-law who would do anything for her son and daughter-in-law, but in reality, she was constantly interfering in our lives.

After making breakfast and recording her videos, she would eat her share and leave us with nothing but a messy kitchen.

She only did housework when it was on camera, claiming back pain and resting afterward.

Looking back, I couldn’t believe how blind I was to it all. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became.

My mom, after talking for a while, shook her head.

“So, what are you planning to do?”

“I told Jake that if his mom stays in that house, I won’t be going back,” I said firmly. I couldn’t live like this any longer.

As soon as I finished speaking, my phone started buzzing non-stop.

I assumed it was work, but when I looked at the screen, I nearly passed out from anger.

My social media account was flooded with comments.

[How could you, an adult, leave home when your mother-in-law is so good to you?]

[Didn’t your parents teach you any manners? I can’t believe they raised you this way.]

[Respecting your elders is the most basic virtue. How can you call yourself human?]

[We all support Amelia. You’re the one in the wrong!]

There were even worse comments that I couldn’t bring myself to read.

My face turned pale, and my mom asked what was wrong. I lied and said it was work-related.

Friends and colleagues were also reaching out, asking what was going on.

Ignoring the messages, I opened Amelia’s social media account.

The title of her latest video made my vision go black.

“Sorry, Chelsea.”

I clicked on the video. Amelia, with tears streaming down her face, apologized for staying at her son’s house and promised to move out immediately if I was willing to return.

She even vowed never to force me into her videos again.

The comments were all praising Amelia for being so understanding and compassionate while tearing me apart, calling me every name under the sun.

Just as I was about to call Jake, my boss rang instead.

“Chelsea, take care of your personal issues before you come back to work. For now, we’re putting you on unpaid leave. If you can’t sort this out, don’t bother returning. You might not care about your reputation, but the company does!” My boss berated me before hanging up.

I checked my work group chat and saw everyone congratulating my rival on becoming the new supervisor.

That was when I realized my promotion was gone.

Holding my phone, I felt for the first time that maybe I shouldn’t have gotten married.

“Jake…”

I started to speak, but Jake immediately began apologizing.

Not long after, Amelia’s video was taken down.

But it was too late; people were already hounding my account, leaving endless hateful comments.

“So, have you thought about what I said?” I asked Jake.

He hesitated, then said, “Chelsea… My mom promised she won’t interfere with us anymore. Can’t you forgive her this time?”

“Let’s get a divorce,” I said coldly.

I loved Jake deeply, but I couldn’t live like this for another day.

I hung up the phone, tears welling up in my eyes.

But before they could fall, I heard a knock at the door.

I didn’t get up to answer it, but I could hear my parents and Jake talking.

“Chelsea, I’m sorry. I really messed up.”

Jake’s voice was frantic, but I didn’t want to see him.

As I listened to him plead and promise outside, I began to calm down and felt my resolve soften a bit.

I opened the door and saw Jake standing there. Before I could say anything, he blurted out, “Honey, I’ve told my mom to go back to her hometown. I promise, from now on, it’ll be just the two of us, with no one to bother us.”

Jake made this promise right in front of my parents, which seemed to ease their concerns a bit.

Just then, my best friend called. “Chelsea, are you really getting a divorce?”

I frowned and walked back into my room. “Where did you hear that?”

“From Amelia’s account. What’s going on?”

I hung up and checked Amelia’s account, but there was nothing there.

I felt uneasy, and a sudden thought crossed my mind.

Switching to my secondary account, I visited Amelia’s profile.

Sure enough, there was a new video, and a lot of content I hadn’t seen before.

I forced myself to watch the latest video.

The caption read: “My daughter-in-law wants a divorce, so I’ll head back to my hometown.”

In the video, Amelia was packing her bags, wiping away tears, looking utterly pitiful.

The comments were overwhelmingly in her favor, with some even offering to take my place as her daughter-in-law once I was out of the picture.

I scrolled through more videos, many of which I hadn’t seen before.

There were clips of me lying on the couch watching TV while she bustled around, and others of me sleeping while she quietly tidied up the house.

But I knew it was all staged. Outside of those videos, she never did any housework!

My hands shook with anger. I had been put on unpaid leave, and I needed to figure out a way to turn public opinion around completely.

Switching back to my main account, I saw that I had gained quite a few followers, though they were mostly there to criticize me.

I smirked. If it was a battle of social media and public opinion, I could play that game too. It was time for Amelia to see just how powerful these tools could be.

I turned off my phone screen and walked out with a smile.

“Dad, Mom, we’re heading home now,” I said as Jake picked up my luggage and we left my parents’ house.

In the car, I mentioned, “Babe, I’ve been put on unpaid leave...”

Jake looked guilty. “It’s all my fault…”

“No worries, babe. Think of it as a break at home. Hey, since your mom makes so much money from social media, why don’t we start a couple’s account? I’ve got time now,” I suggested tentatively.

Jake seemed surprised. “Weren’t you totally against that before?”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I replied, “Well, we could use the extra income, especially if we decide to have kids later...”

Jake’s face lit up. “Babe, you finally want kids! I’ll do whatever you say.”

Even though Jake and I earned decent salaries, it was still tough to save enough for raising kids, and my parents had been helping us out a lot.

Amelia didn’t have a pension, but she made a decent amount from her online following; yet she still asked us for money all the time.

She hadn’t helped us out financially at all since we got married, so I’d been against having kids.

When we got home, Amelia was lounging on the couch, looking nothing like her on-screen persona.

She seemed surprised to see me. “You’re back already?”

Am I not allowed to come back to my own home?

Jake, clearly irritated, called out, “Mom.”

Amelia forced a smile. “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I’ll head back home next month.”

I was a bit taken aback and glanced at the phone set up nearby.

I realized she was live streaming, probably trying to play the role of the kind mother-in-law versus the evil daughter-in-law. Well, I wasn’t going to let her get away with that.

“Mom, don’t say that. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. It was my fault before,” I said warmly, leaving her no room to maneuver.

Jake beamed. “See, Mom? Chelsea is so understanding.”

That night, Jake was over the moon, saying he appreciated how much I understood him. He even transferred his entire bonus from his new project to me.

I didn’t hesitate to accept it – if he wasn’t going to make his mom leave, our marriage was on the clock.