After years of living as a widow, my mother-in-law found love again. However, her new relationship has thrown our family into chaos, and we are now sitting on the edge of a potential breakdown.

My mother-in-law was always known for her beauty but experienced misfortune early in life. At 40, she became a widow, left to raise her only son on her own. Before his death, my father-in-law had left behind a modest house and a thriving flower shop, so life for the two of them wasn’t difficult.

Though she was in her 40s, my mother-in-law kept herself in good shape through exercise and remained a striking woman. Knowing she was widowed, many men tried to win her over, but she always rejected their advances.

Her life was mainly confined to managing the flower shop and caring for her son, my husband, who, despite being an adult, never brought a girlfriend home. At 45, my husband married me, and I moved into their home. I helped out in the flower shop, and seeing that I had many business ideas, my mother-in-law decided to transfer the shop to my husband and me, with a condition that she would receive 30% of the profits.

With more free time, my mother-in-law began to focus on her personal life. Bored of staying at home, she joined a dancing class with some friends. There, she met a man five years younger than her who worked at the dance studio. From that moment on, my mother-in-law’s personality underwent a drastic change.

She shed her traditional image. She had eye surgery, got her lips tattooed, and even talked about getting breast implants to look younger. Her wardrobe, makeup, and style became increasingly inappropriate for her age, and she developed a deep passion for dancing.

After some time, my husband and I discovered that she had developed a special affection for the man from the dance class. Initially, my husband didn’t oppose the relationship. He even supported her, thinking that after so many years of loneliness, she deserved happiness.

However, things didn’t go as we had hoped. My husband did some research and discovered that this man was not a good person. He lived off deceiving women who were lonely, wealthy, and vulnerable. On top of that, he had a gambling habit.

When my husband learned that my mother-in-law had strong feelings for him, he tried to intervene and advised her against the relationship. But by this point, my mother-in-law seemed completely consumed by her love for him. She ignored everything my husband said, which made their relationship increasingly strained.

The more we tried to stop her, the more fiercely she loved him. Since the relationship began, my mother-in-law’s spending increased. The 30% profit she received from the flower shop business wasn’t enough to support her extravagant lifestyle. She began traveling frequently with her lover and buying him expensive gifts. To fund this lifestyle, she demanded that my husband and I give her 50% of the profits from the shop. This put us in a difficult position, especially since I had just given birth to our second child.

This issue also led to tension between my husband and me. Our relationship with my mother-in-law became strained, and recently, when my husband was at work, my mother-in-law asked me to book a trip to Japan for the two of them, costing over 50 million VND (about $2,000). I didn’t feel comfortable making such a decision on my own, so I discussed it with my husband. When he found out, he was furious and had another heated argument with his mother. In his anger, he told her that while he didn’t object to her having a boyfriend or remarrying, he could not accept her spending money on “young men and gambling.”

His words hit my mother-in-law hard, as well as the man she was involved with. She burst into tears, stormed off to her room, and later left to live with her boyfriend.

Now, our family is torn apart by this relationship, and we are uncertain how to move forward. My mother-in-law’s pursuit of love has brought tension and division into our home, and we are struggling to find a way to restore peace and harmony.