A Paternity Test Leads to War Over Who Hosts Thanksgiving, Elaborate Lies Revealed on Both Sides

A woman has taken to the internet after a dispute with her daughter-in-law over who gets to host Thanksgiving.

While the initial post, shared to an anonymous forum (and therefore impossible to verify), had enough tawdry details (paternity tests and demeaning slurs) for a soap opera the most sensational aspects of the tale came in updates the woman gave in real time.

These dispatches had the Reddit community on the edge of their seats, with closely kept lies and secrets being revealed.

Read on and see for yourself how the whole thing played out!

AITA for hosting my own thanksgiving after my DIL didn't invite me to hers

"I came here for another opinion. My DIL does not like me, my son got her pregnant in college and I told him to get a paternity test since he was not exclusive with her and she wasn’t either (he told me, she was seeing other people). He did and he is the father. The first time I met her, she told me it was not a pleasure to met the person who thinks she is a whore. (Never called her that) I tried to explain but got cut off by my son.

"Me and him had a conversation and he told me to drop it. Shotgun wedding and one kid later, our relationship is strained. I see her at family events but that really is it. I have been blown off so many times for inviting them out that I don’t anymore. I have accepted that I won’t be a strong presence in their lives or my grandkid.

"Now the family rotates who does holidays. It is her time to host thanksgiving. I gave a text asking what time I should be over and if they want me to bring anything. She told me I wasn’t invited but my husband is. I talked it over with him and we decided to host our own. I informed the other kids what happened and I will have dinner at my place if they want to go.

"Well none of the other kids are going now and I am getting texts from her and my son that I am acting like a jerk and to cancel my thanksgiving."

The first "edit" to the post came after many Redditors wanted to know if her son was even aware that his own mother had been disinvited to the family get-together he was hosting.

"Mini update," OP began. "I sent a text with screenshots about not being invited to my son, according to him he didn’t know I wasn’t invited and thought I was hosting to piss [off] his wife. He sent texts that confirm that."

The next update came in answer to those who thought it strange her son had cut her off midway through explaining she had never called his future-wife a "whore" when she first met DIL. Many had suspicions about how he presented his desire for the paternity test to begin with.

"I have called DIL to ask about how he presented the paternity test and if they were exclusive at the time," she wrote, leaving everyone hanging as she herself was awaiting a reply. "No pick up so I will ask over text and give my side of the story. Will inform when she responds."

Then came the truth bomb.

"I got thrown under the bus," she said, finally getting some answers. "They were on a break when she got pregnant. Apparently they dated for like two months, had a break, became f--k buddies again, got back together, then she found out she was pregnant. He presented it as me forcing him to have the test."

"Sooooo they are going to deal with that now," she added.

Of course, it's still a cliffhanger and the Reddit community urged OP to keep them all posted.

Overall, the woman was certified NTA (not the asshole) with many commending her for dealing with the situation in such a cool-headed way.

"The fact that you're wanting to make sure she has the entire story despite her treatment of you speaks to how good of a person you are," one commenter noted after her updates. "I hope you’re able to get through to her and work on mending that relationship."

While, initially, many expressed outrage over the DIL's behavior and anger towards the son as the updates came in things, as they always do, became more complicated.

It was the secrets that seemed to be causing all the friction.

What do you think?