The laundry list of proof revealed in court left the man's own mother wishing "the damn messages" were shown earlier to save them the "humiliation" of his lengthy testimony in court.
A woman has taken to the internet under the guise of seeking advice after a recent courtroom victory against her ex-husband and his new wife.
However, it was abundantly clear she was ultimately seeking an appropriate place to celebrate -- particularly because her two children were involved.
Enter the glorious anonymity of Reddit and its AITA (am I the a--hole) forum.
In a post titled, "AITA for letting my ex and his wife make fools out of themselves in court?", the woman detailed her bitter divorce and the fallout her former spouse experienced with their children due to his alleged cheating.
Fast forward to now, the original poster (a.k.a. "OP") recently won a court battle over a trivial dispute raised by said ex, who claimed he was a victim of "parental alienation." It wasn't so much the winning, as many a sports fan knows, but how she defeated her ex that made the whole thing that much sweeter.
Read on to see the entire story ... and how Redditors reacted.
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View StoryThe Original AITA Reddit Post
OP kicked off the post with some personal information for background.
"I (33f) have two children (11m and 9f) with my ex Liam (35m)," she wrote. "2 years ago he turned our world upside down by revealing his affair in the messiest way possible (more on that in a sec) and declaring he wanted to get married to his affair partner Jean (37f). This led to me filing for the divorce."
Then came the first striking detail, involving how the man's alleged affair was first exposed.
"My children learned of the affair before me," OP claimed. "Liam took Jean to meet the kids outside of school and he tried to tell them she was going to be their new mom and he asked the kids to tell me they wanted to live with him and Jean."
"That morning the kids left a home they thought was happy and safe with mom and dad and by the time school was out dad showed up with a strange lady and admitted he'd been cheating (even if indirectly) and they were getting a new family," she continued. "I got a call from the school because the kids were distraught and ran back to their teacher after Liam pulled this stunt."
That morning the kids left a home they thought was happy and safe with mom and dad and by the time school was out dad showed up with a strange lady and admitted he'd been cheating (even if indirectly) and they were getting a new family.
Then came divorce proceedings and custody battles.
"Liam attempted to win sole custody of the kids during our divorce and he declared his intention for Jean to adopt them. This was not well received by the courts and it did lead to some parts of our divorce being drawn out due to the fact he claimed that made him eligible for everything accumulated during the marriage despite me working for everything too. So he is known and has made an ass of himself in court before."
Of course, as you might expect, "Liam married Jean right after our divorce was finalized."
Then came another level of petty, per OP.
"In the time that has followed since the divorce, and even since Liam revealed his affair, there has been a source of added conflict," she teased.
"When we were together we involved the kids in celebrating and planning for each birthday. Including ours. It became a sweet little tradition where the kids 'helped' me cook for his and he brought the kids to pick up my favorite takeout," she explained. "We helped them shop for the birthday gift as well. He expected this to continue after the divorce and for Jean to be included. My brother took over helping the kids because they asked him to. But the kids don't do it for him or Jean. Liam claims I should be helping them do it or I should make my brother help them do it for him and Jean."
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View StoryThe courts then got involved.
"He claims this is parental alienation; my refusal to continue this tradition for him and Jean or to get my brother to do it in my place. So he filed a motion with the courts and we had a court date recently where he was spewing all this nonsense," OP continued. "He made this claim that we had promised to continue this for each other and how he held up his end until I refused, etc. And how it was my wish to negatively influence his and Jean's relationship with the kids."
Then came OP's receipts, proof, timeline, screenshots.
"I let him do his ranting and raving and then showed documented proof that he was lying (texts and emails exchanged about this very topic). Jean was also part of these rantings. They were pissed and so was my former MIL after the judge dismissed the allegations and both were scolded for foolishness. Former MIL said I could have cut everyone's time down and saved their humiliation by just showing the damn messages earlier (to quote her)."
She concluded her post with the obligatory question to fellow Redditors: "AITA?"
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Of course, it was a resounding NTA (not the a--hole) verdict but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of outrage to go around.
In fact, many entered the comments to simply double down on defending OP.
As the highest rated comment put it: "NTA. I would have thought a judge would have had to listen to the appellant's full claim, and I can't imagine the judge would have looked too kindly on you interrupting."
"Former MIL could have cut down everyone's time by raising her son to be honest, but hey, nothing can be done about that now," they further observed. "I do wonder though, if your ex is so wanting the kids to have help preparing for his birthday and for Jean's, why doesn't Jean help them for his birthday and he help them for hers? Because expecting you/your brother to do it is just..lol."
Let him bluster from the cavernous empty space where his ability to see reality should reside.
To which OP replied: "He expects it from me/my brother because the kids' relationship with him has suffered since the big reveal he did and they do not like Jean at all. So anything they do with them is not as willing and they don't want to do the celebration. Hence him trying to rope me in so they would be more willing, which honestly I don't think they would be."
Another Redditor responded in the same thread: "It's almost as if your kids have their own thoughts and feelings! How could he have possibly planned for such an unprecedented thing?! Let him bluster from the cavernous empty space where his ability to see reality should reside. His absurd and asinine arguments before the court will only further aide you and your kids in getting them away from that environment."
Elsewhere, OP wrote: "That's basically it. He's shocked he destroyed his relationship with our kids and is equally, if not more shocked, that the kids have not fallen madly for Jean as mommy 2.0."
But the rabid commenting came to an abrupt end after moderators on the forum removed the post with a warning.
First they noted, as we did above, that the tale really wasn't seeking judgment from the AITA community. Instead, it was a celebration of revenge well-served.
"This post violates Rule 7," moderators wrote. "There is no interpersonal conflict here for our community to make a judgment about."
"This post violates Rule 13: No Revenge Stories," they added. "It appears that your story would be better suited for one of the many subreddits which are focused on revenge."
What do you think?