When a man sought an arranged marriage, he hoped it would simplify his life, but soon it was clear life had other plans.

When one man’s past romantic connection resurfaced through a surprising family tie, things got complicated in ways he never anticipated.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for “ruining” my future wife’s cousin’s reputation in the family?

So, almost 2 years ago, I (34M) was tired of dating, so I asked my parents to arrange some dates with prospective women. (Basically an arranged marriage).

And that’s how I met E.

Things got off to a good start, but soon he started having second thoughts.

E was very kind, funny, and smart, so after two dates, when we sat down to discuss what we wanted in marriage, I was thinking that she was the woman of my dreams.

Sadly, we were not compatible, mainly because I wanted to keep living with my parents (I am an only child), and she didn’t. We had a very cordial separation.

But then he met someone else.

Fast forward about 3 months, and I met my current fiancée, M. We were very compatible, so we got engaged very fast.

And we fell in love during our more than a year-long engagement.

Here’s where things get a little messy.

Last month, we finally set the wedding date, so we had a party, and I got to meet her extended family.

It turned out that E is M’s distant cousin (E’s uncle is married to M’s father’s cousin).

Which was no issue for me, I just thought that it was a funny coincidence.

But it turns out, there was an issue.

What I didn’t know was that, after I told M about the reason it didn’t work with E (months ago, before I knew they were related), M had told her mother, sister, and close cousins.

And when it became obvious that it was their cousin, everyone shamed her.

Not because she didn’t want to live with her in-laws, but because she created problems between her brother and SIL, because her SIL refused to live with E’s parents.

So now E is furious with him.

Now, I didn’t know anything about this until I received a very scathing voicemail from E, screaming at me for gossiping about her, and for ruining her reputation in the family.

She said that I was an AH for even trying to paint her in a bad light after we parted ways.

So, AITA?

This whole arrangement turned into a massive headache.

What did Reddit think?

This commenter thinks he did his due diligence and he doesn’t deserve any of the blame.

Maybe her reaction has more to do with her than it does with him.

Family doesn’t always equal closeness – especially distant family.

This user, on the other hand, has a different perspective.

Regardless of whose fault it is, he’s caught between old flames and new beginnings, with no easy way out.

The past has a sneaky way of catching up with you when you least expect it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.