Sometimes, doing what feels right as a parent can make you look like the villain.

So, what would you do if your grown son rushed into a new marriage right after divorcing his wife, and you couldn’t bring yourself to celebrate it? Would you show up for him anyway?

Or would you stand by the person who truly needed your support that night, his ex-wife?

In the following story, one father finds himself facing this very decision and decides to teach his son a lesson.

Here’s what happened.

AITA? I didn’t attend my son’s wedding, I instead spent the evening with his ex wife.

Quick backstory: After graduating high school, my son moved three states away for college.

At 19, he married a girl he met. I tried convincing him to wait because I personally felt he was too immature. They both dropped out and moved back to his hometown.

At 20, they had their first child, a beautiful little girl. 16 months later, my DIL gave birth to their second child, a little boy.

He tried to reason with his son.

After the first baby, my wife and I noticed our DIL wasn’t happy. We both thought it was PPD-related. Just after the second arrived, my son and his wife separated.

She would bring the kids over for a visit, and then she began unloading on us. I know there are two sides to every story, but considering I know my son, I believed her.

I sat my son down numerous times to speak with him regarding his marriage. He refused to take responsibility and blamed her for everything, even when I directly pointed out where he was the sole problem.

Suddenly, his son had a new girlfriend.

They got into counseling, and for a year, things were ‘ok’ on the surface. Our DIL filed for divorce, and my son, 3 days later, was on Facebook announcing his new girlfriend.

A month later, they were engaged. My son had forced his then-wife to become a permanent SAHM at the birth of their first child. Of course, she had no other family or friends here; she knew no one aside from us. She had nowhere to go with two small children.

Unbeknownst to our son, my wife and I helped her financially and got her an apartment.

His wife did everything she could to convince him.

Before the divorce was even finalized, we received a wedding invitation. I made it clear to my son that I would not be attending and that they would not have my blessing.

His mother told him she would ensure that I attended. I stayed consistent in my decision. I also asked him not to bring his fiancée around our house out of respect for the mother of his children.

The wedding happened on Feb 11. The night before, my wife gave me the final push. I did not attend, and our daughter also did not attend for the same reasons.

He and his daughter went to spend time with his DIL.

My wife picked up our grandkids, got them dressed, and attended the wedding.

My daughter and I decided to spend the evening with his ex. I couldn’t imagine her sitting alone while her kids attended their father’s wedding.

She was taken aback that I didn’t end up attending his wedding. We took her out to distract her mind. I just wanted her to know that she’ll always be considered family to us.

When his son found out what happened, he was angry.

My daughter also made a joke that they could drop the in-law status and just be sisters now. She was very tearfully grateful. I realized just how badly she needed our support, specifically on that night.

The next morning, my son called to tell me how horrible a father I am for not attending his wedding.

A few days later, he learned that I had spent the wedding evening with his ex. He said that was the ultimate form of betrayal, and his sister and I would have to earn a relationship with him only on his terms.

AITA?

Wow! What a nice gesture by him and his daughter.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit think about what he did here.

This person thinks the son is wrong.

According to this reader, they should update their wills to cut him out.

Here’s someone who’s happy he helped his DIL.

This person dealt with something similar.

He did the right thing! Seeing how his son is, there’s no way this new marriage is going to last anyway.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.