For those who sneak around and have affairs behind their partner's back, getting found out is the last thing they want to happen. But what's worse than just getting caught? Getting caught by a family member.
That's exactly what happened to one woman though, after she cheated on her husband two years ago and was caught in the act by her spouse's sister - who then threatened to tell her brother everything.
The woman, who posted her story anonymously, explained she was having an affair with a man she met through her job, who just so happened to also be her sister-in-law's fitness trainer.
When her sister-in-law saw them together at a bar, she knew exactly what was going on between them, and gave the woman two choices - come clean to her husband, or pay for her silence.
The woman, from Australia, told her story in an article shared by 9Honey, where she wrote: "My sister-in-law, Emma, has made my life hell for the last two years. She knows a secret of mine and she has threatened to tell her brother, my husband, Jason."
Although she admits the situation with her sister-in-law was "entirely her fault" as it began with the affair, the woman claimed her husband's sibling "basically bribed" her into giving her a "large sum of money" after she caught her kissing her lover in a bar.
She added: "She called me the next day and said I had two choices – she could either call Jason and tell him I'm a cheater, or I could pay her for her silence.
"Emma had hit financial hard times when her jewellery business failed. She basically bribed me into giving her a large sum of money that I'd recently inherited from my father so she could keep her business going. In return, she has promised to stay quiet about my affair."
The woman said she and her lover called things off a few weeks later, so she never bothered telling her husband the truth because she didn't think it was worth risking her marriage over.
But now, she knows the fate of her relationship with her spouse "rests in the hands of my sister-in-law", as she could decide to tell her brother the truth at any moment.
While she regrets cheating on her husband, the woman still believes her sister-in-law is the "dreadful" one in the whole saga, as she thinks it was wrong to bribe her.
She said: "I know I got what I deserved and I should stop feeling sorry for myself. I definitely deserved to be treated badly as after all, I was cheating and I'm ashamed of myself.
"While I know I've been a bad person, I also believe Emma is a dreadful person to bribe me. What sort of person puts money over her brother knowing the truth?"
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at yourmirror@trinitymirror.com.
