Relationships of any kind are a tricky thing. Basically, it’s an act of people who are different on some levels trying to co-exist with each other in their lives. What makes it even more difficult is that there are other people in these lives, too. Sometimes, one party in a relationship feels threatened by some of these other people to the point that it not only causes strain to their relationship but also to the one they’re jealous of.
And that’s today’s story — a woman developing a dislike towards her fiance’s friend and ruining their friendship, as in the end, that friend refused to show up to the couple’s wedding.
More info: Reddit
Sadly, in life, not all years-long friendships last, and sometimes, it’s not actually due to the people in those friendships but more due to the people around them
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
A woman who always got along with her friend’s girlfriend suddenly noticed that his girlfriend became very cold toward her after getting engaged
She learned it was because her friend’s fiancee thought that she was in love with her friend and wanted to steal him
Image credits: PhotoMIX Company (not the actual photo)
Since this wasn’t true, the woman tried to deny it and make-up with the woman her friend was about to marry, but she was uninvited from the wedding by the bride
Image credits: Ezgi Bircan (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/Grand_Sell1199
The groom still wanted her at the wedding, but after being mistreated by the bride, she decided not to go
One of the OP’s good friends, Matthew, whom she has known since high school, will be getting married to a woman he is madly in love with named Jennifer.
Up until the couple’s engagement, the post’s author got along with Matthew’s future wife, but after it, her demeanor towards the OP drastically changed. Soon, Jennifer let it slip that, in her opinion, the author is in love with Matthew, which shocked the woman, as it wasn’t true. In fact, she even had a boyfriend, who was very much not Matthew.
Later, she was made to apologize. Additionally, to patch things up between the women, Matthew’s sister invited both of them to come and help her pick her dress for the wedding. During the dress shopping, the original poster found a dress that fit her perfectly and matched her boyfriend’s bow tie.
This infuriated Jennifer, so she proceeded to call the OP slurs, uninvite her from the wedding, and get them thrown out of the store. After such a rude experience with the bride, the author decides not to go to the wedding, just as Jennifer wants.
Yet, Matthew really wanted his friend at his special occasion, so he begged her in many ways to come, but the woman didn’t plan to give in. After all, the bride made it very clear that she didn’t want her there.
The majority of people online agreed with her decision. In their eyes, Jennifer’s behavior is very two-faced. She acts one way in front of the OP and then tells a different story to her fiance. Some suspected that the post’s author might not have the full information about what made the friend’s fiancee switch up her behavior so drastically, and they thought that someone must have told her something. Typically, random assumptions about someone being in love with a person don’t come out of thin air.
Maybe jealousy from Jennifer plays a part here, don’t you think? Especially, just as netizens suggested, if someone told her something suspicious, she might feel insecure about her love’s friend. Granted, being jealous is a completely normal human emotion. But some of its expressions might not be as normal, especially those that hurt others. And, well, in today’s story, people are definitely getting hurt, and a friendship is crumbling right in front of our eyes.
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
When a person feels jealous, the best thing to do is “talk to yourself.” Basically, you need to reflect on what is causing this intense feeling, as without getting to the roots of it, it might be difficult to work it out.
Then, if the jealousy is related to, for example, a partner’s friend, just like in today’s story, a conversation with said partner is the next step. Yes, the same old tale of “communication is key.” It wouldn’t be a tale if it didn’t work, would it? Also, relationships are basically a form of communication, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that resolving issues in them revolves around it, too.
Yet, even communication wouldn’t work if people weren’t honest, which seems to be the case for Matthew and Jennifer. The OP said Jennifer blames her behavior on stress, and Matthew is in denial about his fiancee’s improper actions. Just as it’s advised with jealousy, coping with denial comes with accepting your feelings, and it appears that Matthew hasn’t done that yet.
And while we can’t be absolutely sure that Jennifer’s actions come from jealousy, we can’t write it off either. She surely isn’t acting rationally towards the OP. And since nobody can tell what the future holds, we can hope that they will be able to solve this relationship riddle someday.
Like some people in the woman’s life, the netizens also thought that this was a good choice, as it looked like the bride had unresolved issues, which caused her to act out toward the woman
