My extremely wealthy father-in-law maintains frugal lifestyle

When I married into the family, many remarked that I had struck it rich. Being the youngest son in his family, my husband is handsome, well-educated, loyal, and not given to gambling. However, the full reality of the family situation only became clear after my wedding.

Of all my in-laws’ daughters-in-law, I am the only one who has given birth to a son. My father-in-law adored me for this but maintained his thrifty ways even with me. On the day I delivered my son, he withheld quality food and insisted I adopt a frugal lifestyle to help preserve the family’s wealth. He even compelled me to sell my car, since I would be home caring for our child for some time. Additionally, he monitored my bank transactions closely and intervened if he deemed my spending excessive.

Despite coming from a distant hometown, I refused to be intimidated. One day, I went to the gate and shouted, which took my father-in-law and my husband by surprise. My resistance caused my husband’s family to fear me, and they stopped criticizing me. I demanded that my husband kneel and apologize, and I slapped him twice, recompensing for the way his family had treated me.

After suffering from an illness, my father-in-law passed away. Freed from his psychological control and restrictions on her spending, my mother-in-law could finally be herself after 40 years of a constrained marriage. While he was alive, she had to be extremely frugal as he was focused on preserving the family empire. Following his death, she purchased a 50-inch TV and other household items he had always denied her, despite their living in a home worth tens of billions of dong (VND1 billion equals US$39,424) and owning additional properties.

She also began buying seafood and other delicacies for the family, which my father-in-law had always considered too lavish. The entire family felt relieved at no longer being under the rule of such a rigid, authoritarian figure. We were also freed from contributing to household expenses, whereas previously my father-in-law had claimed to have bought a house for my husband and me but still required us to pay it off with interest as if it were a loan from a bank.

Being married into a wealthy family has many facets that I only now feel brave enough to share, wouldn’t you agree?