At my wedding, my mother-in-law Vivian insulted my quiet mom by calling her “ugly.” Mom was too shy to respond, so I decided to stand up for her. I came up with a plan to have the wedding photographer edit Vivian’s photos to make her look worse.

When the photos arrived, Vivian was furious and called to demand fixes. Michael was upset with me, saying my revenge went too far. We talked with Mom, who reminded me that responding with kindness is stronger than retaliation.

The next day, we invited Vivian over. I apologized for the photo edits and confronted her about the rude comment toward my mom. After some tension, Vivian admitted she’d been out of line and agreed to apologize and fix the photos.

A week later, we all had dinner together. Though awkward at first, Mom and Vivian started to find common ground. Vivian even privately apologized to me, hoping we could move forward.

Michael squeezed my hand, saying, “Let’s never act like that again.” I smiled, realizing family is messy but worth the effort.