A 27-year-old woman shared her growing concerns about her husband’s new female coworker. After his recent promotion, he began interacting with a 24-year-old colleague who immediately rubbed his wife the wrong way. Whenever the wife visited the office, the coworker called him her “work husband,” gave him tight hugs, and even made him food — behavior the wife found completely inappropriate.

One morning, she woke up at 6 a.m. to prepare her husband’s favorite lunch. But when he came home, he handed it back, saying the coworker had already cooked for him and he didn’t want to be rude by refusing her meal. The wife was furious and hurt, feeling disrespected and unappreciated.

The next day, she refused to make his lunch, telling him it would just go to waste. He accused her of being petty, brushing off her feelings instead of discussing her concerns. Since then, she stopped preparing lunch altogether, feeling increasingly frustrated by his lack of boundaries at work.

Online commenters supported her, calling the husband’s behavior disrespectful and warning that this coworker-relationship is crossing emotional boundaries. Many pointed out that protecting a coworker’s feelings over his own wife’s was a major red flag — and urged her to set firm boundaries and have a serious conversation about respect and loyalty in marriage.