My MIL gave everything to her other daughter and now demands my husband and I fund her retirement. I refused. She screamed, “You ungrateful brats will regret it!” I called her bluff. The next day, my husband was late home. He called me in tears: “You must come to Mom’s house right now. She’s locked herself in the bathroom and won’t come out until we agree to her terms.”

When I arrived, I could hear her sobbing dramatically and wailing about how “unloved” she felt. She had apparently spent the entire day calling my husband at work and crying about being abandoned by her family.

My husband was completely panicked, convinced something terrible would happen if we didn’t give in to her demands. She had manipulated him into believing that our refusal meant we wanted her to end up homeless, even though she owns her house.

What shocked me most was discovering she had been telling neighbors and family members that we were “cruel and heartless” for refusing to support her, painting herself as a victim of our success. Meanwhile, she conveniently left out the part about spending $150,000 on her other daughter’s house down payment and college expenses while we struggled to pay for our own wedding.

The bathroom drama lasted three hours, with her periodically shouting through the door about how she “sacrificed everything” for her children and deserved better treatment. She finally came out when I calmly told her we were leaving and she could call us when she was ready to have a rational conversation.

Since then, she’s been alternating between guilt trips and silent treatment, trying every manipulation tactic in the book to wear us down. My husband feels torn between supporting me and avoiding conflict with his mother, and the stress is affecting our entire marriage.

I love my husband dearly, but I refuse to fund someone else’s retirement when we’re trying to build our own financial future. I need advice on how to handle this situation without destroying our family relationships completely.