This happened in April 2022. I was on a one-day trip with my new in-laws and fiancee(it has been only 1 month since our engagement ). It was really early in the morning when we headed out, and since all of us were pretty hungry, we decided to stop at a random restaurant for breakfast. While we were seated, waiting for the food, i happened to see my cousin with her boyfriend(that no one in our family had any idea about) sitting far away opposite to us. The moment they saw me and my in-laws, they rushed outside and off they went away on his bike. I was shell-shocked to see her there, that too along with my in-laws(who very well knows my extended family)AND at a place that is very far away from home. [[[For context, In our community, even though it is very common to have bfs without the knowledge of parents, it is a taboo and highly discouraged to have one, let alone travel/stay with them(if someone gets to know about it, then the girl is usually blamed, she won’t get decent marriage proposals, her family would be furious and all those shit)I think most South Asians girls can relate…? Also, for anyone curious, me and my cousin get along very well and sometime ago, she has told me about her bf. ]]]. Upon returning from the trip, i immediately told my mom about this, and how i was embarrassed infront of my in laws when they asked “isn’t that your cousin? Who’s that guy with her?!” They didn’t discuss anymore about this seeing my uneasiness. Fast forward to 2 months since that incident, one fine morning, she sent me a voice message, which basically meant : “hey, i think we need to speak about what happened that morning in <place>😅. Did u actually see us? Lol, ofcourse you guys did! I was actually surprised to see you all there. Did you tell your mom? We are actually concerned if she / your in-laws might bring this up at a time, when he asks for my hand in marriage in future😅. I hope nothing like that happens.” That’s the story of 2022. Fast forward to April 2023, 4 days before my Big Day, she kept on calling me at midnight, disturbing my sleep. She accused me of ruining her and her family’s dignity, and she was really furious that everyone now got to know about that incident, which was a cooked up story by me. 👏🏻Turns out, this “incident” was told by my mom to her mom, out of concern (not out of ruining her child’s life ofcourse, my mom is not evil), and her mom not only denied anything like that happened but even accused US of making up stories on her daughter. Unfortunately this incident came up when her boyfriend and his family came to ask her hand in marriage and she was embarrassed. She told me that she’s really angry that such a disrespectful FAKE STORY has been spread by my mom and me. She also told if at all this incident gets publicised again, she’s gonna prove that she was travelling from hostel to her home that day since she has all the proofs(whatsapp messages sent to her parents at each station, and train tickets).

Ofcourse i felt kind of guilty for telling my mom cuz i didn’t knw she would just casually tell her mom.🥲 But when she accused me of making up a FAKE story about her and she acting as if I AM THE VILLAIN, made me angry.

EDIT 1 : i forgot to fast forward to April 2025. It was HER big day with her boyfriend a few days ago. Happily married after all the chaos.

EDIT 2 : Yes, i had the voice notes she sent me in 2022 to prove that it was NOT at all a cooked up story. But i chose calm. I chose not say a word about it. I had my reasons; it was my wedding in 4 days and i didn’t wanna ruin it due to conflicts between the family members; i felt it would completely destroy the harmony between the brothers(my dad and his elder brother), and i sure as hell wouldn’t want that, and ofcourse, it would destroy the whole relation between us since we would never be the same once i expose her, and worst case scenario, their 10 yr long relationship would have a bitter ending and wouldn’t end up in marriage as they have dreamed, all because of ME, or maybe the families would forgive them, but still i would be labelled as a “relationship destroyer?” or whatever.

TL;DR :

In 2022, I accidentally saw my cousin with her secret boyfriend during a trip with my new in-laws. Shocked and embarrassed, I told my mom, who later casually mentioned it to my aunt. A year later—just days before my wedding—my cousin accused me of fabricating the story and ruining her reputation. Though I had proof (voice notes from her acknowledging it), I chose not to speak up to protect my peace, my wedding, and family harmony. She eventually married the same guy in 2025. I still chose silence—because no matter how wronged I felt, some battles just aren’t worth the damage.