My 28 y/o niece (on my husbands side) was away at college and struggling one day… called me sad, crying, and desperate. Her Mom and Stepdad were in Europe traveling. She was lonely and depressed. I told her she was welcome to come visit for the weekend and she was so happy to do so. I bought her a plane ticket and we picked her up from the airport. She was under pressure from her parents and school and we just lent her a pressure free environment,
drank wine, and listened. We assessed that she was okay and there was no reason for concern.
She didn’t want to tell her mom she was at our house and asked us not to either. We agreed and said it’s her story to tell…. but we also won’t lie if asked. She is also 28 going to college out of state (as are my own kids and I go week(s) at a time without hearing from them).
Her mom didn’t hear from her in a day or two so she went on to call all of her friends to find out where she was…got wind she was at our house and went OFF on us. Scathing barrage of text messages, berating voice messages. Made us to be villains. I didn’t want to deal with it so I ended up ignoring her.
Was I wrong for not calling her mom and secretly telling her mom she was at my house? AITA?