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Revenge on an ex

(93 Posts)
Sadgrandma Sun 05-Oct-25 10:58:04

Has anyone ever done anything creative to take revenge on an ex (or perhaps dreamed of doing so)?
I have heard of some wonderful ones like the woman who sewed prawns into the curtain rail before she left or the other one who distributed his vintage wine collection on doorsteps in her village!
I certainly dreamed of doing all sorts of things, mainly to his other woman) when my first husband left but was too much of a coward to carry any out.

Susieq62 Mon 06-Oct-25 13:43:21

“Revenge is a dish best served cold”
Got my own back once using this quote as person concerned wasn’t expecting my response!
Other than that my revenge has been to be happy and live a fulfilled life!

Grandmotherto8 Mon 06-Oct-25 13:43:12

I had absolutely no reason to wish for revenge. He was generosity personified, I got the family home, with contents, all our monies, insurance policies etc. His guilt speaking, I didn't care just took it all. After 35 years together I never saw him or spoke to him ever again. I've had a lovely life, both before and after the divorce.

AuntieE Mon 06-Oct-25 13:41:37

Oh dear, to me these actions are demeaning to the person who carries them out, rather than to the person they are done to.

lizzypopbottle Mon 06-Oct-25 13:41:25

If I had an ex, it would be me that had called time on the relationship...

Romola Mon 06-Oct-25 13:39:44

A good friend of mine did feel a sort of revenge when her ex became demented. She remarked that it was down to his second wife to look after him and she was very glad she didn't have to.
Financially, she'd done really well, with a highly paid job plus an inheritance from her mother at the time of the divorce. Emotionally it was terrible, a double whammy, but eventually her wealth was a reason mentally to put two fingers up to the ex.

HeatherMH Mon 06-Oct-25 13:25:12

When my first husband was having an affair, we were still living together and she bought him some expensive aftershave. I emptied it down the toilet and filled the bottle with diluted pine scented toilet cleaner. I never told him but it made me secretly smile every morning when he splashed it on, totally oblivious. We later became friends again once we’d moved in but I never dared admit it to him 😂

OmaWal Mon 06-Oct-25 13:23:45

DiL (hopefully soon to be not!) is a complete narcissist and has done awful things to our son and their children which has broken our hearts and made DH and I ill. However we have kept a dignified silence on all fronts. Despite not being divorced yet she is already engaged to the new man and pregnant....

Sadie5803 Mon 06-Oct-25 13:21:50

100% well said, dont waste your energy on a ex

Wyllow3 Mon 06-Oct-25 13:19:41

Kandinsky

I think totally ignoring ex’s and moving on happily with your life is the best revenge. ( if you’re into revenge of course )

Yes, indeed, providing this doesn't lead you open to more abuse/attacks, in which case unfortunately you need to be protectively proactive.

MadamChairman Mon 06-Oct-25 13:19:13

Doing anything at all means he has control over you, doing nothing means you are free.

Applegran Mon 06-Oct-25 13:14:08

I did not try to get revenge in spite of cruelty and unfaithfulness. I think I felt a lot better and more free by just walking away - though the next few months were very painful. i told my two children not to blame 'the other woman' because the marriage would have ended anyway. They were young adults by then and I knew they would need to have as good a relationship as they could with their father and it was better if they did not carry anger at the woman he then married.

Etoile2701 Mon 06-Oct-25 13:08:46

Not being sanctimonious but this is all sounds pretty mean to me.

vintage1950 Mon 06-Oct-25 11:09:01

I did hear of a woman who sowed mustard and cress on her ex-s living-room carpet....

Magenta8 Mon 06-Oct-25 10:57:31

The two urban myths I have heard about cheating partners were, the one where the partner glues the man's penis to his leg with superglue. There is also the one where the woman leaves the man and before leaving she rings another country on the house phone and leaves it off the hook. In the version I heard it was the time checker in Japan.

There is also the true story about Lorena Bobbitt but that was not related to John Bobbitt's infidelity.

There's the old chestnut about the man who (rather conveniently) drives a cement lorry and he comes home to find a swish new (conveniently) convertible car (conveniently with the hood down) parked outside his house. He assumes the worst and fills the car with cement. Later it turns out that the car was a present that his wife had bought him as a surprise.

PaynesGrey Mon 06-Oct-25 00:26:00

The prawn story (and variants of it) has been going around for years. Fact check.

www.snopes.com/fact-check/sew-shrimp-curtains-revenge/

Sadgrandma Sun 05-Oct-25 23:02:33

Oh dear, this was meant to be a rather light hearted post and I was hoping it would lead to some amusing stories but but some people seem to have taken it too seriously. Sigh.
ExDancer - no I probably wasn’t the perfect wife, can anyone honestly say they were/are? But at the time I was very hurt.
rafichagran
After over 40 years I don’t have any feelings for my ex neither good or bad. As I said in my previous post I have a lovely life.

Doodledog Sun 05-Oct-25 21:54:36

ExDancer

How sad you want revenge. Were you the perfect wife?

That's a bit harsh. As is giving a thrup'enny wotsit about what his friends would think!

People feel what they feel, and circumstances differ. Not everyone can rise above feeling vengeful, particularly as people's breakups involve very different scenarios.

IMO it is better to walk away with head held high, but that doesn't mean I don't understand people wanting their ex's fillings to fall out one at a time and all their camels to be barren for ever more.

Mt61 Sun 05-Oct-25 21:47:16

I would rather crawl under a boulder than let an ex see that I was hurt. I wouldn’t want to be called a psycho b—h to his mates by getting revengeful.

Primrose53 Sun 05-Oct-25 20:59:38

One of my brothers was going out with a very possessive girl for a long time. He then decided she was too needy and he could not do anything he wanted without her permission so they split up for a while.

She heard he was seeing someone else. Turned up at Mum’s house when he was at work. Very polite and pleasant to Mum and asked if she could collect some of her stuff from his room.

She did so, then left, thanking my Mum. It was a few days before he discovered that all his shirts hanging in his wardrobe had been slashed with scissors or a knife so she clearly came prepared.

Stupid idiot married her some years later but the rest of the extended family think she’s a nutter. She doesn’t let him go anywhere without her.

rafichagran Sun 05-Oct-25 20:20:22

I am divorced, both of us have gone on to find partners.
If you want revenge you must still have feelings for the other person, even if it is only hate. I could not waste my energy.

ExDancer Sun 05-Oct-25 19:58:23

How sad you want revenge. Were you the perfect wife?

Iam64 Sun 05-Oct-25 19:56:15

Kandinsky

I think totally ignoring ex’s and moving on happily with your life is the best revenge. ( if you’re into revenge of course )

This, living well is the best revenge

seasider Sun 05-Oct-25 19:51:35

My ex is 15 years older than the OW . I am told he has turned into a grumpy old man so maybe that is a sort of karma/revenge . If ever we are all at a gathering concerning our children or grandchildren she does her best to stop him having a conversation with me . I guess there is no trust there . Years of sun worship on their exotic holidays has also given her a very wrinkled face grin

imaround Sun 05-Oct-25 19:24:29

The best revenge is a life well lived. That doesn't mean I haven't day dreamed of revenge for people who have harmed me, however I would never act on it. Natural consequences though? I am here for that all day long and will celebrate someone getting the karma they deserve.

Astitchintime Sun 05-Oct-25 16:15:29

Not me personally but a work colleague chucked brake fluid over her ex’s car bonnet one evening after she discovered he was bad mouthing her and blaming her for HIS infidelity.