RHONJ : Melissa Attends Teresa's 'Love Bubble' Party Solo — Then Flees in Tears After 'Chosen Family' Jab
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Melissa Gorga is caught between a rock and a hard place — otherwise known as the never-ending drama between her husband, Joe Gorga, and her sister-in-law, Teresa Giudice.
On Tuesday night's episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Melissa, 43, headed to Teresa's "Love Bubble" celebration alone after Joe broke the news he would no longer be tagging along.
"Listen, I really can't go tonight. I'm really not ready to come. Honestly, I just don't wanna come," Joe, 43, told his wife over FaceTime while she was getting ready for the party.
Until that moment, Joe's attendance was uncertain; he had told Teresa, 50, earlier in the episode he wasn't sure if he was going to go or not after Teresa called him at Luis "Louie" Ruelas' behest.
RELATED: Melissa Gorga Says She and Husband Joe Gorga Will Leave RHONJ 'When the Time Is Right'
"You want to make peace?" Teresa asked Joe over the phone after Louie, who wanted the siblings to make up, jotted the question down in a notebook and slid it over for her to see.
"Yeah peace. Done. Finito," Joe said.
"OK, I'm glad to hear that," a surprised Teresa admitted. She then asked Joe if he'd be coming to her housewarming party (A.K.A., the "Love Bubble" party that she was throwing with Louie).
"I don't know," Joe answered.
Jim Spellman/Getty; John Lamparski/Getty Teresa Giudice and Joe Gorga
Before hanging up the phone, both siblings said "I love you," which stunned Teresa.
"I can't believe he said 'I love you'," she told Louie, who added that he was proud of her for calling Joe and doing something "scary."
But, when the time to attend the Love Bubble party actually arrived, Joe ultimately backed out.
"I feel like she really doesn't want me there, I feel like it's just a game and I don't wanna feel uncomfortable," he said in a confessional. "It's the worse feeling to walk into your own family's home and you feel uncomfortable. It sucks, man. I'm tired of that. I can't fake it."
He continued to Melissa: "I just gotta get over the fact of we're never gonna have what I thought we're gonna have. My sister does what makes her happy. She didn't put you in the wedding, she sat us at another table. That's what makes her happy, she keeps family away from her. We're gonna be fine. I'm just gonna chill at home, do my thing and you go and have a good time."
Although Joe's absence didn't stop Melissa from going, she remained bothered by his decision.
"I'm kind of frustrated that Joe isn't coming because this is just gonna be the next thing that Teresa decides to hold over his head," Melissa explained in a confessional. "[Teresa will] make him look like the bad guy for not coming."
"I do want to keep peace within the family so at least there's someone there showing [that] we do wish you guys happiness," she added.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Melissa and Joe Gorga
Meanwhile, Teresa also appeared to be upset by Joe's decision, telling her daughters and Louie before the party's start, "He's missing milestones in our life... I would've loved for him to be here."
In a confessional of her own, she added: "It's been no after no after no. You can show up for an hour and show your face. You are my brother."
When it was finally party time, Melissa took hit after hit, first enduring an awkward conversation with Teresa's daughters — "I truly love the girls, deep down inside, and I know that they have hate for us. It's terrible," she admitted in a confessional — and then having to listen to Teresa give a toast to her "chosen family" while knowing Joe was not in attendance.
After Teresa's jab, intended or not, an emotional Melissa excused herself to the bathroom.
"At certain times, I try to be stronger for Joe, but I have my own breaking points," she confessed in a confessional. "I just don't get it. These subtle digs. Like, her 'chosen family' now? What about all the people that have been here for so many years when she was away? Driving the girls to dance, I was the one pulling up to her house, it all means nothing. And I just know Joe is home very upset."
While Melissa was in the bathroom trying to pull herself together, the other housewives wasted no time in breaking out their own arguments.
Housewives friend Jackie Goldschneider and Danielle Cabral faced off simply because they just don't like each other based on one previous interaction they had at Dolores' house.
Jennifer Aydin and Margaret Josephs also feuded, rehashing their drama after Margaret found out Jennifer called friend Jennifer Fessler to badmouth her.
Rodolfo Martinez/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty (2) Margaret Josephs and Jennifer Aydin
Then, at the mention of Jennifer Aydin's penchant for talking about people behind their backs, Rachel Fuda jumped into the fight, too, revealing that Jennifer Aydin had called her to "talk s--t" about Dolores after the mozzarella party.
A defensive Jennifer Aydin quickly hurled an insult at Rachel about her "terrible nose job."
"I could give two s---s about anything that actually comes out of Jennifer Aydin's mouth," Rachel said in a confessional.
Before things had the chance to get worse, Rachel said goodbye to Teresa, grabbed her husband, John, and exited the party.
"You have to give somebody the power over you, and Jennifer Aydin certainly will never have that over me, honey," Rachel concluded.
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The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
