For most of this season of Happily Ever After?, the conflict between Trish and her daughter-in-law has dragged on.

This culminated in Mike Youngquist ditching Natalie Mordovtseva while filming confessionals for the latest episode.

Natalie has insisted that Trish called her a derogatory term for a sex worker, and Mike and viewers (at best) struggled to believe her.

Could this be true? A stunning new claim insists that it really happened ... and 90 Day Fiance deliberately kept viewers in the dark.

Mike Youngquist and Natalie Mordovtseva traveled from Washington to visit his mother, Trish, in Oklahoma.

There, they celebrated his birthday and then Thanksgiving.

It was Natalie's first-ever Thanksgiving ... and it was not exactly a great experience.

In addition to the necessarily small gathering amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Thanksgiving was tense and uncomfortable.

Trish, Mike's mother, had badgered Natalie about finding a different job than she wanted.

Natalie, who was still awaiting her work visa and couldn't work yet anyway, was obviously offended by the pressure.

Trish had also joked to Mike about catching wild venomous snakes and serving them to Natalie since she does not eat turkey.

Natalie describes herself as "vegetarian" but eats fish, making her more of a pescatarian.

Water Moccasins may be known for their fondness for rivers and streams, but they are not fish or something appropriate to serve at Thanksgiving.

To top it all off, however, Mike came into the kitchen in one scene, after Thanksgiving.

Natalie told him, on camera, that his mother had called her a "hooker."

This derogatory term for sex workers is used almost exclusively as an insult except on some occassions when sex workers themselves use it.

Mike was quick to dismiss, at first lightly and then angrily, that his mother called Natalie that.

Some have called this "gaslighting" but that's only the case if Mike knows that Trish called her that and is trying to make her doubt her own memories.

Instead, it has sounded like Mike did not believe her, and thought that she must have misheard.

Natalie does not have a great track record in this department.

For example, she previously insisted that Mike must have cheated with a friend of his.

Her reasons shared for this suspicion have never made sense and she may be the only person who believes that this happened.

Trish has directly denied that she ever called Natalie this.

Leading up to this past episode's explosive meltdown after which Mike stormed out of the building, Natalie called her MIL.

There, Trish categorically denied calling Natalie a "hooker" ... but did confirm that she dislikes Natalie.

Natalie never -- on screen, at least -- provided any context for what Trish allegedly called her.

She described Trish saying the word.

Many fans even suggested that perhaps she referred to a kitchen implement, like a rice cooker or slow cooker, and Natalie misheard.

90 Day Fiance has been known to play games with the truth and produce some fake on-screen moments that make stars look worse.

We don't mean "scripting" the scene, but simply not airing any context for Natalie's claim.

For months, we here at THG have noted that there may be footage around this incident that we have not seen.

Now, a screenshot of alleged DMs has been circulating around social media.

In it, it is claimed that Trish really said something like that to Natalie -- in a context where the insult makes sense, up to a point.

It is also claimed that production has footage of this to some degree, and are simply saving it for the Tell All.

Apparently, Natalie described some of her past work -- a common topic for her and Trish during that visit.

In describing her club work, she was tasked with walking customers to their tables and conversing with them to keep them entertained.

This is basically a glorified hostess job given to women, who are tipped for the service that they provide.

Also according to those alleged DMs, there's a recording of that actual conversation that won't air until the Tell All.

(Even the unconfirmed, unidentified source of the DM seems unsure of that part)

It may be that production is saving that footage for the finale to make Natalie look "crazy" on screen, and then to make Mike look like a fool for not believing her.

The ethics of reality television are ... frightening to non-existent, and it's an industry that needs legislation to keep it in check.

In the mean time, we have to emphasize that this extremely believable scenario has not been confirmed. Anyone can manufacture a "DMs" screenshot.

If this is true, Mike is going to owe Natalie an apology ... even though it's for the best that their marriage is over.