These four couples’ marriages were put to the test by events that were out of their control. Each story shows how complicated love and trust can be, from finding out about cheating to finding out about family secrets.
A wife finds out about her husband’s affair and secret child.
I was mentally drained during my second pregnancy. Even though my husband was there for me, I often wanted to stay home and give in to my urges. Ava, my best friend, told me we should take a pottery class together to get me out of the house.
I reluctantly agreed, thinking it would be a fun break. We joined a group of women who were talking about their lives when we got to class. One woman began to talk about her boyfriend, who left her quickly on July 4th because his sister-in-law was giving birth. The details sounded eerily like they could be about my husband, Malcolm. I knew right away that she was talking about him.
She told me that Malcolm was the father of her child after I nervously showed her a picture of him. As the truth of his deception hit me, my heart sank. I excused myself and left the event in tears because I was so emotional. Malcolm told me he had an affair and was the father of another child when I confronted him. I’m now looking for a divorce lawyer while eating chocolate to ease the pain.
A mother finds out about her husband’s secret life
Diane, my daughter, has always been happy, but lately she’s been acting out and pulling away. I was worried, so I went to a parent-teacher meeting where Diane’s teacher showed me some scary drawings she had made. Diane paused before telling me that she had found out her father’s secret when I asked her about them.
William, my husband, had to move a lot for work and rented a flat for each stay. She took me to his home office and showed me an old box with pictures of William with another woman and their three kids. It broke my heart to find out that my husband had a second family.
I called Mia, the woman in the pictures, because I was ready to face the truth. She was just as shocked as I was. I called a lawyer right away to begin the process of ending my marriage. For Diane, going to therapy and getting alimony were both good things, but meeting her half-siblings was the most healing.
Man Admits to His Part in Killing His Fiancée’s Father
Because I killed Linda’s father, I didn’t believe in fate until I found out that I was guilty. When I was 30, I was deeply in love with Linda, and we were making plans to get married. When I went to Phoenix to see Linda’s mother, I saw an old picture of her with her father, Leonard.
He looked a lot like the man who had died in a car accident when I was a kid, which scared me. I was at fault because I rode my bike into the road, which made his car turn and crash. I told Linda everything because I felt so guilty.
To my surprise, Linda let me off the hook by saying that her dad had saved me for a reason. As we hugged, I felt a deep sense of peace. I knew that our love was meant to be, even though terrible things had happened.
A wife finds out that her mother-in-law’s gifts have a bad side.
Since Andy and I got married five years ago, his mom has given me china dolls every Christmas. I thought they were safe old things and put them away because I thought they were strange.
This year, though, Andy freaked out when he saw the dolls while I was packing up my things for a new outfit. In his society, the dolls were thought to take in bad energy, but once they were full, they could make the air around them sick.
Andy quickly burned the toys in the fireplace to keep them from hurting anyone. I was shocked and asked my mother-in-law what was going on. She told me what the toys were for, which made me feel uneasy.
Andy and I agreed that after that Christmas, we would talk more freely about our family traditions, even if they seemed strange. We became closer and learnt more about each other’s backgrounds through this experience.
