Photo: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock
She's heartbroken and doesn't know what to do.
By NyRee Ausler
Last updated on Jan 12, 2024
An upset wife posted on Reddit after learning that her husband of 25 years had been living a double life. In Reddit’s ‘True Off My Chest’ subreddit, the woman shared how she found out that she was living a lie and wrestled with what to do next.
She learned her husband had a second family from Facebook.
"My husband, my rock, has been having an affair for over 17 years. We have been married for over 25 years," she began in her post.
The married couple raised three children together, two of whom were in college while the third was still at home. The stay-at-home mom explained that she is the family's caretaker while her husband, an insurance broker, spends every second week out of state at a different branch of his firm.
"Turns out," she writes, "He’s been with his other family in Albuquerque, where his other branch is. He’s got a fiancé, whom he has 2 kids with, both in their early teens."
The wife revealed that she found out about her husband's second life accidentally when she needed to create a new Facebook page. Searching for her husband’s name during the process, to her surprise, another account appeared displaying a different last name for him.
Photo: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock
When she dug in further, the distraught woman found links to his fiancé’s and their two teens pages along with photos from their life together.
"Among those photos were photos of him kissing the girl, and him being fatherly with kids who look nearly identical to my husband," she wrote.
At the time of writing her post, the woman explained that her husband was at his second home while she struggled with what to do next. She wondered how she could have overlooked the fact that he was lying to her for almost two decades.
"I am absolutely broken. Almost every part of me wants to scream in his face and reprimand him for ruining my life," she explains. "But another part of me wants to pretend to be ignorant and let it be," she admitted, "Because our life is peaceful, he’s good with our kids, he's the main source of financial income, he’s loving, but he’s also all those things to another family."
She worried that her revelation would not only tear apart her own family but also expose this awful information to another unfortunate woman.
Providing an update, the woman added that she has been speaking to an attorney about what to do next.
"I’ve also been in contact with the other woman," she added. "I’ve told her, explained the situation, and she was equally as distraught."
She explained that she confronted her husband, who is now staying in a hotel — but she's at a loss about what to tell her children.
People on Reddit flocked to the woman's defense and praised her strength.
"You've got to clear your head enough to be smart and protect your kids and your own self," one user writes.
"The most important thing is grabbing evidence and getting a divorce lawyer," another added.
"Whilst you might want to turn a blind eye, the fact that he's put a ring on the other woman's finger means you cannot ignore this as he may very well be getting ready to hand you divorce papers to marry this woman."
NyRee Ausler is a writer who covers lifestyle, relationship, and human-interest stories that readers can relate to and that bring social issues to the forefront for discussion.