Reddit Stories - BETRAYAL, BREAKUP, and Legal BATTLES_ The Quest for a Child that Tore Us Apart_

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #breakup #legalbattles #childcustody #divorceSummary:A gripping tale of betrayal, breakup, and legal battles over child custody that tore a couple apart. Follow their tumultuous journey through love, loss, and the complexities of family law.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, breakup, legal battles, child custody, divorce, family law, relationship struggles, emotional turmoil, parenting disputes, heartbreak, legal drama, coparenting challenges, custody battle, family court, lovelostBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse sought a child to salvage our relationship while being unfaithful, prompting me to depart and initiate legal proceedings to end the marriage. However, he and his relatives are incessantly contacting me, begging me to come back. My husband, Theo, and I have been together for five years and married for three. Theo and I met in college and we started dating in our final semester and since then, we had been together. We have had a fairly normal relationship with ups and downs like any other couple. Recently, after our third marriage anniversary, he told me that he wanted to start trying for a baby

because he thought that it was the right time to start a family. And he was right, we were both in pretty great places career-wise and were in our mid-20s and have already been together for quite a long time, so it's a pretty good time to have a baby. I agreed and after trying for a couple of months, I finally got pregnant two months ago. I was overjoyed and he seemed happy as well but it wasn't until a week ago that I found out that it was all for show. Until now, the only people who know about the pregnancy are our families and a couple of close friends, but we haven't made any announcement yet. So last week, when I saw a notification on his phone from a co-worker, asking if he was really fine with the pregnancy,

it caught my interest. Because Theo himself had told me that he wanted to keep the pregnancy under wraps for a couple of months, so I didn't know why he had spoken to his co-worker about it. And he was on his phone when he received that message, so I could have just asked him about it, but I had a gut feeling that he wouldn't tell me the truth. So later that night, I decided to go through his phone. I had to snoop because it was just my gut feeling that told me that I confronted him about it, I was never going to get a straight answer and he might even delete all the messages. So I never would have been able to find out either. And I'm so glad that I decided to go through his phone secretly instead of just confronting him because of the things that

I found in that conversation with his co-worker, I'm pretty sure he never would have confessed to it himself if I didn't already know the truth. I had to scroll up quite a lot to find out the context, but here's the deal. Theo had been talking to one of his co-workers about a new employee who had joined recently, and they had become quite close friends since he had been training her. Let's call this woman Natasha and Natasha happens to be quite attractive since I met her at a party and I did not suspect anything off because my husband's behavior with her had been quite cordial at the party.

They seemed to be good friends and nothing more, so I had no reason to doubt him. But after reading the texts he had sent his friend from work, realized that he was just putting on a front so that I wouldn't suspect anything but in reality, he was quite attracted to her and he had talked about it to his friend in detail. It was quite gross because he had said things

like he couldn't stop thinking about her, even when he was with me, and even though they hadn't exactly done anything yet, He had confessed that he wouldn't be against the idea if she tried to make a move on him. And if you think that that's the worst thing that he could have said, it actually gets even worse. He had also spoken about how he had started to find me very irritating and I had been getting on his nerves recently. In comparison, the time that he spent with Natasha seemed to be a lot more pleasant for him,

so much so that he would end up finding himself waiting to go back to work every time that he would come back home to me, and he didn't feel like speaking to me at all, but he had to because I was pregnant and he didn't want me to suspect anything. He had said that he hated even having to sleep in the same bed with me, but he had no other option. His coworker has been trying to reason with him and had called him out on his strange behavior because it was really wrong of him to be leading me on like this, especially when he knew that he had started to lose feelings for me. The worst part was that Natasha had joined their workplace about eight months ago and I knew that because he had told me about how he had to help train a new employee and how annoying it was for him around that time. And if I'm not

we celebrated our wedding anniversary two months after Natasha joined. So by the time that he had suggested the idea of starting a family, Natasha had already become a part of his life and they had been friends at the time. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he would suggest starting a family with me if he had started to lose feelings. He could have still changed his mind a few months after our anniversary, but he continued to actively try having a baby with me, and all the while, he was falling out of love with me. It was a betrower. It was a betrower. of the highest degree and I just couldn't figure out why he would do something like this to me. That night, I spent half of the night reading the messages and scrolling up as much as I could,

and after I had read everything, I just kept his phone beside him and tried to go to sleep on the couch because I couldn't stand to lie beside him. But I couldn't bring myself to go to sleep, no matter how hard I tried, and when he woke up in the morning, he was quite shocked to see me on the couch. I was honestly in a daze, but when he came to me and hugged me in the morning, I was so disgusted that I ended up pushing him away and I immediately told him that he didn't have to act like he was in love with me anymore because I knew about Natasha. I had read all the messages that he had been sending to his co-worker and now. I was going to leave him. When I pushed him away, he seemed surprised, but my worst fears were confirmed when he did not even try to deny any of it. He just kept looking at the floor after my outburst, and that was even more frustrating for me because the least he could do was at least give me some answers. I had spent the entire night thinking about what I would say to him, but honestly, when I had the opportunity, I couldn't do anything, but just cry on the couch beside him. Because unlike him, I was still in love with him and I wanted to make things work, but it was clear to me that it wouldn't be possible

because I didn't think that he wanted to make it work. After crying for a good couple of minutes, I just asked him why he had decided to have a baby with me, especially when he knew that he was falling out of love with me. Because I knew for a fact that by the time he had suggested starting a family, he had already started developing feelings for Natasha. And finally, that got him to talk, and he told me that he had suggested having a baby with me because he thought that this was just a phase and it would become easier for him to feel reconnected to me again once we had something to bond over, like a baby. So basically, he had thought that having a baby was going to solve everything. But unfortunately, it hadn't solved anything. He had still continued to fall out of love

with me and he was falling for Natasha instead. I don't know if it was or if he was infatuated with her because he was bored with our marriage, but all I knew was that he did not love me anymore. And because of him, I was not pregnant with the baby of a man who did not even love me and it was just heartbreaking. After he told me that, he started to apologize to me, but I didn't even want to hear it. At that point, all I wanted to do was get away from him, so I packed a few of my things and left. He kept apologizing but did not try to stop me, so I ended up going to my parents' place, and once I was there, I finally just had a complete meltdown. I told them everything about what I had found on his phone, what he had said, and I told them that I did not want to go back

to him. My dad was furious, but he kept his temper under control and he told me that I was going to be living with them now and whatever I needed to be brought back from my place, he would get it for me, but I didn't have to go back to see him again. My mother called up my uncle who has a law firm and asked him to put me in touch with a competent divorce attorney as quickly as he could so we could start the legal proceedings because there was no going back after this. I had the good sense to take a couple of screenshots of the conversation between him and his co-worker and just for good measure, I had even taken a couple of screenshots of his conversation with Natasha. Although I have to admit, his conversation with his coworker was a lot more

incriminating than his chats with Natasha because even though he would flirt with her occasionally, and she would flirt back. They never took it too far and mostly talked about work, but there's no telling what they got up to in person. Either way, I was not mad about whatever had or had not happened with Natasha. I was upset because he had actually said that he wouldn't be against the idea of cheating on me if Natasha wanted to make a move on him and I didn't even care if it was a hypothetical situation. It was bad enough that he was even considering it. For me, that was as good is actually cheating on me and let's not forget the fact that he had also talked a bunch of crap about me, like how he had started to find me annoying and how he had been pretending to be in love

with me, and suggested that we have a baby because he thought that would be the solution to all our problems. Basically, everything that he had done was unforgivable, and I had no intention of going back to him. But neither did I have any intention of giving up the baby or terminating my pregnancy, just because the dad had turned out to be a jerk. I was ready to be a mother, with or without a So along with the divorce, I also decided that I was going to file for full custody of my child, at least until my baby was old enough to be left alone with his father. Worse comes to worse, I would agree to visiting rights, but there was no way that I was going to let him have partial custody. And these are the terms that I told my divorce lawyer so he could

start the process, prepare the paperwork, and file for the divorce and custody of my child. If you asked me, I thought I had been more than fair because it's not like I had asked him. for any alimony since I was also a working woman, and I made the same kind of money that he did. Neither did I ask for any settlement money, I just wanted a fair and equal division of all our joint assets. The only thing that I was demanding was child support because whether he liked it or not, it had been his idea to have a baby. Even though he had already fallen out of love with me at that point and it was just a last-ditch attempt by him to find a point of commonality so we could still be together because he was too much of a coward, to be honest with me and himself.

He definitely owed me child support, and in my opinion, the terms of the divorce were completely fair. I had blocked him the day that I left home and within a couple of days of that, he had been served. That had been around two days ago, and since then, his family has been blowing up my phone with calls and texts, begging me to come back. I guess by now, both his parents and his siblings have found out what he had been up to. Strangely enough, he told them what had really happened and even more strangely, they think that it's still reasonable enough to ask me to come back to him. I haven't answered a single phone call from his family, but they still keep texting

me relentlessly from several social media accounts, since I started blocking them. They believe that he and I can still make it work because even though he had been thinking about somebody else, it's not like he had actually done anything. and until he actually physically acts on his thoughts, it's no harm done. I don't think they understand the concept of emotional cheating, but it's not my responsibility to explain it to them, so I haven't said anything about it. I know, for a fact that no matter how hard they try to convince me,

it's not going to work and I'm definitely not going back to him. But the only reason that I'm here right now, doubting myself, is because they think that, even if I don't come back to him, it's still unfair of me to demand full custody of the child because he wants to be a father as well and the child is not mine to claim, the baby has his genes as well. So even if I don't come back for the sake of our marriage, the least I can do is at least entertain the idea of partial custody because he deserves it. And right now, I'm in a dilemma about whether I should actually consider it or not, or whether I should stick to my demand for full custody. So I'd have for demanding

full custody of my future kid because my husband had been emotionally cheating on me with a coworker? Update 1, hi. So I have spoken to my parents about what my in-laws have been saying and they have told me that it's my body, my baby, and at the end of the day, it has to be my decision what I want to do. Besides, it's Theo, who's screwed up, not me, so if somebody has to make any sacrifices, it has to be him. If they want to contest my decision for full custody, they are definitely free to do so. I'm not going to stop them or try to argue with them, but it has to be fought out in court. And I'm not going to allow them to make me feel guilty about what my gut says. I believe that it would be better for the baby to spend the initial few years only with me and

I don't think that at the moment, I will be fine with co-parenting my child with Theo. I absolutely hate him right now and I can't even stand the sight of him. So co-parenting is out of the question and that's why I've decided that I want full custody. But of course, we are going to have to speak to a mediator first, and if we are not able to come to a conclusion there, this is going to go to family court. I think that's the only fair way of deciding what's right. I think they should let the legal proceedings take their course and then, we'll see what happens. That's what I texted them, so they would stop bothering me relentlessly. Because honestly, his parents and his siblings, his two older sisters, have no business

telling me what's right for my baby and what's not. I had a normal civil relationship with his family for so long, but if they are going to pretend I am the bad guy for wanting to leave him, I don't want anything to do with them. And I definitely don't need advice about marriage or kids from them because they decided to support Theo. They have been trying to convince me that what he ordered was not all that bad because at least he did not actually cheat on me. Like I said, it's not my responsibility to explain to them that emotional cheating is still cheating and honestly, I'm just too exhausted from having to deal with all of this to speak to them about these things as well. I just want them all to leave me alone, if I'm being honest,

and the only reason that I responded to them with my message. I also told them that the way they have been harassing me online by texting me constantly from various accounts, even after they have been blocked, only reflects badly on them when this goes to family court because I'm definitely going to be bringing it up. I don't know if it's going to stop them from texting me again and again because it's only been a couple of hours since I sent that message, but I'm really hoping that it does because it's already very difficult for me to cope with what's going on, especially since I'm pregnant. I definitely don't need more trouble on my plate from his end right now.

Neither he nor his lawyer has responded to our petition yet, so I guess it's going to take time. If they just had to agree with whatever our terms were, they probably would have responded sooner, but now I'm guessing that they don't agree. I've been very stressed out about all of this, but I'm really happy to have my family by my side. So far, only a couple of people knew about the pregnancy and I'm going to keep it that way because the last thing that I need right now is a bunch of people texting me and trying to talk to me. Only my parents and my close friends know what's going on in my life regarding Theo and they have all been there for me to the best of their abilities.

It has been a little over a week since I left home and a couple of days ago. I told my dad that I wanted to go back to bring everything that I had left. and wasn't able to pack before I left. But true to his words, he told me that I didn't need to go back and see Theo, he was going to get it all done for me. So he and a couple of my friends went over to Theo's place this weekend since we knew that he was going to be home. They managed to get all the stuff back to me without any trouble,

and my friends told me that Theo steered clear of them the entire time they were there, as if he was scared of what they were going to say or how they were going to behave with him. Lucky for him, my dad and my friends did not even acknowledge his existence while they were there. They were only there to collect my things, and once that was done, they left. I asked my friends if he had been acting any differently because it was really curious to know how this was affecting him and they told me that he had only been around them for a couple of minutes and he just seemed apparently. It was very clear from the way he had completely given up on his appearance that he was not doing great right now. He had bags under his eyes and he hadn't shaved for

quite a couple of days. Having been with him for almost five years, I know that he takes great care of his appearance, so I know that he is not doing well. And I don't know how to feel about it, but I'm trying not to think about it at all because it's only going to hurt me. Whatever has happened cannot be undone, and I have to look out for the future now. Update two, so Theo and his lawyer finally responded to her petition and surprisingly, they are not only contesting my demand for full custody of our child, but they are also contesting the divorce itself as well. I will be honest, I definitely expected him to contest the custody, but I really didn't think there was any reason for him to contest the divorce. After all, I thought that that's what both

of us wanted. He had started to fall out of love with me and had even claimed that if Natasha tried to start something with him, he would be open to it. Obviously that meant that he was no longer interested in being with me anymore, and after being betrayed like this, I was not feeling very inclined to continue our marriage either. So if neither of us wanted to be with each other, that obviously meant that the only way out was getting a divorce. I thought it was a relatively straightforward solution, but I don't think that's what he wants. I know that he's not doing this because he's still in love with me, he's definitely doing this because he wants it to be easier to get custody of his child. It was probably his families because if he had still been in

love with me, he would have at least tried to contact me or to apologize. I'm not saying that I would have accepted or I would have gone back to him, but that's literally the least that he could have done. And honestly, contesting the divorce is just going to be a waste of both our time because I don't think there is any court in the world that is going to be able to force me to stay with him, and I don't think that's how it works either. All it is going to achieve is just making the process of getting a divorce longer and more expensive, and I don't know what he's hoping to gain from that, but I can assure everyone that it's not. going to work. I've already spoken to my lawyer, and he thinks that the most that he can get out of

this is a couple of mediation sessions and maybe couples counseling at most, but if I stand my ground and make it clear that I don't want to go back to him, then we will have to be granted the divorce. And to top it off, I also have proof of him wanting to cheat on me, so I don't know what he's been thinking. Anyway, they had taken me by surprise, but I'm prepared to fight now, both for getting the divorce that I want and also for full custody of my child. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out in my favor and I don't care how long it takes, but I'm definitely going to try my best to make sure that it does. Update 3, so it's been almost one month since I left home and we have already started our mediation sessions. We have a court-appointed mediator

and we are going to first try to sort things out here and in case it doesn't work out, which I'm trying to ensure it doesn't, we are going to head to family court. In my honest opinion, I think that's the only way to deal with this because mediation is just a waste of time. Mediation is for people who think they have a shot at coming to a common ground and avoiding court, but I really don't think that is going to work out for me and Theo. It's very obvious that we want very different things, like he wants to cheat on me and I want a happy and healthy marriage. See, it just doesn't work out because we are so different.

Anyway, things have been hard because I've had to see him in person a couple of times now and it's difficult for me because the pregnancy has been messing up my hormones, and every time that I see him or think about him, I just feel like breaking down. So it's been very difficult for me to hold myself together, especially when I have to sit through the mediation sessions and stare at his stupid face. I've tried my best to keep my cool because that's what my lawyer has advised me and that's what I've been sticking to. He would try to avoid even looking at me during the first couple of sessions

and that suited me just fine but recently, he had started trying to at least talk to me. but then we had to terminate those sessions early because I didn't want him to address immediately and I only wanted him to speak to me through my lawyer. The last time that we had a mediation session, a couple of days ago, he kept quiet throughout the session, and yet another day was wasted, but while I was leaving, he stopped me in my tracks and told me that he wanted to speak to me in person. I tried to dodge him and leave, but he just kept standing in my way and told me that he just wanted to apologize for everything and that he really didn't want things to end this way. It was just exasperating, so I told him that if he

really was apologetic for everything, then he could show me that he was sorry by accepting my terms of the divorce and the custody arrangement and leaving me alone. That's the only way that I would accept his apology and if he wasn't ready to do that, then he should at least just let this go to court instead of wasting my time and money. Then, I pushed him aside and I went back to my car and I made sure to mention what just happened to my lawyer as well. A few days have passed. A few days have since then and today, my lawyer told me that he had received an email from Theo, saying that he was ready to accept the terms of the divorce, but he wanted partial custody of our child when our baby was born. So now, I'm going to have to think about what I want and decide if that's a deal

worth my time or not. But I'm glad that at least he has put this option on the table because I'm sick of fighting. I just want to be done with this. So who knows, maybe this is a good thing. Update 4. Hi, it's been a few weeks since I last posted and I've been quite busy since I've gotten along and there were a few complications regarding the pregnancy but they're all sorted out now. Anyway, my lawyer and I decided that we were going to agree to his terms. He gets partial custody and we go through with the divorce. So that's why we have decided and we have communicated to his lawyer as well. So all that's left is for the divorce to be finalized and all the paperwork to be done. Then, we stick to the arrangement that we have decided. It's a fair enough deal and honestly,

I just wanted everything to be over. He reached out to me shortly after my lawyer contacted him and told him that I was willing to agree to his terms and send me an email, thanking me for everything. Once again, he apologized for putting me through all of this, but that doesn't really mean anything to me anymore. I'm just glad that I can move on with my life now and I don't have to have anything to do with him anymore. It's going to hurt, but I'm strong enough, I can deal with it. And I have my parents and my friends by my side, so I'll be fine. Update 5, hi. So it's been a little over six months since I last posted an update here and it's about time that I fill you guys in on what's been going on. Last week, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, and my life has suddenly

become all about her now and I couldn't be happier about it. Theo really stepped up as a father and tried to be there for me as much as he could, and since we were going to have to stick to a co-parenting agreement, we tried to be civil to each other. We don't talk about anything apart from our daughter and that's fine with me. I have started my healing process and I'm trying to move on from him. I think I'm almost there, to be honest, because nowadays, when I see him, I don't really feel anything. From what I know, he has started dating Natasha, probably after the divorce was finalized, good for him, I guess. Right now, dating a lot of him. Right now, dating a little bit of him. is off the table for me, I just want to be a good mother to my daughter and I'm completely devoted

to that one job. Theo and I are still trying to figure out a way to make sure that both of us get equal time with her but until then, is going to have to keep visiting me at my parents' place if he wants to see his daughter. My parents have been kind enough to open up their home to him and his family because all of them want to see her and we are all trying to keep it civil, for her sake. Hopefully, someday in the future, things will be okay but for now, this is good enough for me. Thank you.