Reddit Stories - Betrayed the scandalous affair between my wife and best friend entwined with secrets of power and deception

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #scandal #affair #secrets #deceptionSummary: A scandalous affair between my wife and best friend, entwined with secrets of power and deception, has left me feeling betrayed and shattered. The web of lies and deceit has torn apart relationships and revealed the ugly truth hidden beneath the surface.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, scandal, affair, secrets, deception, relationships, lies, deceit, truth, hidden, ugly, shattered, web, power, entwinedBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse was engaged in a romantic relationship with my closest companion as they scheme to acquire ownership of his spouse's business. We discovered their deceitful intentions and thwarted their scheme. However, I have a suspicion that I may be implicated in some way. Falling in love with his ex-wife. I, 35M, never imagined I'd be sharing this story, but here goes. My best friend Tom and I grew up together in this small town where everyone knows everyone. We met in middle school when my family moved here.

I was the new kid struggling to fit in, and he was this outgoing guy who just walked up to me during lunch and shared his cookies. That's how simple friendships are when you're 12. We did everything together after that. Baseball team, video games, fishing trips with his dad since mine wasn't around much. When my parents split up during high school, his family practically adopted me. I spent more time at his house than mine, especially when mom started drinking and abused me, but that's a story for another day. His parents never complained about having an extra mouth to feed.

They just set an extra plate at dinner like it was the most normal thing. I met Sarah, 34F, in college. She worked at this coffee shop near campus where Tom and I would. study. Tom actually talked to her first. They'd chat whenever we came in, and I remember thinking they might end up dating. But one morning, I went for coffee alone because Tom had overslept, and Sarah and I really clicked. We talked for hours after her shift ended. When I told Tom I wanted to ask her out, he seemed totally fine with it. Said he was happy for us. He was my best man when we got married five years ago, helped us find our first house, even spent weekends

helping me fix it up. Looking back, maybe I should have noticed something wasn't right, but when you trust someone completely, you don't look for signs. Three years ago, Tom started his construction business. His wife Rachel, 33F, helped him get it off the ground. She's crazy smart, has an MBA and runs all the business stuff while Tom handles the actual construction. The business took off pretty quick. They seemed perfect together, which makes what happened even worse. Sarah and I were doing good too. I work in software development, and she manages several coffee shops now. We had our routines, Sunday brunches with Tom and Rachel, game nights with friends, regular date nights. Tom and Rachel lived about 20 minutes away, but we saw

them all the time. Our friend group used to joke about how we were that annoying pair of couples who did everything together. Everything changed about eight months ago. It started with little things I probably wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't added up. Sarah got weird about her phone, always keeping it face down, taking it with her everywhere, even to the bathroom. She changed her password too, said she had to because of work security updates or something. Then she started going on these work trips. Nothing super long, just two or three days here and there. She'd always had to travel sometimes for work, checking on the other coffee shops she managed, but it seemed like it was happening more often. I didn't think much of it at first,

she'd been talking about expanding the business, so more travel made sense. The real red flag was when she bought this new perfume. Sarah's worn the same perfume since college. It's like her signature scent. But suddenly she had this new one she'd wear sometimes. Not all the time, just certain days. Again, didn't think much of it until I noticed it was always on days she said she had late meetings. I started paying more attention after that.

Notice she was dressing differently on certain days too. Nothing crazy, just a little nicer than usual. And she started going to this gym across town instead of the one near our house that she'd used for years. Said they had better classes. Tom was acting weird too. He'd always been a good friend, but suddenly he was around all the time. Offering to help with house repairs, stopping by to watch games, texting Sarah about recipes because apparently he'd gotten into cooking. It should have been obvious, but I trusted them both completely. The truth came out in the stupidest way possible.

I was supposed to work late one Tuesday, told Sarah I wouldn't be home until nine or later. Ended up finishing early and decided to surprise her with dinner. I noticed Tom's truck parked a block from our house when I drove up. Thought maybe he was checking on something house-related since he'd been helping us with some renovations. I walked in quietly, planning to surprise them both if they were working on house stuff. Instead, I heard them talking in the kitchen. Sarah was saying something about being tired of sneaking around. Tom was telling her to wait, saying something about Rachel signing over more company shares soon.

Said once that was done, they could figure everything out. I just stood there in the hallway like an idiot, trying to process what I was hearing. My wife and my best friend were having an affair. Not just a one-time thing, but an ongoing relationship with actual plans for the future. They were literally plotting in my kitchen while I was supposed to be at work. I had my phone in my hand and everything, but I was so shocked I didn't even think to record anything. That would have made everything so much easier, but when you're hearing your whole life fall apart, you don't exactly think straight. I didn't confront them.

Just quietly left and drove around for a while. Came back after Tom left and pretended everything was normal. Sarah had ordered pizza, asked about my day like she hadn't just been planning a future with my best friend in our kitchen. The next few weeks were hell. I had to act normal while gathering evidence and figuring out what to do. We still had our regular dinners with Tom and Rachel. I had to sit there watching Tom act like my friend while knowing he was sleeping with my wife. Rachel would talk about their business expanding, all excited about their future, while Tom kept

giving Sarah these looks when he thought no one was watching. I started documenting everything. Saved their text messages, tracked their meetings, even installed cameras in the house. Part of me hoped I was wrong, that there was some other explanation. But the evidence kept piling up. What really got me was discovering they'd been planning this for months. They had a whole timeline worked out. Tom was trying to get Rachel to sign over more of the company before they came clean about the affair.

They'd even looked at houses in another city. My wife and best friend were literally planning their new life together while pretending everything was normal with their current spouses. I decided to talk to Rachel first. Met her for coffee one morning, told Sarah I had a work meeting. Rachel didn't cry or freak out when I told her what I knew. She just got really quiet and asked how long I'd known. When I said about three weeks, she nodded and said she'd suspected something was off for a while. Turns out Rachel had already started preparing for the possibility of divorce.

She'd noticed Tom acting strange, especially his sudden interest in the business side of things. He'd never cared about that stuff before, always happy to let Rachel handle it. But lately he'd been pushing for more control, wanting her to sign over more shares to him. Rachel had already talked to lawyers about protecting the business. She suggested we take some time to get everything in order before confronting them. Said if we played it smart, we could make sure they didn't get to enjoy their betrayal. We spent the next month getting ready. I moved most of my money to a new account.

Rachel gathered proof of Tom misusing company funds, apparently he'd been using business accounts to fund his dates with Sarah. We documented everything while pretending nothing was wrong. Rachel served Tom with divorce papers first. She'd already locked down the company assets and had proof of his financial misconduct. He tried to fight it but her lawyers were too good. He ended up signing, walking away with way less than he planned on. I waited until Rachel's divorce was final before confronting Sarah.

Just handed her the papers one evening after dinner. She started crying, not because of our marriage ending, but because she realized Tom was broke. All their plans had fallen apart. She signed without much fight, probably hoping to avoid more humiliation. The aftermath was exactly what you'd expect. Tom and Sarah tried to make their relationship work, but without the financial security they'd counted on, it fell apart pretty quick. Last I heard, they both left town. Tom's living with his brother in another state, trying to start over. Sarah moved back in with her parents.

Rachel and I still see each other sometimes. Not romantically or anything, just as friends who went through something awful together. I know this story isn't as dramatic as some others here. No big confrontations or revenge plots. Just two people who trusted the wrong people and managed to come out okay in the end. Still hurt sometimes, but I'm getting better. Edit to add some info people asked about. Yes, I got tested for STDs right away, all clear, thankfully.

No, we didn't have kids, Sarah always said she wanted to wait. until her career was more established. Guess that was a blessing in disguise. And for those asking about the house, I kept it in the divorce since I'd paid for most of it and had proof of Sarah's affair. Also, want to clarify, Rachel didn't take everything from Tom in the divorce.

He still got some money from the business, just nowhere near what he would have gotten if Rachel had signed over those extra shares. And yes, I gave all the evidence to both divorce lawyers. Tom and Sarah both knew fighting would just make things worse for them. Update 1, it's been about six months since everything fell apart. Got a lot of messages asking for updates, so here goes. Tom's still at his brother's place in Arizona.

I actually heard about this from his brother's wife, who messaged me on Facebook to apologize for taking him in. Apparently, Tom told them some bullshit story about Rachel forcing him out of the business and me manipulating everyone against him. His brother believed him at first, but then his wife found my original post and showed it to him. They're still letting Tom stay because family is family, but at least they know the truth.

Tom actually flipped out when he found out his parents still talk to me. Sent them this long angry text about how they're betraying him by staying in contact with me, said they need to pick aside. His parents shut that down fast, his dad told him if he wanted to act like a child, that was his choice, but they weren't going to pretend I wasn't family just because he messed up his life. That led to this huge argument where Tom accused them of loving me more than him. He even brought up stuff from high school, said they always took my side whenever he and I got into trouble, which is complete BS because

his parents were always fair with both of us. This turned into this whole thing where Tom started posting on Facebook about how his family abandoned him. His mom was really hurt by that, she's always been protective of him, even after all this. She tried reaching out to him a few times, but he just ignored her calls. After a while, he started telling people his parents kicked him out of the family for falling in love.

Made me sick seeing him play victim like that. I feel weird about the whole situation with his parents sometimes. Told them maybe we should be. take a break from our Sunday dinners until things cooled down with Tom. But his mom just looked at me and said, don't you dare let that boy take another son from me. Hard to argue with that. His dad still takes me fishing most weekends. Says it helps him deal with his disappointment in Tom. The funny thing is, Tom wasn't even this close with his parents before all this happened. He'd skipped family dinners all the time, always had some excuse about being busy with work.

Now suddenly he's acting like they were this tight-knit family and I'm the outsider who ruined everything. His brother called him out on this actually, reminded him how he skipped their parents' 30th anniversary party because of some work emergency that turned out to be a golf game. Sarah's still at her parents' place. She emails about practical stuff sometimes, but my lawyer handles most of it. Her parents have been decent about everything, they apologized for her behavior and kids. keep her from trying to contact me directly. Her dad actually helped pack up her stuff while I was at work, just to avoid any drama. Found out later he made her leave behind anything I'd bought her or we'd bought together. That kind of surprised me, Sarah always said her parents spoiled her,

but they really stepped up and did the right thing here. The surprising part is what's been happening with Rachel. After the divorces were final, we started talking more. Nothing planned or dramatic. Just coffee sometimes, usually to discuss divorced paperwork or evidence we might need to keep. She's easy to talk to, and it's nice having someone who understands exactly what this feels like. Recently, she mentioned her company was having some tech issues. Their systems were a mess because Tom had hired somebody of his to set everything up cheap. Turns out this buddy was actually someone Tom met at a bar who claimed to know about computers. The guy didn't even use passwords on their main database, just left everything open.

Since I work in tech, I offered to take a look. Figured I owed her one after she helped me track Tom and Sarah's affair. Everything at her company was worse than she thought, missing backups, no security, basically a disaster waiting to happen. What was supposed to be a quick fix turned into a bigger project? She insisted on paying me my usual consulting rate, said she didn't want to be. any confusion about mixing personal and business stuff. Smart woman.

Found out later Tom's tech guy had charged her company a fortune for this mess, and Tom had signed off on all the invoices without telling Rachel. We started spending more time together because of the work. Just grabbing lunch while discussing the project, that kind of thing. Sometimes lunch would turn into dinner because we'd get caught up talking. She's different from Sarah, direct, honest. knows what she wants. No games, no hidden agendas. If she's mad about something, she just says it. After walking on eggshells with Sarah for so long, it's refreshing. One night we were working late

at her office, trying to fix this massive problem with their project tracking system. She was explaining how construction scheduling works, and I was explaining database structures. Somehow we ended up getting takeout and talking until midnight. Not about Tom or Sarah or the divorces, just normal stuff. Movies, books, funny stories from college. It was nice, just being regular people for a while. I think that's when things started shifting between us. But our actual first kiss happened a week later, and it wasn't some big romantic moment. We were at her office again, arguing about the best way to organize project files. She said my system was too complicated. I said hers would be confusing for new employees. Next thing I know, we're kissing.

Afterward, we both started laughing because who the hell has their first kiss during an argument about file structures? Rachel still teases me about how I tried to keep arguing my point after we pulled apart, like my brain needed a minute to catch up with what just happened. Tom's mom noticed something was up before we did. She kept inviting us both to dinner, said there was no point cooking the same meal twice. I didn't catch on at first, but looking back, she was definitely playing matchmaker. Can't blame her, she's always been protective of both of us. His dad got in on it too, started telling these embarrassing stories about Tom from high school,

like he was trying to show Rachel she'd traded up or something. Things with Rachel are developing slowly. We're both cautious after everything that happened. Neither of us want to rush into anything. But there's definitely something there. She makes me laugh, really laugh, for the first time in months. And she says I help her remember not all guys are like Tom. Tom found out we've been spending time together and lost it.

Sent Rachel this crazy text about how she was proving his accusations right. Turns out he'd been telling people she was cold and distant in their marriage, implying she was interested in me back then. The guy who cheated is accusing us of having an affair. Rich, right? He even tried to get his brother to talk to Rachel about it, but his brother shut that down fast, told Tom he needed to grow up and deal with the consequences of his own actions. Sarah tried the same thing when she heard, sent this email saying she always knew there was something

between me and Rachel, like that justifies what she and Tom did. I just forwarded it to my lawyer and kept ignoring her. Her parents actually reached out to apologize for that too, said they're trying to get her into therapy, but she's resistant. Found out Tom's been telling people in Arizona that Rachel and I were having an affair behind his back. That's why she took the company from him. His brother's wife messaged me screenshots of his Facebook posts, real victim complex stuff. Rachel's lawyers sent him a cease and desist letter about the company claims. He took down the posts but keeps telling anyone who'll listen that were the real villains

in this story. The whole thing would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Tom's basically trying to rewrite history to make himself the victim. He's telling people he left because Rachel was cold and controlling, conveniently leaving out the part where he was sleeping with my wife and trying to see. steal the company. Some people actually believe him too, which is wild. But the people who matter know the truth. Rachel's business is doing better now that the tech issues are fixed. I still help out sometimes, but mostly because I want to spend time with her. The company stuff is

just an excuse at this point. She's actually expanding to the next town over. Got this big contract that Tom had been trying to land for months. Turns out when you actually deliver what you promise instead of spending company money on your affair, business goes pretty well. Work's been interesting. My boss thinks I'm still processing everything when really I'm fixing Rachel's servers and getting creative with Zoom backgrounds. I've gotten pretty good at the whole sorry, bad connection routine when someone asks why

my background looks like a construction office. Thank God for the pandemic making remote work normal. Rachel and I joke about how we would have never pulled this off in the old days of office work. Found some old photos last week while cleaning, me, Tom, and Sarah in college, some camping trips, their wedding where I was best man. Put them in the attic. Maybe someday I'll be able to look at them without feeling angry, but for now, I'm more interested in making new memories. Rachel found me looking at them and suggested we start our own photo collection. Nothing serious, just fun stuff, fishing trips with his dad, Sunday dinners, that kind of thing. It's weird how Tom's parents have become even more like family through all this.

His mom's birthday was last week, and Rachel and I helped his dad plan this surprise dinner for her. Tom didn't even call, sent a text two days later claiming his phone was broken. His mom just smiled and said at least her two reliable kids remembered. I could tell it hurt her, though. Rachel squeezed my hand under the table and later told me she's glad his parents have me around. Said it helps them cope with losing Tom. So yeah, life's weird sometimes. Six months ago I thought everything was falling apart, and now.

Well, I'm actually hopeful about the future. Rachel and I are taking things slow, seeing where it goes. No pressure, no big plans, just enjoying each other's company. His parents are happy for us, but trying not to make a big deal about it. His dad just says as long as we're happy and nobody's lying to anyone, he's good. Found out yesterday that Tom's been asking mutual friends about moving back to town. Says he misses his family and wants to make things right. Nobody believes him, though, his brother's wife told us he's been fired from two jobs in Arizona already and is running out of money.

Rachel's worried he might try something with the company again, but her lawyers say he can't touch anything now. I'm just hoping he stays away and lets us all move on with our lives. Edit, since people are asking, no, nothing happened between us while we were married. We both know how much cheating hurts. Things developed naturally after both divorces were final. And yes, Tom's parents know about us and they're supportive. His mom actually said she's never seen Rachel this relaxed and happy. Edit 2, for those asking about timeline, Rachel and I only started spending time together

about two months after both divorces were final. We wanted to be sure we weren't just rebounding or trying to get back at Tom and Sarah. This isn't some revenge relationship. It just happened naturally. Edit 3, a lot of people are asking if I feel guilty about stealing my best friend's wife. First of all, you can't steal someone who chooses to leave. Second, Rachel and I didn't plan this. It developed naturally while we were both dealing with the aftermath of Tom and Sarah's affair.

If anyone should feel guilty, it's them. Final update, it's been about a year since my first post, and this will probably be my last update because honestly, life's pretty good now and there's not much drama to report anymore. Tom tried moving back to town a couple months ago. His job's attempts in Arizona failed, shocking, I know, and I guess he thought he could somehow fix things here. His brother's wife warned us he was coming. Apparently he'd been telling everyone he was going to sort things out with his family. His big return didn't go like he planned though. His parents refused to let him stay with him, told him he needed to grow up and stop blaming everyone else for his choices.

He ended up staying at some cheap motel, tried reaching out to old business contacts, but nobody would work with him. After a week of getting nowhere, he left again. Last I heard, he's in California now, working construction for some company. Guess he finally had to get a real job instead of living off Rachel's business. Sarah actually apologized. Not one of those fake I'm sorry you got hurt apologies, but a real one. Her mom told me therapy finally got through to her. She sent me a letter, actual paper mail, not email, saying she knows she messed up and she's

not trying to justify what she did anymore. Said she's moving to Seattle for a fresh start, and she hopes both Rachel. and I find happiness. Not that we needed her permission, but it was nice to finally close that chapter without any drama. Rachel's company is doing great. The new software systems work better than we expected, and she's landed some major contracts.

I quit my regular job two months ago to work for her full time as the IT director. My old boss was surprisingly cool about it, said he'd been wondering how long I could keep up the bad connection act during Zoom. calls. The town gossip has mostly died down. Think people got bored when they realized Rachel and I weren't going to implode like Tom and Sarah did. We still get the occasional side-eye from people who believe Tom's version of events, but most folks have moved on to newer drama. Tom's parents are probably happier than anyone about how things turned out. His mom basically adopted Rachel at this point, they do weekly cooking lessons together, though Rachel says it's

mostly wine and gossip. His dad still takes me fishing, and we both pretend not to notice when he gets emotional talking about how proud he is of us. Yeah, that's the big news I buried in this update, Rachel and I are getting married. Nothing fancy, just immediate family and close friends. Tom's parents are walking us both down the aisle. His mom cried when we asked her, said it's the first time she's been happy about a wedding since her own. The funny thing is, neither of us wanted to get married again. We were happy just being together. But one night after dinner with his parents, we just kind of looked at each other and knew it was right.

Didn't need some big moment or dramatic gesture. Just felt natural, like everything else between us. We're not rushing anything, wedding set for next spring. Taking our time to do things right. No big promises or dramatic gestures. Just two people who figured out they're better together than apart. So yeah, that's it. No more dramatic updates needed.

Sometimes life takes weird turns, but they lead you where you're supposed to be. Thanks for all the support over this past year, Reddit. You guys helped more than you know. Edit, since people are asking, yes, we're keeping both our last names. And no, we didn't invite Tom or Sarah to the wedding. Some bridges should stay burned.