Reddit Stories - Lady REACHED out to me ALLEGING to be my covert SIBLING from my

Episode Date: November 2, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #siblings #familydrama #covertidentity #unexpectedencounter #revelationSummary: Lady reached out to me alleging to be my covert sibling from my past. Conflicted emotions arise as I navigate this unexpected revelation, questioning trust, identity, and familial connections in this intricate web of secrets and truths.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, familydrama, covertidentity, unexpectedencounter, revelation, trustissues, identitycrisis, siblingrivalry, familysecrets, emotionalconflict, hiddenpast, tangledweb, truthandlies, unexpectedreunion, secretidentity, familybondBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Lady reached out to me alleging to be my covert sibling from my father's scandal, requested a share of my $400,000 legacy with genetic proof and correspondences demonstrating our father had been providing for us. Her mother, the affair partner, and her for years. My 35M father passed away about six months ago. In his will, he left me his house and a small business that he owned, which altogether are worth around $400,000.

As far as I knew all my life, I was Dad's only child. My parents divorced about 20 years ago, when I was a teenager, because my father had an affair. Dad never gave me many details, and I certainly had no idea there was a child involved. After the divorce, I lived with my mom but still saw Dad regularly. Our relationship was strained for a while, but we eventually patched things up and stayed close. forward to now, a few weeks ago, I was contacted by a woman who claims to be my half-sister from that long ago affair. I'll call her Anna, not her real name, she's 26F. She reached out to me completely out of the blue via a letter first, and then we spoke on the phone. As you can

imagine, I was completely blindsided. I literally had no idea she existed. In her letter, Anna included photocopies of old letters my dad had written to her mother, the woman he had the affair with. Those letters, dated over two decades ago, have my father's handwriting and even reference a baby girl by name. There's also a line where Dad explicitly acknowledged he was the father. In addition, Anna said she is DNA proof. Apparently she managed to do some kind of DNA test through a genealogy service and found a match with a relative on our side. She offered to do a sibling DNA test with me as well if I wanted. So she came prepared with evidence, and it's hard not to believe her at this point.

When we spoke on the phone, Anna was polite and a bit nervous. She told me that my father had been sending some money to her and her mother over the years, which helped them a little, but he never fully made up for not being in her life openly. According to her, during the last year of his life, Dad promised her he was going to make things right and take care of her financially, presumably by including her in his will or giving her something significant. Unfortunately, he passed away before any will changes happened. As it stands, the will he left behind didn't mention her at all, and everything went to me.

Now Anna is asking me to honor what she says was my father's intent by giving her roughly half of what I inherited. She specifically mentions splitting the inheritance 50 to 50, basically giving her around $200,000 or perhaps joint ownership of the house and business. Together I estimate around $400,000 in value. She has two young kids and is struggling financially. From what I gather, she's also taking care of her elderly mother, her mom is in poor health, though I don't know the full details yet.

Anna emphasized that it's what he would have wanted and that dad had told her as much shortly before he died. I told her I needed time to think, but honestly my initial reaction was no, I'm not comfortable with that. At the time of our call, I was still reeling from the idea that my dad had a secret daughter for 26 years that I never knew about. I wasn't exactly feeling charitable or trusting in that first conversation. I didn't yell at her or anything. I mostly just listened in shock and probably came off as pretty cold when I did respond.

I basically said I wasn't prepared to make that kind of decision and ended the call rather quickly. She sounded upset when the call ended, I could hear her trying to keep it to. together, which made me feel bad, but I was also angry and confused at being put in this situation out of nowhere. Legally, I know I have no obligation to give her anything. Dad's will was clear and everything was left to me. But morally, I'm honestly not sure. Part of me does feel for her because it's not her fault she was born for my dad's affair. I imagine she and her mom probably had a tough time, and if Dad really did promise to help her, then her situation now is pretty awful. On the other hand, I feel a bit resentful that my father never told me about this at all

and now I'm left to deal with the fallout of his secrets. It's like he swept it under the rug and now it's landed on my doorstep. Also, splitting the inheritance in half is not a small thing for me. The inheritance isn't just a pile of cash, it's a house and a business. To give her half, I'd likely have to sell the house or the business, or take out a massive loan, to come up with that kind of money. I've been planning on keeping my dad's business running. It's actually my current job and source of income, and the house has a ton of sentimental value to me. It's the home I grew up in. These assets are basically tied into my life now. Handing over half of it would seriously affect my financial stability and future plans. I haven't mentioned any of this to my mom yet.

Bringing up the fact that dad had an affair, baby would be opening a can of worms that's been closed for decades. From my mom's perspective, that chapter of her life is over and I'm reluctant to drag her into this unless I absolutely have to. Anyway, I haven't given Anna any answer yet besides telling her I needed time. She has been polite and not pushy in our limited interactions, but she did send a follow-up email explaining her circumstances in more detail and reiterating that she believes splitting things is the right thing to do. She said she isn't trying to be greedy, but she feels like Dad intended for us to be treated equally and she just wants what's fair for her family. I've been going back and forth on this. I'm currently leaning towards not splitting it 50 to 50 as she asked,

at least not in that exact way. Maybe there's some middle ground, like giving her a smaller amount or some kind of trust for her kids, I don't know. But I worry that if I offer something less than half, she'll feel cheated or it could turn into more conflict. As of now, I feel like no matter what I do, someone's going to end up upset. I'm just trying to figure out what's right, or least wrong, here. So, am I the asshole for refusing to split my inheritance with a half-sister I literally just found out exists? Update 1, it's been a few days since I posted, and I've read through a lot of the comments and messages. I appreciate the input. The general sentiment was mixed, but a lot of people suggested that I verify everything, DNA, my dad's involvement, etc., before making

any big decisions. That made sense to me. I realized I needed more certainty about Anna's claim and my dad's intentions, so I decided to take action on a couple of fronts. Paternity confirmation, I took Anna up on her offer to do a DNA test. We arranged to do a sibling DNA test through a reputable lab. Because we live in the same state, only about an hour's drive apart, it turns out, we actually met up briefly at the lab to submit our samples. That meeting was awkward, to say the least. We didn't talk much beyond a polite hello and maybe a nervous laugh. Both of us were pretty on edge. It's not every day you take a DNA test to confirm you have a secret sister. The test results were supposed to take about a week, but we paid extra to expedite them.

While waiting for the DNA results, I also started digging into my dad's financial records to see if I could substantiate what Anna told me about him sending money over the years. Since I'm the executor of his estate, I have access to his old bank statements and paperwork. I hadn't closely reviewed all his transactions from long before his death. At the time I was mostly focused on closing accounts and handling a immediate bills, but now I went back quite a ways. Sure enough, I found a pattern of regular payments that started around 25 years ago and continued up until maybe a year before he died. The payments were often quarterly and some were marked with the name of Anna's mother. It looks

like Dad was sending a few hundred dollars every month or so to her, likely to help with expenses for Anna. It wasn't a huge amount at a time, just a few hundred dollars a month on average, but over two decades it added up. The last payment I could find was from a bit over a year ago, which aligns with when Dad's health really started declining. He had been battling cancer in his final year, so I suspect when he got very sick, the financial support stopped simply because he wasn't able to manage things anymore. Anyway, the DNA test results came back yesterday. The lab emailed us the report, and it confirmed with 99.9% probability that Anna and I share one parent. Given our ages and all the evidence, it's obviously my father.

So, it's official, she is my half-sister. I can't say I was surprised at this point, but seeing it in black and white still made my head spin a bit. I had to sit down and just absorb it for a minute. I called Anna after I saw the results. She had already seen them too. She almost immediately asked, softly, so, you believe me now? I told her, yes, I do. I also apologized for being so cold during our initial conversation. She actually apologized in return for dropping this on me out of nowhere.

The call was cordial, even friendly, but we didn't get into the heavy stuff yet, like the inheritance, beyond that. I simply told her that I had been looking into things and I'd get back to her soon once I sorted through everything I found. She was understanding and thanked me for taking the time to verify the truth. So that's where things stand after this first update. I have confirmed without a doubt that Anna is my half-sister, and I've uncovered clear evidence that my dad had been quietly supporting her and her mom financially for years. This gives a lot more context to the whole situation. I haven't made a decision about the inheritance yet, but I'm definitely considering all of this new information. I'm going to keep thinking it over,

and maybe get some professional advice, before I figure out my next move. I'll update again when I have more to share. Update 2, it's been about another week since my last update. During this time, I've had more conversations with Anna and learned a lot more about her life and our father's involvement. I decided that after confirming she's indeed my half-sister, the next step was to really talk things out face to face. We agreed to meet at her home, mainly because she has her hands full with her kids.

and her mother and can't easily travel or meet in a public place. I offered to come to her, and she accepted. Yesterday, I drove out to Anna's place. She lives about an hour away in a small two-bedroom rental. The neighborhood was okay, not dangerous, or anything, but it's definitely a modest, lower-income area. When I arrived, she welcomed me in and we sat in her tiny living room. Her kids were in the next room, her older one, around six,

was engrossed in cartoons, and the younger toddler was napping. Her mother, let's call her Beth, was resting in a bedroom, so we had a bit of quiet to talk. This was the first time I really saw Anna in person for more than a few minutes, and I have to admit, I could see a bit of our dad in her face, especially around the eyes. That was surreal to notice. But anyway, on to the conversation. Anna essentially told me the whole story of her life and how my father fit into it. Her mom Beth and my dad did have an affair back in the day.

When Beth became pregnant with Anna, my dad freaked out initially, understandably, since he had a wife and a teenage son, me, at home. According to Anna, her mom made it clear she didn't expect anything from him personally, but she did want to keep the baby. My father eventually agreed to quietly support them financially, but it was kept secret. Beth never married and never had other kids, she basically raised Anna on her own. money was always tight for them. Dad's monthly checks helped, but it was just enough to cover some basics.

He wasn't involved in Anna's day-to-day life. In fact, for most of her childhood, Anna didn't even meet him in person. She knew of him, her mom told her who her father was when she was old enough to understand, but also explained that he had another family and couldn't be in her life openly. Pretty heartbreaking situation if you ask apparently, dad and Beth maintain some correspondence. Beth would send him occasional letters or pictures, like school photos of Anna growing up. Sometimes Anna drew pictures or wrote little letters to Dad as a kid, which her mom never sent,

but kept. My father did send Anna a few birthday and Christmas cards over the years, but always covertly. Anna actually had a small box of these letters and cards that she showed me. Reading through a couple of those was intense. I recognized. I recognize that you. I recognize that you. I I recognized Dad's handwriting immediately, seeing happy 10th birthday and my dad's writing address to a sister I never even knew existed hit me hard. As Anna reached adulthood, she had a bit more direct interaction with our father, though still infrequent. She said the first time she ever actually met him in person was when she was about 18.

They met for coffee and he apologized to her for not being there as a father. She described it as a bittersweet meeting. She was happy to finally talk to him face to face, but it was all. also awkward and emotionally charged. After that, they only saw each other a few more times over the years. They did speak on the phone occasionally, especially as my dad got older. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago, it seems he reached out to Anna more often.

He knew time might be running short, and I think he was wrestling with a lot of guilt. About a year ago, when his health took a serious downturn, he told Anna, and her mom, that he was going to take care of them financially, that he wanted to make it right, Anna said he explicitly mentioned revising his will or setting up something to provide for her and Beth. Unfortunately, as we know, he never got the chance to follow through. Now, about Anna's current situation. Her mom Beth is in her late 60s and has advanced dementia. It's progressed rapidly in the past couple of years. Beth requires full-time care and supervision. Anna is essentially her caregiver, on top of raising two little kids.

She does some freelance work from home, bookkeeping and data entry, she said, to earn a bit of income, but she can't handle a full-time job with everything on her plate. She's a single mom, the father of her kids is not in the picture aside from a little bit of child support that barely makes a dent. My father's financial help was apparently going towards a part-time in-home care aid for Beth and other related expenses. When that support stopped as dad got really ill, Anna had to cut back the AIDS hours to save money. That means Anna herself has been doing even more of the hands-on care for her mom, which of course limits her ability to work and earn money. It's a vicious

cycle and she's been struggling not to drown in it. Hearing all this laid out, I really felt for her. I won't lie, sitting there in her small apartment, seeing the kids' toys around, hearing her voice quiver when she talked about her mom's condition. It hit me that her life has been pretty rough lately. She's basically carrying a burden that many people would struggle with even with financial resources, let alone doing it on a shoestring budget. We eventually circle back to the topic of the inheritance and what she had asked of me. I explained to her openly how I felt and what my concerns were. I told her about my reservations, that the inheritance is tied up in a house and business that I'm actively involved with, and that giving up half would be really hard for me.

I also was honest that I had some lingering resentment at Dad for putting us in this position. To my relief, she was very understanding about all that. She admitted that she's also angry at our father to a degree. She said she never wanted this to become a nasty fight or anything. In her mind, she only asked for the 50 to 50 split because she truly believed that's what dad intended, and she didn't know what else to do but to come to me and ask. She also made a point to say she doesn't want to derail my life. She knows it's not my fault that all this was kept secret from me. Hearing her say that meant a lot, because one of my fears was that she might view me as just the obstacle standing between her and what she was owed. But she clearly doesn't see it that

way. She seems to genuinely want an amicable resolution. By the end of this talk, I think we both had a much better understanding of each other. There were some tears on her side, and I'll admit my eyes weren't exactly dry either at a couple points. But there was also relief. I could see that she's not some greedy opportunist, she's a person who got dealt a tough hand and is trying to look out for her family, and honor what she thought was our dad's promise. And from my side, she got to see that I'm not just a selfish jerk who's hoarding everything, I'm someone who was blindsided by all this and trying to make a fair decision. When I left, I told her I still hadn't made a final decision,

but I was seriously considering everything and would let her know soon. I also mentioned I was going to speak with my father's lawyer, the one who drew up his will, because I had a hunch there might be some clues there about what dad wanted to do. She thought that made sense. We parted with a bit of an awkward hug, it was a gentle, friendly hug, were still practically strangers,

but it felt like the right gesture as we said goodbye. She even said, regardless of how the inheritance stuff turns out, she hopes we can stay in contact and maybe, eventually, be a part of each other's lives in some way. I told her I'm open to that. It was weird saying that, but also kind of nice. I don't know what the future holds in that regard, one step at a time, I guess. So, that's where things are. I have a much clearer picture of Anna's situation and my dad's involvement.

The big thing left for me was to confirm my father's intentions through his lawyer, if possible. I'll share what I find in the next update. Update 3. I wanted to provide an update after speaking with my father's lawyer, which I finally did. It took some coordination because the lawyer, let's call him Mr. L., was out of town, but we managed to meet two days ago. Mr. L. has known my dad for ages and was the one who drafted Dad's most recent will, the one that left everything to me. I explained the whole situation to him, that I discovered I have a half-sister and that she told me Dad intended to include her in his will. I asked if Dad ever came to him to revise the will or set up any provisions that I wasn't aware of. As soon as I brought this up,

Mr. L nodded, like he knew what I was getting at. According to him, about 11 months before my dad passed, Dad did indeed contact him wanting to make some changes to his estate plan. In that meeting, confided that he had an estranged daughter from years ago that he wanted to provide for. Mr. L. actually drafted a new will for my dad that included a trust or fund for Anna, and a smaller provision for Anna's mother, Beth. The plan, Mr. L told me, was to allocate a certain amount of money or assets to this trust so that Anna and her mom would be taken care of, while the rest of the estate, house, business, etc., would still go to me. I pressed for specifics, and he said the amount my dad was looking at was

around $100,000 for the trust. However that new will was never signed. Mr. L. said my dad reviewed the draft, said it looked good, but then he fell very ill shortly after, went into the hospital. Things were very chaotic with treatments at that time. Dad likely thought he'd have more time to handle it, but he didn't. He got sicker, and the Will update just never got finalized. So when he died, the only legally binding document was the old will leaving everything to me. I asked Mr. L why my dad didn't sign it immediately if he was sure about it. Mr. L shrugged and said something like, he was hesitant about the timing. I think he wasn't ready to stir up potential family drama until he felt it was absolutely

necessary. And then his health took a turn for the worse. I suspect he just ran out of time. That sounds about right, dad probably. procrastinated and then fate had other plans. I thanked Mr. L. for being candid with me. He actually expressed relief that I was asking about it, because he knew Dad wanted it done, but as a lawyer he couldn't exactly go tell me or anyone after Dad died, attorney-client confidentiality and all. He had been in a tough spot seeing things unfold with the will reading and knowing

there was this unsigned intent, but he couldn't intervene. We talked a bit about my options. legally, I hold all the cards, the will and effect leaves everything to me. Anna, not being a named heir and not being legally acknowledged as a child in any official capacity, doesn't have much standing to challenge that in court, especially since the updated will was never signed. Mr. L. did mention that if I wanted to honor Dad's intent, I could voluntarily give something to Anna. He said this kind of situation often ends in a family settlement outside of court, if the parties

are reasonable with each other. He also gave me some advice, if I do decide to give her a significant gift, I might want to get an agreement in writing so that it's clear this is a good faith gesture and not an admission of any legal obligation. That would just protect me from any possible future misunderstanding. I don't honestly think Anna would ever sue me or anything, but I understood why he suggested that, just dotting eyes and crossing T's. I left the lawyer's office with a lot to process, but also a sense of clarity about what I needed to do. I knew now that Dad truly wanted to help Anna and would have done so if he'd had more time. At the same time, I have to balance that with what's practical and fair for me, since I'm basically the one in charge now. The number

$100,000 that my father was considering kept coming back to me. That's a substantial amount, but it's also not half the estate. It's more like a quarter of it. It made me think that maybe dad wasn't necessarily going to do an even 50 to 50 split, but rather give her a chunk that he felt would take care of her needs. I've been weighing how to move forward. I've pretty much made up my mind at this point. I'm going to take a day or two more just to be sure, and then I plan to talk to Anna about what I'm going to do. I'll post the final update after that conversation happens. Update 4. Final, here's the final update to wrap this up. I met with Anna one last time. I met with Anna one last time to discuss what I've decided. After a lot of thought, I've decided not to split the

inheritance 50 to 50 with Anna, but I'm going to give her a significant one-time gift of money. Specifically, I'm going to give her $95,000 out of my own pocket. I arrived at that number by considering a few things. What I could reasonably afford without selling off major assets, what might actually help her in a meaningful way right now, and the fact that my dad had been considering giving her around $100,000 eventually. I figured $95,000 is a solid amount that can alleviate her immediate burdens, and maybe then some, even if it's not the full sum she initially hoped for. To make sure everything was done properly, I arranged to meet Anna at a lawyer's office. I got my own lawyer involved to help draft the agreement and facilitate the transfer. When we sat down,

I calmly explained to her that I had verified all of her claims and even found out about the draft will. I told her I fully acknowledged that she is my father's daughter and that dad did intend to provide for her. I also said that I have to be honest about my own situation, that handing over half the estate would be extremely difficult for me to do. However, I wanted to do something to honor dad's intent and to help her and her family. So I let her know I was prepared to give her $95,000 as a one-time gift. I emphasized that this was my way of doing right by Dad's memory and helping her out, even though it wasn't the full half share. I was a bit nervous telling her the figure, not knowing how she'd react. Anna just sort of stared for a moment,

and I couldn't read her face. Then her eyes welled up and she said, thank you. I mean, thank you so much. She got a little emotional, and honestly, I was a bit emotional too, though I tried to keep my composure. She told me she had been bracing herself for the possibility, that I'd say I wasn't going to give her anything at all. $95,000, she said, would help her more than I could imagine. She mentioned it could ensure her mom gets the care she needs for the foreseeable future, and it would give her some breathing room financially to maybe get on better footing. I can't express how relieved I felt hearing her say that.

I realized I'd been half expecting her to be upset or argue that $95,000 wasn't enough, but there was none of that, just genuine gratitude and relief on her part. My lawyer drafted a simple agreement for us to sign. It basically says that I'm giving this money to Anna of my own free will, and that she accepts it as a fair resolution of any expectations from the estate. It's just to prevent any future misunderstandings. She was completely fine with signing that, she wasn't looking for any loopholes or anything, so it was just a formality.

After all the paperwork was handled, we stood up and Anna gave me a hug, a real, tight hug this time. She was crying as she told me I had no idea how much this would help them and how grateful she was. I hugged her back and told her I hope it truly makes things easier and that I think Dad would approve of how we handled it. We parted on really good terms. There was a brief, slightly awkward moment where we weren't sure how to say goodbye, like, are we going to stay in touch now beyond this? I suggested that we should keep in contact, since we're family after all, even if this is all new and weird. She smiled and agreed. We didn't make specific plans or anything, but I have her number and email, and I told her to let me know how things

go with her mom and everything. I'm open to getting to know her, and my nieces slash nephews, better over time, but we're both aware that it'll be a gradual process. So that's the end of it. A few weeks ago I was wondering if I was an asshole, now I feel like this was never about assholes at all, just a complicated family situation. I'm glad we found a compromise that feels fair. Thank you to everyone who gave me perspective and advice. It honestly helped me take the right steps.