Reddit Stories - Secrets UNRAVELED_ Betrayal, INFIDELITY, and the Hidden Legacy of an ILLEGITIMATE Heir_

Episode Date: September 28, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #secretsunraveled #betrayal #infidelity #hiddenlegacy #illegitimateheir  Summary: Delve into a gripping tale of secrets unraveling, betrayal, infidelity, and the hidden legacy of an illegitimate heir.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, secretsunraveled, betrayal, infidelity, hiddenlegacy, illegitimateheirBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse engaged in an extramarital relationship and impregnated another individual. He kept his illegitimate child hidden until her passing, then attempted to compel me to care for the child by revealing the truth. Was God's plan since I'm infertile? My life has gone from perfect to a horrifying and dramatic limited series in a matter of days. I had never anticipated that something like this would come my way. Maybe some things are a little too perfect to be true.

and I should have been more cautious about everything that was happening. In retrospect, I believe that I was too trusting, which is why I'm having to face all of this. I, 32, got married to my husband Kendall Ken M. 35, five years ago. We had known each other for a long time before that, but had started dating only two years prior to getting married. That was my best relationship, and I always thought that he was the kind of man that I could end up getting married to. He had shown no red flag since I had known him, and in the two years that I had been with him. Now when I come to think of it, I think that the entire trope of he doesn't have a single red flag as a red flag in itself. No one is perfect

and if you can't see any red flag, please run because then the person isn't being organic at all. He or she is putting up a performance for you to buy and fall for. Don't fall for it like I did. Anyway, I had a great relationship with him and my previous relationships, though I admit they had not been many were bad when compared to my relationship with him. So it was kind of obvious that he would have been my go-to-choice. We were in love, and we were happy. His parents liked me, too. Ken is their only child, and they depend on him a lot.

By extension, they doted on me too. Even after marriage, I had never had to face the entire interfering millpillar. problem, and I was very grateful for that. My in-laws don't live in the same state as us, but either we or they keep traveling up and down a couple of times a year to meet each other. It is important to him, and that's why I do it. We don't meet my parents as much, but that's okay by me because I have siblings who keep my parents' company. Anyway, I digress. What the point of this entire backstory is to tell you that I had, by all means, the perfect marriage. And when the marriage wasn't perfect when we were having issues with each other, the lowest

that it could plummet down to was reasonably decent. I've never had problems with him, which is why what happened was something that I had never anticipated. A few months into getting married, Ken and I decided that we wanted to try for a baby. Both of us has never been fans of a huge family. I come from one, which is why I know the drawbacks of having a house that is too full. It's fun and fulfilling, yes, but it is also a big financial decision that we couldn't have afforded to take in this economy anyway. I am one of six brothers and sisters, and while all of us had a lot of fun growing up and have each other support as adults, it can get very taxing raising so many kids. Ken on his part has always known a small family. That's his comfort zone, and when he first met

my siblings, all of them at once, the amount of chatter and catching up genuinely threw him off for quite some time. So both of us were aligned when it came to decisions regarding the family. We knew we wanted a small family, which is why we thought it would be best if we started trying early. For the first few months, we were excited, and even though nothing happened, we didn't get disheartened. But gradually, that failure began to take its toll on us, or much rather, on me. Ken was still optimistic, and I think he also put up a brave front for me, but my faith was beginning to dwindle. After an entire year of trying, I suggested that we go to a fertility specialist and see what was up. I think it is easy to guess what he would have said. The doctor had made it

very clear that it would be very difficult for me to have children naturally. Conception for me was an uphill battle, and the only way for us to ensure a pregnancy and a child this way would be to go for fertility treatments. It was a very hard day for him, and though now I have come to terms with it, I felt horrible about myself as a woman and for Ken because he had a wife like me. It was a very dark period of my life. What angered me the most was that Ken immediately started discussing fertility treatments with the doctor, without even consulting me. We had never had an open discussion about it before,

because neither of us had anticipated that something like this would actually happen. But I had in passing mentioned to him that if I wanted a kid and was unable to have kids biologically and or naturally, I would prefer to look into adoption more than anything else. Ken, in that very moment, stripped me of all agency when he started discussing fertility treatments and IVF options with the doctor for me. Never once did he ask me if I was okay with it, I wasn't, but none of that mattered to him. No, I don't think that's the right way to put it.

It didn't even cross his mind to talk to me first before anything else. I was that much of an afterthought in this entire process. I didn't want to create a scene in the clinic so I didn't say anything but kept on nodding. But on the way back I told him that I didn't like the way he behaved. We had a major fight that day, but we sorted things out eventually. I took us months, I am not going to deny, to get back into a healthy place for all of us. My issue was that I was very unsure about IVF. I know it has worked for many people, and I know it is regarded as a miracle for many, just like Ken.

But I was deathly afraid of going through that procedure and injecting my body with hormones and medicines, especially given the possibility that we could end up having twins or even triplets. It was just too much for me. A lot of women do it, but I am not cut out for it. And I felt that at the end of the day, it was my body, and if I wasn't comfortable going forth with this, that should have held primary importance. But for Ken, it was about the family. He was choosing the possibility of a non-existent family.

and unborn child over the health, physical and mental, and overall well-being of his wife. And that rubbed me off the wrong way. We had numerous fights about this. Countless fights. For around six months we were at consistent odds with each other. I tried to show him my perspective, and he tried to show me his. I am not calling him wrong, I never did even when we fought. I was just taken aback by the complete disregard that he was showing me and my considerations. The entire process of undergoing IVF made me feel unsafe, and to me, that should have been enough to put an end to the discussion, but it wasn't. But we made it through it somehow. I had honestly thought that that would have been the end of my marriage, but we got out stronger from it.

Little did I know that I had a bigger shock waiting for me on the other side. One that makes me think that it would have been better had we ended the marriage then then drag it out, only for me to end up facing what I did. We ended up going to marriage counseling for a while, and that helped a lot. I thought that the worst was over. I could see the improvement in our communication and marriage in only a couple of sessions. Then we began to have actual open discussions about the family and children. And both of us had mutually come to the decision that we would put off all baby talk for a while, and try and navigate life as a couple. If we still felt that we wanted to have a child, we would proceed with adoption. It was the perfect solution according to me, and things got better

between us. I had no reason to think that he was cheating on me. There were no signs, there were no suspicious work trips or late-night office meetings, and most importantly, I have always been very trusting of Ken. For the last three years, this is what the situation has been. I have trusted him blindly, we have been a happy couple, and there has been nothing wrong in the relationship that has made me question his loyalty or his love towards me. So yeah, he is a great actor. Everything changed last week. I stayed back at home because I was feeling a little sick.

Ken was in the office, but I got a text from him, saying that he had something very important to discuss with me, and he didn't want me to react poorly. I don't know what that was, but I thought that maybe it was something. related to work. I was waiting for him to come home and when he did, he had a little boy in tow. My immediate reaction was to think that he had brought home someone's kid to babysit, which is why he told me that he didn't want a reaction out of me. I greeted them and made a little small talk with the kid and pulled Ken aside. I asked him whose child it was and he didn't say anything. I asked him again and no response. Finally, he told me that he was his son. For a moment

I just looked at him, and then I started laughing. I thought as if he was joking, or pulling a prank on me. But before I could fully register what was even happening, and could consider the possibility that maybe what he was saying might have some truth to it, the waterwork started. He started bawling uncontrollably and kept on saying that he was sorry and that he would make things right. I had started freaking out by that point and asked him what he meant,

and he said that he would tell me soon but right now I needed to look after his son. I yanked my arm away and said that I wasn't going to look after his son unless he told me what the hell was actually happening. By the time the kid had started getting cranky and weepy, too. I rushed to attend to him and had to fix him a quick meal before he felt better. Ken was trying to avoid the conversation, and with the kid around it was easy to get distracted. When we had finally put him in bed, he told me what had happened. The only saving grace about the entire thing was that he did not lie. He told me that when we had hit a rough spot in our marriage, he felt as though a divorce was the only option.

It was then that he had a fling with a woman, and according to him, it lasted a really short time. This was around the same time that we were contemplating going to marriage counseling. He said that they were both careful, but somehow she ended up pregnant. When she told him he broke things off completely and asked her to abort, but she was adamant that she wasn't going to do that. By then, things between us had gotten better. and he said that he did not want to lose me over a mistake. That was when he hatched the plan that he would pretend to be okay with the idea of adoption, and when the time came when we were ready, he would end up adopting his own child.

He said that he did not want to give so much money to child support for 18 years, and he was only waiting for the opportunity to get me on board again. I asked him if the mother knew about all this and agreed to it. He said that the mother was okay as long as he was either paying her money to raise the kid or had taken the kid himself. I was too stunned to speak. I just couldn't believe that he would betray me this way. I asked him if the kid, Zach, 2M, was here since I wasn't on board. He said that his affair partner passed away in an accident, and now the kid is completely his responsibility. I looked at him with complete disbelief. I couldn't begin that now we had to be permanent

caretakers of his kid with another woman, a kid that would be a constant reminder of his infidelity. I told him to get out of the house, but he went down on his knees and begged me to not leave him. He was trying to say something along the lines of how the kid is a blessing in disguise and whatnot, but my head was pounding and I just didn't have it in me to listen to this crap. I got up and just left. And I drove around town aimlessly and endlessly and just checked into a hotel. I dropped him a text that I wasn't coming back, and that was that. I got numerous messages and calls from him but I didn't respond to a single one. I couldn't. I was completely and utterly numb by this, and I didn't know what to do. I had been betrayed like hell, and I was also going to be

painted as a villain for not accepting a motherless child. It was all horrible, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't go home for two days. On the third day, my mill called me up. She said that she was in town and she wanted me to come back home so that we could talk. I told her that there was absolutely nothing to talk about, and I had nothing to say. Neither did I want to listen to anything that Ken was going to say. She said that she completely understood my perspective, but she wanted me there so that she could help me out. I was a foolish woman because I believed her. I thought I had some support, and I thought that as a woman, maybe she would advocate my case. I was clearly wrong, have known better. I trusted her and I went back home. Zach was not there, but Ken, Mill,

and Phil were. My Mill got up and hugged me and that made me put down my guard a little. She held my hand, asked me how I was feeling, and made me feel all comfortable and secure. And then it started. It was an out-and-out war between us. Ken started by saying that all of this started because I couldn't give him kids. The very choice of his words made me want to smack him so hard that his teeth fell off. I told him that no, all of this started when he decided to screw some other woman, rather than tell me what problems he was facing, and work it out like any decent man. My Phil said that I would get a chance to talk but to first let Ken talk. Ken continued and said that the affair was a mistake, but the child was a gift, and I was being a moron for not seeing it that way.

He said that we had always wanted children of our own, and now we had one. All that was left was for me to stop being a bitch and accept him. I couldn't even believe the gall of the man. I told him that this was not our kid. This was his kid. And there is a huge difference between those two things. That's when my mill but in and said that I anyway couldn't have a kid of my own. Which is why his kid was in fact, my kid.

She said that this was the way God had intended it to be, and now I had to be a good wife and thank the Lord for getting rid of my problems as a woman with such ease. I told her that she was out of her mind if she thought that this was God getting rid of my problems. This was God, or rather her son creating new problems for me when none, in fact, existed. I told her and Phil that was an outcome of infidelity and that I could not condone that. I was willing to adopt a kid, but not a kid that my own husband had with another woman. That was just not acceptable to me. Things got heated and a lot of words were exchanged. There was a point where I was yelling at all three of them together, and they were trying to hound me and scare me into submission.

The entire point of this intervention, I believe, was to pressure me into accepting Zach, and that's why Mill had staged the entire drama, for no good reason. I told them that I was not going to accept Zach, and that's when Mill said that I was a useless, infertile woman and that I should be grateful that Ken had not left me and it only had a useless fling. That was it for me. I told her to shut the hell up and to get out of my house. Phil got up and told me to get out of the house because it was his son's house. I told him that I was leaving him, that I was going to divorce him, and that they could do whatever they wanted to. I went out and immediately contacted my sister Sarah, 35F.

She's a lawyer and I told her everything in summary and told her that I need to. her to prepare papers. She said that I need not worry about anything, and asked me to go to Noah's place, my brother, her twin, he lives in the same city as me. I told her that I hadn't wanted to involve all of them. But now it has come to that, and I don't see any way out other than divorce. It has now been a week since I've been with Noah, and I don't know what to feel anymore. Update 1. I have now been staying with my brother for over two weeks, and I guess the thrill of being grandparents has worn off. Nobody has agreed to take care of Zach, and my mill has been bombarding me with messages, trying to manipulate and gaslight me into giving the poor kid a chance.

I don't want to. I am not going to be a mother to a kid that is the result of my husband cheating. I know it's not Zach's fault, but I also know that I don't have it in me to look past it and agree to whatever is happening. I am not cut out for that. Sarah has asked me not to block any one of them because this could be beneficial during the divorce proceedings, so I am stuck with this for as long as this ST doesn't resolve itself. Noah, however, told me that instead of taking this lying down, I could get back to them and mess with them. He suggests that I tell them that I am willing to take care of Zach, only if I am allowed to open the relationship, just from my end. That was the only way I would be willing to forgive Ken's infidelity if he allowed me to be open, but the same rules won't apply to him.

I told him that that would be too much, and Sarah would never allow me to do something like that because that would look bad for the divorce, but Noah said that he could sneakily pull something like that off. He also offered to have his friend pretend to be my boyfriend or the supposed third partner in the relationship. It sounds fun and to be honest I think I'm contemplating it. It would be fun to give my in-laws a taste of their own medicine. Let them see what it feels like to have a third person just swoop in and ruin your marriage. Update 2. A lot has happened since my last update. I am sorry for being Mia for the last few weeks. My head has been pounding and Reddit was the last thing on my mind. To all of you who were

overjoyed at Noah's idiotic ideas and wanted me to go through with them, I am sorry to burst your bubble but none of that is happening. I didn't want to create issues in the divorce, and everything was very messy anyway. Ken called me up and begged me to talk to him. I told him. I told him, told him that that would happen only in Noah's place, where he would be alone but I would have my siblings in attendance. He tried to resist the offer and said that that would mean an invasion of our privacy and the sanctity of our marriage. I actually laughed when he said that. I told him that he had absolutely no problem when his parents were the ones hounding me, and that wasn't an invasion of privacy to him. I also told him to keep his trap shut about the

sanctity of our marriage, because all this supposed sanctity had been thrown out of the window the moment he decided to get involved with another person. I told him that I wasn't willing to meet him or talk to him otherwise, and he reluctantly accepted the offer. When he came home, he looked bad. And that's a pretty word that I am using for him. He said that between the divorce and taking care of Zach, his savings were running dry, as was his health. He said that he was at his wits end, trying to juggle and handle everything, and he needed my help. Apparently, his parents had left the moment things got ugly, saying that it wasn't their responsibility to take care of his kid. I agree with them on this to be honest. There was nothing new that Ken had to say to me. It was basically a repeat of everything

that we had already gone over hundreds of times. But this time, he just added more self-victimization to it. It was all about how he couldn't handle what had come to him, and that one mistake couldn't define the rest of his life. I didn't budge. I told him that this was his grave, and he had to to lie in it. Zach was his son, no amount of guilting others would help him out of this one. He said that I was a cruel woman for behaving this way and that he couldn't believe that I could be so heartless and ruined the life of a child. I told him that he ruined the life of the child by bringing him into the world in the first place. It was entirely on him. He chose to have Zach, and now, just because he is being required to be a grown-up about it and become a father,

he is Eicheng in his pants. He said that I have to have to have Zach. He said that I have to have. He had no idea what I was doing, and if I didn't help him out, I would be the one responsible for completely destroying Zach's life. He said that Zach's mother had no relatives around, and the ones that were alive were too conservative to accept a child out of wedlock. He said that she had been disowned and disgraced by her family for having Zach, and the agreement between them was that he would be responsible for the financial aspect, till we adopted him, or rather he fooled me into adopting him, and the mother just had to act as a babysitter till then. Because of the woman, because of the conservative views of her family, no family member was willing to take in Zach or support him

after the affair partner's death. I genuinely was at a loss because I did not understand how in the hell was at my concern. He said that the only place that Zach could go to was with him, and he was just unable to manage anything. If I didn't help him out and did not help Zach out, Zach would have to go into foster care. He was trying to imply that I would be the one to push Zach into foster care because of my refusal to play happy families with him. I told him that he still had his precious parents to rely on. They were very fast in jumping the gun and expecting me to put up with this saint. Why did they abandon the ship the moment it got difficult? He said that they would have helped if they could, but they are old and they have their own stuff to deal with, which is why Zach was not a

priority for them. I told him that just as they were allowed to prioritize their stuff over a child that was sprung into their lives out of nowhere, so was L. He begged me to at least reconsider the divorce, and that he didn't have the bandwidth or the money to be fighting that, but I said tough luck. I told him that I wasn't going to halt my life just because it was inconvenient for him. He was an A for expecting mercy and warmth for me. I told him that if you think that I am an inconsiderate bitch, you are right because I'm one. And I have no shame in admitting it. I told him that the divorce was happening, and the only person I felt sad for in the entire situation was Zach, and that too only because he had such a failure of a man as a father. This ticked him off the wrong

way and he started cussing me out, but, thankfully, I had Sarah and Noah there, and Noah practically threw him out of the house. I don't know why the moron was expecting any sort of reconciliation, and how he even had the audacity to stand in front of me and make these claims. All I know is that I am done with him and his Saint Update 3, holy crap I had forgotten all about this account. It has been a long time since I logged in, and I am happy to inform you that I am now divorced, and have been so for quite some time. You had a lot of questions about Zach, but I am sorry to say that I don't have any information on him, and I don't want that either. I have since moved out of Noah's house and have rented a small studio for myself. It's pricey, but I like the place,

so yay, win for me. I have never been. not been in touch with Ken since the divorce, even though he has been trying so every couple of weeks. I don't know what is it going to take for him to realize that we're over. This is by no means a fairy tale ending. I am still hurt, I still feel betrayed, and I don't know when am I ever going to be able to trust anyone again. What I do know is that I'm going to move forward now without looking back.