Reddit Stories - Spouse Journey COMPANION appeared at our CELEBRATION of years together MASQUERADING as a

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #relationships #marriage #celebration #masquerading #spousejourneySummary: At our celebration of years together, my spouse journey companion appeared masquerading as a mystery guest. Confusion and excitement filled the air as we unraveled the surprise, leading to a memorable and unexpected twist in our special event.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, marriage, celebration, masquerading, spousejourney, mysteryguest, surprise, twist, special, event, celebrationofyears, confusion, excitement, memorable, unexpectedBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse Journey Companion appeared at our celebration of years together masquerading as a courier and addressed her affectionately in front of me and our children, solely due to her. Wanted to compare us side by side and see whether I would fight for her. I, 37M, have been married to my wife, 35F, for 15 years, and we have two children together, ages 13 and 10. Last month was our wedding anniversary, so we decided. to have a small celebration at home with our kids and a few close friends. I was excited and had planned a nice evening to commemorate our years together. Little did I know, my wife had

her own secret plans for that night. The evening started off well enough. We had dinner, cut our anniversary cake, and I gave my wife a thoughtful gift. She seemed happy at first, but I noticed she was a bit anxious or distracted as the night went on. She kept glancing at phone and stepping out of the room occasionally. I figured maybe she had some surprise planned for me and tried not to overthink it. At around 8 p.m., the doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting any more guests or deliveries, so I assumed it might be a neighbor or maybe a mix-up. My wife jumped up almost immediately and said, I'll get it. In a voice that sounded oddly eager. I followed behind her out of curiosity, and our kids trailed along because, well,

kids are always interested when someone's at the door. My wife opened the door, and there stood a man holding a large bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne. He was dressed in a polo shirt with a logo, like he could be a delivery driver from a local gift service or something. I didn't recognize him at first glance. The man smiled and said, special delivery for the lovely couple, happy anniversary. It seemed like a sweet surprise, I actually thought for a second that maybe one. one of our friends had sent us a gift or my wife arranged something romantic. But then things got strange fast.

The guy handed my wife the flowers and leaned in a bit and added in a lower voice, You look gorgeous tonight, babe. I was standing right behind my wife and immediately said the F, babe. That's not something you call a stranger or a customer you're delivering to, especially not in front of her husband and kids. My wife's reaction was even more telling. She went visibly red in the face, not the happy blushing kind of red, but the caught off guard and guilty kind.

She let out this nervous laugh and quickly glanced back at me and the kids. Our 13-year-old's eyes went wide because he definitely caught the word babe. My 10-year-old looked confused and whispered, did he just call Mom Babe? I stepped forward, trying to keep my cool. Excuse me, what did you just say? I asked the guy, giving him a hard look. He seemed to realize I was there for the first time. Instead of apologizing, he chuckled and said,

Oh, I was just, ah, making sure I had the right address. The hot milf at the door matches the description. And I swear he winked at her. Yes, he actually called my wife a hot milf right in front of me and our kids. I could feel my blood pressure shoot through the roof. The kids were right there hearing this random man, at least I thought he was a random delivery man at the time, call their mom a hot milf and babe. It was wildly inappropriate. My 13-year-old daughter looked absolutely appalled and blurted out, you what? while my son was still just confused, possibly not knowing what Milf means. My wife quickly tried to defuse the situation.

She grabbed the champagne bottle from him and said, Thanks, that'll be all. Her tone was polite, but I could hear the panic under it. She practically pushed the guy back toward the doorway as if to usher him out before he said anything else. I was standing there, frozen between wanting to yell at this guy and not wanting to blow up completely in front of my kids. Before I could do or say anything more, the man gave a little wave and said, enjoy, beautiful. See you around. Then he turned and left down our driveway. I was left standing at the door, staring after him in shock. I shut the door and immediately rounded on my

wife. The kids were still standing in the foyer, and I didn't want to cause a huge scene in front of them. I mustered the calmest voice I could and told them, why don't you two go enjoy the cake in the kitchen? We'll be right there. My daughter looked like she wanted to ask a million questions, but she led her little brother away, leaving me and my wife in the entryway. As soon as the kids were out of earshot, I asked my wife, what the hell was that about? Do you know that guy? She had her back to me, closing the door and fiddling with the lock in unnecessary ways, clearly trying to avoid looking at me. It's nothing, she said quickly.

He was just some delivery driver. Probably confused our house with someone else's or got too friendly, I guess. Let's not let it ruin the evening, okay. She tried to brush past me, but I stepped in front of her, not letting it go. He called you babe. And milf. That's not normal delivery guy behavior. How would a random delivery guy even know you're a mom?

I was whispering harshly, trying not to yell because the kids were just in the next room. My wife crossed her arms and avoided eye contact. I don't know, maybe he's just a creep, she mumbled. I didn't invite him, if that's what you're thinking. He probably had the wrong address and was asking if this was the right place for the delivery. That made no sense to me. He had the right address, clearly, because he specifically wished us a happy anniversary and brought gifts that were spot on for an anniversary celebration.

And if he was lost, why would he call her babe and say she matched the description? My gut was screaming that my wife was lying. I kept pressing, why did he say see you around like you know each other? And why did you look like a deer in headlights when you open the door? I could see tears welling up in her eyes at this point, but she could see tears welling up in her eyes at this point, but she was also getting defensive. She snapped, I can't control what some random delivery creep says. I was surprised, okay.

Let it go. Please, can we just go back and finish the evening? At this stage, I was suspicious, but I was also aware that if I pushed too hard right then, things might explode in front of the children. So I agreed to drop it for now. The rest of the night was awkward as hell. I was tense and quiet, my wife was pretending to act normal but I could tell she was rattled and the kids definitely sensed something was off. We wrapped up the celebration pretty quickly.

I didn't even drink the champagne that was delivered, I had a feeling it would taste like poison going down. After we put the kids to bed, I confronted my wife again in private. I told her straight up that I did not believe her story. There were too many coincidences, a delivery guy showing up at exactly our anniversary party time with gifts, knowing to say happy anniversary, calling her pet names like babe and hot milk, and acting overly familiar. Either this guy was the boldest pervert ever, or something was going on between them. My wife doubled down on her story. She insisted he must have been an overly friendly driver or that maybe he was drunk or high

in just saying things. She said I was overreacting and ruining our anniversary by not trusting her. Then she actually got mad at me for interrogating her on a special day. She was crying by then, accusing me of spoiling the evening and accusing her of terrible things. I felt like I was going crazy. I ended up sleeping on the couch that night because I was too angry and hurt to lie next to her. The next morning, while my wife was still asleep, I decided I needed answers for my own sanity. I remembered the logo on the polo shirt that delivery guy wore.

It was for a local courier company. So I did something a bit sneaky, I called that company pretending to inquire about a delivery mix-up at my address the night before. After a couple of transfers, I got a manager who checked and said they had no scheduled deliveries to our address that day. The gifts that arrived, flowers and champagne, were not from any order in their system. That meant whoever that man was, he wasn't just some courier who randomly showed up at the wrong house. Those gifts weren't some mistaken delivery, they were specifically meant for us. And my wife was the one who knew about them. She jumped to get the door, after all.

I confronted my wife with this information as soon as she woke up. I expected more denial, but instead she finally cracked. First, she tried to claim, oh, maybe it was a different company or a private service. When I told her I wasn't buying any more lies, she finally admitted the truth. or at least part of it. She confessed that the man at the door was someone she knows from work. But she still tried to downplay it, saying she had invited him only to drop off the surprise gifts as a nice gesture for our anniversary. She claimed she thought it would be fun and harmless to have him show up as a pretend delivery guy and make our evening special. I was stunned.

How is having some guy call you babe and milf in front of our kids supposed to be harmless or fun? I asked, she started backpedaling, saying she didn't expect him to say those things and that he must have misunderstood his role in a surprise. It didn't take long for the rest of the ugly truth to come out. I asked point blank if this was the same guy she's been texting nonstop lately. I had noticed her guarding her phone the past few months, which I foolishly chalked up to normal privacy or maybe planning a surprise for me. Turns out I was half right. It was a surprise, just not the kind I'd ever want. She went quiet and started sobbing.

That was all the confirmation I needed. She finally admitted that she and this man, let's call him Jason, not his real name, had developed feelings for each other over the past several months at work. It started as friendship, then turned into flirtation. By now I was basically extracting a confession. I asked if she'd been having an affair with him. She claimed it wasn't physical, yet, and that she was confused about her feelings. They had been texting and calling outside of work, and yes, it was definitely emotional cheating

and headed toward physical if it hadn't happened already. At this point, I was furious and devastated all at once. I could barely speak without my voice shaking. I asked her why on earth she would invite him to our anniversary, of all things. Her answer left me speechless. She wanted to see us both in the same setting to compare. In her messed up logic, she thought if she saw Jason and me interact, or just saw a side-by-side, she could figure out what she really wanted. She literally expected me to compete in some absurd triangle that she created, maybe subconsciously.

She hoped I'd somehow prove I was the better choice, or perhaps she was hoping Jason would. I don't even know. She tried to justify it by saying she had been feeling unhappy. and that Jason was so charming and attentive at work, and she wanted to evaluate whether her feelings for him were real or just a fantasy by seeing him in real life next to her husband and family. She also admitted that a part of her wanted me to notice and fight for her, she said, I thought if you saw someone else was interested in me, you'd step up and we'd rekindle things. That blew my mind. My wife basically arranged a honeypot situation in our own home, on our anniversary, using this other man as bait, just to see if I would get jealous and fight to win her back or something.

I was done with this conversation. Actually, I was done with the marriage right then. Something in me snapped. I told her there was nothing left to fight for if she didn't already know she wanted our family over some fling. I was disgusted that she would put our kids in the middle of this, too, because whether she meant to or not, she did involve them by inviting that man into our home and letting them witness her being called those things. She started crying harder, apologizing and saying she made a huge mistake and that she loves me

and the kids. She pleaded with me not to make any rash decisions. But to me, this wasn't rash at all. It was a moment of absolute clarity. I told her I would be filing for divorce immediately. If Jason was such a nicer guy and made her feel so special, she was welcome to go to him, but I wouldn't stay married to someone who would humiliate me and toy with my feelings like this. She kept saying I was overreacting and that I should at least give her a chance to fix this.

Fix what? She knowingly invited her a fair partner to our anniversary. That's not a mistake, that's a series of conscious choices with disrespect at every step. I packed an overnight bag that morning and left the house with the kids to go to my brother's place. I wanted to get them away from the tension, and honestly I needed to clear my head. I told the kids in a calm way that mom and dad had a serious argument and we needed a little space. I didn't badmouth their mother to them, but I think my daughter at least has an idea something really bad happened. She later texted her mom and got some kind of half-baked explanation.

Anyway, as soon as the courthouse opened on the next business day, I filed for divorce. I didn't even wait to cool down because, frankly, I didn't feel this was a heat of the moment thing I'd regret. It was a betrayal and a mind game that I could never have imagined my wife would pull. Now, some people in my life are saying I'm acting too quickly and that I should have tried marriage counseling or at least waited a while to see if we could rebuild trust. My own mother, who generally adores my wife, was shocked by the news and told me she understands I'm hurt but marriage is for better or worse and that maybe this affair was just an emotional

fling that we could overcome with therapy. A couple of our mutual friends have also reached out, surprised that I filed so fast, saying things like, are you sure you're not overreacting? It was just an anniversary prank gone wrong, maybe. That last comment makes me furious because that prank excuse is exactly what my wife tried to feed some people. She's been saying it was all a misunderstanding. But from where I stand, there's no misunderstanding. So here I am, paperwork filed, staying at my brother's house for now with my kids, trying to put on a brave face for them. My wife, or should I say soon to be ex-wife, is blowing up my phone with texts apologizing one minute, then accusing me of giving up on the family the next. It's a

roller coaster of manipulation and I'm having none of it. I've barely responded to her, except to discuss arrangements for the kids and to tell her to talk to my lawyer if she needs something. I'm beyond angry and deeply hurt, but I'm trying to stay civil for the sake of our children. Why filing for divorce instead of working on it, as some have suggested? So, Reddit, Ida for walking away instantly and not giving my wife a second chance after she literally invited her a fair partner to our anniversary party to compare us? Update 1. First, I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support and clarity. in your comments.

The general consensus was that I'm not the asshole here, and reading your perspectives really solidified my own. It's been about two weeks since my original post, and a lot has happened. Unfortunately, it seems my wife, let's just call her my STBX, soon to BX, has been busy doing damage control in the most dishonest way possible. To put it bluntly, my wife has been telling anyone who will listen that I misunderstood the whole anniversary night incident. According to a revisionist version of events, the man who showed up was just a confused delivery driver who was asking for directions to a different

address, and apparently I blew up over nothing. She's making it sound like some poor guy came to the door, maybe said a joke that I took the wrong way, and that I lost my mind and decided to divorce her on the spot for it. I found out she was spreading this story because I got a call from my mother-in-law, her own mom. My Mill was very concerned and a bit accusatory, asking me why I was breaking up the family over a misunderstanding with a delivery person. You can imagine my confusion hearing that. I asked Mill what exactly my wife had told her. That's when I learned the full fake story, my wife told her parents, and who knows who else, that the guy at the door was delivering a gift, got the wrong house at first, and when asking if this was the right address he

supposedly made an offhand flirty comment. She claims he said something dumb like oops, sorry babe, wrong house, and that I misheard it or overreacted to it. She completely left out the part where she knew the guy, invited him, and certainly the part about him calling her a hot milf. I calmly filled my mother-in-law in on the real story. I told her, point blank, that the man was not some random lost driver, he was my wife's affair partner, whom she invited deliberately. I also told her about the explicit things he said to my wife right in front of me and the kids. My mill got very quiet, clearly devastated, and she even apologized to me on her daughter's behalf. It was a bit of a role reversal, her apologizing for her daughter's

behavior. I felt bad for my mill, but I'm also furious that my wife put us all in this position. Apparently, my wife had been telling not just her parents, but also some mutual friends that I overreacted to a misunderstanding. Two of these friends, a couple we've known for years, actually took me out for coffee to gently suggest I might be making a mistake by rushing to divorce. They said things like, maybe it really was just a poorly executed surprise

or a prank that went wrong. She's telling us nothing happened. I had to set them straight as well, without going into every sort of detail. I made it very clear, she cheated. She invited the guy to our home. There was no innocent misunderstanding. What really boils my blood is that she's trying to paint me a some irrational, jealous man who threw away our marriage over a misheard word.

She's essentially gaslighting everyone around her. Meanwhile, I have proof of what actually happened. At this stage, I don't even care to convince everyone, but I do care about a few key people, like our families, knowing the truth, especially. for the sake of my kids. Speaking of the kids, they are doing okay, given the circumstances. We've kept them out of the he said she said as much as possible, but they're smart. My daughter in particular doesn't believe her mom's story at all. Actually, my STB axe apparently tried to feed our kids a similar line about that man at the

door, that he was just a silly guy who got the wrong house and that daddy overreacted because he thought mommy knew him. Well, our 13-year-old shut that down real quick. She told her mom point-blank that she heard what the man said, both the babe and the hot milk comment, and that it was obvious he wasn't just asking for directions. Apparently, my daughter even said something along the lines of, Mom, do you think I'm stupid?

Delivery guys don't call people hot milk when they're lost. I wasn't there for that conversation. My STBX told me later in an angry text that our daughter was being rude and turning against her, which, oh, gee, I wonder why, but I gave my kid a big hug and told her I'm proud of her for trusting her instincts. My 10-year-old son is a bit more shielded from all this. I think he was confused by what he heard that night. And we've only explained to him in simple terms that mom did something hurtful to dad.

He doesn't know the details, nor does he need to at his age, but even he sensed that the delivery guy wasn't normal. Right now, I'm staying at our home with the kids, and my wife is the one who has moved out to her friend's place. She went to stay with a co-worker girlfriend of hers after I filed. Since I refused to leave the house for the long term, the kids need stability. We're doing a sort of informal week-on-slash-week-off thing with the kids until lawyers and the court figure out a formal custody arrangement. When it's her week, she's been coming to stay at the house with them. I stay elsewhere those days, usually at my brothers.

It's awkward, but we're trying to keep the kids' lives as normal as possible. On the legal front, my wife was served the divorce papers. She was furious about that. Alternating between texting me angry messages about how I'm giving up on us without a fight and then pleading with me to talk to her and reconsider. I told her the time for talking was the night of our anniversary, before she decided to pull this stunt, not after. Right now, I'm communicating only as much as necessary for the kids and legal stuff. Emotionally, it's been a rough couple of weeks for me, not going to lie. The initial adrenaline

and anger have worn off a bit and I feel more sadness and disbelief that this is where we ended up. But every time I even vaguely entertain the thought of was I too hasty? I remind myself of that scene at the door, and of the fact that she orchestrated it. Any lingering sympathy I gets iced over by the sheer audacity of her actions. And seeing her try to rewrite history and make me out to be crazy or irrational just confirms that I made the right call. If she were genuinely remorseful and honest, she wouldn't be spouting these lies. The fact is, she cares more about protecting her own image than actually fixing what she did.

So yeah, at this point, my wife is running around telling folks a fairy tale about a confused delivery man, while I'm just trying to move on. Update 2, I got the proof I needed. A few days after the first update, I ended up having a direct encounter with Jason, the affair partner. It was partly by chance and partly because I was looking for answers. Here's what happened, I went out with a couple of close friends to grab a beer at a local bar. Lo and behold, who do I see shooting pool with some buddies in the corner? Jason, the very same guy who showed up at my door.

My heart started pounding when I spotted him. My friends noticed my stare and I quietly told them that was the guy. One of my friends immediately got up like he was ready to go over and kick Jason's ass on my behalf. I stopped him, the last thing I needed was a bar fight. Instead, I decided I'd approach Jason calmly, man to man. But I was going to be smart about it. I hit the record button on my phone, I had a voice recording app ready. maybe a bit paranoid, but after all the lies floating around, I wanted everything documented,

and walked over to the pool table. My other friend trailed behind me just in case things went south. Jason recognized me as I walked up. I could see a flicker of oh shit in his eyes. To his credit, he didn't run or try to hide. I said, got a minute. I think we should talk. His friends looked at me like they expected a punch, but I could.

kept my voice level and calm. Jason nodded and actually followed me to a quieter corner by the bar. He started with, look, man, I don't want any trouble. I told him I didn't either, I just wanted the truth. I said something like, I know my wife invited you to that party. I know something's been going on. Just be honest with me. I'm not here to swing at you, I just need to hear it from you. Whether it was the beers he'd had or just that he was over the whole mess, Jason opened up. And boy, did he confirm everything. I had the entire conversation on tape, well, digital recording, but you get me. Some standout bits, he admitted that my wife invited him to our house that night. She had told him it was an open house

style casual anniversary gathering and that he should drop by. So her whole story about him randomly showing up lost. Complete BS, he said he didn't realize I was totally in the dark about him. In his words, she told me you guys were pretty much done, like you were separated or she was about to leave. I figured you knew she had someone new or that you two had an arrangement. I nearly laughed, in a grim way, when he said that. An arrangement?

My wife had basically led him to believe we were on the verge of divorce before she ever pulled this stunt. He went on to say that my wife told him she was walking away from her marriage and that I didn't appreciate her. Those were his words. It made me sick to hear, but also furious, because not only was she cheating, she was also running my name through the mud to justify it. He admitted calling her those names was a dumb, impulsive move and apologized, saying he hadn't realized our kids were right there. Perhaps the biggest confirmation of all, I directly asked him, so, just to be 100% clear, she invited you there expecting I'd see you, and she told you she was ending our marriage. And he responded, yes. She said she wanted me there because

she was going to talk to you afterwards and end it. She thought having me around, even just briefly, would. I don't know, give her confidence or something. She said you two were basically over. I'm sorry, man. That I'm sorry, man came with a shrug, like he didn't really know what else to say. And honestly, what could he say? I just nodded. Weirdly, I didn't feel like punching him at all at that moment. I mostly felt this immense relief mingled with rage and sadness. I thanked Jason for being honest. He actually seemed a bit surprised that I was so calm. I told him, look, I appreciate it. And I'm not going to lie, I hate what you did with my wife, but she's the one who owed me loyalty, not you.

At least you're owning up to it now. He nodded and kind of scratched the back of his head, saying he felt bad about how things went down. He even said he was shocked when he heard I filed for divorce immediately, because my wife had apparently been acting like I was some neglectful, cruel husband. The whole conversation lasted maybe 10 to 15 minutes. I walked back to my friends with the recording still going, and when I stopped it and showed it to them, they were stunned. One friend gave me a bro hug and said, well, at least you've got the truth now, even if it sucks. I have since made copies of that recording and transcribed the key parts.

2. I forwarded a copy of the recording to my lawyer, just in case it might be useful in the divorce and custody. proceedings. I also played the key parts of the recording for my in-laws, omitting some names to keep it civil. They were devastated. They apologized to me for their daughter's actions and have been very supportive of me and the kids. I'm relieved that my relationship with them remains intact, their good people and loving grandparents, and none of this is their fault. As for my STBX, I haven't told her about the recording yet. She's still sticking to her public story that nothing happened and avoids discussing details with me, apart from begging me to meet and talk

or reconsider, which I'm not entertaining. At this stage, I'm focusing on my kids and the divorce process. I feel vindicated knowing the full truth, but it's also incredibly depressing. The woman I spent 15 years with has morphed into someone I don't recognize, someone who lies, cheats, and then lies even more to cover it up. At least now I have the closure of knowing it wasn't all in my head. The big remaining issue now is helping my kids get through this, especially as more people in our community, school, mutual friends, inevitably find out about the divorce. I haven't told them about the recording or the affair details, that would be inappropriate and hurtful for them to hear. I just reassure them that both mom and dad love them very much, but we can't

stay married because mom broke dad's trust. They seem to get it at a basic level, my daughter certainly does, and my son, in his own way, does too. Final update, I wish I could say that after all this, things settled down quietly, but there was one more ugly episode. This one, sadly, involves my kids directly and has pretty much shattered whatever remaining relationship they might have had with their mother. During one of my wife's custody days a little while back, she apparently decided it was time to set the record straight with our children, from her twisted point of view.

I only learned the full details after the fact, when my daughter came home extremely upset. Here's what happened, as my daughter explained it to me, they were at my wife's apartment, she's renting a small place now. My wife sat the kids down for a talk. She then proceeded to tell them that Daddy has been very mean to Mommy and that everything going on, the divorce, the separation, is because I'm not nice to her. She actually told them, Daddy is mean to Mommy, and Mommy has a friend from work who is a nicer man and just wants mommy to be happy.

Yes, she straight up introduced the concept of her friend from work being a nicer man. Essentially, she was trying to justify her affair to a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old by painting me as some sort of villain who drove her to it. Unbelievable. Apparently, my daughter saw red at that. She told her mom in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to hear it. According to my daughter, she literally said, Mom, stop. We know you lied. We know that friend was the guy at the party. If you think he's so nice, go be with him, but don't expect us to approve or like him. And don't lie about Dad, he has not been mean to you. We were there. We've seen what really happened. My wife allegedly broke down and tried to hug my daughter, saying she didn't understand. My daughter backed away and told her, no, Mom, you don't understand.

You broke Dad's heart and you hurt all of us. This is all on you. Meanwhile, my 10-year-old son got so upset hearing her badmouthed me that he refused to even look at her. He told her, I want to go back to Dad's house, now. When she tried to convince him to stay and finish dinner, he apparently went to his room and started packing his overnight bag on his own. I got a flurry of texts that was muted by evening from my wife, but I didn't see them until later that night. I don't check my phone constantly, and they weren't calls. She was saying things like I've turned the kids against her and asking if she could drop them at my place

since they don't even want to talk to me. By the time I saw those messages, it was already handled, because my daughter actually called my brother, their uncle, to come pick them up from mom's place. My brother gladly retrieved them and brought them straight to me. When they got home, both kids were angry and distraught. I did my best to comfort them. I assured them that I love them and that I'm sorry they had to deal with that conversation. I told them that their mom is having a hard time facing what she did, and she said some things that weren't true or fair. I also made sure to tell them it's okay to love their mom and that I will support them having a relationship with her, but I also affirmed that they never have to accept someone mistreating them or lying to them,

even if it's a parent. Since that incident, neither of my kids has wanted to go back to my wife's place when it's supposed to be her parenting time. We've temporarily adjusted so that she comes to visit them at our house under my supervision, but even those visits are tense and very brief. The kids basically tolerate it for a bit and then find excuses to go to their rooms or go out. It's pretty clear that, at least for now, they've lost a lot of respect for their mom. My wife has begged me to help repair her relationship with the kids, but I told her flat out that that's entirely up to her. I can encourage basic respect, and I have, but I'm not going to force them to ignore what they live through. She tried to blame me again for poisoning them,

but the irony is that she did this to herself. All I ever did was tell the truth, and honestly I shielded kids from the worst of it. They figured a lot out on their own. Right now, my priority is making sure the kids feel safe and loved. I've gotten them into therapy to help process all of this, and I'm getting some therapy myself, which I probably needed from day one. It's helping, little by little. As for the marriage, it's going to be over in the coming months, obviously. Edit, small update, I have officially been divorced for about a week now, it took eight months to finalize. I have zero regrets for the choice I made to end the marriage immediately. If anything, each development after my original post only proved

that I made the right call. My focus now is on being the best father I can be. My kids and I are doing okay, we've got a long healing journey ahead, but we have each other's backs. As for my ex, well, She made her choices. I hope she finds whatever it is she was looking for, but that's no longer my concern. Thank you to everyone who followed our story. I'm signing off now, hopefully for good. And no, in case anyone wonders, she and Jason didn't even end up together in the end. Last I heard, he felt things were too messy and backed off.

So all that drama was truly for nothing. What a waste. You.