‘She was always one of the villains in my eyes’: 25-year-old daughter refuses to empathize with half-siblings and bio dad's mistress-turned-wife after he cheats again

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Apr 30, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Divorce is a thing that happens to nearly half of marriages, at least in the United States. The reasons for divorce vary, but a portion of those reasons definitely land on infidelity. This betrayal of trust not only affects those who are romantically involved in the situation, but also those who are familiarly involved. The children of divorce, especially if exposed to the betrayal and infidelity, struggle to find common ground with the offender (the parent who cheated). What's worse is if the offender was gallivanting around with multiple women while the other parent is terminally in the hospital, then marries their mistress a month after their ex-partner passes. 

That's exactly what happens in this next story, and the daughter who posted the story explains that her biological father, who is now married to his previous mistress, commits infidelity again. The daughter feels no empathy for her stepmom's situation because, at the end of the day, she is losing the daughter's father the way she got him—through betrayal. The daughter's half-siblings are adamant that she comfort her stepmom, but she tells them off and explains the origins of their mother and father's love story. Scroll to read.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • You can do everything right and still end up blindsided by the person you love most—in sickness and in health doesn't apply to this marriage, apparently. 

  • "His wife knew he was married and she even knew that his wife was [passing away] in the hospital and she chose to marry him a few months later anyway."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "AITA for asking my half siblings and their mother why I'm supposed to care about my father cheating on her?"

    I (25f) don't have a relationship with my father anymore and a very limited one with my half siblings (14 and 15). And I never had a relationship with their mother who is my father's wife and his former mistress/other woman/affair partner. When my
    via PrimalSwan900
  • mom was alive he was cheating on my mom with his current wife and some others. But current wife was the main affair partner. I learned this a few weeks after my mom did because my uncle and father were fighting about it.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • Seems my uncle found my father and his second wife together when mom in hospital dong. My mom had been sick for all of three weeks before she d d and my father was very clearly with
    via PrimalSwan900
  • these other women before that too. His wife knew he was married and she even knew that his wife was d¸ng in the hospital and she chose to marry him a few months later anyway.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • I was so young at the time that it was traumatic going from a healthyish (mom had asthma) mom to a mom who had the flu and then pneumonia and was then gone in a three week span.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • Then to find out that the parent you were left with was a disgusting filthy cheater who couldn't even be there for his daughter when her mom was sick. And remarries after less than a year to the woman he was with when she was saying goodbye to her mom.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • Cheezburger Image 10499417088
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • My relationship with my father never recovered from me learning the truth. I never liked his wife and I made sure I shut her out any time she tried to get close to me. I did develop a relationship of
    via PrimalSwan900
  • sorts with my half siblings but there are/were tensions there because they know how I feel about their parents and they take offense to me not giving their mom a chance.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • Now they've all learned my father has cheated on her and she reached out to me to cry about it but I shut her down and told her h I. Then my half to siblings said they needed to talk to me and they gave me h I for
    via PrimalSwan900
  • not being there for their mom and to imagine how devastated she is. I know they're young still so I'm trying to not be too hard on them. But I did make it clear that I was not there for their mom.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • They tried to defend her and she told me she never did anything bad to me and I always treated her like the enemy. I reminded her she was always one of the villains in my eyes. Then I was told yet again that our father had hurt her
    via PrimalSwan900
  • and how she deserved better and she needed help and she was cheated on. I asked why I'm supposed to care when she's nothing to me and she was one of the other women in my parents marriage.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • My half siblings told me she's their mother and I should care about her for them and how they don't want me as a sister if I take so much joy out of their mom being cheated on. I told them that was okay and I'd just leave.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • But they said I really should care when someone's cheated on because it's bad and dangerous and they scrambled to come up with other stuff. Their mother said I shouldn't be talking to teens like that and I told her she needed to stop her kids bringing me into this then.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • I want to figure out if I was wrong to ask that in front of my half siblings specifically. So AITA?
    via PrimalSwan900
  • KrofftSurvivor Tell your siblings to just ~give the other woman a chance, after all ~she never did anything bad to them~ and she's not the enemy.... They're old enough to learn that how you treat others will come back to you, and mom is getting her karma...
    via KrofftSurvivor
  • PrimalSwan900 It'll be interesting if the new other woman says something like that to them. I'm sure they'll have a reason why it's different.
    via PrimalSwan900
  • Ok_Break6916 She married a cheater and knew for sure. What did she expect? She thought she was "the one"? FAFO
    via Ok_Break6916
  • Upset_Custard 76... Not sure why your step mother would be surprised that she lost him like she got him. NTA
    via Upset_Custard7652
  • FarraCherries NTA. Your father's betrayal and your mother's pain are wounds that can't be ignored, and his wife's role in that betrayal doesn't just disappear. Your half-siblings may not fully understand yet, but your truth and your boundaries are completely justified in this situation.
    via FarraCherries

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

family dynamics family drama entitled parents blended family wife reddit story family feud parenting cheating family reddit thread Reddit Parenting Fail half siblings parents Parenting FAILS
Scroll Down For The Next Article