17-year-old exposes his dad for cheating on his mom for 2 years when he was a toddler: 'I didn't just tell mom. I told dad's whole family about it. I figured they should know that they were supporting a cheater'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Aug 27, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Life isn't fair. In movies and morality plays, people who misbehave often get their comeuppance. Their bad behavior is set up in the story, and they usually get caught in the most dramatic of ways when they least expect it. Life sometimes works like that, but not most of the time. You can admit to a party of strangers that you have a crush on the same person your friend has a crush on without it ever getting back to them. Or, your friend can find out that you told a bunch of randos the person they have a crush on, and they never talk to you again! It really depends on a person's temperament and their willingness to forgive someone for their bad behavior. Sometimes, you may never forgive someone for their horrible behavior, and that's okay.

I especially understand not wanting to forgive your dad for cheating on your mom and never getting caught. You could pretend that never happened, but it might eat away at you. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10547218944
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The kid in this story only recently found out that his dad was cheating on his mom for a couple of years before they got divorced. His dad thought he got away with it after all these years, never really facing any social consequences for cheating, but his son wasn't going to let that continue now that he knew the truth. He told everybody in his dad's "new" family about the origin of his relationship with his stepmom, and his dad is still trying to shame him about making his actions known.

  • Am I the bad guy for making my dad face the consequences of cheating on my mom with his wife by telling her and his family?

    My parents got divorced when I (17m) was 5. It was all kinds of awful because my dad acted like my mom was the worst person he knew and he kept that energy even after he remarried and had other kids and he and my mom hardly ever spoke. Most of the
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • stuff he said either wasn't true and he contradicted himself on all the lies or it was like. Like how she went back to work after having me instead of being a SAHM and how awful that was. Or how she had the nerve to plan date nights when he was busy.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • Almost three years after my parents divorced my dad remarried to his wife Anya and they had three kids together. I hated the way dad talked about mom. I hated that Anya was always quick to tell me I shouldn't be so quick to defend mom. But they were good to me in a way. Not the best and not the worst either kind of deal.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • Then a few months ago my dad got drink at his wife's birthday party and he told me he and Anya had dated way longer than anyone realize and that he was cheating on my mom for two years and got away with it because nobody found out. He
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • admitted he left mom for Anya and that he hated mom for almost finding out about Anya by planning date nights and other stuff when he just wanted to be with Anya. He even admitted they laugh behind mom's back and how proud he was in never getting caught.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • A man and a woman standing next to each other
    via Andrej Lišakov (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I was ped and when dad sobered up I confronted him and Anya and they told me I couldn't tell anyone and dad was freaking out because he hadn't meant to tell me. But I didn't listen and I told my mom. Because after all those years of him talking sh about her I figured she deserved to know the truth. She was hurt
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • and I hated doing that to her but she told me she was glad she finally knew and she would stop trying to stay civil for my sake after all that. She said she wouldn't be outright hostile and I told her she could be as hostile as she liked. I said I hated him for
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • what he did after all those years of talking about her like she was trash. She admitted she wished she could have gotten enough proof for a custody judge to take seriously when I was younger.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • But I didn't just tell mom. I told dad's whole family about it. I figured they should know that they were supporting a cheater because they told me to stay out of what he said about mom. That he was faithful and that mattered more. When I told them it took a
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • while for them to believe it but then they did. And they told dad he was disgusting and immoral and how God would never forgive him. They also stopped having anything to do with him and with the kids. They no longer consider them legitimate grandkids.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • Man and woman sitting on bench facing sea
    via Matt Bennett

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • That was when my dad became super ped off at me and he said I was evil and spiteful to destroy everyone's life like that. I asked him what would he call himself after talking sh_about my mom for 12 years when he was the one who did her dirty. He said he never ruined the lives of innocent kids who were getting grown people problems taken out on them. I said he actually did
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • when he badmouthed my mom to me and put me in a bad place with that. Anya said that it was so small compared to what their kids would go through because it was clear I was done with all of them as family and that meant the kids would lose so much more.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • I went no contact with them at that point although I can't block him until I turn 18 because it says so in the custody order. And since I block her they use dad's phone all the time to shame me for making dad face the consequences of what he did. They blame me for their kids being collateral damage in it all. AITA?
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • Cute You676 NTA. He's the embodiment of FAFO. He's just mad because he got away with it for so long and now can't hide behind his lies any more.
    via u/CuteYou676
  • Cadsonnn OP Literally! He was so smug about it too. I can imagine him walking around feeling so smug all the time and not just when he was drink that time.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • SemanticPedantic007 Oh definitely, this was a classic case of alcol loosening your tongue to share with the world what you've long felt inside.
    via u/SemanticPedantic007
  • certainfleek Exactly, besides what he's really angry about is losing control of the story Imao. For years, he got to play the victim card while quietly being the villain. Now people see him for who he is, and that's not OP burden to carry...!
    via u/certainfleek
  • OkBed007 You did nothing wrong. Very proud of you for defending/ settings things straight and staying by your mom side for all these years. They have no right to be angry and yet thay are and you should not worry about their feelings. No one spared you.
    via u/OkBed007
  • Cadsonnn OP I had to. It was crazy to me that dad was admitting to lies by contradicting himself and then blasting mom for the weirdest and the meanest sh. All the while he felt so smug that he got away with cheating on her for two years.
    via u/Cadsonnn
  • bythebrook88 They blame me for their kids being collateral damage in it all. But they didn't give a sh about OP being collateral damage in their affair? The one they had BEFORE having kids together? Shouldn't they have thought about the damage to their future kids when the truth came out? NTA
    via u/bythebrook88
  • StrangledInMoonlight That's the "do over family" mantra though. this family is perfect. The previous family was the crappy test pancake. The crappy first pancake kids should just be soooooo fricken happy they get to be associated with the perfect do over family! The pancake kids can't experience "damage" from the perfect family. The perfect family can only experience damage from the pancake kids.
    via u/StrangledInMoonlight
  • Cadsonnn OP Of course not because in their eyes my life was just fine. They refused to see that the divorce hurt me when it happened and the years of talking sh about my mom wasn't good for me either. In their eyes I was just happy and none of it bothered me.
    via u/Cadsonnn

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parents of teens teens family drama cheater caught teenagers cheating husband wife husband cheating dad exposed cheater family infidelity mom Father
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