“Once a cheater, always a cheater” is a phrase nobody actually wants to experience in real life. Because if it does come true, it means a great deal of trust has been shattered. It might seem naive to put your faith in a person who has cheated before, but it also requires some courage and vulnerability.
Except in situations where the cheater’s new partner brags about them turning over a new leaf, only to be proven wrong almost immediately. This is what happened to a teen’s stepmom, and he shared all the sordid details online.
More info: Reddit
Stepmom tries to act high and mighty, tells husband’s family that he’s grown and learned from his mistakes, it all backfires on her when she finds out he cheated on her too
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Teen shared that his mom delivered a stillborn child because her cheating husband infected her with an STD, she also passed away after delivery
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
When the poster was 10, his dad married Kate, who believed that her husband was a good man and told people to stop carrying a grudge against him for his actions
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Kate later found out that her husband was cheating on her, and she broke down at a family gathering when she realized that nobody was going to support or comfort her
Image credits: u/ExcitingDistrict14
She told the poster to be nice to her, but he called her “delusional” and said that she finally knew “what [his] mom went through, only less severely”
The 16-year-old poster gave netizens an insight into his childhood before his dad remarried. He said that when he was 6 years old, his mom was expecting a child. Around 7 months into her pregnancy, she began feeling sick. When tests were conducted, they found out that the poster’s dad had cheated on her and given her an STD. She kicked her husband out as soon as she came to know about it. But, the STD caused complications with her delivery, and she gave birth to a stillborn. It also caused her to bleed a lot, and she died in the hospital.
It might seem unfathomable that someone could cheat on their pregnant wife, but studies show that 16% of married couples were unfaithful at some point in their marriage. Around 57% of marriages end in divorce because of cheating partners, which shows how serious of a problem infidelity truly is. This type of behavior can ruin a person’s trust and make it challenging to maintain a healthy relationship. Which is exactly why the poster was so distant from his father.
When he was asked if he maintained any connection with his father, the boy said, “it's basically non-existent. I do everything within my power to have as little to do with him as possible. I blame him, just like his family does. We know what he's done and he will never be able to get away from that. I will never forget it.”
The teen must have also felt bad when his dad married a new woman named Kate, who immediately began singing his praises. She kept telling everyone that her husband treated her well and that he had learned his lesson. Kate felt like she was special and even said that “he has someone he loves now and wants to have a happy marriage with.” All these jabs aimed at his family made her stepson angry, and he kept his distance from both of them.
Image credits: Ron Lach (not the actual photo)
Kate was soon going to realize that despite standing up for her husband and protesting that he had changed, he was a serial cheater. When she found out that he had cheated once again, she fell apart. Kate later realized that his family and her stepson knew about it, and she tried to get their support. But the teen told her that he did not care about her at all. He even said that she was delusional and that she wasn’t as special as she thought because he cheated on her, too.
According to Choosing Therapy, “although there isn’t a distinct psychological definition for serial cheating, it usually refers to a chronic pattern of relationship infidelity. Research shows that cheating can indeed repeat itself over the lifespan.” Therapists even state that people who cheat on their previous partner are three times likelier to cheat on their next partner. This is because infidelity can become a persistent pattern. The teen’s dad, unfortunately, seems like a serial cheater, and it’s obvious he hasn’t learned from his mistakes even after causing such harm to his first wife.
The poster’s dad isn’t the only person who engages in such behavior. Research found that, among cheaters, 47% of women and 44% of men have had multiple infidelities. It really seems like many cheaters cannot learn from their mistakes, so maybe it’s up to the people who got cheated on to learn when to walk away.
Unfortunately, the teen’s stepmom could not move past her husband’s actions. Instead of confronting him, she tried to pile onto her stepson. When he refused to comfort her, she lost her temper and accused him of being a “monster.” Commenters sided with him and said he wasn’t obligated to support her emotionally. They also called her arrogant for thinking she was special enough to get a leopard to change his spots (in this case, a cheater to change his cheating ways).
Do you think the teen was right to call his stepmom “delusional” and refuse to comfort her? Tell us what you think in the comments, and don’t be afraid to spill the tea if you know any cheating stories.
Netizens felt that the stepmom had reaped what she sowed and that she had no right to ask anyone else for support after trying to convince people to forgive her husband
