Faced with the unthinkable, Declan isn’t sure if he will ever “be the same person again” following the years-long deceit from his wife.
The man wrote to Reddit to share his experience after his teenager innocently bought an ancestry DNA test to discover more about the family’s history.
When the results came back, it was clear that Declan wasn’t his children’s biological father.
Declan said: “I don’t intend to abandon my kids – I might not be their father, but I’m still their dad and I love them dearly.
“They were scared that I might leave them. I told them that they’re still my children even though I’m not their biological father and that I won’t be abandoning them.”
As for their mother, she confessed she had a one-night stand very early on in their marriage when the pair were not getting on.
“I trusted her absolutely until this happened,” Declan shared. “I loved her so much. She was a part of me and I couldn’t even imagine a life without her.”
Reminiscing on when they “fell in love” more than 20 years ago, when they were first co-workers, Declan shared how they decided to go into business together.
Declan remembered: “We fell in love, and a year after starting out a business, we got married.”
After diverging opinions on where they wanted to take the company next, the young couple had a “massive fight”.
It was during this temporary state of separation when Declan left home for a couple of weeks when his wife supposedly had the one-night stand.
Declan wrote: “She told me that during the time we had that fight at the start of our marriage, she got drunk one night and slept with a random guy and that she has not cheated on me since.
“The guy was gone before she woke up the next day and she felt extremely guilty after that.”
Admitting his “thoughts are a mess”, he can’t help but feel that his wife has otherwise been “great” and an “excellent business partner”.
Declan confessed: “This ordeal has made a massive dent in my belief in her as a wife, but I still trust her as a partner.”
Deciding to stay with his wife, Declan said it’s been a “difficult journey” and their marriage will “never be” the same again.
Declan explained: “I decided to try because I loved my wife deeply and trusted that she was telling the truth.”
*Name has been changed.
