“I found love letters, exchanged by him and my younger sister, detailing their plan to take my son away from me.”

I'm a Senior Staff Writer based in New York City, where I've been covering classic BuzzFeed-style content since 2020.

NOTE: There are mentions of grooming, sexual abuse, stillbirth, suicide, self-harm, and child sexual abuse images.

"I also found the bills and my paychecks (I was making plenty), but nothing destroyed me like those letters.

This happened nearly 15 years ago, so it's all water under the bridge now. I did confront him, but in those days, in that small midwestern Catholic town, you stayed married and kept your mouth shut.

I've since moved away, and the divorce has been final for nearly 10 years. I went on to raise my son as a proud single mom.

I'm not one to hold grudges, but neither he nor my sister will ever have my forgiveness. My blood still boils when I think of their scheme. It would have worked, too, had I not gone snooping."

Friend: 'I can't wait to be naked in your arms.'

Hubby: 'I get so jealous when your husband makes love to you.'

Friend: 'Wish we had met before our respective spouses. Wish my son were yours.'

I confronted them both. She said she had a crush on my husband, but that it was nothing. My husband said it was just mere flirtations…they both think I'm a fool. I severed my relationship with her, and things have not been the same with my husband and me.

Months later, she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl whom she named Zoey…a name my husband had once told me he would name our first daughter.

A lot has happened, including her husband raising hell and damnation, but that's another story. I am biding my time. When my babies are older, and I start working again, I'll leave and never look back…he has begged me to stay. He says he loves me, and he is still the loving and caring husband and father, but I know nothing has changed because he still talks with her when I'm not around. I don't trust anything he says or does anymore. I hate them for doing this to me."

"As he was on top of her, he turned his face and looked at me. They startled. I just turned around whispering, 'I'm sorry,' and left the room, closing the door behind me, and went looking for another bed where I could lay my baby son. I found another empty room, rested my son on the bed, and went down to the living room to join the rest of the family. My husband noticed something was wrong and asked what had happened. I mumbled some excuse. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I felt as if I had.

The fact is, that nine months later, that sister-in-law gave birth to a child. Amazingly, the baby boy looked a lot like her cousin. Her husband was unsuspecting."

"Swingers sites with multiple male partners, living part-time in another man's home three minutes down the road from our family, siphoning money weekly from her and my dad's joint account and putting it in a separate account for herself.

I kept this secret to myself for a whole year. It only came out when I overheard her finally telling my dad she wanted a divorce and that his depression was the reason. (My dad was suffering after witnessing his father die from a stroke in front of him.)

I heard her feeding him fake excuses and stepped in, equipped with a year's supply of screenshots which I had taken on my own phone. She had no idea I knew and had a complete panic attack when I outed her to my dad on the spot.

More chaos unfolded for years as the divorce and assets were settled, but it's safe to say that none of us has any contact with her anymore. It's been 12 years.

No regrets. It saved my dad from blaming himself for the rest of his life. He is wonderful; she was truly just a piece of shit."

"I glanced at my girlfriend in absolute bewilderment. She had a look on her face that I'd never seen, and said I should ignore it, but I couldn't. I rushed downstairs to my mother and handed her the certificate, asking 'What is this?' She instantly began sobbing and said that she was sorry for not telling me sooner, and that I was actually adopted! Then she and my father explained that my birth parents had been 18 and addicted to heroin when they had me. I was originally placed in foster care with my adoptive parents, and they grew to love me so much that they wanted to adopt me, but had to go to court as they were over 40 at the time.

It took me around a week to process the information, and for that week, I was very upset and battling an identity crisis. But I got through it, and now, I know I am no less loved by my adoptive parents than by any biological parent and their child. And I love and appreciate them more than words could describe. I have briefly spoken to my birth parents, and they are still battling their addictions and demons. I feel sorry for them and definitely don't feel any spite or resentment."

"My grandma had been taking notes about how my mom would be late for visitation, or wouldn't show up, or even attempt to be motherly. It was very thorough and time-stamped. She'd logged every interaction with my mom. She was doing this, I'm guessing, for custody purposes. 

But the worst thing I remember reading? My mom had called my grandma one afternoon and offered to sell all three of us to them. She said she wouldn't fight for us in the courts if my grandma gave her $200 for us. That's about $66 and some change for each of us. And then they could have us. Pretty good deal, right?

We stopped reading the journal after seeing that. But it always stuck with me.

I never asked my grandma or mom about it. I'm sure they didn't accept her offer and simply shared this information about her with the judge in the custody case. They did end up getting custody. 

We had a wonderful life with my grandparents. But I still wish I had never read that journal. My mom basically attempted to sell us. And not even for a lot of money. I could have gone my whole life without knowing that."

"My mom was an awesome person. I'm angry about how he treated us growing up. He's mellowed some now. Surprisingly, my dad and I are on okay terms and are relatively close. It's hard to accept how he used to be, but advanced age has softened him. 

When I was a kid, I remember thinking they stayed together for me. But I grew up, and they still never split. I could never figure out why. Still can't. It's just a shame, because I think Mom would have been so much happier on her own."

"He was a work client I'd known for years. He'd become a trusted friend and frequent visitor to our home, and our families had gone on joint vacations (he was also divorced with kids). Lately, we'd been testing the waters of a romance. 

Ralph had always been taken with my daughter. When he brought me flowers, he would bring her a smaller bouquet. He would take each of us arm in arm to lunch. He would give her little gifts while ignoring my sons. I took his attention as sweet and welcomed a father figure into her life. 

I have never been more wrong about a person in my life.

Her journal entry revealed a sickening story of a young girl who had been slowly preyed upon. Little by little, visit by visit, over two years, things had turned from friendly to sexual. Although she loathed his visits, she felt she could not tell anyone. She was worried about damaging our family and me. She'd become sulky and stoic, and I had recently discovered self-harm and tried to take her to a psychiatrist, but she'd refused to talk. I had told Ralph this, and he seemed so concerned for her welfare.

It all seemed too awful to be true, but it was. The journal became the State's evidence against Ralph. We agreed to press misdemeanor charges to save my daughter from a court trial. The State's Attorney gave him a year in come-and-go prison, where he was free to continue work, but reported to jail every night. He was forbidden contact with any children, including his sons. But Ralph was a charmer; he was still able to finagle special privileges during that time, including seeing his kids. While he'll need to disclose his sex offender status to employers and neighbors for the rest of his life, I bet he has a version of the story that still paints him as 'a great catch.' 

Meanwhile, I took my family and ran. We moved to the mountains, and I remarried. We live a simple, rich life. My daughter now lives a beautiful life, too — stronger, more worldly, and confident — and very much loved."

"I discovered a whole conversation which basically spelled out her feelings for him. She'd said things like:

'I love you! Please don't be angry! I'll be back soon! I hate this place...!'

This crushed me. Not only had I discovered she was secretly in love with the best friend whom I'd always fucking suspected, but she also had the horrible, childish cheek to say that my two fantastic Staffordshire bull terriers were ugly. It was one of those comments that she probably didn't even mean with sincerity. She was just adding more negatives to reassure the guy that she oh-so hated being at my house and wanted to leave as soon as possible to get back to him.

It broke me. This girl, whom I thought I was in love with, was a complete fake. It was like she had died but was still alive in a new form, with a new personality that I knew nothing about. It took me almost two years to feel okay about romantic relationships again."

"I felt really bad, so I decided to try to contact my dad’s other secret family. I found out they had already grown up and were successful adults — but they hadn't heard from my dad for about a decade.

I still haven't asked my dad about them. One day, I want to meet them. I haven't told anyone; I carry this secret alone."

"At my exclamation (don’t even remember what I said), the two of them rushed out of the bedroom and ran down the hall to the living room where the party was being held. By the time I got to the living room, the three of them were leaving. I have no idea what they said to her boyfriend, but I called my boyfriend the very next day to break up with him."

"I was a kid. She was only a year older. I think she tore them up and threw them away, but I honestly can’t remember. This was back in the early '60s, but I clearly still feel traumatized by the situation."

"I wish I had never found the emails. I wish I hadn't started an investigation after she left. I wish I hadn't found the rest of the items, then, too. I wish I could have thought that maybe I was just a bad husband and a poor provider.

Instead, I will always wonder if I am being tricked. If this can happen to me, what else am I wrong about?"

"This was five years ago now, but from what I remember, they definitely knew I heard them. I was like two feet away. I froze for a second and then turned and went straight into the kitchen. I was freaking out with the kitchen staff and trying to figure out what to do. When I came back out, they had paid cash and left. I debated calling the police, but had no other info besides what I thought I heard. I never heard anything about anyone drowning. I didn't keep it a secret, either; I have told this story a LOT. And this was a small town where people had nothing better to do than talk, so if there was a scandal, it was common knowledge what I had heard."

"When I read the entry, it didn't come as much of a surprise. We always had a strained relationship, even from the time I was a young child. She just never wanted the responsibility of having a child, I think. Our relationship now is superficial."

"It was either lipo or a tummy tuck; I don't remember. He told me the doc only did those and Botox, if I remember correctly. This was done in a lower- to middle-class neighborhood. To me, it was not done in a clean environment, but who am I to judge, lol.

Update: I just texted my friend, and he said the doctor got caught a few years ago for transporting drugs (Botox, antibiotics, and painkillers), and his parents haven't heard from him in a while. He apparently only did weight-loss stuff and did discount diagnoses for poor people. He told people if stuff was serious enough to go get appointments/tests done."

"I decided to just keep it to myself. He started buying us gifts and stuff, and I would get really scared, but I still just kept it to myself. I remember one day on the weekend, I woke up in my bed to a loud bang coming from my dad's room. I lay there in bed for probably half an hour, frozen. Once I worked up the strength, I went to his room and opened the door.

He wasn't in the bedroom. I was so confused until I saw that the bedroom window was open. What had happened was that there was a gust and the wind had slammed the door shut, but my paranoid brain had heard a gunshot. After that, I was laughing hysterically, and I don't have much memory of the day that followed.

Shortly after this incident, my dad returned most of the gifts he had bought us kids, and I slowly started to believe that he had changed his mind. I never confronted him about it until last year, about 14 years or so later, but I never fully accepted that he was okay now.

I called him distraught about a separate matter, and he started talking to me about depression. He told me on his own about how he had considered taking his life, and went into detail about it, and all I could do was cry and tell him 'I know.' We talked a lot longer after that, and we were finally able to put it all to rest."

"My friend's dad panicked and just stared at me. I panicked, too, and asked if his son, my friend, was home. He awkwardly said, 'No, he's not here,' and decided that now might be a good time to finally cover his nakedness. I didn't say anything else and just turned to leave, at which point my friend's dad just blurted out, 'Don't leave!' I looked back, confused. He hurriedly left the room for a few seconds, while I was forced to say a very awkward hello to the naked lady standing in my friend's house. The dad came back, handed me a fistful of cash, and said, 'Don't tell anyone,' or something to that effect. At the time, I didn't comprehend why he was giving me money, so I refused it and just walked back home.

It wasn't until years later that I fully comprehended what I had witnessed and why my friend's mother kicked their dad out of the house soon after that."

"One of the functions of my job was to carry 'The BatPhone,' which had a direct line to an FBI office, because our corporation was pretty big on turning network intrusions into federal cases, and if the FBI wanted something, the FBI got it, warrant not required.

The guy had brought in a case of burned CDs full of child sexual abuse images and was distributing them off our network via LimeWire.

I missed dinner that night and had to keep what was happening from my wife for about a week before they finally arrested him, which put a strain on our relationship.

But that guy got sent off for a long time."

"This wasn't Breaking Bad-type stuff; the 'setup' was really small from what I saw. It looked like it could all fit in a dorm room kitchen. It made a lot of smoke, though, and I guess he didn't have any windows open because it was a WALL of smoke. I honestly thought there was a fire and I was about to die in a backdraft, until I noticed the smell."

"I'll never bring it up to her because it's really none of my business."

"I tried to ask who the kid was, and the old guy tried everything to shut us down, from throwing his status around to bribing. I called the cops and let them deal with it.

I had the next two nights off. I was called in on my last day to meet with a detective from HR and a lawyer from the hotel chain's legal team to take my statement.

I talked to the cop a bit afterward, and she told me to just kinda keep quiet about it all because I could be called to testify if there was a trial.

I never ended up getting called, but for a few months, I would run the older man's name through our in-house system to see if there were any company notes on his account. It took, like, two months, but his status was revoked, and his name popped up on our DNR (do not rent) list.

So I didn't learn specifics, but I learned it was bad enough for me to talk to cops and be prepared to testify if needed."

"To clear things up, this woman is pure evil to their faces, too. Anytime her stepmom starts an argument with my friend's dad over the most ridiculous things, as if she's just trying to start something, she always goes straight to trash-talking the kids loud enough for everybody in the house to hear. If I recall correctly, she actually put her hands on both my friend AND her brother. This is my friend's house legally; her mom gave it to her in her will. She could very easily kick her out, but she's scared of what will happen to her dad. She knows it will cause even more trouble. He doesn't know about what's in the diary because we've always been scared to bring it up."

"Later that night, the woman showed up at my house and cornered me in my bedroom alone. For literally 45 minutes, she crouched next to me as I lay in bed, her face inches from mine, demanding that I tell her I lied. I'm still not sure why. She knew I knew. I knew I knew. Nobody was there to hear me lie to cover her ass. All I could remember thinking was, 'Wow. This woman is not only sleeping with her kids' coach, but she's also forcing a child to lie about it.' It was the first time I realized not every adult deserves respect.

A few months later, the soccer coach's wife found a receipt for an expensive necklace. She saw the cheating neighbor wearing it at a child's basketball game. A fistfight ensued. Divorces came shortly after. The neighbor ended up marrying the soccer coach.

I felt bad, but I was in fifth grade. I had no idea how to process the information I had. To me, it was a story about how I saw the hot mom next door naked, not something that would destroy marriages."

"Anyway, it was not mentioned or shown on the show, so I'm guessing legal said 'hell naw.'"

"They all froze in place, and we all looked at each other for a good 15–30 seconds. Finally, one of the guys said, 'What the hell are you doing, mate?' I replied, 'I'm just looking for the bathroom; the door guy told me it was up here.' The guy responded, 'We don't have a restroom in this building, now please leave.'

I apologized and headed back down the staircase, confused as hell (but good news: my urge to pee was gone). I returned to my wife and told her what had happened. We both agreed it was strange, but ordered another round.

Five minutes later, one of the men from the room came downstairs. He went to the security guy at the front, said something to him, and pointed at me. I almost shit myself. The bouncer walked up to me and said, 'You guys have to leave.' I told him that I had not paid my tab yet, and he said not to worry about it, just to go ahead and leave. We obliged.

To this day, it's one of the weirdest events of my life. We have no idea what happened, but we love to tell this story and hear everyone's theories."

"For more horrific context: Said nickname isn't some common thing like 'baby girl.' It's a reference to a misprint on my middle school soccer jersey. It's incredibly specific, sounds a lot like my actual first name, and to make matters weirder, this girlfriend of his had heard him refer to me by that nickname probably hundreds of times, so it can't be lost on her (it also sounds NOTHING EVEN CLOSE to her own name).

I have racked my brain a million times about it to try and make myself feel even slightly less grossed out, but I only ever feel more upset. It seems most likely that they do some kind of sexual role play wherein she role plays as *me*. I have no idea what using that nickname for their sex life would ever be a thing. So, I'm traumatized and haven't looked at my dad the same way since. I sure as shit don't want to ask him about it."

"That was 12 years ago...I used most of that money to put a new roof on my house."

"My aunt (mom's older sister) apparently got pregnant out of wedlock, and this letter from my grandparents was about how disappointed they were and what types of financial/emotional support they were willing to provide. I don't remember details, because it was at this point that my mom walked in and saw me reading the letter. I don't remember the details of that either, because I was flustered due to being caught, and she was flustered due to a family secret having been leaked. I have no idea if my cousin knows."

Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.

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