My Husband, Who Wanted a Divorce Saying I Am No Longer Attractive, Regretted When I Appeared In The Witness Stand After The Divorce

I’m an owner of a small cafe. It’s not a big franchise. I have two part-timers helping me day and night. I make all the cakes and cookies for the cafe. As a mother of two kids, I’m making desserts with the thought that it’s for my children. It’s not easy to run a cafe while raising two children. Thankfully, my husband takes care of them after work, making my work relatively easier. My kids have been cooperating and supporting my work.

I have a 12-year-old boy and a three-year-old daughter. My daughter just entered kindergarten. I was worried as she was still relatively young, but she seemed to get along with friends and quickly adapt to the new environment. My son usually picks up the daughter; he drops by the kindergarten after school and brings her to the cafe. Because they have quite an age gap, he’s been a great big brother to her.

People sometimes ask me why there’s such a gap between them. There’s a reason. I’m a bit careful to share this, but it took some time for us to make this family and be the way it is now. And those times were not happy ones. My dad passed away when I turned 10 in a car accident. As we lost dad who used to run the family, we faced a harsh reality.

Before we could afford to have time to mourn, my mom raised my sister and me all alone. Fortunately, we were doing okay financially and received settlements and insurance money from the perpetrator. Even though we lost our dad, we didn’t fall into a crisis overnight like people and dramas, but his absence hurt me quite a lot.

As I was pretty young to accept the reality, I don’t remember, but my mom told me that I even had aphasia for a while. On the last day of the funeral, my sister had told me the whole time as I was exhausted from crying all day long. People say time fixes everything, and with my mom and sister’s care, I recovered from sadness little by little. But still, his absence left me with an aftereffect on my childhood.

My sister majored in nursing and is currently working as a nurse. She chose to be a nurse because it’s easier to get a job that way. She wanted to lessen the burden off of mom’s shoulders. I liked cooking and baking, so I majored in food and nutrition.

Since then, I have dreamed of opening a dessert cafe or bakery or working at a hotel as a patisserie. To do so, I got many necessary licenses during my undergrad years. Before I graduated, I worked at a hotel as an intern. I worked as an intern patissier at a bakery run by the hotel. The hotel’s bakery was pretty famous, so I was hoping to become a full-time baker after the internship period ended. But things didn’t go as I planned.

I met a guy here. He was a customer who came to place a group order. He said that he was working at a company near the hotel and he was going to have bread with his colleagues. I thought he was just another customer then, but he came to the hotel at least once a week to put a group order, and he also dropped by to buy some for himself.

He visited the bakery often and began to say hi to me, not just as a customer but as if he was my friend, a particularly sweet friend. He mentioned how he likes my ponytail and he thinks I’m well-skilled and all. They’re mostly compliments. It wasn’t so bad. Rather, his comments gave me energy, and his voice made my day.

And soon after, he asked for my number, saying it was for the group order. I gave him my number without much hesitation as he said it was for work, but he called me mostly for personal matters like, “Can I buy you a coffee today? I want to buy you dinner tonight,” and all. It was obvious he was interested in me.

I declined a few times but ended up having dinner with him, and we talked a lot that day. He listened to all my childhood stories and tried to comfort me, saying that it must have been so hard on me. I fell in love with his kindness. He was just like my dad in my childhood memory. I ended up dating him in less than a month. He was six years older than me, so my friends were worried. But I deeply fell in love with him as he was so reliable, even though we had just met. I even thought about marrying him.

A month before my graduation, he took me to a nice restaurant. Toward the end, he took out a velvet case and opened it in front of me. There was a ring. “Ashley, would you marry me?” When he proposed, I couldn’t hold my tears of happiness. It was the moment I had dreamed of. I couldn’t answer him as I was busy wiping tears off my face.

Then he held my hand. “Ashley, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t live without you. I know you might think I’m hasty, but please do know that it took a lot of courage to propose to you. I’m sorry. I was about to ask him what he meant and tell him I’d been waiting for this moment, but then he showed me a picture on his phone. He was holding a child. “I’m a father of a three-year-old son. I’ve divorced his mom.” I was shocked.

I should have told you, but I was afraid you might leave me. I just couldn’t tell you. The reason I have custody is that his mom is the one who cheated on me. I was going to live raising the child, but when I met you, I wanted a fresh start, a new life. I know I’m selfish, even though you reject my proposal, I have nothing to say.

At least I wanted to show you that I’m genuine. If it were now, I would have said no. A heart, no. I think it’s ridiculous. And told him, I think about it, but then I was young and reckless. So in my eyes, he was just a father who wanted to take responsibility for his child despite his wife’s affair. Through him, I remembered my dad, whom I missed so much. So in the end, I said yes. I told him I’d try my best to be a good mother, even if I’ll never be enough. He thanked me and said he’ll live with a grateful heart for the rest of his life.

The next day, I went to his house to meet the kid. I wanted to get familiar with him as soon as possible. My boyfriend’s mother was taking care of him. She wasn’t a picky person. As soon as she met me, she thanked me for accepting his proposal despite the situation. She said she was worried that her son would raise a child alone for the rest of his life because of the wound he got from his ex-wife. She thanked me again.

On the other hand, my mom was firmly against marriage. She was particularly furious and worried, asking if I knew what I signed up for. My sister was also shocked. Once my boyfriend heard what my family thought of marriage, he visited my parents’ house every day and tried to convince my mom and my sister.

He said he knew his position more than anybody else, so he would cherish and care for me even harder. At first, my mom didn’t even look at him, but she began to give him her side little by little as he was being honest and consistent. She saw him just as he was, not his situation. After a while, my mom blessed our marriage.

My boyfriend’s son was three years old, but it was possible to have a dialogue with him. Both the boy and I were awkward at first. I did not know how to raise a child, but I looked it up online, trying to get along with him.

I visited him every day after work and made him snacks and cookies for a couple of months, preparing for the wedding. I spent most of my time getting close to him. People say devotion will touch heaven. Before the wedding, the kid began to call me mom. He opened up to me and even liked me very much. He used to hug me, calling me mom. I couldn’t resist it. He was adorable.

Despite the worries of my family and relatives, the wedding went well. I loved my husband, of course, but I couldn’t forgive the ex-wife who abandoned her own child for another man. I moved to my husband’s house. The bakery offered me a full-time job after the intern period, but I refused and decided to focus on raising the child.

Now I think of it, I was so stupid to make such a choice, but I liked my husband that much then, and I was too into married life. He became more attached to me day by day. He called me mom and grabbed my hand in front of other children. It looked like he wanted to show them he has a mom now. Looking at him like that reminded me of my childhood.

My mom and sister were awkward with the child at first, but they eventually changed over time. My sister became a fool for my nephew and even showered them with gifts. Until then, I thought I had a happy family, so I was proud of myself. But the dreamy life collapsed in less than a year. I got divorced, to my dismay.

The reason for the divorce was due to my husband’s affair. About seven months after we married, I accidentally saw my husband’s cell phone. And at that moment, I found things that would only appear in a crazy drama.

My husband decorated someone’s contact with heart emoticons, and when I saw the text they exchanged, I was so shocked that I was dumbfounded. It was filled with affectionate words and pictures that they were close to pornography. The evidence was clear. I immediately questioned my husband about the affair. He admitted it without much resistance.

“I’m sorry. You’re not attractive anymore because you’ve become so shabby at home.” I didn’t imagine he could be so shameless. I was too shocked; I didn’t shed a tear. In the end, he just needed a babysitter for his kid. The shock was imponderable. As I trusted him with all my heart, I lay sick for a few days. I wanted to get a divorce right away, but I couldn’t let the child go through another pain. I got attached to him in that short time, so I had to endure it for weeks by myself. But eventually, my sister found out.

My sister came to the house without notice to give the child some snacks. When she saw me, she asked me what was going on. I kept denying what happened, but ended up crying and telling my sister everything. Then she got furious. “Get divorced now! I know why you’re hesitating, but breaking up is right.

I cannot watch you living in the same house with them. Don’t worry about anything, think only for yourself. I’ll find you a good lawyer so get what you deserve and end here.” My sister really took a day off from work the following day and ran around to file for my divorce.

My mother found out later and regretted allowing me to marry him. She even blamed herself and cried her eyes out, saying that this would not have happened if she didn’t go with it. Seeing my mom and sister having a hard time because of me, I realized how stupid I’ve been. I firmly made up my mind and filed for divorce.

As he was the reason for the divorce, I got my alimony, but I couldn’t bring the child with me because I didn’t have custody. I had to leave him behind. He cried and clung to me the day I left the house, saying he was coming with me.

It hurt me so much that I couldn’t say a proper goodbye to him and left the house in a hurry. As I quit my previous job when I got married, I got another job and started to work again. I couldn’t go back to the hotel; instead, I worked at a neighborhood bakery. I suffered from depression for a while. It was so bad that I couldn’t carry on with my daily life. I even had nightmares and cried for no reason.

My sister suggested that I have psychological counseling. I refused at first, but I went to counseling as my symptoms worsened. I had one-on-one sessions and also participated in group sessions. I was initially skeptical, but at some point, I felt I was getting better. So I opened up my mind and actively participated.

I met a guy at one of the group sessions. He was four years older than me. He was getting therapy because he felt guilty about not being able to protect his sister after she died a few years ago. She died from a heart attack.

She had a heart attack from overwork; the organs in her body were a mess. Particularly, the digestive system was broken. “I should have known. I was so ashamed. For a while, it was hard to carry out my daily life or meet people. I came here in desperation. I cried a lot at the comfort of many people.” The man shared his story with tears in his eyes.

He was almost done with the consultation cycle and was about to complete the program. During the pair consultation session with him, he and I became a pair, and I carefully shared my story. When he heard my story, he held my hand and hugged me. Then he said this to me with tears in his eyes. “You endured it well.

Thank you for taking the courage to come out and share your story like this. Thank you for living.” His words made me cry. I never thought someone could genuinely comfort me like this. We exchanged our numbers that day and met privately. As we continued to meet like that, we felt fond of each other and started dating.

To be honest, I was a little scared. I was afraid I’d get hurt again. But I also thought I couldn’t live with the trauma for the rest of my life, so I decided to give it a try. He was considerate enough to erase my wounds, and almost a year later, he asked me to marry him. But he said something unexpected.

I have something to tell you. I have a nephew that my sister left. My sister’s ex-husband is raising him right now, but I want to raise him myself. If you’re okay, it’s okay to say no. Really, my parents can raise him.” The ex-husband hadn’t shown them to us, so my parents were very disappointed. “I’m going to sue the ex-husband for custody.

Then there will be court cases and all, with lots of us. I’m saying this in advance because I hope you understand me doing it.”

I felt uncomfortable when I saw him struggling to explain the situation and asking for my understanding. “Of course, you should. He’s their grandchild. They definitely should be able to meet him.” I proceeded, “I’ll help.” We prepared for our wedding and the court case at the same time. It was the day a month before the wedding; we got the date for the court appearance. I said I would come with him.

I sat at the back of the court. Soon, my sister-in-law’s ex-husband came in. When I saw his face, I froze. The man who entered the court was my ex-husband. While I was in shock, my fiance spoke enthusiastically to the judge. He claimed his sister suffered from depression as her husband was having an affair. He added that she had to work day and night to win custody and died from a heart attack. In the end, the child’s father had custody and prevented the mom’s side family from meeting him for years. Therefore, he had no choice but to file a lawsuit like this.

Then my ex-husband countered, “My ex-wife had severe postpartum depression. I couldn’t take care of my wife because I had to take care of the kid. But what do you mean I had an affair? Do you have proof?” My fiance protested that his sister had a hard time and talked about her husband’s affair before they divorced. Then my ex-husband shamelessly yelled, saying, “There’s no physical evidence.” The trial that day ended without much productive outcome. After the trial, the ex-husband left the court right away. My fiance came to me, looking sad. The lawyer said it would be difficult to win without physical evidence.

After two weeks, the trial resumed. When I entered the court, my ex-husband saw me and freaked out. I went to the witness stand and testified before the judge about what kind of person he was. I used the evidence from my ex-husband’s affair. I also divorced him because he cheated on me when I was preparing a wedding with him. The child was living with his grandma, and he did nothing.

He was never a good father, even after we got married. As I testified, I expressed my longing for the child I had hidden in my heart. I also mentioned that the child also wanted to live with me. My ex-husband couldn’t hide his embarrassment as I testified. I submitted all the evidence through the lawyer, and the court investigated my ex-husband’s poor parenting.

Based on my testimony and evidence, he was still living with his grandma and had no social life or playing time with his friends other than going to kindergarten. It was possible to say that he was basically quarantined. He was even showing signs of child depression.

We postponed our wedding to fight them, and we won the legal battle. In the end, we got the visitation right. When parent-in-law met their grandchild after years, they held him tightly and cried their eyes out. Most of all, he looked happy to see me again. He hugged me as soon as he saw me, calling me mom.

He repeatedly asked me if he could live with me now. I explained to him that we could not yet, but we could see each other once or twice a month now. It was heartbreaking to see him sad, so we decided to fight a lawsuit to bring him to us. Soon, my husband and I got married, and the child also came to the wedding.

We had a lengthy court battle after that and finally adopted the child. My ex-husband’s neglect of parenting played a part, and it was also helpful that the child said he wanted to live with us, not his dad. He cried and asked if he could really live with me now. I told him that we would never be apart from now on.

I hugged him and cried my eyes out. I thought to myself again that I would love and cherish this child for the rest of my life who accepted me as his mother even though I abandoned him once.

Now we are a family of four. I had a daughter in the meantime. My children are growing up bright and cheerful like any other children. My son’s been taking care of his sister with lots of love. If it weren’t for my son, I wouldn’t have been able to work as I do now.

He’s my most reliable friend. My family got a happy life after going through a huge hardship. There could be little and big trials from time to time in the future, but I know that we can get through them together as a family.

Please leave your words of support and wise advice in the comments section.