Off The Record

After Reading His Late Wife’s Last Letter, A Distraught Widower Gets A Paternity Test

Published on September 27, 2024

A widower found the strength to read the last letter his late wife had sent to him before she passed away, ten months after she passed away. Having read her heartbreaking revelation, he rushed to get tested for paternity.

A bereaved widower vented his anguish in the “Off My Chest” forum on November 29, 2021, seeking comfort there. Though he wasn’t seeking guidance, his moving story touched sympathizers, who told him it was acceptable to mourn over his wife’s actions.

The man had been happily married to his wife for four years. Their son’s arrival just made their delight even greater as they treasured their time together. But even though they were happy, destiny had different ideas for them.

His Late Wife’s Letter

Ten months before the Original Poster (OP) shared his Reddit account, his wife tragically departed away. Despite feeling as though everything had crumbled around him, he mustered the willpower to keep on. In spite of his deep sorrow, he vowed to be a caring and committed parent to his 4-year-old son.

The results proved to be shattering.

With the passage of time, OP’s life gradually started to revert to something like normalcy. His son became everything to him, and he was unable to imagine a life without him. It was around this time that he discovered the final letter his wife had written to him. OP was aware of this sentimental relic his late wife had left behind, but it took him ten months to work up the nerve to read it.

When OP first received the letter, he or she was in shock. He took a long time to recover his composure as he processed the significance of his wife’s open admission.

She admitted in the letter that she had been very wasted at her bachelorette party and had had sex with an unknown man. She thus became pregnant, but because of the timing—the incident having happened just days before their wedding—she was unsure of the genuine paternity.

What Did OP Do After Reading the Letter?

OP was saddened, especially after reading the section of the letter in which his late wife acknowledged that there was a good chance their son wasn’t really theirs. It was not what he expected to hear from his darling wife. OP was plagued with a lot of unanswered questions, which made him want to find out where his son came from.

It was too late, and even the prospect of facing his wife was too much for him to bear. Rather, he plucked up the guts to get a paternity test done in the hopes of finding out. The outcomes were devastating. The youngster he’d nurtured wasn’t his biological son, as his late wife had confessed, matching the test results.

With a twinge of sorrow, OP considered that it could have been simpler to overlook the reality if he hadn’t taken the test. The discovery hurt even though he insisted that his feelings for his son had not changed. He posted his feelings online in an attempt to vent his annoyance and was met with reassuring outpouring of sympathy from kind strangers.

Receiving Online Support and Putting His Life Back Together

“I am so so incredibly sorry. I have an idea how much this hurts…All your feelings are valid. A lot of people will react with some kind of toxic positivity to things like these. Your feelings are valid,” Redditor femundsmarka wrote. OP thanked the person and said he intended to go on a long drive to get a breath of fresh air and overcome this emotional burden.

“Knowing this for some reason made me feel so incredibly alone right now. So, I appreciate the support very much,” he replied. “Driving is excellent therapy, actually. Just don’t angry drive. Get lost in music or something. I’m so sorry,” user Crystaline Constantin advised.

Although OP was happy to have left his son at his parents’ house, he wasn’t sure how he would ever view him. When the youngster eventually went back to live with his father, OP’s response was astounding.

The father was nervous about his reaction to his son. He feared how he would look at him now, even though he knew deep inside that he still loved him. OP wasn’t sure if his wife’s infidelity would cause him to see his son differently or if his love for him would remain the same.

However, he hurried over to embrace his son as though he hadn’t seen him in a long time. His son’s small arms embraced him again, showing warmth and relief at having his father at home.

OP was trying to get over his wife’s deceit when he nearly broke down in his son’s arms. He claimed to be adamant that the youngster would always be his son and that their relationship would not alter.