'AITA for leaving my fiancée at the altar after discovering her affair with my brother and her best friend?'
"AITA for leaving my fiancée at the altar after discovering her affair with my brother and her best friend?"
Potential_Fish_
I (29M) have been with my fiancée, Emily (28F), for five years. We got engaged a year ago, and our wedding was supposed to be a fairy tale. Everything seemed perfect until last week.
I was preparing for the wedding when I noticed Emily acting strangely. She was secretive with her phone and had sudden, unexplained disappearances. I chalked it up to wedding stress until I received an anonymous message with photos and screenshots revealing that Emily was having an affair with not just one person, but two – my brother, Mark (31M), and her best friend, Sarah (28F).
I was devastated. I confronted Mark, who admitted everything and said it started as a mistake but evolved into something more. Sarah, on the other hand, denied it at first but then broke down and confessed, saying she and Emily had always been closer than I realized.
I didn’t know what to do. Calling off the wedding seemed drastic, but marrying someone who betrayed me with two of the people I trusted most felt impossible. I decided to go through with the wedding to gather my thoughts, but as I stood at the altar, watching Emily walk down the aisle, all I could think about was the betrayal.
When she reached me, I couldn’t go through with it. I took a deep breath and told everyone what I had discovered. Emily burst into tears, Mark looked horrified, and Sarah ran out. My parents were furious, and the guests were in shock.
Now, both families are divided. My parents are supporting me, but Emily’s parents are calling me cruel for humiliating her publicly. Friends are split, with some saying I did the right thing and others saying I should have handled it privately.
Emily has been texting and calling nonstop, begging for forgiveness, saying she made a mistake and wants to fix things. Mark has disappeared, and Sarah is posting cryptic messages on social media about betrayal and forgiveness. I’m heartbroken and confused. AITA for exposing Emily and leaving her at the altar, or should I have handled it differently?
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's post:
MonicaOfficalll
NTA. While some might argue that you could have handled it privately, the magnitude of the betrayal and the fact that it involved your brother and her best friend make it understandable why you felt the need to expose it publicly. It was a way to protect yourself and avoid being further manipulated or gaslighted.
The OP responded here:
Potential_Fish_
Yeah all i wanted was to be safe from any victim blaming.
New-Environment9700
What about your own brother? How could HE do this? There’s no coming back from this.. you need to cut them both off… she has been having an affair with one of them for years…
Ginboy5
I would forever be NC with brother as he crossed a line you can never uncross.
Micaaa_Gomeez
Dude, no. You are not the a-hole here. She cheated with your BROTHER and her best friend. You dodged a massive bullet and saved yourself from years of pain.
BlueGreen_1956
NTA. Poor Emily. Her family found out they have a piece of trash for a daughter. She must be devastated. GOOD!
WinterFront1431
Block Emily, that girl is for the streets she slept with your brother. That's it. Adios. Also, anyone who thinks she didn't get what she deserved clearly has never been betrayed by not one but two people who are supposed to have your back.
Easy-Molasses-2495
NTA, she cheated on you with TWO people (one being your own BROTHER…). people who cheat normally don’t change or just randomly start cheating unless they’ve been cheating for a while and now just gave up on hiding it.
No-Bus-5200
"Emily’s parents are calling me cruel for humiliating her publicly. Friends are split, with some saying I did the right thing and others saying I should have handled it privately."
"Emily has been texting and calling nonstop, begging for forgiveness, saying she made a mistake and wants to fix things. Mark has disappeared, and Sarah is posting cryptic messages on social media about betrayal and forgiveness."
Emily's parents can go pound sand. Sarah needs to lay off the self-pity and social media. Your brother and his "mistake that evolved into more" i.e.: his decision to sleep with your fiancée, can stay hidden in the hole he dug for himself.
As for Emily, boo hoo. Another one with "I made a mistake" No mistake here. Nope. Very intentional. It was a conscious decision to screw around behind your back. And not just anyone. Your own brother. She is scum.
None of these people were in the grip of some sort of mind control. They all had free will. They chose to f you over. They deserved what they got.