Here's the original post:
My best friend, “Pam” and my brother, “Jim” got married 2 years ago. I recently discovered that Jim is cheating on Pam with a college friend of mine. Said friend posted a picture of my brothers back laying in bed with her on her snapchat. I’m assuming most people thought it was some random guy but Jim has a tattoo of my and my younger sisters names on his left shoulder.
I immediately confronted him and demanded an explanation and he admitted he has been having an affair for the last 2 months. I was appalled but decided to not tell due to Jim’s pleading. I’ve been having a very hard time choosing to stay quiet or not. I didn’t have a great childhood, my dad was out of the picture,
mom was there but had some mental health issues that’d render her, lets just say unable to be fully attentive. Jim stepped up. He served as a parent for so much of my life. He practically raised me and my sister. If not for him being in my life, honestly I probably would’ve starved to death, or ended up on the streets. I don’t think I can just betray him like that.
On the other hand Pam is my best friend. We’ve been friends since we were 17. If my girlfriend had been cheating on me, and Pam knew, she’d tell me. She deserves to know what Jim is doing. But I’m just unsure if I can out Jim like this.
What should I do?
almightypariah_16 said:
The side chick is literally posting pictures of him. This wont stay a secret for long. Your best friend deserves to know, she could get a STD or something. The fact that your brother basically raised you means nothing, he is still a shitty person for cheating. Tell your brother he needs to come clean or you will have to do it yourself.
Original-Nothing said:
Tell her. She will be crushed after this betrayal. If you tell her, atleast she knows that someone chose HER over this cheater.
LaSorbun said:
If Jim really did a good job at parenting you when you were young, prove it to him by not putting up with his B.S.
ProfessorChaos112 said:
If she's your friend then you should tell her. Your brother will probably blame you, even though it's all his fault.
Sappyliving said:
Tell your friend before they have children and she is stuck with a dirtbag in her life. She deserves better. Even if it's an anonymous message, you can give her the info of who he is cheating with. She can do the rest of the work. Look, you're not the only one who saw that post, and it's a matter of time before this gets out. Better sooner rather than later
howyadoinjerry said:
Wouldn’t you want to know? Would you feel like a good friend if you let your friend get cheated on?
Verdict: Tell her!!!!
Thanks for all the help I got in my last post. As much as it pained me to do so I decided to do the right thing. Pam should know that my brother is cheating on her. I decided to give Jim a chance. I called him and told him that, I can’t keep this secret. It was tearing me up inside to do so. I couldn’t think about anything else. I told him I loved him so much but I couldn’t let him do this to someone else I loved like family.
He begged me to reconsider. He didn’t try to guilt me or anything. But he did say that he needs his younger brother to just be there for him. I told him I couldn’t. I asked him what he would want if it was me getting cheated on, or our little sister getting cheated. He said that he understood that it’s wrong but he was just exploring himself. I told him that thats no excuse.
I told him, that he had until that evening to tell Pam, and if he didn’t I would have to. We then hung up and I just waited. At 11pm I called Pam and stuck up a normal conversation. I asked her how things were with my brother, she said it was all fine and that, they’re thinking about having kids. I really couldn’t believe my brother made me do this but I had to tell her. I told her that what I saw.
She was livid she refused to believe me. Luckily I was able to show her the screenshot of my brother being in someone else’s bed. She then told me she needed to hang up. I haven’t heard anything from my brother. But as of today, Pam is leaving him.
So I guess that’s good, she won’t have to be hurt by him like that, and I can be there for her. My brother hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts, so I don’t know when we’ll talk again.
At least I still have Pam and my sister I guess.
You did the right thing, OP!
Would you, reader, have handled this any differently?