Woman divorces husband of 36 years after son finds out he has a brother – Story of the day

Over the years, Marcos had always been anxious about the possibility of cancer. After all, the disease had claimed the lives of several members of his family, including his grandfather.

He was not only worried about himself, but also about his parents. To clear his doubts, he decided to take a DNA test. This would give him information about his likelihood of having cancer and other diseases, as well as information about his ethnic origin and lineage.

Marcos insisted that his parents also get tested, so that he could feel at ease about his health. They both agreed and they all went to the lab together.

Fortunately, when Marcos received the results, he learned that his chances of getting cancer were slim, as were his parents’. However, one part of the report left him confused.

In the section about his lineage, it appeared that he had a paternal relative named Thomas. They had a 25% DNA match, which meant he could genetically be his grandfather, uncle, or brother.

“Who is this person?” he wondered. He tried to remember every meeting with his father’s family, and he was sure that no one with that name had ever attended.

She immediately called her father, Jaime, for answers. She knew that Tomás was not her grandfather, so perhaps he was a distant uncle or even a brother, given his age.

“My DNA results showed that I have a paternal relative called Tomas. He is about 33 years old. Do you know this person?” she asked her father, after greeting him.

Jaime told him he didn’t know who he was. “That’s strange. I don’t know anyone named Tomas who is that age, and he didn’t show up in my results. There must be a mistake.”

After Jaime hung up, Marcos was left with many doubts. He had a feeling that his father was lying, so he decided to check the results himself. He had access to them, since he had created the online account.

She discovered that her father had checked a box to not have his lineage shown in the mailed results. However, the online results showed that Tomás and Jaime shared 50% of their DNA.

Since Tomas was 33 years old, it meant that he was Jaime’s biological son. Marcos couldn’t help but shudder as he read the results. “Did Dad cheat on Mom?” he asked himself in disbelief.

She didn’t know what to do with this new information. She wanted to confront her father, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to get anything out of him. She printed out the results and consulted her older sister, Julia.

Since Julia lived in a nearby town, Marcos decided to meet her to show her the results in person. “What’s so important that we can’t talk about it over the phone?” his sister joked, as soon as she arrived at the coffee shop.

“Well, what I discovered could change our lives,” Marcos told her. He slid the results to her side of the table and she began to read.

“Wait,” Julia said as she flipped through it. “You mean Dad has a son younger than me and older than you?” she asked, surprised.

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? You know what that means, right?” Marcos wanted to know.

Julia nodded. They both understood that her father had deceived her mother, Pamela. “What should we do?” she wanted to know.

Her sister was silent for a couple of minutes. If she was being completely honest, she didn’t know what to do either. She wanted her father to tell the truth, but she knew full well that she would hurt her mother in the process.

“A part of me feels like we’ve been living a lie,” Julia said sadly.

Marcos echoed her sentiments, nodding. “I know. I honestly wish I had never insisted on the DNA test. We have a big mess on our hands now.”

Not knowing whether or not they would tell their parents, Marcos decided to contact Tomás. He lived on the other side of the country, so they opted to make a video call.

As soon as their faces appeared on screen, Marcos was struck by the resemblance. They shared his father’s chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes.

“I’m sorry to bother you like this,” Marcos told him, “but I wanted to check if what these results say is true.”

Thomas nodded and proceeded to tell her his life story. He said that he had been adopted a few days after his birth and had never met his biological parents.

“I searched for years, wanting to know where I came from. However, the hospital wouldn’t give me information about my mother; my adoptive parents didn’t either. When I turned 21, I went on Ancestry DNA , but I found no matches – until now,” she explained.

“I had given up on my search some time ago, and I didn’t have the money to hire a private detective, so this was a very lucky thing for me,” added Tomás.

Tomás revealed that he had recently become a father and was worried about not being able to answer his daughter’s pediatrician’s questions about her family medical history.

After hearing his half-brother’s story, Mark was determined to reveal the truth. He told Julia that he would confront his parents and tell them what he had discovered. He felt that Thomas had a right to know his father.

The whole situation was a roller coaster of emotions, and it was overwhelming for Marcos to be the bearer of this news. At first, he thought his mother would be surprised by the information of a new member of the family, but her reaction was very different than expected.

Hearing about Tomás awakened in Pamela repressed memories of a dark and barely forgotten betrayal. It was painful to reopen the wound that she had believed closed for years.

“I know about Tomas,” she revealed to her children. “A few years before Marcos was born, I found out that his father had a mistress and that she was pregnant. It was a devastating moment and, to be honest, I almost left him,” Pamela admitted.

“However, his father asked me for a second chance. I gave him an ultimatum and he eventually chose us. He swore never to see his lover again, which meant he would never meet his unborn child.”

“After years of therapy, the resentment and bitterness faded and we were happy again,” she admitted.

Julia and Marcos were stunned. They never imagined that their mother could have kept such a secret all these years, and even more so, that she could have genuinely forgiven their father.

“Your birth kept us together, Marcos,” his mother revealed, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry I kept this from you all; I’m really sorry,” she told them.

Unfortunately, memories began to haunt her over the next few weeks. Now that she was much older, she realized that she was still in love when she decided to give Jaime another chance.

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But at that moment she could not see her husband in the same way. She remembered the betrayal again and regretted that Tomás had never had the chance to meet her parents.

He began to feel guilty for having given Jaime an ultimatum all those years ago, as it had deprived Tomás of a father. Somehow, he had never seen it from that perspective.

A part of her understood that it was her husband’s fault, but she couldn’t help but feel responsible for how Tomas’s life had turned out. He had paid for his father’s mistakes, having to grow up without his biological family, and Pamela had been a part of that.

For several weeks, Pamela cried herself to sleep. Finally, she knew she couldn’t take it anymore. She decided to file for divorce, and that made Jaime furious.

“Why now?! Why did this issue have to come up when we have lived such a comfortable life for the past three decades? This is your fault! We would be fine if you hadn’t insisted on that DNA test!” she said, directing her anger at Marcos.

Pamela came to her son’s defense: “Don’t blame your son for something YOU decided to do so many years ago. I want you gone!”

After their divorce was finalized, the family found a balance where everyone found their new place. Jaime decided to move away from them, while Tomás and his family moved closer to Marcos.

Since then, Marcos, Julia and Tomás meet from time to time to continue getting to know each other and spend time with their respective families. Sometimes, Pamela accompanies them and even Jaime has come to them on important dates.

What can we learn from this story?

• The truth often finds a way to come out. Tomás and Pamela decided to hide the fact that he had fathered a child out of wedlock, and to do so they deprived him of his family. In the end, everything came out, which created a new beginning for them.
• Children should not pay for the mistakes of their parents. Tomás had to live with the consequences of his parents’ actions all his life, through no fault of his own. Fortunately, he had the opportunity to meet his siblings eventually, and they became a family.

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This story is inspired by the everyday lives of our readers and has been written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to real names or locations is purely coincidental. All images shown are for illustrative purposes only. Share your story with us, it could change someone’s life. If you want to share your story, send it to info@amomama.com .