Robert, 32, is married and a father. He has been able to balance work and family life with his wife Candice and their five-year-old son Samuel, who they call “Sam.”
Candy and Robert have been married for eight wonderful years. After meeting, they both went to work. But for the past five years, Robert has been the only one working and Candice has been a stay-at-home mom.
Robert worked five days a week until 7 p.m., but Candice took great care of the house and their son.
Things got strange, though, when Robert saw that Sam’s behavior toward Candice had changed. He would try his best to stay away from her whenever she tried to kiss or hug him. Robert knew something wasn’t right. He didn’t understand why his son felt so far away from his mother.
After some time had passed, Robert chose to talk to Sam.
“Sam, why have you failed to spend time with your mom lately?” Robert asked one day while Candice was out going to do something.
“Mom has changed.” “She has a secret she doesn’t want to tell me,” Sam replied, his face showing sadness and confusion.
“What do you mean?” “What’s the secret?” Robert asked because he was scared of what his son would say.
“She often cries in her room while you’re at work.” It got really bad when I asked her why she was crying. She yelled at me and told me to leave. “When I walked in, she had a picture in her hand, but she quickly put it in the green box and hid it under the bed,” Sam tried to explain.
Robert was shocked. That green box Sam talked about made him wonder what was in it and why his wife was so sad.
“How often do you hear your mom cry?” Robert was excited to find out.
“She’s cried almost every day this week.” I hear her and see her red, swollen eyes, even though she thinks I’m not paying attention. Now, though, she locks her room door and acts like nothing happened when I knock on it and ask her what’s wrong. Daddy, I don’t like it. Angry, “You need to do something about it.”
“Son, don’t worry. It’s likely that your mom has a reason. Robert told Sam, “I’ll talk to her.” Still, he was scared because he didn’t know what was wrong with his wife.
They talked for a short time before Sam went to play with his toys in his room.
Robert knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn’t help but look under the bed for the green box that made his wife sad.
Inside, there was a picture and some jewelry.
The picture showed a happy family, but what caught Robert’s eye was how much the man in the picture looked like Candice. Robert’s thoughts went to the worst places at that moment. Could she be seeing someone else? What was with the picture of that family? Robert has never seen or heard of them.
Robert chose to talk to Candice about the picture he was holding.
What about Candice? Do you have a secret lover? He asked straight out, and his voice was shaking.
“What?” Rob, what are you talking about with that?” Candice gave a defensive answer.
Robert wouldn’t give up, and he showed Candice the picture he was holding. “Who is this?”
Candice’s answer came right away and was very clear. “Oh no…” “I never wanted this to get out,” she said, finally letting her secret weigh her down.
As Robert tried to understand, his mind was racing. “Are you telling me you cheated on me now?”
“No!” I didn’t cheat, no. That sounds good. I’ll tell you the whole story, but please don’t tell anyone else.
She took a deep breath and then began to tell her story.
“Before she died, my grandmother gave me this picture,” Candice said, her feelings showing. “My grandmother told me to make up my own mind about what to do with it.”
“She told me that my mom cheated on my dad with her boyfriend.” There were twins when she gave birth. My brother and I. Her boyfriend wanted to have a child, but she loved my dad and wanted to stay with him.
Because of this, my mom and her boyfriend decided behind my back that each of them would take one child and raise it with a different family. My mom assured my dad that I was hers, and he had no reason to doubt her.
The real father of Candice told her grandmother the truth and gave her a picture of her grandson before he died.
“You see, my parents have been married for more than 35 years.” He would be crushed if he learned that my mom lied to him. It was clear how painful it was to keep that hidden.
“But I also have a brother that I want to get to know.” You could feel both her desire and her fear. “I don’t know what to do because talking to him would hurt my parents in the long run.”
Robert was shocked when he heard this.
“Is that your twin brother?” Robert asked. “Yes,” replied Candice. It was really strange how much she looked like the man in the picture.
Robert gave her a hug and said, “I’m so sorry I doubted your loyalty.” But why did you cry in your room so much?”
“This makes me sad because I never got to meet my real father.” She also said, “I can’t be in my brother’s life without hurting my mom and dad.” The weight of her words made her voice crack.
Candice still didn’t know what to do next. It’s still hard for her to decide whether she should talk to her brother and let him into her life or keep quiet to make her parents happy.