Brother Had a Secret Crush on My Wife Since School & He Brought My Ex to My Wedding to Stop Me...

My brother had a secret crush on my wife since school, and he brought my ex to my wedding to stop me from marrying her. So, I told his pregnant girlfriend that he was cheating on her. This is going to be a long read, so bear with me.

I am 27, have a younger brother, Jake (fake name, M25). Jake and I have been close as brothers, and we've had a very normal sibling relationship, or so I thought. Maybe I was oblivious to what was going on, or maybe he was really good at hiding his true emotions.

This story also involves my ex-girlfriend, Ruth (F27), and my now wife, Zara (F24). Jake, Zara, and I went to the same school. I was a couple of years older than them, so I never interacted much with Zara.

I knew Jake and all of his friends, and we played together at times, but that was the extent of our interaction. By the time I reached my junior year, Jake and I started growing apart a little because we had very different interests. I kind of figured that something like this would happen and that it was a natural outcome of growing up, so I didn't really push for a close relationship with him.

We did hang out occasionally, but we didn't share secrets; boys don't really do that, so it didn't bother me much either. The only thing of significance to this story is that while I was about to leave for college, Jake was hanging around with a couple of his friends and their girlfriends, one of whom was Zara. Before you start accusing me of being a creep or a groomer for going after a 15-year-old, I want to make it clear that nothing of that sort happened.

I met all the kids over there, and one of them asked me where I was going to college. When I told them, Zara chimed in that it was her dream university, and I just remarked that she was more than welcome to ask for my help when she applied. That was it.

I had no other interaction with her at school. I then went off to college and forgot all about that little interaction because it was inconsequential. In college, I met Ruth; we were classmates and hit it off instantly.

It took me a while to ask her out, and I managed to do so in my third year of college. She said yes, and we started dating. At the beginning of the relationship, everything was great.

We understood each other well because we were struggling with similar things and wanted a similar life for ourselves, so I felt like I really understood her. I landed a well-paying job right out of college, but unfortunately, Ruth did not. I was more than willing to help her out, and we decided to move in together to save costs.

She was applying for jobs left, right, and center, but somehow, even after making it to the interview stage, she never got accepted. I knew this was taking a mental toll on her, and while I did earn enough for the two of us, it was still difficult to save much because it was so early on in my career. She kept applying to different places for over a year but with no luck.

It was devastating for her, and I tried to be as supportive as possible. However, soon after, she got the idea that we could live comfortably on my income alone, and she stopped trying altogether. Initially, I thought she was just exhausted from applying and getting rejected and that it was taking a mental toll on her, so I welcomed the change.

I told her to take some time off and do things she enjoyed, which is what she did. This went on for 3 or 4 months; she got happier, less stressed, stopped complaining as much, and was in a much better mental state than before, and I was happy for her. I thought I'd gently nudge her to start looking for jobs again in the next few weeks.

A month later, I broached the topic, but she had a very bad reaction to it, saying that just the mere mention of going through that harrowing process again was enough to make her cry, and she told me not to bring it up again. She said she would start applying when she was ready. I trusted her word and didn't want to pressure her or come off as unsupportive, so I agreed.

Two years after I got my job, I received a promotion with a significant raise. I was overjoyed because now I could finally start saving and doing things I enjoyed. For the last 2 years, I had to put many of my desires on hold in order to support two people on my income.

Coupled with Ruth's mental health struggles, my own hobbies naturally took a backseat. I was relieved that I could now have some money to enjoy myself; however, the minute Ruth found out that I had received a raise, she started begging me to help fund her niece's education. Ruth's brother was broke and could never hold a job for more than a couple of months.

He had gotten a woman pregnant and had no idea. The issue was that the woman died, leaving no family, so the child went to Ruth's brother, and he was thoroughly unequipped to take care of another human being. Ruth begged me, saying she loved her niece— I don't know how, as they had only met twice—and that she would never forgive herself if she couldn't help her out.

This was all becoming too much for me, so I told her that I'd think about it and left it at that. Part of me was genuinely considering giving her the money, but another nastier part of me thought that. .

. It was her niece, and she could get up and pick up a job. Any Joe can help her out.

I drank a lot that night, and as I kept drinking, all the rationale and logic that I had buried in my mind suddenly came rushing to the surface. I had always suspected that Ruth was trying to leech off of me, but I never gave much weight to those thoughts because I was in love with her. However, I couldn't shake those feelings anymore.

I was funding her entire life, which I was happy to do, but to expect me to fund her niece the minute I got a raise, especially at the cost of what I wanted for myself, seemed a bit much. I knew it was time to take a stand for myself because if I started funding the niece now, I'd never be able to get out of it for the rest of my life. The next day, I sat Ruth down and told her that I would not be funding her niece, no matter how dire the circumstances.

I also told her that if she felt bad for the poor kid, she was more than welcome to pick up a job and help her out—that would be her money, and I didn't care what she did with it. She tried to butt in, saying that I was being cruel and that an unfortunate child needed my help, but I wasn't having any of it. I also told her that if she wasn't going to get a job, the division of household chores was going to change.

We had no kids and no pets, so I expected her to pick up 80% of the chores if she wasn't contributing financially. I told her that I had slaved away for the last two years, juggling work and home and supporting her, but now I needed a break. If she wasn't willing to support me monetarily so that I could have more money for myself, then she had to help take some of the workload off of me.

To say that she started yelling would be an understatement. I don't think I've ever had the unfortunate experience of listening to such high decibels before; it was a miracle I didn't leave the conversation with my ears bleeding. During her long tirade, she called me every name in the book: manipulative, gaslighting, financially abusive, misogynistic—you name it.

But to me, I just needed a break. Why were we even partners if she couldn't do this for me? The fight went on for a long time.

I think she believed I would give in because I've always been non-confrontational. To her surprise, I didn't. We were at a stalemate for a few more days when I tried to revisit the topic, but she shut me down again.

That's when I knew we were done. There was no future for me in this relationship where all I was doing was subsidizing her life and getting nothing in return. The breakup was ugly.

She didn't have anywhere to go because she didn't have a job. I told her that I was willing to give her some money to sustain herself for a month or two, but by then she should have her situation figured out because I was done. Cue the waterworks; she started crying, saying I was bluffing and pulling the entire drama routine.

I told her that I wasn't interested in this relationship anymore and my decision was final. There was no way to salvage it, and all the remedies she was suggesting now should have come to her while we were still together—not as a last resort. Despite me setting her up for a couple of months, the breakup was still ugly.

It was only after she moved out that I realized just how much dead weight I had been carrying. I had so much time and energy to devote to myself. I picked up hobbies I had abandoned back in school.

It was through these hobbies that I reconnected with Zara. Zara didn't go to my college but ended up pursuing painting in the arts as a profession. I had always enjoyed doodling as a kid, even though it was kind of a secret hobby because it wasn't considered masculine enough.

Well, there was an art exhibition in my city, and I went out of curiosity. That's where I found Zara. She had put up a piece in the exhibition, and we got to talking.

This was a few months after my breakup with Ruth. I asked Zara how everything was going, and we made small talk, which we both enjoyed. We decided to meet up again, and she promised to let me know if there were any other art events in town.

She did. We met up again, and we slowly started falling for each other. It took me a year to ask her out, but by then, I was already madly in love with her.

I tried asking Jake about her, but he said they hadn't been in contact ever since she broke up with the guy from his friend group back in school. I won't go into all the details of my relationship with Zara because it's not relevant to this story. Just know that it's always been a warm and equal partnership between us, and I knew pretty early on that she was the one I wanted to marry.

During this time, Ruth tried to get in touch with me a couple of times, but I always rebuffed her. Zara was always aware of this whenever it happened, and she was secure enough to not doubt me. I introduced Zara to my family over dinner a year into our relationship, and by this time, we had already started contemplating marriage.

My parents don't interfere in their kids' personal affairs, so that was never an issue. It was a. .

. Good dinner, and Zara got along well with my family. We were all talking about how funny it was that life works in mysterious ways and how it was pure chance that I bumped into Zara again.

It was then that Jake quipped that he couldn't believe his middle school crush was going to be his sister-in-law. It seemed like a light-hearted joke at the time, and everyone present took it that way. Zara even said that Jake was the only guy in their group who was remotely interesting to talk to.

It was a fun dinner, and I thought nothing of Jake's comment; he seemed really happy for me too. Little did I know he had been harboring feelings for Zara all these years, even though he'd been in multiple relationships. The issues started during the wedding planning.

It wasn't obvious to me at the time because I never would have thought my own brother would pull something like this. It was little things at first: messing up the time for the dress appointment, forgetting to check in with the caterer—things that could be attributed to him just being forgetful. I now know that it was deliberate on his part to create a rift between Zara and me and somehow stop the wedding.

None of it worked; we were too strong to be rattled by a few missed appointments. Even though it was a high-stress situation for both of us, if anything, Zara became even more short and snippy with Jake, which only hurt him more. The final blow came on the wedding day.

All this time, I had not been in contact with Ruth. I didn't know where she was, what she was doing, or how she was faring, and frankly, I wasn't interested. Little did I know, Jake had been in touch with her for months leading up to the wedding.

He was hoping for some kind of intervention, like drama, and if nothing else worked, he planned to get Ruth to coerce or persuade me into leaving Zara. She wasn't on the guest list, but she showed up as Jake's plus one. This was surprising to me because everyone in the family had met Jake's girlfriend, and we were expecting her to be there.

I didn't have time to ask him what Ruth was doing there, but I had a bad feeling. Thankfully, Zara hadn't noticed Ruth by this point. Just before Zara was about to walk down the aisle, Ruth stood up and started screaming in front of everyone, claiming that she was the love of my life and that she was willing to take me back and that I didn't need to marry Zara.

It caused a huge commotion, and Ruth started crying and stomping her feet like a petulant child. It was pathetic, to be honest. I ran over to Jake, grabbed him by the collar, and told him to leave.

He said he had come to make everything right, claiming that Ruth and I were meant for each other and that Zara and he were meant to be together. He rambled on with some delusional nonsense, and I was appalled. I asked my friends to escort both him and Ruth out of there.

At this point, Zara had come out, and I don't even know whether she fully grasped what was happening, but she calmly walked over to Ruth, slapped her in front of everyone, blew her a kiss, and asked her bridesmaids to start the music. I've never seen something more iconic in my life. It was so humiliating for Ruth, and instead of creating a scandal around me, she just turned herself into a spectacle in front of everyone.

The rest of the wedding went as smoothly as it could, given the circumstances. It was a dramatic day—not at all what I had hoped for—but there wasn't much I could do to salvage the situation at that point. I blocked Jake right after the wedding.

I wasn't interested in hearing his side of the story because he had already shown me plenty; it was disgusting and despicable, more so because Zara and Jake had never even shared any real bond. He was delusional and frankly dangerous to be around. Most importantly, I felt horrible for his girlfriend, Violet.

A few days after the wedding, I called Violet to ask why she wasn't at the wedding and why Jake didn't bring her as his plus one. I wanted to know what kind of story he had been feeding her before I decided to meddle in their relationship. She was pretty short with me, saying I didn't have to pretend to like her and that she would much rather I dropped the facade and be honest with her.

I knew instantly that Jake had used either me or Zara as an excuse to keep her from coming to the wedding. I asked her why she was saying that, and she told me to cut the act because Jake had already told her that she wasn't invited. That's why he didn't get a plus one for the wedding.

She said she didn't mind him going and didn't mind that we didn't like her, but she was very put off by the fact that the entire family pretended to like her when, in fact, we couldn't stand her. I emphatically told her none of that was true and that Jake had misled her. I begged her not to tell Jake or our parents about our conversation for the next two weeks, and Zara and I would meet her after we returned from our honeymoon.

She said she wouldn't betray Jake for us, so I had to send her a photo of the actual invitation that was sent out to Jake, which clearly had a "+1. " I also sent her screenshots of my conversations with Jake where I confirmed her attendance with him. She said she didn't believe us and.

. . I told her I understood and that we weren't asking her to trust us; we just wanted her to keep quiet until we could meet and clear up the miscommunication.

She agreed, but I didn't know if she would actually stick to it. I could only hope nothing would go wrong while I enjoyed my honeymoon, but I was really looking forward to showing Violet Jake's true colors. I didn't realize this story would gain so much attention; my inbox is flooded with people asking for updates.

But, as I said, I was out enjoying my honeymoon and didn't bother to check Reddit. Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened during the honeymoon itself; Jake remained blocked, and he didn't try calling me. Violet sent a short text saying she hadn't talked to Jake about our conversation but wanted to meet as soon as I returned from my honeymoon.

The meeting happened a few hours ago. We met at a café because Violet didn't feel comfortable coming to our home. She was very defensive at first, with her body language and attitude making it clear she wasn't interested in listening to us.

But we told her what had happened in detail. At first, she refused to believe us, calling us crazy for accusing Jake like that. However, during the honeymoon, I asked some friends if they had any videos from the wedding.

While there wasn't one video that captured the entire ordeal, a few people were making videos, and we managed to roughly piece the incident together. I showed those videos to Violet and then explained the whole Ruth situation. That's when she started to believe us.

She asked Zara if there had ever been anything between her and Jake, and Zara firmly said no. Violet found it hard to believe that Jake would be so delusional about everything, especially if there was nothing going on. Zara said she was baffled as well; there had been a maximum of 10 to 12 interactions, and she didn't know when or how Jake fell for her or assumed she had fallen for him.

We told Violet we thought it was our duty to make her aware of what was happening and that she was free to do whatever she wanted with the information. We also told her that we had blocked Jake and were going no contact with him, and we didn't see that changing anytime soon, if ever. She said she understood where we were coming from, but she also said she wanted to confront Jake and do it as soon as possible.

We tried to dissuade her a little, but she said she owed it to herself, especially since she was pregnant, to know whether it was wise to stay with Jake. Both Zara and I congratulated her on the pregnancy and told her we would support her no matter what. She said she was sure she wanted to proceed with the confrontation, but for that, she would have to disclose that we had reached out to her and shared everything.

Though it wasn't ideal, as both Zara and I wanted to stay out of the Jake drama, we also knew standing by Violet was the right thing to do. We told her she had our full support and that we would do whatever it took to help her out. That was all that happened at the meeting, but I know this isn't the end.

Things are about to blow up for Jake, and he has absolutely no idea what's coming. Update 2: I know this update is coming very soon, but things have escalated beyond repair. I've unintentionally started a storm that I regretted, and Jake is about to go down hard.

After Violet spoke with us, she didn't waste any time and went straight for the jugular. She called up Jake and asked if he was at work. When he said yes, she marched over to his office that very minute and confronted him.

Things got ugly. She went straight into his office; she was allowed in because she told them she was dropping off some files for him and asked if he had pulled the stunts we had told her about. Jake tried to tell her it wasn't the place to talk and that they would talk once he got home, but Violet wasn't having it.

There was a fair bit of yelling involved, and HR had to be called up to his floor. Here's where things get even better—or worse—for Jake. The HR assistant asked Violet who she was and why she was creating such a scene, and Violet told her she was Jake's girlfriend and that she was pregnant.

To her surprise, Jake denied it; he denied being her boyfriend outright. There was more yelling, and Violet was eventually escorted out. When Jake went home that day, a storm was waiting for him.

They got into a massive fight, the details of which I don't know. What I do know is that it came to light that Jake had been cheating on Violet for a long time, and the woman he was cheating with was none other than the HR assistant who had intervened during the confrontation. So Jake is screwed.

Violet is going to leave him; I know that for sure because she's a no-nonsense woman who doesn't tolerate disrespect. For her to condone cheating and forgive Jake is next to impossible. As for his affair partner, Jake's office has a very strict no-dating policy; they make employees sign agreements and everything.

Since the confrontation and Violet's little outburst at the office, his affair partner, let's call her Jane, learned that Jake had been posing as a single man and that he had a girlfriend who was pregnant. Jane was appalled to learn she was the other woman and that Jake had been lying to her the whole time. Word got around like wildfire, and Jake is now.

. . Under fire at work for what he did to make matters worse for him, Jane has connections with the higher-ups in the company, so Jake is screwed in more ways than one.

He might lose his job, and he's definitely going to lose Violet. Oh, and Violet has also kicked him out of the house. It turns out the house they lived in belonged to Violet's grandmother, so Jake has nowhere to go.

Jake paid us a visit in the middle of the night to explain all this to me. I don't know why, but I let him in. I've never seen him so furious in my life.

He kept screaming about how I ruined his life and how I never deserved someone like Zara, and that she would one day leave me for him. He sounded so unhinged it actually made me scared for his mental health. He needs help—a therapist or maybe even a psychiatrist.

Jake got violent with me too. I know people will call me an idiot for not calling the cops on him, but at the end of the day, he's my brother, and I didn't want to cause more problems for him. I felt pity for him more than anything else.

It's impossible to fathom how someone can destroy their life with one stupid decision. He had everything anyone could have wanted: a great job, a loving and loyal girlfriend, and now a baby on the way, and he blew it all away with one stupid decision after another, living in a bubble of weird fantasies. I just feel sorry for him at this point.

Update three: Jake lost his job. This comes as no surprise, but I still feel bad. Violet has broken up with him and doesn't want anything to do with him.

My parents are fully supporting Violet, as Zara and I now. Jake thinks I've turned the entire family against him over a harmless prank. Yeah, now he's calling his Declaration of Undying Love a prank.

Nobody is buying into this new narrative of his, and he has been completely ostracized by the family. I don't know where he's staying now, and this drama has been getting on my nerves. I'm a newlywed, and I can't keep running around dealing with the mess Jake has made.

I know I started this by involving Violet in the first place, and I'm glad I did, but I never anticipated it would blow up this big. It's a total mess, and I don't see how Jake can recover from this. My parents are furious with him for throwing everything away and basically being a scumbag, and I don't blame them.

We weren't raised like this, and I don't know how he turned out this way. That being said, this will be my last update. Zara and I have decided we need to leave all this behind us.

We will be there for Violet and our niece or nephew in whatever capacity she needs, and she will always have a home with us. But other than that, we're done. Thank you, Reddit, for all the advice.

I never thought I'd have a dysfunctional story of my own to share, but well, it is what it is.