NEED TO KNOW
- A man on Reddit married his late best friend’s girlfriend years after the friend died in a car accident
- He helped raise his friend’s daughter from infancy and was called “dad” for years
- The teen later accused him and her mother of cheating and rejected the parental bond
A man sought support from the Reddit community following a painful family conflict that left him questioning choices he believed were made out of love and loyalty.
The father shared his story in an emotional post, asking whether he and his wife were wrong for marrying after tragedy bonded them together.
“Seventeen years ago my best friend died in a car crash with his entire family,” he wrote, explaining that they were all just 20 years old at the time. His friend’s girlfriend was six months pregnant and had been cut off by her religious family, leaving her “completely alone.”
The Reddit poster explained that he stepped in to help however he could while still a college student. “Eventually a couple of years later because I was helping her with babysitting and stuff we just fell for each other,” he wrote, emphasizing that their relationship developed slowly.
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They married when the child, Emily, was 5 years old, and the bond between them felt natural and loving. “She started calling me dad which was so nice,” he shared, describing how meaningful that moment was to him.
Over time, they welcomed three more children together, but Emily remained just as cherished. “Emily is still our baby girl and there has never been any difference in treatment between her and the others,” he wrote, adding, “I love her very much.”
That sense of security was shaken when Emily, now a teenager, suddenly stopped calling him dad. “A couple of months ago she stopped calling me dad and started calling me by my name,” he wrote, admitting he initially thought it was a phase.
The issue came to a head on his 37th birthday when he asked her directly why she had changed. “She told me because I’m not her dad and just her stepdad,” he recalled, stunned by the blunt response.
Emily then made an accusation that cut even deeper, claiming her parents had betrayed her biological father. “She accused me and her mom of cheating on my late friend,” he wrote, firmly stating that “there was nothing between us prior to that.”
Confused and hurt, the father struggled to understand where the idea came from. “She’s known about how her dad was because I wanted to keep his memory alive,” he explained, adding that the timing made no sense to him. Now he’s wondering if he was wrong for marrying his late best friend’s girlfriend.
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Reddit commenters quickly rallied around him, suggesting an outside influence may be at play. One person wrote, “Someone on her dad’s side has told her this,” adding that grief can cause people to place blame unfairly.
“Is she only mad at you, or her mom also? If she’s still okay with her mom, perhaps mom should be the one to have a talk with her and reassure her about the true story,” another wrote. “Maybe your wife can also find out where she got this version of things. I think you need to know the source.”
Others encouraged patience and open communication rather than defensiveness. “Talk to her,” another commenter advised, suggesting family therapy and reassurance that her feelings mattered.
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