My family wants to reconnect after they destroyed my life 6 years ago.

My family wants to reconnect after they

destroyed my life six years ago. I

married my high school sweetheart when

we were both 21. We had four daughters

together, 25 years of what I thought was

the perfect marriage. The only problem

was my brother. He had a crush on my

wife since we were teenagers. When we

got engaged at 20, he actually confessed

his love to her and tried to convince

her to leave me. She told me everything.

I wanted to cut him off completely, but

my parents convinced me to forgive him.

They said family was forever. Over the

years, things got better between us. I

genuinely believed my brother had moved

on. He dated other women. He came to our

daughter's birthdays. He seemed happy

for us. I let my guard down completely.

Then one Tuesday in March 6 years ago, I

came home from a week long business

trip. I walked into my living room and

found everyone waiting for me. my wife,

all four daughters, and my brother

sitting on our couch. They were all

crying. The second they saw me, my

daughter started screaming. My wife's

face was pure rage. She asked how I

could have done this to her. Done what?

Cheating, she said. My stomach dropped.

I was completely blindsided. In 25 years

together, I had never even looked at

another woman. I asked her what made her

think that. She showed me her phone.

Texts between me and a co-orker, photos

of us together at hotels in Atlanta,

Miami, Chicago, receipts from expensive

restaurants. I was shaking. I told her

those were fake, that I'd never cheated.

That's when my brother spoke up. He said

the co-orker was actually his friend

from college, and she'd confessed

everything to him last week. She'd sent

him all the proof because she felt

guilty. I started crying. I begged my

wife to believe me. I told her my

brother was behind this, that he was

finally making his move after all these

years. She slapped me across the face so

hard my glasses flew off. My oldest

daughter, who was 22 at the called me a

disgrace to the family. My second

daughter said I made her sick. My third

daughter wouldn't stop crying. Even my

youngest, who was only 16, wouldn't look

at me. My wife told me to pack a bag and

get out of her house. I tried calling my

parents from my car, but they'd already

heard from my brother. My dad answered

and said if I was a real man, I'd make

the divorce easy and not drag my

daughters through a custody battle. For

months, I tried to prove my innocence. I

hired a lawyer who cost me $8,000 I

didn't have. I showed them my actual

phone records, my credit card

statements, my work travel logs. Nothing

matched the fake evidence, but my

brother had done his homework. The

fabricated proof was too convincing. It

even created fake social media accounts.

The divorce was finalized by December. I

lost the house. I moved into a studio

apartment on the bad side of town. 3

weeks after the divorce, my ex-wife

married my brother in a small ceremony.

My daughter sent me one final text on

Christmas Eve saying they hated me and

had a new father figure. Now, I fell

apart. I lost 40 lbs in 2 months. I got

fired from my job for missing too many

days. I spent a year in therapy three

times a week just learning how to

function again. My therapist helped me

accept that I might never clear my name.

That was the hardest part. 5 years

passed. I slowly rebuilt my life. Got a

new job as an accountant. Moved to a

better apartment. I met someone new at a

work conference. She's a widow with a

teenage daughter. We got married last

year in a tiny courthouse ceremony. Her

daughter calls me her bonus dad. For the

first time in 6 years, I felt like I had

a family again. Then 3 days ago, unknown

number at 11:00 p.m. on a Wednesday. I

almost didn't answer. It was my mom,

barely able to speak through sobs. She

said they were all so sorry. They'd

found the truth about everything. She

wanted to see me. Turns out the coworker

had a falling out with my brother last

month over money he owed her. In her

anger, she confessed to my daughters

that my brother had paid her $15,000 to

fabricate everything 6 years ago. She

showed them the fake text threads he'd

created, the photoshopped images, the

burner phone he'd used, all of it. My

daughters confronted my brother

immediately. He denied it for 3 hours

before finally admitting everything. My

ex-wife threw him out that night. Filed

for divorce the next morning. Now my mom

says they all want to meet. My daughters

are adults now. My oldest is 28, married

with a six-month old baby I've never

met. My second daughter's engaged.

They're devastated by what they did. My

parents want to apologize face to face.

My ex-wife left me a voicemail saying

she understands if I never forgive her.

But here's the thing. I've moved on. My

current wife knows my story, but my

stepdaughter has no idea her bonus dad

was falsely accused and abandoned by his

entire family. I built something real

here, something safe. My brother stole 6

years from me. My parents chose him over

me without question. My daughters called

me a disgrace without even questioning

the evidence. Part of me wants to see

them suffer like I did. Part of me wants

to meet my grandchild.