Disclaimer: The experiences of the people in this story belong to them and do not represent In Real Life Malaysia, which is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Right before MCO 3.0 started, I met my friend, Carol after almost a year plus of not seeing her.
On the day I met her, I couldn’t help but notice that she looked pretty down and was not her usual self. She seemed worried as if something was bothering her.
I asked her, “What happened, babe? Are you okay?”
She burst into tears. In between sobs, she told me that her family was going through a tough time. They found out that her dad had been cheating on her mom for the last 5 years.
All this time, her mom had kept this from them so that they wouldn’t hate their dad, but she and her brother figured it out eventually because they could always hear their parents arguing late at night.
One night, Carol had heard her mom crying loudly inside her room. So she went in and asked her if she was alright.
Her mom finally revealed that her dad was cheating.
It was the reason why he always came home at 3 am every day.
All this while, she thought that he was busy working but a part of her did feel like something was off.
After all, her dad did not have a habit of coming home this late, especially since his job did not require him to work late at all.
Everything became more obvious when the first MCO 1.0 hit.
Her dad was constantly in the room or sitting outside on the balcony, secretly having video calls
He was always on his phone, texting and smiling.
The whole family noticed that something was amiss because her dad did not want to speak to anyone at home.
Even when he did join them for dinner, he was on his phone texting and avoiding conversation.
None of them tried to confront him because their mother told them not to.
Her mom was afraid that if they did ask him, he would lash out at them, especially since he had been doing that during the months leading up to the MCO.
During those months, her dad would come home after 3 am drunk.
Her mom would wake up to ask him if he was okay, and where did he go, but he would simply snap at her to stop asking questions.
He was super defensive at these questions. He would lash out, saying that she had no right to question him or check on what he was doing.
Right after the MCO ended, things got pretty bad
Her mom caught her dad red-handed with a side chick in his office.
She confronted the side chick and found out her name was Vanessa.
Vanessa is a 21-year-old divorcee with a kid. Meanwhile, Carol’s dad is 50 years old.
Even I felt disgusted when Carol told me about this affair. I mean, that age gap, seriously?
Carol’s mom had always suspected that it was Vanessa who her husband had been carrying on with, even though he’d always deny it.
She shouted at Vanessa in front of everyone, including Carol’s dad
“If you continue, I will speak to your family!” she yelled.
Vanessa screamed back, “If you do that, I’ll ruin YOUR family even more!”
Then, Carol’s dad arrived on the scene. Instead of taking his wife’s side, he slapped his own wife and told her to get out.
Yes, that audacity!
Fast forward days later, her brother received messages from Vanessa on Instagram.
The messages were flirty in nature. “She said that she loved my car. She sounded like she was trying to make conversation with me.” He told Carol, blood rising to his face. “I told her to leave our family alone!”
Outraged by his response, Vanessa had threatened him by messaging, “Who do you think you are? If you dare, come and talk to me face-to-face instead of being a coward by scolding me on Instagram.”
I couldn’t help but feel really mad on his behalf too! How is this girl so thick-skinned?
Of course, Carol’s brother replied back and told her that he was not scared to meet her and told her to come over right away.
The next minute, his dad called him and scolded him for scolding her.
Their dad was never on their side at all
They were all in shock because they had never seen their dad act this way before. This girl had completely changed him.
Day after day, he would come home drunk, splurging all his money by taking her out to bars, partying with her friends and paying for all their drinks.
Later, Carol’s mom found out that this girl had also been siphoning money from his personal bank account, transferring out RM 5,000 every few days to avoid being noticed by the banks
She only found out about this, because one of his friends had told her about it.
People would also send the family pictures of the dad and Vanessa out together, asking Carol and her brother who this woman was. It was humiliating.
Even after learning that this girl had been stealing from him, Carol’s dad still wanted the relationship
Finally, one day, their whole family sat down to discuss everything with Carol’s dad.
As expected, he got defensive and shouted, “I’m your father! You have no right to question me! I can do what I want. I don’t need your permission.”
Carol’s mom asked: “Are you going to break it off with Vanessa? If you don’t, I want a divorce.”
However, Carol’s dad refused to answer the question. He didn’t want his wife to leave, yet he said he “needed his own space”. He suggested that he sleep in the guestroom and that they would only talk when necessary.
Upset, Carol’s mom said: “That is not a family then.”
Even after that conversation, her mom agreed to stay
Carol was mad, and clueless on why her mom would do that. Carol even moved out because she could not stand this toxic environment anymore.
The cycle continued until one day, Vanessa suddenly broke up with him!
At this point, Carol’s dad had lost RM700,000 to Vanessa, which was his life savings. He had no job and no money left.
Carol’s dad spent his days being depressed, crying all the time. Things worsened when he found out that Vanessa was going to get married soon.
And sometimes, he mentioned hearing voices in his head, which puzzled the family.
He felt like he had no more reason to live.
One day, Carol’s dad had a mysterious dream
He dreamt that he had been ‘bomoh-eh’!
In his dream, he saw a priest performing a ritual in the temple. At the altar was Carol’s dad’s picture.
Standing before the priest was Vanessa. She was chanting and poking needles into a doll.
Apparently, Vanessa saw Carol’s dad as a cash cow, and ‘bomoh-ed’ him for all his savings.
The family is very worried about him. Since it’s MCO, they can’t even call a priest to come over to pray.
You would’ve thought that that was the end of it, right?
But it wasn’t. Carol told me recently that her dad has been caught talking to Vanessa on the phone again.
I don’t know if it’s really the bomoh.
One thing I do know though, is that if you don’t love your wife anymore, at least respect her and yourself enough to walk away so that the family can move on in peace.
My poor friend has anxiety, and she’s so upset. She doesn’t even want a relationship because she can not trust any men out there after this incident.
Parents out there, know this: If you ever cheat, it affects not just your spouse but your kids too.
For more stories like this, read: I Hid My Boyfriend’s Side Chick In The Backseat Of My Car To Expose Him and My Ex-Boyfriend Tried to Guilt Trip His Way Into My Pants
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