Husband Leaves His Poor Wife with Four Kids after She Becomes Terminally Ill, Help Comes from an Unexpected Place — Story of the Day

Life is full of unexpected twists and turns. I realized it when my husband left me after I became terminally ill. However, I was fortunate that God sent me help from an unexpected place.

“It could be a terminal illness. We don’t know yet,” the doctor told my husband, Josh. “I would recommend that you admit your wife to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Josh held my hand in his. “Don’t worry, Olivia. Everything will be fine. We’ll get through this together, okay?”

For some reason, I had this feeling that things weren’t going to turn out well. Josh and I had been happily married for 10 years, but recently, I had this unsettling fear that he no longer cared about our relationship.

Josh and I met at a work conference, and it was love at first sight for us. After our wedding, he asked me to quit my dream job to look after the family. “Don’t worry, Olivia, I'll provide for our kids,” he told me.

I was so deeply in love with him that I happily agreed. I focused on his career in between my four pregnancies and did my best to help him out. Josh was struggling, and things really weren’t going well at the time. However, I never left his side.

When he finally succeeded in establishing a successful business, I was over the moon. All of the sacrifices I’d made for him seemed right. After all, Josh was doing everything for our family. But I was so busy looking after the house and Josh that I completely forgot myself.

My last pregnancy drained all my strength and beauty, and Josh was quite evident in expressing his displeasure for my appearance. “Do something about yourself, Olivia. Go to a parlor or something. You look too old for your age,” he told me once.

I’m not sure if it was because of all the work or the constant stress that our family would fall apart one day, but my health started deteriorating, and I had to be admitted to the hospital. Initially, Josh was very supportive, and he assured me that things would be fine soon.

But after I was admitted, Josh never came to see me. I thought he was busy looking after our children, but sadly, that wasn’t the case.

One day, while I was returning to my room after some tests, his mom unexpectedly called me. “Hi, Olivia. Are you better now?” she asked me.

“Yes, Mrs. Mathews,” I replied. “I hope to get discharged by this weekend. I hope the kids are not giving Josh a hard time. He’s never looked after them, so I’m a bit worried about how he's managing everything.”

“What?” Mrs. Mathews was shocked. “Did you know he hasn’t been home in 5 days? I'm the one who’s looking after the kids. I thought he was with you at the hospital. He didn’t pick my calls, so I called you.”

I was taken aback. Where was Josh? Had he really abandoned the kids and me? Had my worst fears turned true? I was terrified.

I rushed home from the hospital without waiting for the test results, only to find all of Josh’s stuff missing. I called his office to inquire about him and learned that he’d quit working a week ago. I sank on the sofa, crying.

When I looked at myself in the mirror that day, I realized how much I had changed. The woman, who was once young and attractive, now had a lean face, a fragile body, and dark rings covering most of her eyes.

After seeing myself that day, I decided on two things: First, I wouldn’t care if Josh chose to leave me because I wasn’t appealing to him. My children were my top priority, and I would do anything for them. The second was that I would not give up no matter what.

However, you know that life is full of unforeseen twists and turns. When we think everything is going to be okay, life decides to put us to the test. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.

The doctor called to tell me that my test reports were out. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It wasn’t in the adverse stage yet, but he had advised me to take care of my health. Otherwise, it could be fatal.

The doctor also told me that he had already informed Josh that I could be suffering from it, and this is when everything began to make sense. Josh had left me because he knew I was terminally ill.

At this point, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have a job or money with me. I almost gave up, thinking it was a dead-end and my children would be out on the streets with no one to look after them, but then my mother-in-law showed up at my doorstep.

“Don’t worry, Olivia. We will get through this. You should focus on getting a job and providing for your children’s needs. I will also assist you. So cheer up,” she said.

All thanks to her, I didn’t give up. She took the kids to her house and looked after them while I applied for jobs. Soon, I had job offers from several companies, but because I had a considerable gap in my work experience, none of the organizations were willing to give me a higher position, and the months that followed were financially difficult. But I didn’t give up.

I worked hard and soon got a promotion. I thought my life was finally taking a turn for the better, but then Josh surprisingly came back.

“I shouldn’t have left you, Olivia. I got carried away and dated my boss’ daughter because she was good-looking and rich. Please forgive me! He kicked me out of the company when he learned I was married and dating his daughter,” he said.

I didn’t want to take him back, but I was afraid it would damage my relationship with my mother-in-law. So I decided to give him another chance, which I should not have done.

One day, I saw a call on Josh's phone from a private number. He'd left his phone at home, and I assumed he was using someone else's phone to call home and tell me he'd forgotten his phone, so I answered it. But when I heard the voice on the other end of the line, I was taken aback.

“Hi, honey. Where shall we meet this week?” the woman on the call said. Yes, Josh was still cheating on me.

Later that night, I also found out that he only returned to me because he intended to transfer the house into his name and kick the kids and me out. I immediately called my mother-in-law and told her everything. To my surprise, she told me that I shouldn’t have given Josh a second chance.

The next day, she visited us and lashed out at Josh. But that wasn’t all. She also threw him out of the house and threatened to turn him over to the cops if he was spotted around.

As I write this, I want to let you know that my health is still not perfect, but it has been steadily improving. To every mother who’s reading this, I would like to say, don’t give up. You might have to face a lot of hurdles, but in the end, things will work out for you and your kids.

What can we learn from this story?

• Life’s a circle. What goes around comes around. Josh wanted to abandon Olivia and his kids but was later thrown out of the house by his mother.
• Sometimes you have to die a little inside to be reborn and rise again. Olivia had to go through several hardships, but she became an independent and strong woman and mother in the end.

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This account is inspired by our reader’s story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy. Share your story with us, maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.