Wife Divorces Her Husband, Runs Off With His Life Savings, And Gets A Drug Addicted Boyfriend Only To End Up With Her Ex-Husband Again After Maxing Out His Credit Cards
Suffering in silence is not noble or to be admired in a parasitic relationship. The Redditor who shared the story was fortunate not to be the subject of his own tale.
It was the joyless marriage of his best friend's parents. Robin's dad, Pete, has been a hardworking engineer for as long as OP remembers.
His wife, Selma, chose to be a stay-at-home mom to take care of Robin. OP's best friend was a capable child, even at ten years old.
Selma chose not to work even after Robin left the nest. Meanwhile, Pete was grinding away to pay for their house, vehicles, and everything else they needed.
He even paid for his only daughter to go to a university of her choice. OP admires Pete and thinks he is a great man.
His opinion of Selma only got worse when his best friend's mom suddenly filed for a divorce. Instead of arguing over their assets, Pete gave up his entire life savings.
In exchange, he got to keep their house. He also had to pay Selma a monthly allowance once the divorce was finalized.
Selma moved to another country where she owned a house. She then got a boyfriend who was addicted to drugs.
Selma gave her boyfriend free reign to spend Pete's life savings, which were now hers. She also gave him access to Pete's credit cards, which he liberally used.
They burned through the money and maxed out the credit cards in a few months

Pete had to postpone his retirement to pay off the credit card debt he had nothing to do with

Selma moved back with him and still mooches off of Pete. They're not back together.

Pete still works long hours, cooks, cleans, and pays for everything they need

Selma hates Pete because she's somehow convinced that he ruined her life

OP has a few theories why Pete is allowing Selma to treat him this way. It doesn't alter the fact that Selma is a blood-sucking parasite.

What does Robin have to say about all of this?

What Pete is doing shouldn't be emulated. Being a doormat is not fun.

Is he doing this to protect Robin from her own mother?

At this point, I don't see Pete ever retiring. He has no savings to fall back on. His credit was trashed. It's unlikely that Selma will ever be independent.

It's really setting up Robin to be her mother's caretaker. Selma doesn't have the first clue on how to stand on her own two feet. She will end up on Robin's doorstep eventually.

Why can't OP say anything about it, asked one Redditor

OP said he wasn't even supposed to know about the Selma of it all in the first place

Pete's life is all about sacrifice. He may be a good person, but it's a pity to see that his kindness was used against him.

Oh, Pete. Will you ever wake up?

Three decades is a long time to spend with someone who doesn't care about you. For them to just run off with your savings and derail your future is the rancid cherry on top.
It must be frustrating to know all about this with no opportunity to intervene. Do you think there is hope that Pete will wise up and see his ex-wife for what she is?