January 20, 2026 at 9:23 am

Guy Discovered A Lifelong Friend Has A Terminal Illness, But He Refused To Care Because He Stole His Wife And Plotted To Get His Money

by Heather Hall

Man taking off his glasses

Pexels/Reddit

Sometimes a betrayal cuts so deep that even time can’t fix things.

What would you do if the friend you’d known your entire life destroyed your engagement and now wanted forgiveness because he was diagnosed with a terminal illness?

Would you force yourself to let it go and make peace? Or would you refuse because those feelings are gone forever?

In the following story, one man finds himself in this situation and can’t let it go.

Here’s the full scoop.

AITAH for not caring that my ex best friend doesn’t have much time left?

I recently found out that my ex-best friend, with whom I was best friends since we were babies until 4 years ago, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he has a few months left to live, and I don’t care.

Four years ago, I was engaged to a girl who I thought was the love of my life, and he was supposed to be my best man.

I found out that they had been having an affair for two years behind my back. They were planning on her marrying me, and a year later, she was supposed to file for divorce and ruin me financially so that they could get my house and money and be together.

He tried reaching out a few other times.

I confronted him about it, and he said the divorce plan was my fiancé’s idea and that he just couldn’t help himself from falling in love with her.

He tried apologising, but I cut them both out of my life.

He tried reconnecting multiple times with me and tried apologising, but every time I told him to go burn. I hated him. They ended up getting married anyways.

Though his mother understood the situation, she still wanted him to think about it.

Last month, his mom came and visited me. I haven’t seen her in years, but she always loved me and treated me like a son, so I was nice to her and invited her in.

She said that she understands why I don’t talk to her son anymore. She swore on everything that what he did was despicable and that she never approved of their relationship or marriage.

Still, she told me that he was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. They never caught it before, and there’s no point in fighting it. It’s done. He is going to pass in less than a year.

After thinking about it, he doesn’t care.

She said he begged to talk to me and apologise for everything before he passes, she said I don’t have to do anything, but she begged me to think about it.

And she left after that.

And I have thought about it, and honestly, I do not care. It’s not really about my ex. I don’t care about her anymore. I’m now happily married to a much sweeter, more genuine woman.

For him, the relationship his over forever.

It’s how he lied to my face for over two years and how fine he was with ruining my life. If I hadn’t discovered it before, they’d have gone after everything I had, and they’d probably be living in my house together right now.

He burned that relationship forever all by himself. I don’t actively hate him anymore, like how I did back then. I just don’t care about him at all. He’s a stranger to me now.

When he passes, it won’t be any different from finding out a stranger passed, and I don’t feel bad for him at all.

AITA?

Wow! That’s a lot to process.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit think about what happened.

This person thinks the friend made his choice long ago.

No BFF 3 Guy Discovered A Lifelong Friend Has A Terminal Illness, But He Refused To Care Because He Stole His Wife And Plotted To Get His Money

Here’s someone whose mother went through something similar.

No BFF 2 Guy Discovered A Lifelong Friend Has A Terminal Illness, But He Refused To Care Because He Stole His Wife And Plotted To Get His Money

Great point.

No BFF 1 Guy Discovered A Lifelong Friend Has A Terminal Illness, But He Refused To Care Because He Stole His Wife And Plotted To Get His Money

As this person points out, he probably mourned the relationship years ago.

No BFF Guy Discovered A Lifelong Friend Has A Terminal Illness, But He Refused To Care Because He Stole His Wife And Plotted To Get His Money

He should refuse and move on, because there’s no use opening old wounds.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.