My Ex Left Me For Refusing To Have A Third Child While We Were Broke. Now That I’m Rich And Happy, He’s Suing For Full Custody To “Save” Our Kids. Is He Delusional Or Just Greedy?

Chapter 1: The Ultimatum

My ex-husband dumped me and called me materialistic for refusing another baby when we could barely afford our two kids. He went ballistic when he found out that someone else was living his dreams. My ex-husband, Dale, threw away our 10-year marriage because I wouldn’t have a third baby when we could barely afford the two we had.

He worked part-time at a hardware store, refusing to get better work because he said corporate jobs were soul-crushing. We lived paycheck to paycheck with our kids sharing a bedroom in a tiny apartment while Dale talked about having a big family like it was some romantic dream instead of a financial nightmare.

When I said we couldn’t afford another baby, he acted like I’d betrayed him. “You’re denying me the family I always wanted,” he’d say while our electricity got shut off for non-payment. “Money isn’t everything,” he’d preach while I worked double shifts to buy groceries.

He’d tell his mother I was being selfish and materialistic for not wanting more kids. She’d call me saying a real woman would give her son the children he deserved, regardless of money.

He started staying out late, saying I’d become cold and calculating. “You used to be fun and spontaneous. Now all you care about is bills and budgets.” He’d complained to his friends that I’d changed and wasn’t the woman he married because I worried about feeding the kids we already had.

Chapter 2: The “Other Woman” and the Reality Check

Then I found out about Melissa. She was 22 and worked at the coffee shop near his store. Dale told her his wife didn’t understand his dreams of a big, loving family. He painted me as this career-obsessed woman who cared more about money than children. He literally told her I was too focused on material things to see the beauty of creating life.

They’d been together 6 months when I caught them. Dale didn’t even apologize. He said, “Melissa gets me. She wants the same things I want. She doesn’t care about money or status, just love and family.” He moved in with her immediately, leaving me with two kids and all the bills.

He told everyone our marriage ended because we had different values. He wanted family and I wanted money. His friends nodded along like he was some romantic hero choosing love over comfort. His mother praised him for following his heart and finding someone who shared his vision of a house full of children.

Meanwhile, I was working myself to death as a single mom while Dale paid the minimum child support, claiming he couldn’t afford more. Melissa got pregnant right away and Dale posted constantly about their miracle baby and how blessed they were. “Finally with someone who understands that babies are gifts not burdens,” he wrote.

His family threw them a huge baby shower, talking about how Dale finally found his perfect match who valued family over everything. 6 months later, Melissa had the baby and reality hit. She couldn’t work with a newborn. Dale’s part-time salary couldn’t cover rent plus diapers plus formula.

They got evicted from her apartment and had to move in with her parents, who were not happy about their unemployed daughter and her older boyfriend who wouldn’t get a real job. Dale started working more hours but still refused to get better employment.

By their baby’s first birthday, Melissa was done. She’d thought Dale was this romantic family man but discovered he was just an immature guy who wanted kids without any plan to support them. She left him and filed for child support. Dale moved back with his mother and cried about being abandoned.

Chapter 3: Building a New Life

Three years passed. I focused on my kids and career, got promoted to regional manager, bought a small house, and met a man named Robert who was a financial adviser with his own firm. He adored my kids and they loved him.

We dated for a year before getting engaged. He’d actually saved for their college funds before even proposing because he wanted to show he was serious about our future. When I got pregnant, it was planned and prepared for.

Robert had already converted his home office to a nursery. We had health insurance and savings and stability. Everything Dale had said didn’t matter. My kids were thrilled about their new sibling and Robert hired someone to help me during maternity leave so I could actually rest.

Dale found out through mutual friends and lost his mind. He showed up at my house screaming that I’d lied about not wanting more kids. “You said we couldn’t afford another baby but look at you now,” he yelled.

Robert came outside and calmly said, “She said you couldn’t afford another baby. And she was right.”

Chapter 4: The Custody Battle Begins

Dale tried to tell people I’d been planning to leave him all along for someone richer, but nobody believed him anymore. 2 days later, my lawyer called. Dale had filed an emergency custody motion claiming I was an unfit mother for replacing him and planning another pregnancy while my existing children still needed support.

I stood in my kitchen with Robert’s hand on my shoulder while Hadley spread the custody motion papers across our table. She pulled out a yellow legal pad and started firing questions at me about when I got pregnant, when Robert and I got engaged, and what our financial situation looked like.

I answered everything while she scribbled notes in tight handwriting that I couldn’t read upside down. She asked if Dale had said anything threatening when he showed up at our house, if he’d tried to contact the kids directly, or if there were any witnesses to his behavior.

Robert squeezed my shoulder when my voice started shaking on the last question. Hadley looked up from her notes and told me Dale’s claim was legally ridiculous. She said, “No judge would call me unfit for getting remarried and having a planned baby, but we needed to take this seriously because sometimes judges granted temporary custody changes during investigations just to be safe.”

She outlined our strategy while tapping her pen against the pad. Document everything from now on, she said. Every text, every call, every interaction with Dale. Gather character witnesses who could speak to my parenting and our home life. Prepare financial records showing my job stability and our household income versus Dale’s continued barely working part-time situation.

She said we’d show the court exactly what Dale refused to accept: that I wasn’t materialistic for wanting to afford my kids’ needs, I was responsible.

Robert told Hadley not to worry about her fees, that he’d cover everything. I cut him off and said we were splitting the costs because this was our family now, not just my problem. He looked at me for a second then nodded and said, “Okay.”

We spent the rest of the evening pulling bank statements from my filing cabinet, printing tax returns from Robert’s computer, and going through three years of child support payment records that showed Dale paying the minimum and often late. I had a folder of every late notice, every excuse text, every time he’d claimed he couldn’t afford an extra $20 for school supplies.

Robert organized everything into labeled sections while I sat at the table sorting through papers, my hands shaking slightly every time I saw Dale’s name on a document.