After two decades of marital bliss, Richard Mason’s life was turned upside down when a medical exam in 2016 uncovered an unfathomable truth about his beloved wife – she had been having an affair and gave birth to three children as the result of her indiscretions. The first son was born in 1995, followed by twins that were welcomed into their family four years later. Despite being misled for many years, Richard still adored his wife; however, this newfound revelation left him bewildered and brokenhearted.
In 2016, Richard was delivered the devastating news that his cystic fibrosis diagnosis prevented him from having children. Subsequently, he unraveled an abhorrent truth: in spite of believing they were his offspring, the three boys he had reared as part of his family weren’t biologically related to him at all – instead, their fatherhood originated from another man’s sperm sample obtained through a medical procedure. Tragically, this awareness also exposed that during their union Richard’s wife had been unfaithful and slept with at least one other person.
After discovering his wife had engaged in a volatile relationship with her former co-worker, Richard decided to end their marriage and filed for divorce.
“You don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. It’s as if I’m living in ‘The Matrix.’” Mason said, “Someone says to you, ‘All that you know and everything you thought to be solid and true is not real, and never did exist. You are not a father, you are not able to have kids, your name will not continue.’”
After feeling cheated out of his family life, Richard, 55, sued Kate Mason for the $5.8 million that he felt she had stolen from him during their 2008 divorce proceedings. He was determined to get back what was rightfully owed to him by her.
Apart from gaining compensation from his wife, Richard is fiercely determined to investigate the paternity fraud that she supposedly committed. Although exactly how he will proceed with this mission has yet to be revealed, he does not anticipate ceasing until justice is served and her deceitful actions are fully acknowledged by making sure she experiences the same tormenting feeling of betrayal as he did.
In an effort to spare her lover from the possible wrath of Richard and their children, Kate Mason agreed to settle with her ex-husband on one condition: that she never disclose the true identity of the father.
Richard’s lawyer said, “I think it was the major reason for her settling. I was shocked and surprised that she had settled. I thought we were going to have a very acrimonious court battle. We were confident that we would get a court order whereby the ex-wife, the mother of the children, would have to name the father. She didn’t want to name the father – why, we don’t know – that is why she came to a financial settlement, and in the settlement, she did not have to name the father.”
