Mum’s affair with fiance’s dad tears family apart

Mackenzie Yocum, 25, and 61-year-old Jeff Scholl began having an affair while she was engaged to his son, and they now have a five-month-old baby together – despite neither of their families speaking to them.

Ms Yocum, who is from the US state of Illinois, admits she started admiring her married, soon-to-be father-in-law when her own relationship hit a rough patch.

She was grateful when Mr Scholl, who was going through his own divorce, offered her a shoulder to cry on.

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The pair soon began a six-month affair but were eventually caught out, with Ms Yocum admitting she regrets not being honest to Mr Scholl’s wife and son, who she dated for six years and has decided not to name, about her feelings for him sooner.

Ms Yocum and father-of-four Mr Scholl, who are still together and share son Wyatt, say that being caught out only secured their love for one another – despite some family members now refusing to speak to them.

Both Mr Scholl’s son and one of his daughters, as well as his ex-wife, no longer have any sort of relationship with the couple, while Ms Yocum’s brother also cut her off.

“The one thing I regret is not being honest and starting a relationship with Jeff before our previous relationships had ended,” Ms Yocum said.

“We should have just been honest about our feelings and said we weren’t happy.”

Ms Yocum said she and Mr Scholl had an emotional affair for a year and she physically cheated for only six months.

“I was really unhappy in the relationship with his son at the same time that Jeff was on the brink of a divorce,” she said.

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Ms Yocum claims her fiance and his mum discovered their affair in 2018 and when both relationships ended, she and Jeff, who already had three children with his ex-wife, were able to continue their romance.

Retired farmer Mr Scholl claims he no longer has a relationship with his son and some of Ms Yocum’s family members have chosen to cut her off.

Mr Scholl said it has been “really hurtful” to lose those family relationships, especially the one with his son.

“I do really regret how things have turned out,” he said.

“I feel like I never had a chance to explain myself because he never confronted me, he just cut me off, then we heard from another source that he knew about the relationship and now we live in different towns.

“I want him to know that I’m sorry but he wasn’t happy with Mackenzie and he’s happy in a new relationship now so everyone is happy.”

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Ms Yocum said her former fiance never confronted her about the affair either and instead chose to just end things.

Since finding out about the affair, some of Ms Yocum’s family members having completely cut her off, including her brother.

“We obviously didn’t want to hurt anyone. That whole year was just really tough because I had a miscarriage before we had Wyatt. I think it was God’s way of telling us that we should have children together but not yet.

“I just want my ex and his mum to know that I am sorry for what happened, and I do feel bad.”

Ms Yocum and her former fiance were childhood sweethearts who met at high school and got engaged four years later, but grew apart after she began fighting with his mum.

“I started to confide in Jeff and ask for advice,” she said.

“That’s when we started getting friendly. I don’t know who it was, but someone told my fiance what was going on and he ended the relationship and Jeff’s wife filed for divorce.”

Ms Yocum and Mr Scholl are hoping to buy their own home together and plan to get married in the future.

“We have a normal relationship and the age gap doesn’t bother us,” she said.

This story first appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission