Family secret

It really didnt concern you. sometimes we have things we dont want others to know about. what if it had been something your sister was concerned about and wanted your dads advice on the matter. you went in and invaded her privacy.

Im sure your dad will tell you when he feels the time is right. although the email makes it seem like he knew about his son he might not have been able to have any contact and therefor is trying to figgure things out himself.

and the moral as always to these stories is dont look if you cant handle it

You should not interfere in things that are none of your business. If your father has got a son it's his business and if he doesn't happen to like that son it's up to him. You should not have looked at private emails and they could even complain to the police about that. To put it bluntly, get on with your own live and don't stick your nose in..

It's nothing to do with respect. OP clearly stated that she was worried that something bad might be happening to a close family member, so they only checked the email out of fear and to reassure themself that everything was ok. Sometimes people just get too curious, and from the OP's fathers shifty behaviour, im not surprised that they were! Itd eat me up if i knew something was happening that seemed very important and potentially bad. Parents try and protect their children: sometimes too much and they dont realise that their little babies have grown up and are able to deal with a difficult situation when presented.

This matter does concern the OP as they are related to somebody they didnt even know about; they should have the right to choose whether or not they have contact with their brother, and if the OP doesnt know in the first place because the parents keep it a secret, then they are being deprived of that right.

Curiosity killed the cat.

I killed the cat,, because it's curiosity, led it to me.

Moral of the story is mind your own business.

Oh wow, you're just too funny and original. Oh wait, you're not and you just use recycled Jimmy Carr jokes. FAIL

keep your nose out of things that dont concern you

I agree with this. Have you thought that even if something serious was happening to your older sister she may not have wanted you to know? How old are you? And I seriously doubt your parents have never lied to you - how would you know if they had?

The fact that I thought something was seriously wrong with her or somebody was why I checked the email- my parents never hide anything usually. I'm 19. Ok saying that they've never lied to us was wrong, it's not exactly what I meant, I meant more that when things have happened before, like a relative being ill or something, they've always been honest with us about how serious it is and haven't hidden it. I thought if they were hiding something it must be really bad.

Checking their e-mail suggest that you don't believe your parents were acting in your best interests and that you think you have some kind of right to be told everything that occurs in their lives. You have also broken their trust in you by reading their e-mails, if they find out I don't think you can rely on them to be as open with you in the future. As another poster said, if a child of mine read my e-mails I would be furious. Have your parents done anything in the past to suggest that they wouldn't be doing the right thing for you all now? I'm quite surprised you're 19, I was expecting you to be a lot younger. Your parents will likely tell you when they are ready, until then I think you should keep this to yourself. Does your mother even know about the secret child? That is something to consider...