“We continued to talk every day. He made it impossible not to fall in love with him. The moment came. I was in his city. He walked up to the table. We hugged, but the next part I wasn’t ready for. The restaurant was a short walk back to my hotel. A month later, it all come crashing down. My husband saw some messages on my phone.”
‘Something was missing in both our marriages. Feelings came rushing back. ‘Maybe he’ll change his mind.’ Innocent messaging soon led to flirting.’ Woman recounts emotional journey loving man she can ‘never be with’
‘My husband left to work on a ‘project.’ Receipts for bars, motels showed up on MY credit card. I demanded he show me his texts. ‘You’re not going to like it.’: Woman gets huge wake-up call after husband leaves for ‘work’
“Shaking and my heart pounding, I scrolled through comments. ‘I miss you.’ ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘When do I get to see you again?’ I don’t know how it started. I woke up with purple bruises on my throat in the outline of my husband’s fingers. I never questioned my decision.”
‘Did you tell her about the drama at work?’ I noticed my husband get uncomfortable. ‘There is a rumor your husband is sleeping with a girl who works with us.’ He laughed.’
“The week after bringing my son home, I couldn’t get a hold of my husband. I had the urge to check his social media. There they were. Messages between him and a girl. He would tell her where to pick him up, where to meet. Most times were in the middle of the night when I had laid pregnant and asleep. ‘HE WAS LYING TO YOU!’”
‘Rage rushed through me. Her profile picture was a photo of her with MY husband, faces smashed together side by side, smiling ear to ear. Can you imagine? That was MY HUSBAND.’
“I dialed the number. ‘Who are you? Why are you talking to my husband so much?’ She responded with, ‘Who is your husband?’ I told her his name. Her response baffled me. She said, ‘Oh… wow… I KNEW he had to be married.’ As if she was proud of herself.”
‘My entire 10-year marriage was a lie. I never really knew the man I was sleeping next to. I married a stranger. ‘Now what? What do I do?’ Something in my gut told me I needed to dig deeper.’
“Both of my girls were upstairs napping when I sat down to surf the internet. Messages started coming in from iMessage. The name didn’t look familiar, and it just seemed odd. I started reading the conversation between my husband and a name I didn’t recognize… He had a stranger over at my house where my kids sleep.”
‘It can’t be real. This happens to other families, not mine.’ He positioned himself on top of a mountain and texted a note. I couldn’t breathe. I fell to the floor.’
“I was home alone with my 9-month-old son. With helicopters in the air, my parents, his friends, and police on the side of the road, I got the call. I was so afraid of saying something to upset him. I just wanted my brother back. I prayed for him to walk down.”
‘Since my divorce, I’ve seen a plastic surgeon every month. Not for Botox. I had to face what I’d done with every shower, every decision to wear short sleeves or a bathing suit.’
“I had surprised my family with it. My husband told me he loved what I’d done to myself, but what he didn’t tell me was that he was having an affair. I often wonder what he must’ve felt when he saw his name on my wrist and knew he was lying.”
‘You were sending me strange text messages. I returned home to you acting even stranger. The paranoia set in. You accused me of infidelity. I did not recognize this man screaming at me.’
“I got the boys from school. We went straight home. I could feel your presence had been there. I went into your closet and your guns were missing. Two hours later, there was a knock on our door. I looked out the peep hole and there was a man dressed nicely with a manila envelope.”
‘At 13, I walked into my dad’s office and opened a filing cabinet. There, I uncovered a large yellow folder. My innocence was ripped away from me. I knew nothing would be the same again.’
“My father was addicted. His secret life became an open book. The porn, the enhancement pills. Endless text messages to various women. He’d be gone for days, then weeks at a time.”
‘My boyfriend would sit on Tinder, sending sexts to women he’d hooked up with the night before. I still loved him and gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was the biggest mistake I ever made.’
“As weeks went by, we continued to live together. I thought there was a chance we could get back together. Then I found he’d been holding online relationships with several women, sending pornographic videos, and arranging meet ups. He claimed it was because he had no self-confidence and needed people to flirt with.”
