Random earring - should I be suspicious?

[marmeladerose]

First time poster, long time lurker here.

A quick background. I have been with my boyfriend for 6 years and lived for him for 2 of those. At few months ago I got a fantastic opportunity through work to relocate to London to work on a project which would last 8 months. He could not come due to work commitments (we lived together in Edinburgh) and we discussed it and decided I would go alone. We did long distance during university and it worked for us and 8 months isn't a long time in the bigger picture of things. Anyway off I went and he moved in with a friend for the duration and it was going well.

I am doing a qualification as part of the project so get odd weeks off here and there to study so I came home a few days ago for that. He is still going to work during the day and I was doing a quick tidy of his bedroom for him today and underneath some books on the bedside table I found a single big dangly earring. At first I just brushed it off and thought there must be a reasonable explanation for it, and continued with my cleaning. However it keeps coming back in to my head. Why is this earring here? It definitely isn't one of mine. And now I am sat on the bed staring at this Pat Butcher earring and stressing out. Please someone tell me IABU. I need advice.

I found black lacy knickers in my ex bf’s drawer. Asked him about it, said he thought they were mine. Looked on his phone and found photos of a woman tied to his bed, wearing said knickers.

‘Meh’ dismissive or annoyed/curt dismissive?

In fact I have a theory that many 'other women' plant items for the wife/girlfriend to find in the hope that she'll dump the bloke thus leaving the way clear for her.

I remember in a movie based on the diary of a New York nanny that one of her dilemmas was what to do with the knickers that clearly belonged to the fathers mistress rather than his wife. She believed they had been deliberately placed so the wife would find them.

(From what I remember, she covered up on that occasion, but then at a later date told the wife about the affair, which led to her being sacked by the wife, who preferred to officially not know about the affair.)