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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To burn everything he has ever owned?

119 replies

whattonearth · 12/09/2019 07:53

I’ve just found out my “DH” of 21 years has been having many one night stands and what appears to be a 12 month affair with men . I’m not sure why the gender of the other parties are important but it I feel it is relevant.
At 43 years of age and 23 years of being with a woman you’d think he should be pretty certain of what he’s attracted to?
We have/had (I thought) the relationship most people wish for. Clearly not.
Obviously I’m not going to burn his belongings but he feels I’m ‘unreasonable ‘ for telling him to fuck off and never darken the doorstep again
How the fuck do I even start to process this ? Not to mention the impact on our 4 children

OP posts:
doublebarrellednurse · 12/09/2019 09:33

Unstitching his trousers. All of them. Just a bit would be far better. Will look fine until he wears them then ooops humiliated in the office.

OP I have been on the end of being cheated on and you have a whole other layer to contend with. Please remember you don't have to make decisions all at once if you simply can't then wait a bit. Your life is a whirlwind right now and controlling that in order to make rational choices is hard.

You obviously from your posts are disgusted. Rightly so he's treated you disgustingly. You are in the right here.

GPs no longer do screening for STI - it needs to go through the sexual health service and they will assist you. A lot of places just have walk in appointments.

Focus on you and your children. His opinions and feelings and anything else are none of your concern anymore. Not your monkey not your circus.

Much love to you. This is agonising. Remember his behaviour is not a reflection of your worth but also there is no shame in having someone professional help you figure out your life and feelings after this.

whattonearth · 12/09/2019 09:35

Thank you all for you words of support.
I have an appointment tomorrow at a clinic. I’ve chosen to pay to go and get seen sooner
Thankfully I’m not dependent upon him. We both earn around the same and have a relatively small mortgage
As much as I would love to action some of the suggestions on this thread I feel our children are worthy of at least one parent with some moral standing and that will be me.
I’ve rang a few solicitors for a half hour consultation but so far I can’t get an appointment until the week after next. I suppose I am in no rush and it will give me some head space to attempt to process all this
I genuinely can’t help but think “what the fuck”

OP posts:
LakieLady · 12/09/2019 09:41

Wow, OP, you must be in bits. Do you have a trusted friend in RL who can support you?

I realise you must be in shock, but now is the time you most need a cool head. Gather as much financial info as you can, especially about his income and pensions, before he gets the chance to squirrel it away. Does all his money go into a joint account, or could he have hidden savings? Are there life insurance policies or endowments? Look for any large withdrawals (my ex paid £6k in cash into his sister's a/c just days after I told him our marriage was over, I stupidly confronted him with the receipt and he claimed it was a loan and it was paid back within days). You need to protect your financial position as much as you possibly can.

Ask him to leave, tonight. You shouldn't have to share your home, much less your bed, with him, even for a night. And think about how you're going to explain this to your children.

And yes to a sexual health screening, and get an appointment with a solicitor.

Don't get mad, get even.

What an utter shit he is.

YouJustDoYou · 12/09/2019 09:41

Oh op - why do they do this to us? Ultimately, he is going to be left a lonely, gross old man shagging around just to fulfil his lust, but as many find out, lust only goes so far in their pathetic lives to offer them "comfort' after realising they've lost anything that actually mattered to them. When will they understand they are not entitled to sex? They think they can have their cake and eat it and for some stupid reason seem to not even consider repurcussions. fucking disgusting morons. I hope all goes well at the clinic for you - I've had to go twice after "d"h's cheating. Wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it's a necessity.

Tiredtessy · 12/09/2019 09:45

@SuperSara so you've just picked up on the change the locks that more posters have said and not how I've advised to get her sexual health checked?

I don't need to repeat what every other person has said.

caringcarer · 12/09/2019 09:50

Exactly this happened to one of my friends. She had been married for over 16 years and had no suspicions. They had two sons who were 10 and 7 at the time. She was devastated and told me she felt stupid not to have known or even suspected. She was not stupid just trusting. Your husband is gay so you need to seek urgent legal advice. Make him leave the family home. Bag up his stuff into bin liners and ask him to move out. You won't be able to think straight whilst he remains in your home and you see him daily. Try to sort out your finances. Your husband has lied and deceived you repeatedly and may have put you at risk of STI. Go and get a test to set your mind to rest.

doublebarrellednurse · 12/09/2019 09:52

You're being incredibly dignified and an amazing mum OP. I'm glad your situation is equitable.

Thanks
caringcarer · 12/09/2019 09:55

I would be so furious at the way he had deceived me, if he wants and is trying to remain in the closet and to keep it quiet I would tell his friends and out him. Let others see what a shit he had been to you.

contrary13 · 12/09/2019 09:56

I think you're absolutely within your rights "to make a scene" about this! You've been with him for 23 years, married for 21 years, have four children by someone whose behaviour is now making you realise/think/believe that your entire relationship with him... was a fabrication. If he had any inkling that he was gay (or is he trying for the bisexual angle, I wonder?), then he should not have bound himself to a woman in matrimony. He should not have brought children into this world, whilst lying to their mother/himself about his sexuality - because that's not fair on, or to your children. How are they going to react when their father admits what he's done, or is he just going to spring a male partner on them at some point in the future ("Surprise!")?

When my grandmother left my grandfather for another woman (yes, I have the grandparents in the right order), in the 1950s, he reacted pretty badly by all accounts. For one thing, he "kept" their oldest child (my father) who was 4 at the time, for almost 3 years. My grandmother was permitted to take their younger two sons (aged 2 and a few months old at the time) with her. She wasn't allowed to see my father at all, until the point where my grandfather's mother talked some sense into him - my father, who was a very young child at the time, was distraught at and confused by the disappearance of his beloved mother and younger brothers from his life, and remains profoundly affected by the separation to this day. I don't think he even realised that my grandmother was romantically involved with another woman until he moved hundreds of miles away to live with them - and, lost his father/paternal extended family for 50 years as a direct result of this, because my grandfather was devastated by the fact that his marriage and the births/raising of his 3 sons were a sham. He refused to divorce my grandmother until my father was 15, and didn't pay any maintenance - and this was a pattern which repeated in his subsequent families. He left his girlfriends/wives and their children before they could leave him.

So know that you're not the only one this has ever happened to (which I'm sure you already do), and hold on to the fact that you're absolutely justified in making "a scene" - you're grieving, after all, the loss of the man you believed him to be.

It does get better. But, like most things, it takes time. I'm not sure my grandfather ever recovered - but back then? This wasn't a subject he could seek support in enduring, outside of his immediate family. You, at least, will be able to confide in and take comfort from your friends, which you're going to need. Especially as you need to be strong enough to support your children through this... Sad

Nonmerci · 12/09/2019 09:57

The sex of his sexual partners does actually matter, you’re at a much higher risk of HIV if you sleep with bisexual men.

I hope to God he has used protection for your sake OP. This truly is the stuff of nightmares. Well done you for remaining so dignified though and keeping it together for your children Flowers.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 12/09/2019 09:59

Get a solicitor asap- dont destroy anything of his but Id ship it out of the house pretty quick.
Where is he staying?

Also if anyone asks why the marriage has ended tell them! Don't protect his sordid little secret- and yes the fact its men hes been sleeping with makes this so much worse.

Patnotpending · 12/09/2019 10:08

It's not fire you need, it's ice. Icy control while you gather evidence (phone, computer, receipts, paperwork, photos) to support your case and ask around for a good lawyer. Don't burn or destroy anything: you need to be the responsible adult in this situation. Yes, talk to friends by all means. They may well be aware of things that you haven't been.

Obviously it goes without saying that he's a bastard.

Branleuse · 12/09/2019 10:09

im sorry youre going through this OP. The level of deceit is awful and if he has used you to create his fantasy normal life, while deceiving you, shagging whoever he fancies, and not allowing you to create a family with someone that loves and wants you for who you are, then thats huge, and you are NOT overreacting

Nanny0gg · 12/09/2019 10:11

Is he still living at home?

princessTiasmum · 12/09/2019 10:12

When i found out my ex was having an affair with my sister, and a few others along the way,i cut his best Italian suit up [the one he got married in] into little pieces and left
Stupidly i went back after much begging from him
Big mistake,he did it again,

MouseInATelescope · 12/09/2019 10:15

The sex of his affair partners makes absolutely no difference

Yes it does. As it would if it was 16 year olds, prostitutes or much older ladies! It's another thing sexual thing he kept secret.

OP I am so sorry I've been where you are with the lies and the cheating. Do WHATEVER you want to do (except like, illegal stuff!) that soothes the pain. You need throw him out with the rubbish and map out a new life for yourself, some decent plans for the future without him in it.

I'm nearly a year down the line with two young boys, and I'm JUST starting a new career and it feels bloody brilliant. A year ago I cried on and off all day for weeks. I literally howled on the floor into a cushion some days. Then I hit the bottle and that got really bad - but luckily I stopped when I realised I had a problem.

It is hell and I wish I could FF this bit for you because saying "it gets better" makes no difference at all. You're both starting new seperate lives now, make yours better than his!

Lochlorien · 12/09/2019 10:21

@whatonearth I am so sorry to hear this story of deceit. He has deceived you and your children in two ways; by being with a woman when he is gay or bisexual and by having affairs and one-night stands.

Take the legal route, but please also see a counsellor as your feelings will be profound for some time in the future.

MouseInATelescope · 12/09/2019 10:27

I really hope he's not passed anything onto you whatonearth. I can't believe you might have that to deal with on top of it all.

Just speechless at what some people put their partners through.

pelirocco123 · 12/09/2019 10:32

Juells Thu 12-Sep-19 08:50:01
The sex of his affair partners makes absolutely no difference.

Of course it does. It's an additional layer of rejection and betrayal, where you'd start thinking that he wasn't even attracted to you all those years, he was just pretending and using you as a beard.

I am not defending his actions , but you do know that people can be attracted to men and women?

Juells · 12/09/2019 10:33

Do WHATEVER you want to do (except like, illegal stuff!) that soothes the pain.

I've never regretted a single nasty thing that I did, I was just sorry afterwards that I didn't do more. It's about fairness, you have to feel that you've done something to even the scales. I was so livid at all the understanding and support and listening to the bullshit lies and feeling sorry for him that I'd gone through, when all the time I was being deceived up the eyeballs because it never occurred to me that he'd lie.

Ozziewozzie · 12/09/2019 10:36

@CigarsofthePharoahs
I absolutely love your idea. Grin

Moondancer73 · 12/09/2019 10:52

Solicitor and then split the bum seam as suggested. I might also put a couple of prawn in a hem or seam and in his car? Then I'd tell his parents and his friends what he's done.
He's behaved appallingly, you're not making a scene, and suggesting you are just shows how unreasonable he is.

NearlyGranny · 12/09/2019 10:54

Oh, so sorry you've had this blow. I do agree that finding his affairs have been with men adds an extra layer to it. You've been living a double lie and they're both his!

A decent man would understand that you need him out of your sight for a bit and book himself into a hotel or something so you can think. Does he have supportive family he can go to?

I'd be making firm noises about time apart to allow you to get your head around what's been happening, and he's the cheat so he should go. He's known all along what's been going on; you haven't. It's your world that's turned upside down, not his! Anyone who praises him for coming out and sympathises that he's had to live a lie needs reminding that you lived a lie too - his lie - and that, unlike him, you had no choice.

I think you can insist he moves out for a spell. Ask him how he thinks it will feel for you to attend the STD clinic and be tested for who knows what diseases and then have to come home to him in the house comfortably watching TV or waiting for you to make his dinner. How would he feel if it were the other way around?

If he refuses to leave, you probably need to tell him that means you'll be starting proceedings against him sooner rather than later and you'll be looking to secure the house for the children's sake.

If he wants you to negotiate later, he needs to give you space now!

I understand the urge to burn everything but of course you won't. Something symbolic like removing your wedding ring and putting to one side other jewellery he may have bought you will perhaps feel like enough. What about changing your hairstyle to something you've been wanting or starting or stopping wearing makeup or choosing to dress exclusively in a new colour - cerise? black?! - to mark the massive shift in your life?

If there is a particular perfume you associate with key moments with him (proposal, wedding, new baby) and you have some on the go, dumping it down the sink and buying a totally new fragrance might help.

Life from now on will always divide into before you knew the truth and after.

So sorry.

Horehound · 12/09/2019 10:58

Fucking hell that's crazy.
How did you find out?

Definitely get a Shit Hot Lawyer!

Horehound · 12/09/2019 10:59

I'd be telling his parents exactly what's been going on..