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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Am I being taken for a complete fool?

102 replies

MugShot · 02/11/2011 21:27

Long Story and Im not sure where to start.

H and I have been together for 18 years and have 3 DC'S together, the youngest DD is just over one.
Last summer DH told me he didnt love me anymore and wanted to leave, I begged him to stay and he agredd to "give it another go" but told me his feelings for me had changed and that he no longer felt that he was "in love" with me. Devastated, I spent six weeks trying to be the perfect wife while he was cold and unfeeling towards me.Then discovered that he had been phoning and texting his deputy at work (a woman in her early fifties).
He denied it was anything more than friendship, but things didnt add up, I did lots of digging, delved into his browser history and discovered that he had been planning a walking holiday with work colleagues and had been looking at posh hotels, Im not an idiot and I deduced he had been planning a mucky weekend away. He consistently denied anything more than friendship and continued working with her closely. I found text messages on his phone that suggested they were very familiar with each other. I put two and two together and realised that he had in fact spent a lot of time with this woman socially and had suffered from mentionitis for several months. I realised that their closeness had been well established before I gave birth and begged him to admit an affair, but he denied it.

We carried on, after Christmas but he was distant, I noticed that she didnt give him a birthday card which I thought suspicious as he claimed she was such a good friend, I guess it wasnt for my eyes. Eventually in April, he admitted an emotional affair, no more. I bought Not Just Friends and begged him to read it, he refused.
A few weeks later I asked him to work at our marriage otherwise leave, he said he wanted to make things work and I asked him to text the OW and tell her there would be no more contact outside work. He sent the text, then immediately became cold towards me. The next day, he left me and went to hers.c laiming that he was in love with her. Two hours later he was back saying it was a horrible mistake and he didnt want to lose us.
I foolishly gave him another chance.

Since then he has behaved as if nothing happened, refuses to discuss OW and claims he was never intimate with her,in the summer she texted him from work and actually started the text with "I know Im not supposed to text"
This weekend he was off work, his mobile rang three times then stopped, it was her, he looked really flustered and said she must have phoned by mistake.

Am I being taken for a complete fool here? My friends say he probably slept with her and its definitely not just friends. I know thats probably the case. The night he said he wanted to leave me, he texted her eight times and rang her Sad I feel so stressed and miserable

OP posts:
Hissy · 02/11/2011 22:18

I see.

If she had a legitimate reason to ring him, and he is her line manager, then she should ring.

What SHE did was give him a missed call, so that if he was alone, he could CALL HER BACK.

There are 2 ways of looking at this:

ONE - she is playing to WIN. but when he did leave, she clearly knocked him back, because he came limping back to you. So if he HAD told her in no uncertain terms that she is not to contact him, he'd have been angry with her, not looking like he'd been shot, caught in the headlights. NO! He has NOT told her to back off, he has NOT severed comms with her. It's still going on.

TWO: HE has allowed her the space to think it's acceptable to call him on the off chance. A man with nothing to hide would have either taken the call or called her back and said, 'We've talked about this, you are not permitted to contact me outside of work' Or he'd have bollocked her for calling him.

AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 22:19

He may still have some affection for you, of course

He is a spectacularly weak man, I am afraid

Tell him to go

You are being taken for a fool...it's time for him to learn you are not one

You did all you could

You gave him more leeway and more chances than he deserved, and he has flung it in your face

Teach your children that this is not what relationships are all about

Weak man looks for comfort outside of marriage...grateful, forgiving wife takes him back despite the fact his heart is elsewhere and he hasn't even bothered to try and hide it

Hissy · 02/11/2011 22:19

LOVE doesn't treat others like this Mugshot, does it?

MugShot · 02/11/2011 22:21

Hissy-I thought the same actually, that she had "pranked" him to get him to ring her back, god Ive been a complete idiot.This has been going on since I was pregnantSad

OP posts:
Hissy · 02/11/2011 22:22

I'm so sorry love. Sad

lampli · 02/11/2011 22:22

I'm so sorry Mugshot. None of this is your fault.

AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 22:25

oh no Sad so sorry

MugShot · 02/11/2011 22:38

the b***d, he has probbaly been stringing us both along, my mum told me that she suspected he only came back because of the children, marvellous

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 22:42

it seems that way Sad

cake/eat it

MugShot · 02/11/2011 22:52

I think you are right AF.

Sad
OP posts:
AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 22:55

don't fight her for him, love

he is the booby prize

a poisoned chalice

MugShot · 02/11/2011 23:00

Oh I have no intention of doing so, he should have fought for ME Sad

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 23:02

good for you x

he should have fought for me

and therein lies your problem

he didn't

he doesn't deserve you, even when he turns on the crocodile tears and fakes that "breakdown" which appears inevitable

I give him until Sunday before the "depression" and self loathing kicks in

MugShot · 02/11/2011 23:09

oh my, now that is funny because Ive had this allready, at the start of the year when the OW was uncovered properly, he had a "breakdown", and was depressed

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 02/11/2011 23:16

there is a script, MS

seems like he is following it

and you felt sorry for him then, and felt you could help "fix" him, didn't you ?

veer from your script, lovely, the one he thinks you are following

he will stop taking care of himself soon, look a bit unkempt and hangdog, find it difficult to eat, can't find the pleasure in anything

et cetera

(no offence to people suffering true depression, for anyone lurking)

this man is a proven consummate actor

Jux · 02/11/2011 23:50

MS, I'm so sorry this has happened to you.

Show the nasty little turd that you are worthy of so much more than him. Kick him out.

You will find that life is so much better without a little ShitFace hanging around sucking up your time and attention.

garlicBread · 03/11/2011 00:51

AF's been on excellent form tonight!

Hang on her words, MugShot, and rally your supporters.

You must be knackered after all this going on for so long, with the baby and all. I have the strangest feeling you will find it much easier to cope once you've made your mind up and booted him out taken charge.

Wishing you well. Don't forget the supporters! x

izzywhizzysgunpowderplot · 03/11/2011 01:40

AF's been on scintillating shit hot form on your post, honey, and I have nothing to add except that I reckon you are due a 'lorra lorra laffs' as a nauseating certain Liverpudlian would say.

A mirth-filled tale that you'll be able to dine out on for years to come is well within your grasp and all you have to do is pay one final 'unexpected' visit to his place of work.

Before you depart for said establishment, pack his shit belongings in plastic bags and dump it in your hallway. After you have completed this chore, dress yourself up to nines and 'drop in' on him.

Winkle Ms Skulky out of her office - by the ear if necessary - and deposit her in front of him. Turn your best megawatt smile onto full beam and, flashing your choppers at her, say that you hope she will enjoy her 5 minutes of fame when she's named on your divorce petition for his adultery with her.

Turning to him. smile sweetly, and say 'Your bags are packed and waiting for you in the hall' and follow this statement by making a graceful exit sans backward glance.

Return home laughing and await developments secure in the knowledge that, whatever happens next, you have called the shots - and also his bluff.

NB resist any temptation to overegg the cake as, when it comes to the verbals on these occasions, less is very definitely more. Please note that dumping his stuff on his employer's doorstep would not only be an overly dramatic gesture but would deny you the opportunity to relish observe his further squirming on your carefully sharpened hook.

SolidGoldVampireBat · 03/11/2011 01:52

This man wants to continue having both of you in his life. Her for 'romance' and sex, and you for, I'm afraid, domestic work and childcare. So your choices are clear - you can accept that he is not monogamous and never will be (you get him to end the relationship with this woman and he will soon find another one) or you end the marriage. I'm afraid the third option, the magic button that will make him recommit to an exclusive relationship with you, isn't available.

MugShot · 03/11/2011 08:14

thank you all, AF, beleive it or not, when I first discovered what was going on between him and OW (except he has never admitted all of it) he played the breakdown thing, even went to the docs, the whole lot, everything you described, what an arse. I made him text her last night asking why she had phoned, got this text back

"Im so sorry, had to get a new phone (but shes obviously still got the same number). I was sat playing around with it and it all went horribly wrong (with a crying face)

WTF does that mean

OP posts:
lampli · 03/11/2011 09:25

What rubbish, they have cooked that up between them. They have obviously still been seeing each other and are trying to pull the wool over your eyes again.

Please try not to focus on what is going on between them, and especially not on the OW. Focus on yourself and regaining control. Did you get any sleep? Have you thought about getting him to leave? I know it seems like a big step and it must be a lot to get your head around but he isn't there with you now, not really, so it isn't that big a step at all but it will make you feel a lot better.

bubblegumpop · 03/11/2011 09:33

Does it matter what it means? They have been sleeping together, still are. It's obvious.

He isn't working to save your marriage at all. So what do you want to do?

MugShot · 03/11/2011 09:41

I want him to leave but I couldnt afford to continue with divorce when I first started proceedings, my bill already stands at £800 and the solicitor hasnt even applied to the court yet. He is actually £6000 overdrawn at his bank so no danger of him coughing up

OP posts:
susiedaisy · 03/11/2011 09:44

hi OP just wanted to say i feel for you going through this, havent got much to add to the already great advice on here, but i know something of being with someone who's physically in the house with you but who's heart and mind is somewhere/someone else and its miserable and soul destroying, you've tried so hard to keep him and still it seems thats not enough, time to take control and visit a solicitor, he will always lament what he is about to loose because he sounds like a weak weak man!

lampli · 03/11/2011 09:44

Don't worry about the divorce yet, he just needs to go. Where he goes is his problem.

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