Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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

Staying with dh after om

265 replies

GroundHogDayAgain · 20/04/2013 11:03

Hi, I posted here yesterday re om dh business etc.

I think I am going to stay with dh and give my marriage another go.

I don't love dh and alot has happened in the 13years we have been together. We have small dcs.

I am going to have to leave my business (with om) and cut all contact with him. I will also become a sahm after working all my adult life.

Please can anyone tell me or give me advice on how to move forwards. I am going to arrange counselling for me then maybe couples if I think it's helping.

Any advice welcome. Thank you x

OP posts:
Offred · 21/04/2013 14:54

If you don't know what to do and think you are not currently equipped to decide what is the harm in simply doing nothing? Committing to nothing until you can make a decision?

You cannot be a mother, a wife and a daughter and not be you at all. Really this is what this whole thing is about isn't? You are trying very hard to fit a square peg into a round hole. You must define you, then you will be able to fit yourself into various roles; mother, wife, daughter much more happily and healthily.

It sounds like you are trying to obliterate yourself, counselling for you I think could be really good but are you ready for that?

AnyFucker · 21/04/2013 14:56

if you H will do "whatever you ask of him" then why is he

  1. forbidding you to work

  2. hitting you

  3. ignoring your emotional needs

  4. uncaring of the fact you don't love him

  5. enlisting his equally abusive family to collude in your oppression

SquidgyMummy · 21/04/2013 15:05

I haven't read all of your thread, but you are definitely in an emotionally abusive marriage which is being condoned by your culture / faith.

Although your relationship was (in your words) built on lies, you haven't even had sex, and at least the OM is trying to do right by you, he has told his DW & Family, he is now seperated and wants to marry you. If you can get over the cultural baggage I really think there could be a future for you with the OM.

There is a possibility of a happy family life for your children; you cannot live your life trying to build a facade of respectable family life just so that you do not bring "shame" on your family.

MyNameIsSpecial · 21/04/2013 15:23

Ok I can understand why your DH doesn't want you to work with OM and if this is a business partnership, it means no more business for you. Or at least not in the current form.

But PLEASE DO NOT STOP WORKING ALTOGETHER.

It would you in a very difficult situation where you will end up even more stuck than you are now. Think about it.
Whatever the reasons, you had an affair. Do you think that these reasons are still there? What if these reasons are still there in one year time. How will you leave if you want to? If you don't want to leave now for fear of being alone, how will it be in a one year's time when on the top of it you have no money at all?

Now if you take into account that one of the reason is that you don't love him, what do you think? Are you likely to be in love in a year's time? Or to still be in the same situation, dreaming to leave a loveless marriage?

GroundHogDayAgain · 21/04/2013 16:08

Swallowed- lol. No it doesn't involve keeping my business. Although today he even said I could keep the business as long as I involved him in it. Om will never agree to this in a million years.

Caja- dh would happily do all the counselling. I'm pretty sure I could get another job but obv he would have an eagle eye on me always. Ie checking my phone, emails. He's said I can't keep a pin lock on my phone. Or that he needs to know the pin.

Offred- the harm in simply doing nothing is I HAVE to work out what to do re business. I can't just not go in whilst I figure it all out. Om will have to replace me/find someone to take over my role. He can't do it on his own. Plus om needs to know where he stands, he's left his house and move into his mothers. Is on the sofa right now. I know that's not my problem as he should have sorted all that himself. He was never going to live with me anyway so is not dependant on me for a roof, but he wants to know if I want to have a future with him and he can then take steps accordingly.

I am ready for counselling definitely. I need to sort all this out and find the guts to do the right thing. However scary that sounds.

AF- I think once all the shit has come off the fan, dh would be more reasonable and I think he would be ok with work. He only hit me once although I'm not saying that's ok. He says he's sure he will be able to bring back the love again.

Squidgy- do you really think there is a possibility of a future with om after he has lied so much to me? He's told me pretty much everything now, and is really sorry. I just wish he had come clean years ago.
Despite the lies about his dw and Dc, he couldn't do enough for me. He's been amazing the past few years and really helped me so much.

I am considering him to be a possibility but the trust issue is a major factor. He's nothing like dh. Has never demanded anything of me or tried to control me. He encouraged me to put dcs into private school even though I was worried about the money and said we will figure it out.

My name- one of the main reasons why I turned to om was lack of attention and friendship etc. dh was a workaholic. He had no time for me and Dc. I had pre-eclampsia and a section, then pnd. But I did everything a-z at home alone. Feeds, nappies, baths cooking cleaning etc. it was a tough time. Om came along at this time.

Dh left/got let go from his job and only since then has he started to be a bit more hands on with dcs and hw. He works nights now so still not there like he should be.
I'm sure if I gave it a chance I could find the friendship with dh again. But that's not enough for a good marriage I know that.

And you made an excellent point re how will it be in a years time. My biggest fear is that it'll be the same but ill be more dependant on him.

OP posts:
Offred · 21/04/2013 16:27

You need to go in to the business and carry on with it as you were before, I think you just need to do nothing regarding leaving it or deciding between the two men just yet. You have to go back to work anyway by the sounds of it as you aren't going to find a replacement soon enough to take over what has piled up.

CajaDeLaMemoria · 21/04/2013 16:50

Can you do nothing, for now?

Try working, but without talking about feelings with the OM? Work as friends, and colleagues, but don't entertain conversations about your future yet.

Or, could you tell OM that you need space and time, and see if he will give you it? Movein to the house yyou have available, and get counselling, and keep things civil (or friendly if possible) without committing to either man for now?

swallowedAfly · 21/04/2013 17:11

i'm lost. you say you're in love with this man and he wants to be with you and you have a business together that is going well.....? why can't you be with this man?

GroundHogDayAgain · 21/04/2013 17:27

Offred- this is what I want but as I said in prev post, om and dh are locking horns. Dh wants to go with me to work and om won't let that happen. So basically, if I go to the office without dh I have to pack my bags and leave home.

Caja- this would be the ideal situation for me but don't know if om will agree to give me time to clear my head. In any event, going to the office means leaving home. I'm considering this seriously.

Swallowed- I don't blame you for being abit lost. It's a mess on an epic scale. I love om and have business with him. Was planning on marrying at some later stage. But he had lied to me abt his dw and Dc etc so the trust issue is there now. He's not with his dw now anyway so nothing stopping us in that respect. But I didn't have a clue about his dw and Dc situation and if I did I would have walked away from him.

OP posts:
CajaDeLaMemoria · 21/04/2013 17:31

I hope it doesn't sound like I think this will be easy, I know it must seem a huge decision to you.

But you sound more than capable of doing it, and sometimes, being in the situation makes the path ahead feel Blurred.

Speak to the OM, if you can. Tell him you need time, and that if he wants you to consider a possible future with him, he needs to give you that. It's the least he can do, really. Then you can move out, and get some professional help dealing with your feelings. Counselling will make everything clearer.

swallowedAfly · 21/04/2013 17:48

agree it's a huge worry that he didn't tell you. interesting though that you didn't walk away based on you having a dh and children yet would have walked away if you knew his situation was the same as yours.

Guiltypleasures001 · 21/04/2013 18:19

Hi Op

Sorry but i think trying to make your marriage work will be a mistake, you checked out for a reason, and I believe you dh is going to try and lock you in to the marriage and leave you no where to run, he will if he hasnt already start to cut off all means of escape.

get out with the kids and hole up somewhere even for a few days to get away from both of them, your not getting any head space, and nothing I have read in your posts tells me anything about what you really want. If what other posters have said about his past behaviour your at risk of sleep walking back in to an even worse situation you were trying to escape from. Your being bullied even now, and staying for the kids is never a good enough reason.

Offred · 21/04/2013 18:53

You don't have to pack your bags and leave, he has no right to force you out of the home and it is ridiculous to suggest you must have an escort or you will be homeless.

It is not all that ridiculous for OM not to want your DH around at work making a fool of you and damaging the business.

DH can take a running jump can't he? You will go to work, if he follows you you will call the police and have him arrested for harassing you. You will not leave your home unless you decide to and if he decides he no longer wants to live there he can leave. In these circumstances I think this is reasonable. DH is being pathetic and controlling.

SquidgyMummy · 21/04/2013 21:15

OP,

I read more of the thread and if I have the sequence of events right, OM didn't say he was married for a while, but you did know that he was married with a pregnant wife, when you were still friends, before you got more involved with him. So you did knowingly have (an emotional) affair with a married man. Not judging but pointing out that at that point, you were no more or less culpable than him. His biggest wrongdoing to date towards you leaving his estranged DW out of it for now is lying by omission.

I think you have more of a future with OM, than you DH tbh, but as other posters have said, I would just live alone for a while with your DS's and have some counselling whist you get you head straight.

I suggest you read some of the other threads about emotionally abusive relationships, because leaving it is definitely the most dangerous time. I would definitely get some advice from Women's aid as your husband seems to have very obsessive traits.

good luck

specialsubject · 21/04/2013 22:06

get out before one of you kills the other.

you don't love him, you don't want to be with him.
he doesn't like you. He hits you.

you will damage your children so, so badly if they have to live with this. THAT is your responsibility.

sod the religion and what the parents think. Only one life.

GroundHogDayAgain · 21/04/2013 22:37

Caja- I'm going to spk to om and do as you suggested thanks x

Swallowed- yes you make a valid point. Hindsight is great and of course the right thing to do would have been to sort out my issues with dh rather than get too close to someone else. You don't know how much I wish I could have done things differently.

Guilty- I wish I could get away from all this with dcs. But I know it's a mess of my own making so I need to 'woman up' and deal with it. And staying for kids is exactly what I would be doing. I know that's wrong though.

Offred- I wish dh could think like you. But unfortunately he doesn't. The house we live in is not ours, it's dhs fathers. So I have no rights over it at all. I wish I could tell you more about why dh is being like this but you wouldn't even believe me. It's insane.

Squidgy- yes om told me he was married but separated for a few years. He said his dw came back to try again but they ended up arguing and she left. I wasn't really close to om at that point. He told me about his dw and that she was pregnant literally a month before she was due.
Again at that point we were just friends. I and some other work colleagues who he told tried to persuade him to support her and make it work but he said it was over.

I have dcs and I would never take a father/mother away from their dcs knowingly. I don't think any decent person would.
And yes I am def going to live alone with dcs and arrange counselling. It was never my intention to live with om straightaway anyway. My dcs would already have alot to adjust to.

Squidgy dh def has obsessive traits for sure.

Special- dh hit me just once. I don't think he would do it again. I'm not defending him but I know he really loves me and is just desperate to fix us.
I feel so so guilty at doing this to him, if he had been the same as he was earlier ie completely absent, I could have justified it to myself. But he's really tried to change the past year. It's too little too late but I feel extremely responsible for doing all this.

OP posts:
GroundHogDayAgain · 21/04/2013 22:39

Can I just say a huge thank you to every single person that's posted here. It's amazing the kind of advice I've got and that people actually CARE ENOUGH to do it.

Thank you all x

OP posts:
Offred · 22/04/2013 07:18

If you live there and neither of you own the home how can he make you leave though? It is up to his father, but ultimately I'm pretty sure you should have some rights, I don't think your FIL can let to you without a contract for example and one may have been created by your presence in the house. Maybe worth having a look at shelter's site here: m.england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice and maybe calling their advice line.

Ultimately I think though the power is yours, he has to convince you he is right in order to get you to do what he wants.

I think you'd be safer in the other home though anyway, but it must be put into your name.

Offred · 22/04/2013 07:20

Oh and I'm sure we would believe... I'm sure we would, we've seen a lot on this board and in our own lives. I have court papers where my x accuses my female friend and her ex of impregnating me, he had raped me.

GroundHogDayAgain · 22/04/2013 09:09

Offred- that's horrific.... Are you ok now?? I'm sorry you have been through that, it's disgusting. I hope your ex gets what's coming to him.

Re the house, FIL will obv support dh whatever happens. In fact, FIL had told dh that don't worry if she leaves you, I've got plenty of potential women in mind for you to get married to. Lol.

And tbh, I wouldn't want to stay here. All dhs family live in immediate proximity. So it wouldn't be a nice atmosphere. My family live around 25miles away and that's where the rented house is.

Offred, I'm going to try and go to the office today, lets see how dh reacts to that. I may just be packing my bags later though.

I will come back and post later and tell you of what dh believes and thinks is the cause of this. Trust me you will think 'wtf?!'

OP posts:
CajaDeLaMemoria · 22/04/2013 09:33

Good luck today. I hope it all goes well: start with confidence and self-belief, and today might be the day you start a better life for all of you. You've got a house close to your family, and you run a successful business, so you've got a lot to go on.

Be strong, and you'll do just fine.

AnyFucker · 22/04/2013 09:53

Good luck x

GroundHogDayAgain · 22/04/2013 09:57

Caja- thank you xxx

I'm sat in my room too scared to actually tell dh I'm going to work.

Help :-(

OP posts:
GroundHogDayAgain · 22/04/2013 09:57

Thanks AF X

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 22/04/2013 10:07

Make sure you stay safe, first and foremost, I don't trust your h not to get violent. Call the police if he does, he cannot keep you imprisoned, it is a criminal offence

I understand that he doesn't want you to spend time with om, and that is always the advice for affair recovery. It isn't always feasible though. You have a business to run, and even if you were to wind it up, you would have to sort out the practicalities