4 months ago DH met a woman through work. She was giving him advice for his business and before long they were meeting up regularly for drinks to discuss ideas. One time I was expecting him home for dinner but by 10pm he wasn't home and not answering his phone. When he finally phoned me back he told me he was with her in a restaurant and that they'd been gossiping and forgot the time and that "he hadn't laughed like this in ages".
He told me that he'd made a really good friend. Perfectly fine, I thought.
However, after this he would meet her without me knowing. He wasn't being openly secretive just omitting to tell me. When I found out about these meetings, which were quite like dates - pubs, lunch at restaurants, country walks - I started to feel worried . At home he is always too tired and withdrawn to go out or do anything with me .
When I raised my concern about the woman, he was defensive - he called me paranoid and said he felt like I didn't like him socialising. He said I didn't like him having friends.
Now I am crippled with feelings of jealousy and self-doubt. He's always back late from work and doesn't answer my texts and when I ask him where he's been he's vague.
On NYE when he'd fallen asleep drunk I took a look at his messages. I only saw the most recent ones but the language was all, "I miss you", "my lovely", "when can I see you?" from both of them.
His relationship with her has made me feel rejected and stupid.
I've told him how I feel and he's told me not to be so ridiculous. He said he's not doing anything wrong, they're just friends and he's not having an affair with her.
I can't carry on feeling this way but I don't know what to do next. Should I believe him? Should I just accept his friendship with her? Or should I walk away? How can I cope with this horrible jealous feeling?