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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

OW/Emotional Affair - Please help me

999 replies

Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 12:19

Hi everyone. First of all I'm sorry if I ramble, this is my first thread and I don't know what to do. H and I have been married 4 years in July. Found out I was pregnant a year after marriage, not planned but happy enough. Hard pregnancy. Found out that H had been having an emotional affair shortly before birth because I saw a WhatsApp message appear on his phone that I didn't recognise late at night so yes, I looked to discover hundreds of messages. I said to him in anger if he didn't stop I'd never let him see our child. He took the phone from my hands and blocked the number.

Things have been rocky ever since, when I go on WhatsApp I wonder why he's online and not speaking to me etc. Shortly after our 1 year olds birthday I couldn't get the idea of having another baby out of my head. I know probably not the wisest but always envisioned two. And now I'm pregnant. I was H phone the other night trying to find a code a friend sent to him in a message and I couldn't help myself, I looked through his messages from people to see if she was there. She wasn't. And then something told me to check the contacts. He doesn't have loads of people and then I saw her (her WhatsApp photo still the same from 2017 when I caught them that night) and she was under a different name. What do I do? Please help me. I haven't mentioned it to him yet - but why on earth is her number in there if it is over? Thanks for any advice x

OP posts:
crispysausagerolls · 10/04/2020 18:34

The fact he has the number under a different name shows he fucking knows it’s wrong and you would be upset - that’s enough in of itself.

The fact he says hasn’t spoken since he found out you were pregnant THIS TIME?!? What the fuck?!?!

BackseatCookers · 10/04/2020 18:49

OP are you not angry yet? You sound sad which makes me feel upset because you should be so pissed off with him! His excuse / reason is more insulting than what he's done! "Oh but I stopped when you were pregnant again..." thanks?!

MsDogLady · 10/04/2020 20:18

...and he said “I haven’t spoken to her since we found out that we were pregnant this time.”

OP, he wasn’t supposed to be interacting with OW at all since your first discovery. He conned you by blocking her but then sneaking her back in under a fake name so he could continue his infidelity. He may or may not have spoken to OW recently. That would be irrelevant to me, as he has been making a mockery of your marriage for so long.

His hiding and keeping OW’s number proves that he is not committed to you. He wants access to two women. A life with this devious snake will bring you untold anxiety and uncertainty. Don’t you and your babies deserve better?

SandyY2K · 10/04/2020 20:49

You're so focused on her number in his phone. The simple fact is that he never ended the affair, he just made efforts to hide it from you.

He isn't committed to you. You need to be very firm and decide if this is the kind of marriage you want to be in.. where your husband continues to disrespect you.

And why do you believe it was just an emotional affair and not physical? Unless she's across the oceans, why would he spend 2 years with just words on WhatsApp.

I'd want to know the truth if I was you. He's taking you for a fool and you sound so desperate to believe any nonsense he tells you.

At your most vulnerable he was playing away and hasn't stopped.

Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 21:05

@MsDogLady I know. And do you know what I even thought earlier..I actually thought maybe he's feeling guilty about speaking to her and maybe he's stopped

OP posts:
Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 21:06

You are all being so honest with me. I can't thank you enough, believe me it's helping my irrational brain

OP posts:
TheFutureMrsHardy · 10/04/2020 21:27

He probably knows her number off by heart.

Deleting it was nothing more than a gesture.

Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 21:30

Hi @TheFutureMrsHardy yep you're probably right. Do you know whatelse? Maybe he hasn't had contact with her recently because he doesn't want to tell her I'm pregnant because he doesn't want to lose her. That's probably the most rational thought I've had today

OP posts:
BackseatCookers · 10/04/2020 21:33

He is an adult and has made his choices

She is an adult and has made her choices

You are an adult and finally have the information you deserved previously in order to make an informed decision

What do you want?

It doesn't matter why he does what he does, what matters is why you're putting up with it Thanks

deepwatersolo · 10/04/2020 23:13

Ok, I‘ll add a different perspective: what if it is limerance on his part? I have an ‚almost-ex‘ (complicated story. We were never really a couple, as I knew I‘d leave the country after my post-doc year, and he was going to stay). He met a girl and started a relationship, while I was still there. He told her at the time we would have married, had I stayed (which was bullshit). She was jealous, didn’t want to hear about me, but accepted our social media contact, which we maintained loosely after I left the country. 5 years later, suddenly, he blocked me on Facebook. I would not have known, had he not told me via messenger that he had to do it, because they had a row as she had caught him looking at my Facebook pics (they are all family pics, trekking pics with my child. I wouldn‘t hesitate to put my whole fb content in my CV). I then stopped communicating with him, because, obviously, she had a problem with it and, obviously, he agreed (his suggestion that she had not mentioned ending the Skype contact did not convince me). Years down the line he repeatedly tries to reestablish contact.

And yet, it is not real. I am absolutely convinced he would not ‚leave her for me‘ if given the opportunity. It is just a soft spot he has for an idea of this other life where unicorns fly around and I am whatever he needs me to be.
Not real. And he knows that, too, deep down.
This escapism is something not every partner can live with, but, frankly, if it is not more than that and if he can come to terms with it, it is silly to throw it all away imo.

idontcare12 · 10/04/2020 23:24

@deepwatersolo nail on the head.

idontcare12 · 10/04/2020 23:28

What I mean is you're are absolutely right about what OW/OM represents....that being said, I don't think OP's husband respecting her because I'm presuming he met this OW whist already married.

Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 23:30

Yes @idontcare12 we got married in 2016 and this started in 2017. Says a lot doesn't it

OP posts:
Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 23:32

@idontcare12 and do you know, for a split second when he said 'I stopped speaking to her when I found out we were pregnant this time I thought good' but then no. I realised he probably has temporarily stopped speaking to her because I bet he hasn't even told her I'm pregnant because he knows he might lose her. Amazing that this is the most rational I've been

OP posts:
Cupcakesaregood · 10/04/2020 23:32

@deepwatersolo do you not want to block him and move on with your life? I'm sure you can do better

OP posts:
deepwatersolo · 10/04/2020 23:55

OP, Obsessing about how to prevent all the ways he might use to reestablish contact would be the opposite of ‚moving on with my life‘. I wouldn‘t even know how to block anyone in, say, LinkedIn. I just don‘t accept the invites I am not interested in. Literally, the least I can do.

Cupcakesaregood · 11/04/2020 00:03

@deepwatersolo no I understand what you're saying I guess I'm just a close the door bolt it shut type person but if you're strong enough to not block etc then that's good too

OP posts:
deepwatersolo · 11/04/2020 00:39

Cup it is just all so long ago, it doesn‘t pull any strings with me if there is this arbitrary contact request maybe once a year. I agree that as long as there is emotional investment, blocking is the healthy thing to do.
Maybe it is the same for him now and he just looks for a channel to tell me ‚yeah, we‘re all good‘. But he always seemed to thrive on big drama in his life and I don‘t want to take any chances, haha.
( my point about potential escapism regarding your hubby still stands, but I am actually not even sure that was the main driver in my former friend. It sounds nuts but in retrospect I sometimes think for him the best part about ‚me’ was how he could hurt his girlfriend/wife with talk and insinuations about me.)

DBML · 11/04/2020 02:19

I’m sorry you’re going through this op. It must be heartbreaking and your instinct is going to be to fight for your family again.

The problem is that you shouldn’t have to fight to keep a partner. If you do, there’s something wrong. He needs to want to be there.

The truth is probably that he is fine being in a relationship with you. You and the children are his family. But it’s boring and it’s responsibility. Having this woman to flirt with, send texts to, meet up with (?) is illicit; naughty and fun. It’s exciting...unlike babies and breast feeding and nappy changes. He’s a creep in other words and he won’t change, because he likely thrives on the chase and the excitement of his affair.

If you fight for your relationship you’ll probably stay together. At least for a while. But you’ll never trust him and you’ll be quite right not to. Accepting the reality is going to be so hard and so devastating. Make sure you’ve got plenty of people around to support you.

Sending 💐

Weenurse · 11/04/2020 02:27

I have just rea this and gone through my phone deleting contacts that have been there for years. I don’t remember who some are.
The fact he saved her number under a different name is telling.

apostle51 · 11/04/2020 05:52

I’m gonna try and sum up my situation when I found out about my wife’s emotional affair 3 1/2 years ago. We a currently still together ( dunno for how much longer tho)

We have been together now 24 years, married for 16, 4 kids.
In summer 2016 she told me she wanted to leave, complete shock, we were always so close, never any bad feeling or big arguments I trusted her unconditionally.
Of course I went looking for reasons why and as all our mobiles are on my providers account I noticed on her itemised bill one number she was texting 300 times or more a day. It was an old family friend of mine that she used to see on the school run.
Turns out she was flirting and getting new attention. I still think it went further just based on the fact it had been going on for 3 months prior.
Anyway, we sorted stuff out and stayed together. A year later she wanted a divorce, again she changed her mind, put me through hell and we stuck together. 6 months after that ( we are now Xmas 2017) I found she had been texting one of her girlfriends messages to forward on to this same guy again. After 18 months and me completely fixing whatever flaws I had according to her and giving her the best of who I am she still went through a lot of effort to hide the fact she was still talking to him via her friend.
At that point I very nearly left her, what little trust I had built up for her again was just gone. I know I was a fool for staying but here I am, still with her.
Just 4 days ago she mentioned about a guy who asked for her number while she went shopping. Immediately my heckles went up. Knowing her history I checked her mobile phone records again and found another new number she has been txting for the last few weeks, again 200 times a day, almost every few minutes.
I was mad, probably thought the worst. Stormed out to her asked her who her new “friend was” looked at her phone and the number was listed under one of her friends names, but it was a different number. She says her friend has a new phone but I don’t believe her.
She texts the number all day while she’s at home and rings it when she’s out at the shop or walking the dog or when I’m at work, never when I’m home.

Over the past 3 1/2 years I have never trusted her fully, always doubt her and I’ve always said to myself that one day she’ll do the same thing again. That side of the last 3 1/2 years has been hell, it’s overshadowed every other good memory we’ve made, every day out with the kids and every date night we’ve done.

You will never trust him again, he will do it again even if it means he has to jump through hoops hiding it like my wife has.
Don’t be a fool like me, don’t put yourself through the torment Ive been going through for years.
Make it right in your head, get your affairs in order, get emotional support from friends and family and leave. Something I probably should have done a long time ago.

izzywizzygood · 11/04/2020 06:25

@apostle sorry to hear about this (and OP's story too of course). I am shocked about your wife sending 300 texts a day! How does she have the time - does she work at a desk job that isn't monitored? I struggle to find the time to send 3 messages a day, and 300 would be a massive waste of my time regardless of who they were to.

apostle51 · 11/04/2020 06:53

@izzywizzygood yeah it’s pretty pants. 300+ some days, I printed out the bill, highlighted all the txts with his number, counted them and confronted her with them.
She didn’t work at the time, we have 4 kids and it started just after our youngest started infant school.

izzywizzygood · 11/04/2020 07:26

@apostle51 least you know now and have the evidence. I think some people just need a lot of attention, and one person doesn't suffice.

butterpuffed · 11/04/2020 08:14

Why do you believe him when he says he's stopped speaking to her ?

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