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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

Relationship advice needed please

11 replies

Stoneheart · 14/03/2021 14:23

Hi
This is a brief rundown of what’s happening in my life, any advice would be appreciated thank you.
From day one my wife has lied to me in some form
or another, Iv seen texts to other friends saying she could do better etc, so doubt set in. When my mum was dying I nursed her at home and myself and my wife had been together a year at that point, during that time she became a bit obsessed with looking up her ex, this went on for a good few months and I found out so obviously I felt pretty betrayed at an already tough time. I asked her if she still had feelings for her and she denied this saying she was just being nosey. I wasn’t convinced but gave her the benefit of the doubt. It took a year before she finally admitted that she did in fact have feelings for her, she told me this 2 days after my step father committed suicide so again another really crap time to be dealing with stuff... we broke up for a few months then tried to work it out, after a few more very painful years I thought she had finally changed even though my feelings for her hadnt been the same for a long time, I ignored all of the warning signs and convinced myself that my feelings would come back and we both felt that we were in a better place and wanted to get married, on the day of our wedding she got very drunk and admitted having feelings for one of her close friends, they had been friends for 5 years and I had never met her but she was asked by my wife to come to the wedding. My wife got pretty wasted and it came out in the day that she had strong feelings for this woman and had been hiding it for years, meeting up all of the time, sending each other very affectionate texts etc obviously I was gutted and realised that I had made a huge mistake. My feelings for her had been tested over the years and I knew I didn’t feel as strongly about her but tried to ignore that. When I found out everything in the day it was devastating but mostly because I felt completely foolish.
What followed after that was lie after lie and each time she lied about it my feelings got less and less until I knew I had no feeling left so I finished it for good, it’s not a decision that Iv ever regretted or wanted to go back on, but like a lot of people do, she then all of a sudden was very sorry because she knew she had lost me. Then when I agreed to try again yet another lie would emerge. I’m so confused right now and I know it probably seems clear as day to other people but I guess I keep hoping things will change, she even swore on my dead parents grave before the wedding that she wasn’t lying, that’s been the most painful thing to process.

OP posts:
Stoneheart · 14/03/2021 14:26

Just to clarify we are currently trying again but there are still lies happening, can people change it am I just wasting my time? 😢

OP posts:
Ruminating2020 · 14/03/2021 14:40

Has she ever tried to change her behaviour pattern of lying? Trust and respect form the foundation of a healthy loving relationship and this just isn't. If she is continuing to lie and lie, then how can you trust her?

What does your partner say when you confront her about her lying? It doesn't look as if she will change her lying and that is a deal breaker I'm afraid.

Dery · 14/03/2021 14:43

Sorry, OP, but it sounds like you’re just wasting your time. Your wife sounds rather unstable and you know you can’t trust her. And you know you love her less than you used to. That’s the wrong direction for love to go in a long-term relationship. My DH and I piss each other off mightily from time to time but over time our love for each other has grown stronger not weaker.

Do you know what’s making you cling so tightly to this relationship?

Stoneheart · 14/03/2021 16:22

Thank you Dery and Ruminating2020 for taking the time to read and reply, it’s much appreciated. When I have confronted her about anything it’s always been because Iv found out not her ever coming to me about anything, when I have asked about the situations in which she had lied about she will then lie some more and delay any explainations, so I tried waiting a few months and asking again, then I get the standard “I can’t remember it was a while ago” mainly regarding the wedding situation with her friend. When I lost my parents they were all I had in regards to family, I got very depressed and pushed most of my friends away so I’m pretty alone apart from my wife, I think that’s mainly why I hold on but also I guess I keep hoping that her seeing me in pain will change her way of thinking and acting. In all honesty I don’t think there’s much hope no, but I find it hard to be objective about it which is why I wanted to reach out to strangers so that I could get a level headed opinion from outside of the relationship. Thanks again

OP posts:
ItsNotLoveActually · 14/03/2021 19:47

I can't see this ever working. You even admit you love her less. You should have walked out on your wedding day, her behaviour said all you needed to know. Clinging to this woman is doing you no favours. You know her promises mean nothing.

Stoneheart · 14/03/2021 20:28

Thanks for your reply ItsNotLoveActually, yeah I guess I just hoped that things could change, I think I know deep down that this is only going to end one way, it’s caused so much pain over the years, I mean I haven’t helped much as my reactions sometimes have meant that my wife doesn’t want confrontation so will lie, I think my issue is that she has never come to me so any reaction Iv given has been due to me finding something out which just really upsets me. But I think your right, it’s not going to end well.

OP posts:
ShrikeAttack · 14/03/2021 20:36

Ahh, @Stoneheart, I don't think your wife has your best interests at heart. I know how easy it is to push friends away when you're going through a hard time, I've been there, it's hard to be vulnerable, but that's no reason to stay in a relationship that brings you more misery than joy.

Think about a new life you could build, reinvent yourself, do something new, don't stay because it's what you know. That's no reason. Be brave!

Alonelonelyloner · 14/03/2021 20:39

If she loves you and respects you she'd find a way not to lie.
You are worth more. You are worth more than second guessing yourself for someone who seems to have so little understanding or empathy for you.

Please LTB. Do yourself a message favour and don't waste any more of your precious time or energy on her. Time is all we have. Don't waste it.

I'm so sorry.

Stoneheart · 15/03/2021 11:12

Thank you for your posts and advice, I guess it’s easier to digest when you know it’s not just in your own head, Iv thought for a long time that I was the problem, I think it stemmed from the beginning as when we first met I had doubts about being able to trust her, no real reason behind it just a gut feeling. My then best friend decided to message her posing as a younger prettier woman on the dating site that we had met on, no not a great thing to do in hindsight but I was hoping then that I could let down my guard with her and relax with being with her, she messaged the woman back and said she would go on a date with her, obviously I was gutted but I then told myself that I had been unfair and we had only known each other a very short while at that point so I convinced myself she would be different in an actual relationship. When I have asked her many times why she lies to me about things, a lot of the time she reverts back to that situation and says that I never trusted her anyway. I have apologised a lot for this and agreed that it was the wrong thing to do, I also didn’t tell her straight away, it took quite a while to admit that my friend was behind it. When I asked her why she had initially messaged this woman her answer was because she was younger, skinnier and prettier, that’s always stuck with me. I wish I had never agreed to a part of that as I feel that things maybe could have been different if I hadn’t set her up, or maybe I should have just walked away then, but 8yrs later I’m still feeling the burn from that but I feel as though I have been punished enough now 😢

OP posts:
ItsNotLoveActually · 15/03/2021 11:50

Look up 'sunken cost fallacy' in relationships.
8 yrs is a long time to keep beating you with something that, to be honest, proved your suspicions. Get your ducks in a row and leave.

Stoneheart · 15/03/2021 12:08

Thanks ItNotLoveActually I’ll have a look

OP posts:
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