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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

Surviving infidelity

624 replies

sal1223 · 27/03/2021 10:40

Hey all - I posted a month or so ago after husband confessed to a one night stand 3 years ago. I was 100% certain that he'd be out the door if anything like that ever happened and then now it has I've felt differently and haven't kicked him out (probably different story if we didn't have children) . I don't think you know until it happens to you personally , honestly I'm shocked at myself ! he's expressed deep remorse and hates himself for what he did - says he told me as couldn't lie any longer it was affecting his mental health and that he'll do whatever it takes to keep us together.
Anyway it's been really up and down since , I'm ok one minute then a mess the next thinking about what he did and playing it out in my head . The hysterical bonding lasted 2 weeks and was a total mind f*ck (for lack of a better word) for both of us - as at the moment I'm not interested in getting intimate at all!
What I'm asking is - has anyone in my position actually moved on successfully and 'survived infidelity' ??
everyones circumstances are different - if it had been a long affair with lots of cloak and dagger I don't think I could give him another chance, as a one off I'm trying. Has anyone else been in my position and come out the other side happily married ? Sounds silly writing it down but that's what I'm asking - I read somewhere only 16% of marriages survive infidelity
Much love and thanks

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ClarkeGriffin · 16/05/2021 12:58

Hope everything goes well for you from now and stick to your guns. I bet he's really trying to be sorry for everything so you might take him back, not like he has his bit on the side now to go to.

He may turn nasty still, be prepared for that. You get half of everything no matter what he says. Hopefully he won't but some can be assholes about it.

sal1223 · 16/05/2021 13:00

@MarshmallowAra no obviously not - I don't need that pointing out

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sal1223 · 16/05/2021 13:02

@ClarkeGriffin I know and that gives me such anxiety - I had an ex hound me after a split as a teenager and the thought of drama just fills me with dread . It's going to be an easy split down the middle of assets eventually

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MarshmallowAra · 16/05/2021 13:51

[quote sal1223]@MarshmallowAra no obviously not - I don't need that pointing out [/quote]
That was supposed to be irony at how shit and illogical he is (on your behalf) but clearly I'm not helping so I'll desist from any further posts.

sal1223 · 16/05/2021 13:55

I know and I had said that to him, shame he didn't think of us and what was at stake before he did what he did

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sal1223 · 16/05/2021 17:51

didn't take long - getting nasty , saying he's going to do a load of drugs watch this space etc . I feel sick

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GabsAlot · 16/05/2021 18:21

just ignore him sal hes trying to shift his guilt onto you

ClarkeGriffin · 16/05/2021 18:41

If he wants to make that choice, that's on his head, not yours. Remind him he has children he is leaving behind if he tries anything. He is just trying to make you take him back because he has no one now and he wants his old life back. He should have thought of that before screwing another woman, he has brought this on himself. Its his fault entirely, not yours. Never forget that.

MarshmallowAra · 16/05/2021 19:14

@sal1223

didn't take long - getting nasty , saying he's going to do a load of drugs watch this space etc . I feel sick
I think he thought his "heart felt" speech would make you call it all off, reality is biting.

He is such a selfish irresponsible fucker.

Off the rails drinking and taking drugs when your child was diagnosed with a disability.
Now "I'm going to do loads of drugs" when he's finally confessed cheating on you and been caught out lying about how many times and the circumstances".

You've been carrying this guy afaics.
He's a fkg child.

Sorry I said I wasn't going to comment again Blush.

RedStiletto · 16/05/2021 20:04

He’s a massive loser. I would never take drugs when I have dc. He needs to grow up and sort his life out.
Please stop engaging with him. He’s feeding off your engagement. Tell him he needs to reach out to family or friends now, you’re only contact is about the kids

RedStiletto · 16/05/2021 20:04

Your

MsDogLady · 17/05/2021 04:24

Threats of substance abuse...emotional blackmail...blaming...rubbing your nose in explicit details of his affair... Is this his version of ‘being a better man’?

After all the harm he has inflicted on you and the children, how dare he attempt to further disrupt your equilibrium and well-being. Sal, you must protect yourself from his controlling, manipulative tactics. His latest stunt of threatening to take a load of drugs is unconscionable as a father. He is behaving like a self-serving, vindictive teenager.

He is wallowing and tantruming now that he has consequences, but he is fortunate that he hasn’t been betrayed by the person he trusted most, robbed of his consent/choices for 3 years, and tormented by sickening images.

He is going to have to stabilize himself. You cannot function as his kicking post, therapist or parent. Grey rock and detach from his coercive manipulations. If he needs help navigating his new normal, he can arrange for individual counseling.

When all is said and done, he did not protect his fidelity. He decided to be unfaithful and dishonest, and he continues to be deceptive. His withholding the fact that he saw OW 2 weeks ago is further lying by omission.

Thinking of you, Sal.

ThePluckOfTheCoward · 17/05/2021 09:09

My response to his threats to take drugs would be "Knock yourself out". Tell him the the only communication you want from him from now on is in respect of the DC, anything else, you are not interested. Obviously I am sure you are keeping all his texts in a file in case you need them for the divorce, custody etc.

This must be so hard Op, but you need to greyrock him in order to protect your own mental health.

MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 09:48

What's his answer to the question of how he plans to responsibly coparent his own children while taking drugs?

That's the only response I'd be giving him, but the posters who say no response are probably wiser.

And yes, record everything.

sal1223 · 17/05/2021 10:02

Yes that's how I will be now .
First time on my own in the house on my own since he left and I'm really feeling low.
I hadn't even tried to give him a second chance this time , what if I look back and wish I had tried - right now I don't think I could get past it all . It's so so sad - and my eldest has been crying for him , when this has calmed down a bit I need to sit him down and explain but it's not been a week yet so I just can't - he thinks he's working

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sal1223 · 17/05/2021 10:03

He said they'll be better off for now , they deserve better because he betrayed them too

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GabsAlot · 17/05/2021 11:11

he loves a pity party doesnt he-you did give him a second chance sal he blew it

RedStiletto · 17/05/2021 11:14

His whining would irritate the hell out of me. I wouldn’t be listening to his crap.

MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 11:45

@sal1223

He said they'll be better off for now , they deserve better because he betrayed them too
How very convenient in terms of him acting as a responsible equal coparent.
MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 11:46

@GabsAlot

he loves a pity party doesnt he-you did give him a second chance sal he blew it
This guy could singing any song but the lyrics would be "Me, me, me, me" ...
MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 11:48

Holy fk the self absorption and self pity having blown his marriage and family in its current form out of the water .... and his wife suffering, having done nothing and except carry him and put up with his shit.

MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 11:56

@sal1223

He said they'll be better off for now , they deserve better because he betrayed them too
This gig just can't stop himself finding excuses to give himself permission to go off the rails and not act like a parent, can he?

Child's disability diagnosis; off the rails (and cheating).

Thrown out because confessed cheating but still lied and totally minimised; off the rails.

You have to wonder if the confession was really guilt or if to some extent/sub consciously he wanted out of family life, I wondered it from the start of the thread.

Op I think you've carried him and even that wasn't enough for someone like him.

MarshmallowAra · 17/05/2021 11:57

*guy, obviously

RainingZen · 17/05/2021 12:29

Sal, i just read the whole thread, so sad to discover you got the Double Lie. That first lie of omission for three years, and then the attempt by him to minimise what he did by lying again and seeking to blame you for what happened. And here he is, STILL trying to turn it round on you and make you responsible for his self-inflicted misery.

Well, hear this and repeat: this is NOT your fault. None of it. And anything he does now, or in the future, NOT your responsibility. How DARE he put more sadness and stress on you, after all the crap he put you through when you had your DC's diagnosis, years of behaving badly, then the revelation of the affair, then the botched attempt to reconcile leading to the full revelation and separation.

You are a strong and capable person, a fantastic mum with a huge heart. That much is very clear. I know this must be an incredibly hard thing go cope with, but you will get through it.

Honestly the shame for his errors and the failure of this relationship is NOT yours to carry. So hold your head high. Don't be afraid to let people find out your business - tell them loud and clear that while you were coping with your DC's disability, your DH was drinking and taking drugs and shagging around. And you've decided you can't waste any more of your life with him, even though you loved him it is time to move on. People will have huge sympathy for you and I'm sure you'll find a well of support out there in your community. So many women have lived through a similar nightmare, the details vary but it's a sadly familiar tale that really only reflects badly on HIM.

You don't have to feel ashamed for being in love with him. That makes you a good person, an optimistic person, the kind of person who most of us aspire to be.

Thinking of you.

sal1223 · 17/05/2021 12:41

I know this is all on him , he's been awful. But what if we could have got past it - I told him we were done after finding out he'd called her and he left , it wasn't until the next day I found out he'd slept with her a second time and I then told him again - were done . I hadn't given myself any time to process the new information

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