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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

Should I Tell Her Husband?

43 replies

almond123 · 29/01/2022 22:10

So I matched with a woman two years ago, on a dating site. We met up, got on and decided to give things a go.

Then Covid hit. Obviously we couldn't meet up but we kept corresponding, electronically but in long letters to each other. I fell for her and she said it was mutual.

Then she came clean. And she told me she had a husband. But she said she was thinking of leaving him. She came up to see me to talk about it. But when she came, she then backtracked and said she wouldn't leave him.

We kept talking (from my pov because I was head over heels for her). But I knew I didn't want to be with her like that because I want a real partner in my life. I met up with her once more to say goodbye (I have no moral excuse for this).

We didn't talk but I thought about her for months. We met up again early last year. Again I have no excuse for it.

Since then, we've talked as friends occasionally, for about 10 months.

The whole thing has been playing on my mind for a long time now though. I know I did wrong to continue long after I should have shut the door. And I haven't seen her in 10 months, despite her asking to.

Ultimate question - should I give her husband an option to know about what happened?

(By option, I mean sending a message along the lines of - "I think you know who I am. I don't mean you or anyone any harm. Message me if you want to know more. If not, delete this text and you (or anyone else) never hear from me again").

Some other context:

  • Her affairs are all BDSM based. Her husband has occasionally done this but isn't really into it.
  • I think she does genuinely love her husband. Hence wanting to stay with him. And they have three children together. She has never once bad mouthed him. Quite the opposite. I think she's still very much genuinely in love with him.
  • She has had many many affairs over around fifteen years of her twenty two year marriage. He has known (found out by accident) of the existence of at least three of these affairs in the past. Once found out, each time he was upset and begged her to stop. She did stop the immediate affair. But then restarted a different affair with a new partner(s) afterwards.
  • Directly before me, she had a lover for 3.5 years. He moved to her city to be close to her. She thinks her husband has a suspicion about this lover but he never really knew. This only ended because the lover moved out of the country for family reasons.
  • She told me that she was on the dating sites looking for a permanent lover. Since we met and things didn't work out, I know that she is still active on the same websites and still looking for the same thing - a permanent lover. As well as looking for casual sex, in addition to a longterm lover.

I've thought long and hard about my motivation for considering doing this. My motivation isn't to destroy anything. Personally, and as strange as it sounds, I think that she is a loving wife and he should stay married to her. But I am vastly aware that this is not my choice to make. And what I want to do is offer her husband the chance to learn more about what his wife really does, rather than being kept (involuntarily) in the dark. I wouldn't send any details unless he then responds to me and asks specifically for them.

OP posts:
Fairylightsongs · 30/01/2022 09:05

Move on. She doesn’t want you. Accept it. You don’t need revenge because of it.

User8721643839 · 30/01/2022 09:07

Don't bother
She doesn't want you, she just likes the thrill of it. She probably had more then one guy on the go if you really think about it.

CamsPaisleyCuffs · 30/01/2022 09:07

He's married to a serial cheat and he knows it. If he was going to end the marriage he would have done it by now after the previous revelations. This dynamic works for them however it looks to outsiders, even if neither of them are happy. Leave well alone and move on to someone who isn't attached.

Marmelace · 30/01/2022 09:08

I bet her husband already knows, he is probably living vicariously through her.

LindyLou2020 · 30/01/2022 10:08

Looks like OP isn't coming back to his/her thread Hmm

chaosrabbitland · 30/01/2022 10:16

no i dont think you should op , it would be pointless because her husband has found out about previous affairs and still hasnt kicked her ass to the kerb yet , so you saying anything wont make any difference , her obviously chooses to tolerate her behavior

if you ever want to get over her id block her number or change yours , she sounds awful frankly and id have to differ with you that shes a loving wife , shes anything but .

almond123 · 30/01/2022 11:33

Thanks everyone for your replies. Three things which I'd highlight:

(1) Im not proposing to force her husband to know by sending him all the details. I wonder about giving him the chance to know should he want to (see original post, "I think you know who I am, message me if you want to know, delete the message if not"). My thinking being that if he has, in some way, agreed and knows about the state of the marriage, then he can delete the message and continue the marriage as-is. If he's been kept in the dark about what she's doing (especially about still searching for a lifetime lover) then he has the option to know as much or as little more as he wants.

(2) I know there is a natural interest in my motivations. But I confess to being confused about why. Surely its whether giving him the option to know more is the right thing to do or not, is the issue, not why I would make that information available? If a doctor cures you of a disease, you don't ask if they did it because of the pay, the prestige of the job, because they wanted a promotion or because they really only care about you as a person? (No not comparing me to the doctor, just searching for an analogy).

(3) I'm intrigued as to why genders make a difference in this? To those wondering, I'm a man.

OP posts:
Onthefloor2 · 30/01/2022 11:46

It doesn’t matter if your a man or woman, all that is going to happen is your going to shoot yourself in the foot. If you want to do that then that is fine (but pointless)

The husband already knows, his overlooked it and no, I very much doubt he wants the gory details from you being as he is ignoring the whole thing.

Move on and find someone better….by the sounds of it, it can’t be that hard, she sounds awful!

Winchestercollege · 30/01/2022 11:50

I wouldn't. There are some situations where I would but not this one. There are other ways of setting the world to rights.

Marineboy67 · 30/01/2022 12:07

The bottom line is your just another shag in this woman's history of serial cheating. Your no better no worse no different from the rest of the the hopefucks. Its the excitement of a new chase and fantasy for her but ultimately its just sex and then she wants that 'rush' with someone new again. I knew someone a bit like this but was wise enough to finish whilst she was still invested in it. Her pride and frustration followed followed with a flood of texts and turning up at my door.
Move on and find a available partner in the conventional sense. Telling her husband will achieve nothing, the thought of it might give you a sense of of importance and empowerment but your not, just another prick in the wall.

PearlclutchersInc · 30/01/2022 12:11

My motivation isn't to destroy anything.

Aye right

ChickenStripper · 30/01/2022 12:23

Roll with pigs and you will get mucky. Block her and move on.

Fatherliamdeliverance · 30/01/2022 12:30

I think in this case you should try to move on and leave well enough alone. I wouldn't be saying that if the husband didn't already know she was seeing other men. If he was living in total ignorance, being made a fool of/ putting his sexual health at risk then that may be different. The same would apply for a wife.

Sounds like they have an unusual/ complicated set up and you're best off leaving them to it. This is hard for you. Remember that feeling if anyone off the dating apps turns out to be attached in future.

hereforthetea · 30/01/2022 13:07

No, move on, leave it alone. Why you would be bothered about this after time has passed.

If her husband is turning a blind eye then that his business and he may not thank you for upsetting that dynamic. Everyone's relationship is different.

TheBoreOfHabilon · 30/01/2022 14:56

I would send the message you suggest @almond123 because if he is not in possession of all the facts he is living a lie.

I was not in possession of all the facts in my previous relationship. After some six months the truth started to come out via various other people who it seemed to me had all different parts of the puzzle. It is a regret that those people hadn't thought to speak up before, as I wasted decades on a person who played me.

Flutterflybutterby · 30/01/2022 15:46

No! So you're happy for her to cheat with you, but if she's cheating with someone else it's not on and you're going to tell on her?

AgentJohnson · 30/01/2022 16:05

Tell him if you want but ‘he has right to know’ doesn’t quite wash when he’s ‘known’ previously and chose to stay with the woman. He knows he’s married to a serial liar and cheat and he still stays, that should tell you enough about their relationship dynamic. You

The question you should be concerning yourself with, is why the hell you kept in contact with this woman? This woman’s H is not what stands between you and a happy ever after, her inability to tell the truth and to not cheat, is.

Move on already!

I

IncompleteSenten · 30/01/2022 16:07

There's no point.
He knows she does this. He's caught her more than once. I'm sure he knows full well she's never stopped.

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