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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

DH lied.

335 replies

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 14/07/2022 20:24

DH has form for lying, he’s lied about tiny, insignificant things over the years, but he’s also lied about some big, shitty things too.

Each time he’s caught in a lie, I remind him of just how much I detest being lied to, he apologises and we attempt to move on - but it of course nibbles away at my trust each and every time.

Today, DH had meetings in London. I was told last night the meetings were a ‘big corporate spiel lasting from 9am to 5pm’. Anyway, I checked our tracking app that we have on our phones shortly after lunchtime, to see that DH wasn’t where I thought he would be (the HQ office), but was instead, in some random bar in a different area of London.

I messaged DH an hour or so later, asking him how he was getting on etc. He told me it was fine but a bit boring. I then asked him if his meeting was being held in the usual place and he stopped replying.

He got in this evening and I asked him what time the meeting ended up finishing, and if it’d been held at the HQ, to which I was told ‘yep, normal place, we finished up around half 4, was supposed to be 5 but they rushed through a couple bits so we could duck out a tiny bit early’.

Now, I can see from our app that he left the building where the meetings are held shortly after 2pm and was in a bar from then, until he left to get the train at around 5:30pm. When I asked him if he’d stayed and had any drinks, he told me that ‘once the meeting was finished, they left the HQ and he had one quick pint before getting the train’. I also asked him if the blokes from work were staying ‘out out’ for drinks after the meeting, and he told me they were apparently heading to a certain bar in Shoreditch. Well, I checked the app, and lo and behold, that bar that his colleagues were supposedly heading to ‘after’ DH had left, was in the fact, the bar DH had been sitting in for three hours.

For what it’s worth, the apps we use are never wrong. They might show you’re stood a few metres from where you actually are, but it would never show you as being MILES away from where you are, if you see what I mean. I can also tell when DH is lying by the level of (false) details he gives in answers.

I haven’t yet told DH that I know he’s bare face lied to me, but I am seething. He knows my stance on lying. He knows that above all else in life, I’m always, always going to be more mad about a lie than something he may or may not have done. It’s the lying. I can’t stand it. I don’t care that the meeting finished early. I don’t care that he sunk a couple pints in the midday sun. What I do care about is the fact he seemingly thinks so little of me, that lying about stupid shit is like a second nature to him.

Would you confront your DH if you knew he’d so breezily lied to you?

OP posts:
ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 19/07/2022 11:57

@Thewookiemustgo I originally thought he was staying in the city centre, but it turns out he's in one between Birmingham and Coventry - I only know this because I checked the app (yes, yes, I know I'm going to get flamed again for this, but after the lies and weird stories I've been peddled surrounding the hotel, combined with him not telling me where he'll be, what option did I have!?).

Anyway, he put his phone in to a certain setting almost as soon as he got to the hotel this morning, which means the tracking app no longer works or shows his location. He's never done this before.

OP posts:
Thewookiemustgo · 19/07/2022 12:17

You won’t get flamed from me for looking at the app. We have the ‘find my’ app as a family and always have, I use it to see whether my son’s school bus is on time as I have to pick him up from
the stop. When your husband is lying and refusing to answer a reasonable request about his whereabouts you’re damn right I’d use the bloody app. What needs to change is the reason for using it, but only his open and honest behaviour will change that.
Never checked up on my husband, never thought I had to, only looked at it for the kids to check a pick up time, so didn’t realise he’d removed himself from it, I never had notifications turned on. When I realised he was cheating I checked and lo and behold he wasn’t on it any more. Whatever the reason he’s doing this it’s not at all on, those with nothing to hide, hide nothing as the saying goes.

Thewookiemustgo · 19/07/2022 12:21

In your situation I’d contact his work, tell them he’s forgotten to forward you the email about where he’s staying and he’s not contactable by mobile at the moment and you need him urgently. They’ll give you the name of the hotel. You might get an idea of what he’s lying about then. But in any case, he needs tackling one way or another.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 19/07/2022 12:25

@Thewookiemustgo thankfully I was able to see which hotel he's in before he changed his settings, so I know where he is, I just won't know where he goes/what he does from the hotel, if that makes sense.

I do believe he's there for work, I'm just struggling to wrap my head around how when work booked the hotel many weeks ago, there wasn't a single room available for him meaning he'd need to stay elsewhere, then all of a sudden I'm told that 'because work block booked, he can stay there' Hmm I mean, you can't have it both ways.

I also checked online this morning and saw that there were almost 30 rooms available to stay in tonight, so I don't quite understand how there was never a room for him in the first place, seeing as it was never booked to full capacity.

It's all really confusing. And what's worse, is I wouldn't be feeling this way had his story not changed so many times, coupled with him bare faced lying to me after his meeting last week. A combination of the two has left me feeling on edge.

OP posts:
OldFan · 19/07/2022 12:30

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised So now he's saying he's staying where the meetings are (which is presumably likely to be where the rest of the group are likely to be staying.)

Sounds like he forgot his earlier claim that he wasn't staying with the others.

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 19/07/2022 12:35

@OldFan I can only assume he's where everybody else is, yes. But I mean, why peddle the whole 'I'm staying somewhere else because there's no rooms for me' thing in the first place?

He told me yesterday, in very few words and in a very huffy tone, that because work block booked the hotel, he's able to stay with his colleagues. But, work block booked the hotel weeks ago, yet apparently there wasn't space for him then?

Although I've checked this morning and it's showing that almost a quarter of the rooms for the hotel are still currently available. It all just feels really odd and like his story isn't matching up somewhere. I can't put my finger on it. But bottom line, if he hadn't lied to me last week then switched his story so often about the hotel, then I wouldn't be second guessing everything right now.

OP posts:
OldFan · 19/07/2022 12:37

Anyway, he put his phone in to a certain setting almost as soon as he got to the hotel this morning, which means the tracking app no longer works or shows his location.

This is classic OP. This is what people do to work around these apps and cheat. If you ask him why it wasn't working, he'd probably say it was a glitch or something (or just storm off.)

thankfully I was able to see which hotel he's in before he changed his settings, so I know where he is

This is how people do it exactly @ireallyshouldntbesurprised . A friend had a guy do this. He would go to the pub so he was shown as being at the pub. Then he would do what your H has done to the app, so it shows as him still being at place 1. Then he'd go to place 2 and the app wouldn't show it, but would show him as still being at place 1.

Either way, your H isn't acting like he likes you very much. Sad

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 19/07/2022 12:43

@OldFan I'm sure he'll tell me that he's changed the settings because his battery was low or something, but he's never done this before, not even when he's left the house early and been in 'meetings' all day in London.
What's more, he's in a goddamn hotel and has his charger. There's no need whatsoever to switch to battery save mode.

I'm obviously desperately hoping there isn't something sinister going on here, but it feels like there's been one too many little things over the last few weeks that simply don't make sense/add up

OP posts:
Flixon · 19/07/2022 12:51

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 14/07/2022 21:39

@BornIn78 I guess the bottom line is, I'd like to know whether people that tell lies about pointless things (and the big things, actually) are capable of change?

And do they lie because they simply don't care about the impact it has on their spouses? Is it just a personal gain, type thing?

Given that I'm vehemently against lying, I struggle to understand why people do it over trivial things. I guess bigger things I can almost understand because they might be afraid of the repercussions/hurting their spouses or whatever. But to do it with small things? Why? How does it benefit them or the relationship?

No, they don't. Lying is a way of life, its what they do to have the easiest life possible,
The question is not 'will he change' but 'can I live with this' and if not, what are you going to do ?
FWIW I would never ever live with a liar again.

TambourineTimesThree · 19/07/2022 13:52

Oh sweetheart, you're painting a picture of a relationship that isn't good in any way. The stonewalling. The lies. The way you need to apologise when he's in the wrong. The total disrespect for you when you're ill. And the likelihood he's cheating.

You deserve so much better.
Imagine the freedom you'll feel when you're not second guessing everything he says and does. Imagine the lightness of not being stonewalled again. Imagine being free of abuse. Imagine removing this toxic role model from your children's life.

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 19/07/2022 14:34

ireallyshouldntbesurprised · 19/07/2022 12:43

@OldFan I'm sure he'll tell me that he's changed the settings because his battery was low or something, but he's never done this before, not even when he's left the house early and been in 'meetings' all day in London.
What's more, he's in a goddamn hotel and has his charger. There's no need whatsoever to switch to battery save mode.

I'm obviously desperately hoping there isn't something sinister going on here, but it feels like there's been one too many little things over the last few weeks that simply don't make sense/add up

From your update I would assume there is definitely something sinister going on.

What are you going to do?

Minimalme · 19/07/2022 15:10

About small lies op.

Small lies are necessary when there are bigger lies at play. They hide bigger lies and stop you looking for something worse.

Where there are small lies, there are always big lies.

And about liars.

If something doesn't make sense it is because there is a lie at the heart of it. It doesn't make sense because it's not the truth.

So for example, he wouldn't tell you where he was staying. It doesn't make sense because he is hiding a whopping lie from you.

I hope you find what it is.

Aquamarine1029 · 19/07/2022 15:14

I think he's cheating.

drlel · 19/07/2022 15:22

Putting the lying (and potential cheating) to one side, why would you want to be with a man that treats you like this? All the suspicions and secretiveness - I couldn't be bothered with his non-communication and stone walling

OldFan · 19/07/2022 17:05

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised I also knew a guy who positively enjoyed lying/hiding what he was doing. It was amusing and/or a turn on to him. He would hide stuff he was doing pretty much for the sake of it- it added to the thrill for him.

But it does sound like your husband is upto something with this Birmingham trip. Sad

Thewookiemustgo · 19/07/2022 17:49

I think @Minimalme said it perfectly. Anything kind of plausible but didn’t really actually make sense that my husband told me, was because it wasn’t true.
He can mess with the app as has been said, the only way to know for sure is to call the hotel and ask which room he’s in as you need him urgently and can they put your call through to the room. To me it’s all a moot point now, he’s hiding something, lying like this just for kicks is beyond cruel, I don’t think he’s lying because he just wants to, I think he’s lying because he needs to.

IAAP · 19/07/2022 18:01

OldFan · 19/07/2022 17:05

@ireallyshouldntbesurprised I also knew a guy who positively enjoyed lying/hiding what he was doing. It was amusing and/or a turn on to him. He would hide stuff he was doing pretty much for the sake of it- it added to the thrill for him.

But it does sound like your husband is upto something with this Birmingham trip. Sad

This - some people enjoy watching you twist and turn.

Id go a divorce and a 50/50 childcare split - see how he likes that

Bookworm20 · 19/07/2022 18:59

So he’s arrived at the hotel and then either switched off his phone or put it in flight mode or something?
thats really odd.
when something doesn’t add up there’s usually a reason.

from the sounds of it he doesn’t want you to contact him (or see where he is).

I think I’d first think of a reason to call the hotel to check he’s actually checked in there.
you could first ring and say you believe the work thing is at their hotel and can they double check this for you. As need to get hold of husband urgently.
at least that way you’d know he was actually at a work thing.
If they know nothing about it or say your husband isn’t checked in there I think you need to find a babysitter and go for a little visit.
he may be staying there in a room booked under another woman’s name.

my guess is he isn’t at work at all. He’s took a couple days off. Are you sure he’s part of this big meeting thing?

Fenella123 · 19/07/2022 19:38

I'm sure PPs have questioned the viability of a marriage without mutual trust (+) but I'm going to skip ahead and suggest that, when you have the time (with 3 kids, when will that be?! I hear you ask - fair point), you reflect on your childhood.

The formative experiences which led to you staying with this chap after the first lie, the first failure to answer an entirely reasonable question... well, of course they were in your childhood - when else?

You want to be better prepared to pick hubby #2! Just imagine how different things would have been:

"Oh god that sounds awful, I've spoken to Fred and he says it's OK for me to leave at 2, shall I pick up some dioralyte?"

"Best Western in the middle of nowhere, I'm sending you the address now"

(+)Aka "to a man who considers open, truthful, communication with his wife akin to a special treat such as buying her an Aston with chauffeur"

Bollindger · 19/07/2022 21:52

Call his work, ask to speak to him, they will tell you if it is work or if he is on holiday.

Daydreamsinsantafe · 19/07/2022 23:57

Minimalme · 19/07/2022 15:10

About small lies op.

Small lies are necessary when there are bigger lies at play. They hide bigger lies and stop you looking for something worse.

Where there are small lies, there are always big lies.

And about liars.

If something doesn't make sense it is because there is a lie at the heart of it. It doesn't make sense because it's not the truth.

So for example, he wouldn't tell you where he was staying. It doesn't make sense because he is hiding a whopping lie from you.

I hope you find what it is.

This made the hairs on my neck stand up because it is so very true & so brilliantly put.
OP your posts have triggered me quite a bit because I have lived that life.
The unnecessary details, the nonsensical over explaining & then the stonewalling…it’s all to keep you in your place and as far away from the truth as possible.
You are dealing with your young family now & don’t seem ready to leave now but just let the seed of it needing to happen one day take roots. You cannot live like this forever.

Your DH is unhinged. Constant lies and manipulation are signs of lunacy to mind. No normal person would have either the time nor the inclination. It’s weird behaviour.

Daydreamsinsantafe · 19/07/2022 23:57

*to my mind

1000chairs · 20/07/2022 01:13

Personally @ireallyshouldntbesurprised this sort of shady behaviour would irritate the hell out of me to the degree I wouldn't be on MN chatting about the endless possibilities, reason for deception and depths of lies, I'd be bundling Dc's in the car if unable to find a babysitter and driving up the motorway to that Great Western myself and booking a room. I would also call OH and tell him there is a surprise at reception for him and be there to greet him.

If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit you need to know sooner than later so you don't waste any more time on this infantile man. You certainly deserve better.

Thewookiemustgo · 20/07/2022 01:18

@1000chairs totally agree. It’s exactly what I should have done a few years ago but didn’t want to worry my kids. The penny dropped with me late at night and the only thing I could have done was invent an emergency I had to go to which would have worried them anyway. I had the night from hell as a result and regret it bitterly. If I had my time again I’d go like a shot.

1000chairs · 20/07/2022 01:40

@Thewookiemustgo so sorry you endured that. Sadly been in exactly same situation.

OP needs to know.