Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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

Message to the OW

117 replies

DiddlyDonut · 16/09/2023 20:37

I know I shouldn't and I won't get the closure I need but I've written a letter to the 'OW' (his ex. How funny). I want to hit 'send'. I haven't yet. I want to give her all the little details that would hurt her. To get in her head and ensure she feels anxious and restless like she's done to me. She knew full well all about me, that me and partner have a baby etc etc but she just wouldn't stop contacting him. Then it happened. I know he is to blame too, but what woman does that to another, knowing and apparently taking great delight in the pain they've caused me. Apparently she has 'won' 😒

Has anyone here ever written to the OW? If so, how did it go?

OP posts:
TheFormidableMrsC · 19/09/2023 23:35

TinglingTangling · 19/09/2023 23:24

She doesn’t care OP and anything you think you can say to upset her will be nothing compared to what she will say back to you to hurt you even more.

I agree with this from bitter experience. My attempts to communicate with OW (I was neither rude nor inflammatory) was met with pages of insults and abuse and that didn't stop for years. Any excuse to twist the knife and inflict further pain on me was her entertainment. She was "bored of my pitiful bleating" apparently. Honestly, these inadequate people are not worth your energy. I'm sorry this has happened to you Flowers

alwaysmovingforwards · 19/09/2023 23:48

Haha, she's won???

Playing silly games, win silly prizes.

JFDIYOLO · 20/09/2023 13:59

Are you prepared to be on the receiving end of her retaliatory reply?

What she'll say in reaction to your letter - everything he's said to her about you, insults, gloating, put downs, you name it?

She will be on the defensive and will attack.

Her fuel for the return attack will include guilt, suspicion, uncertainty about him cheating again, worry about how she's going to look having ruined a marriage and deprived a child of their father, etc.

It could be vicious, a cornered animal. Lashing out.

I'd leave them to it.

Haribo888 · 20/09/2023 14:05

Oh hunni. When I got with my boyfriend he hadn't processed his ex at all. They were both still texting.. alot of it was kept from me. I saw stuff in dribs and drabs. Her texting him asking how he was. 3 kisses on the end of all messages. No respect for me. Questioning him on Me like I wasn't good enough. He was also trying to keep us both in his life. She was being shown a deeper emotional care than I was.

I was very mature and respectful with my approaches. I even suggested they needed a sit down and talk as they hadn't worked through it yet. Nothing I said or did changed it. I'll be honest we split up for a year. I was fuming to find out they'd been messaging 4 days before my birthday and he was getting all emotional about their memories with her.

I rang her. No answer! I messaged her, no reply!

We got back together a year later and she was finally gone. Moved on. No longer an issue. But it caused me alot of emotional pain.

I'm sorry this has happened to you. In this day and age with phones people don't ever truly disconnect. They watch social media. They text. They ring. They spy on new partners. New partners look up exes. It's like a constant drama thanks to these devices. It bluddy hurts.

I was so mad at her for not respecting me. But in the end I realised it was my partner that owed me the respect. My partner who choose to not put me first. My partner should was keeping a foot in the past.

I really do sympathise.

Jonti23 · 20/09/2023 22:57

If you need to get it out of your system then spoil her memories whilst appearing non bitter, that’s the only thing you can do. Then block her completely on email phone anywhere. When people send you stuff they don’t know u blocked them. So yr revenge can be without consequences.

For me it balanced things out. I would do it again if I had to. Still happily married to DH and blasted the OW and her ‘desires’ in the trash can. It was worth it. But be measured and non desperate. Just a lethal dose that leaves her wondering wtf it was all a lie. It’s all it takes.

DiddlyDonut · 21/09/2023 00:01

Jonti23 · 20/09/2023 22:57

If you need to get it out of your system then spoil her memories whilst appearing non bitter, that’s the only thing you can do. Then block her completely on email phone anywhere. When people send you stuff they don’t know u blocked them. So yr revenge can be without consequences.

For me it balanced things out. I would do it again if I had to. Still happily married to DH and blasted the OW and her ‘desires’ in the trash can. It was worth it. But be measured and non desperate. Just a lethal dose that leaves her wondering wtf it was all a lie. It’s all it takes.

So partner has been claiming he loves me and wants to be with me.. shame he wasn't thinking of me during all of their interactions but there we are...

Now, I still don't trust him. However, I am prepared to see if we are at least salvageable.

What you mentioned about getting in OW head really appeals. I know I should rise above and have dignity and all the rest but Jonti23 your suggestion of detailing our physical side will make her feel ill.
I know she will keep trying to contact my P, at least this way it may at the very least start questioning herself.

OP posts:
Jonti23 · 21/09/2023 05:44

Yes. I agree.

There is no rising above in a situation like this. She has crossed the line and it’s as simple as that.

Privately u can be as angry with yr partner as you like. But there is a child to consider. Things can and do iron out but it can take up to 3 yrs. You have to go against the grain to achieve what you want for yr child and family.

So whilst you are angry with him do not let on. Tell OW that he’s a good and honourable man because he is choosing to stand by his family. I know it’s sick but swallow yr pride. United in front of her and then once she is out of way be how u need to be with partner.

Jonti23 · 21/09/2023 05:45

Oh and you can say things like ‘ I know you put pressure on him to leave his family’ it makes her look like desperate. She can argue otherwise till she’s blue in the face, but u blocked her. Tee hee.

JenniBlanco · 21/09/2023 05:56

She's trash OP. All OW are, they always will be.

Don't interact with her. She will feed off it and you are best to just eliminate her from your life. She is of no value to you. She's simply your ex's filthy little secret. She'll move on and degrade herself with some other low life. They all do.

Hold your head up and move on.

SmileyClare · 21/09/2023 06:52

If you’re now back together with the shithead there seems no point in either of you having contact with her.

Unless dp and his ex have dc together, then why hasn’t he blocked all communication?

Its tempting to aim all anger and blame at her. Your dp needs to take responsibility

MsFrost · 21/09/2023 07:06

Mysteriousflo · 16/09/2023 21:17

what @CheekyHobson said
i didn’t message and was so glad I didn’t in the end
but part of the reason I didn’t is because I knew someone who did, and the OW sent a horrific response back. Really nasty, with sordid details.
don’t give her the satisfaction

This.

As much as you have details that could hurt her - she also knows things and can say things that could hurt you.

Don't get into tit for tat.

Put it behind you.

Clymene · 21/09/2023 07:10

So you and her are both doing the pick me dance?

God this feckless bloke who can't keep his cock in his pants must be loving every second of it

gotmychristmasmiracle · 21/09/2023 07:25

I wouldn't bother contacting her as she clearly doesn't care about your well-being. Women like this only care about themselves. I would work on things with your partner and making your relationship secure and a happy place.

HerMammy · 21/09/2023 07:27

How many posts about OW this week?
You're staying with your cheating DP but want to lash out at this woman, the misogyny is strong here.

HoppingPavlova · 21/09/2023 07:34

Makes no sense. If someone won a pile of dog shit , you wouldn’t care as you wouldn’t have wanted a pile of dog shit. You would be happy they won it, not you. Your DH is that pile of dog shit. In one way she has done you a favour so you are not stuck with dog shit as a prize.

MorrisZapp · 21/09/2023 07:36

JenniBlanco · 21/09/2023 05:56

She's trash OP. All OW are, they always will be.

Don't interact with her. She will feed off it and you are best to just eliminate her from your life. She is of no value to you. She's simply your ex's filthy little secret. She'll move on and degrade herself with some other low life. They all do.

Hold your head up and move on.

You sound completely unhinged. Why are women worth so much less than men in your world?

JenniBlanco · 21/09/2023 08:43

@MorrisZapp The thread is specifically about the woman.

Thewookiemustgo · 21/09/2023 16:33

OP please don’t do this, especially if you’re considering taking him back. Dignity at all times and don’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she’s in your head, nor him the satisfaction that you’re at each other’s throats about him.
If you’re even considering taking him back, make it about you and him, not her. He needs to take full responsibility and go completely non-contact with her at the very, very least.
You do the non-contact part too and then she’s history as far as you and him are concerned and the hard work of reconciling is the next task.

Kingofx · 21/09/2023 17:33

In the immediate, you might feel this urgent need to "win" or feel a sense of justice, so let me give you a picture 15 years out....

If they leave you for the OW, you don't win. They both got what they wanted and you get screwed.

If he stays and begs forgiveness and you try and move on from this, you get him, but you still don't "win". You get trauma you have to deal with, endless work, pain and one of the most awful experiences. Maybe if you do incredibly well, you end up with a better marriage but it's not "winning" because the cost is so high.

If you leave him with him begging and clinging to your legs, and he rejects OW and sits crying for years in his underpants while you go onto a joyful life with private jets and an amazing new husband, you still don't "win", because this happened and it will always hurt.

No one wins when someone cheats. Read that again, several times. You never "win". What you do is survive it.

In my story, he dropped OW very quickly and cried, begged, pleaded. And we endured OW harassing us while we were trying to work through things. Went on for months, made everyone ill. In the end we got the police involved and she finally got the message. Six weeks later she was "in love" with another married man.

Us?

I went through years of betrayal trauma, he got ill, the pain was engulfing and in the end we divorced after the three hardest years of my life.

He ended up sad, sick, alone and still misses us and regrets every day what he did.

She ended up (and this is not being mean it is being honest) about 25 stone, alcoholic, still alone once she ran out of married men to shag.

I got a new life and new husband, but I will never have "won". Seeing them suffer doesn't give me that, or take away the pain and losses. It was just something I had to survive.

What will make a difference to you in the long term will be what you did. You don't get to choose whether you have to deal with the cheating or not, sorry. Your agency over that was taken from you.

You do get to decide where you go from here.

I am very proud, looking back, that no matter what an abusive psycho cunt the OW was to me, that I kept my dignity and calm.

I am very proud that I was generally kind and classy about the whole thing, even though it killed me at the time.

What I regret was the desperation I felt for my husband to "pick" me as if a lying cheat was the prize. That doesn't mean I hate him because I don't. I love him and always will, but he did what he did and it was his value and not mine which were diminsished.

What makes you valuable right now is all your good characteristics, your self respect, your courage, being a Mum, being classy and not being the kind of woman who is trying to text someone else's partner with their baby there.

Try very hard to step back from what you are feeling and see that inherently makes you better than either of them.

I have worked for years in infidelity mentoring in support groups, and I absolutely promise you in almost every case this stuff happens because the two people involved are damaged, have weaknesses, flaws and fuck ups.

It doesn't happen because the affair partner is "better".

That is never the reason.

GKD · 21/09/2023 18:22

I wouldn't OP.

Acquaintance staying with H sent OW a WhatsApp then blocked her.

OW Used a burner phone to send a pic of the H going down on her in OPs bed captioned ‘I bet he kissed you after’, or some such.

Fallout was horrendous, OW didn’t care, wife tried to use revenge porn laws but H protected OW.

in another situation the OW reported wife for harassment….

If she cared she wouldn’t have slept with your husband (same goes for him obviously), there’s nothing she can say to make you feel better or take the pain away.

SmileyClare · 21/09/2023 19:38

I think you’ve had some wise advice from women who have been in a similar position.

Is there more context to this? Has he been bouncing between you and his ex (wife/gf?) since the start of your relationship?
Did he leave his ex for you- do they have dc? Perhaps you both regard each other as the OW?

Its likely you’ve both been fed very negative shit about each other from him.

He’s the orchestrator of this mess. That should the a starting point for any reconciliation- that he has betrayed you in the worst way he could.

Clymene · 21/09/2023 19:41

Kingofx · 21/09/2023 17:33

In the immediate, you might feel this urgent need to "win" or feel a sense of justice, so let me give you a picture 15 years out....

If they leave you for the OW, you don't win. They both got what they wanted and you get screwed.

If he stays and begs forgiveness and you try and move on from this, you get him, but you still don't "win". You get trauma you have to deal with, endless work, pain and one of the most awful experiences. Maybe if you do incredibly well, you end up with a better marriage but it's not "winning" because the cost is so high.

If you leave him with him begging and clinging to your legs, and he rejects OW and sits crying for years in his underpants while you go onto a joyful life with private jets and an amazing new husband, you still don't "win", because this happened and it will always hurt.

No one wins when someone cheats. Read that again, several times. You never "win". What you do is survive it.

In my story, he dropped OW very quickly and cried, begged, pleaded. And we endured OW harassing us while we were trying to work through things. Went on for months, made everyone ill. In the end we got the police involved and she finally got the message. Six weeks later she was "in love" with another married man.

Us?

I went through years of betrayal trauma, he got ill, the pain was engulfing and in the end we divorced after the three hardest years of my life.

He ended up sad, sick, alone and still misses us and regrets every day what he did.

She ended up (and this is not being mean it is being honest) about 25 stone, alcoholic, still alone once she ran out of married men to shag.

I got a new life and new husband, but I will never have "won". Seeing them suffer doesn't give me that, or take away the pain and losses. It was just something I had to survive.

What will make a difference to you in the long term will be what you did. You don't get to choose whether you have to deal with the cheating or not, sorry. Your agency over that was taken from you.

You do get to decide where you go from here.

I am very proud, looking back, that no matter what an abusive psycho cunt the OW was to me, that I kept my dignity and calm.

I am very proud that I was generally kind and classy about the whole thing, even though it killed me at the time.

What I regret was the desperation I felt for my husband to "pick" me as if a lying cheat was the prize. That doesn't mean I hate him because I don't. I love him and always will, but he did what he did and it was his value and not mine which were diminsished.

What makes you valuable right now is all your good characteristics, your self respect, your courage, being a Mum, being classy and not being the kind of woman who is trying to text someone else's partner with their baby there.

Try very hard to step back from what you are feeling and see that inherently makes you better than either of them.

I have worked for years in infidelity mentoring in support groups, and I absolutely promise you in almost every case this stuff happens because the two people involved are damaged, have weaknesses, flaws and fuck ups.

It doesn't happen because the affair partner is "better".

That is never the reason.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 brilliant post. I hope you really it and think @DiddlyDonut

It must be horrific for you right now. But you cannot go back. You can't pretend this never happened. You can't paper over the cracks.

Kingofx · 21/09/2023 19:42

OW Used a burner phone to send a pic of the H going down on her in OPs bed captioned ‘I bet he kissed you after’, or some such

Holy Smokes. I have another thread on here where a few people are defending the OW (in my view anyway) and I never fail to be blown away by these vindictive stories. Perhaps others have had different experiences, but in mine the OW can be absolutely brutal with a need to destroy the wife entirely.

OP, as people have said, you are better than this. Don't add to the drama.

TinglingTangling · 21/09/2023 19:59

DiddlyDonut · 21/09/2023 00:01

So partner has been claiming he loves me and wants to be with me.. shame he wasn't thinking of me during all of their interactions but there we are...

Now, I still don't trust him. However, I am prepared to see if we are at least salvageable.

What you mentioned about getting in OW head really appeals. I know I should rise above and have dignity and all the rest but Jonti23 your suggestion of detailing our physical side will make her feel ill.
I know she will keep trying to contact my P, at least this way it may at the very least start questioning herself.

Say something like that and you better be prepared for something similar back…. Maybe even a picture or a video too.

Hawkins0009 · 21/09/2023 20:02

Kingofx · 21/09/2023 19:42

OW Used a burner phone to send a pic of the H going down on her in OPs bed captioned ‘I bet he kissed you after’, or some such

Holy Smokes. I have another thread on here where a few people are defending the OW (in my view anyway) and I never fail to be blown away by these vindictive stories. Perhaps others have had different experiences, but in mine the OW can be absolutely brutal with a need to destroy the wife entirely.

OP, as people have said, you are better than this. Don't add to the drama.

now thats cold