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I think I’ve just caught my husband cheating

500 replies

CoffeeRevelsfan · Yesterday 16:00

DH is working from home and I was doing the housework, I walked upstairs as a jet went over the house so it was really loud. We don’t live on a flight path so it was unusual. I went into his office and he literally jumped out of his skin and pressed the X to hide a teams message on screen. I asked about the jet just as another message popped up on teams from a woman called Joanna - he scrabbled to press the X again as fast as possible and was as red as a beetroot. The message said “yeah, it looked better in my head hahaha”.

His whole demeanour had changed and looked hugely guilty and caught out. I asked who he was messaging to which he said no one, i again asked who it was and he said a man from work - i told him i saw it was from a woman called Joanna. I asked why he was acting like this and looking so guilty and lying - he said it’s because he knew how I’d react. I am well aware he works in a mixed team and have never taken any issue to him having work conversations with other women so this is completely gas lighting on his part. I told him this was bull shit and to bring up the messages, he refused. I asked again and he locked his screen then picked up his mobile - he has teams on his phone so I am assuming he was deleting the messages. I asked if that’s what he was doing and he dug his heels in and shouted that there is nothing going on. I told him to prove it by showing the messages, he repeatedly refused and told me no as he didn’t feel he should have to prove himself, and then wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

if that was me and the conversation was innocent, I’d have brought up the messages and demanded an apology. Everything about him screamed red flag during that situation.

ive left the house and am currently in my car in a park, shaking and feeling sick. There surely can’t be any other explanation for his reaction and refusal to prove himself innocent?

we’ve never been in a situation like this, I’ve not had any cause to doubt him in the past. Been together for 15years.

OP posts:
PinkyFlamingo · Today 13:55

CoffeeRevelsfan · Today 12:27

He’s sent me a message. He’s now saying that the became ‘pally’ a few months ago and she became his confidant. They have discussed personal stuff such as family members who have passed away this year and my gynae surgery. Apparently it’s all innocent and they are just friends.

why would he feel concealing a new found friendship at work with a female colleague who he’s now described as his confidant is acceptable?

See I said give him time to come up with a story and he has. None of which explains the mad deletion in his panic of all the messages of course.

oatsotoga · Today 13:58

CoffeeRevelsfan · Today 12:27

He’s sent me a message. He’s now saying that the became ‘pally’ a few months ago and she became his confidant. They have discussed personal stuff such as family members who have passed away this year and my gynae surgery. Apparently it’s all innocent and they are just friends.

why would he feel concealing a new found friendship at work with a female colleague who he’s now described as his confidant is acceptable?

Hes had time to think and that is the best he can come up with? If they were pals and the messages were pally he would have no reason to delete his messages.

He is still lying. Not only that, hes betrayed your trust discussing your intimate health with a complete unknown. How dare he?!

Trust your gut instincts!

Dontbesonosy · Today 13:59

HollyhocksandPeons · Today 13:28

I am just going to say something and then, according to many MN posters, I shall 'get to fuck back to the XIX century where I belong'. There can be no friendship between hetero males and females. Even if there is disparity in age - said not by myself, but by Kobo Abe - Woman in the Dunes. He was so sure of that premise that in his novel he described the situation where a man was drawn to sleep with an old (really old) ugly woman such is the strength of our instincts. Basically, very much like with transgenderism or other artificial constructs (yes, inter-sex friendship is an artificial construct), it is an attempt to cheat biology. And we all know what happens when humans try to fuck with biology. It does not end well.

Anyway, ladies, there can be no friendship between men and women.

Off I go back to the century I belong in.

I’m inclined to agree with you. Nothing wrong with being friendly, or having a group of friends that uou socialise with, but as soon as you start confiding in a friend of the opposite sex/ gender, it’s different.

Joliefolie · Today 14:00

Discussing initimate details about you as a way of bonding with a woman he fancies at work is a huge betrayal. Personally, I would absolutely have to kick him out. It is so selfish and disrespectful. You deserve so much better than that and if he doesn't understand that, then he is welcome to see if another woman will put up with his crap.

ThreadGuardDog · Today 14:05

CoffeeRevelsfan · Today 12:27

He’s sent me a message. He’s now saying that the became ‘pally’ a few months ago and she became his confidant. They have discussed personal stuff such as family members who have passed away this year and my gynae surgery. Apparently it’s all innocent and they are just friends.

why would he feel concealing a new found friendship at work with a female colleague who he’s now described as his confidant is acceptable?

OP as a pp said upthread the delete function on Teams only applies to his own sent messages, and once he’s deleted them he can’t retrieve them himself. But if the messages were sent in Chat he can’t delete those of another user - he can only hide them. They will still be retrievable unless she’s deleted them, in which case the messages are replaced by text to say they’ve been deleted. I’d let him know that you know this and ask to see her messages. If they’ve been deleted then it’s because he’s asked her to do it, and I think at that point you have your answer.

ThreadGuardDog · Today 14:06

Joliefolie · Today 14:00

Discussing initimate details about you as a way of bonding with a woman he fancies at work is a huge betrayal. Personally, I would absolutely have to kick him out. It is so selfish and disrespectful. You deserve so much better than that and if he doesn't understand that, then he is welcome to see if another woman will put up with his crap.

Agree. I think regardless of the messages, the damage is done. It would be marriage ending for me.

JoyousWriter · Today 14:08

HollyhocksandPeons · Today 13:28

I am just going to say something and then, according to many MN posters, I shall 'get to fuck back to the XIX century where I belong'. There can be no friendship between hetero males and females. Even if there is disparity in age - said not by myself, but by Kobo Abe - Woman in the Dunes. He was so sure of that premise that in his novel he described the situation where a man was drawn to sleep with an old (really old) ugly woman such is the strength of our instincts. Basically, very much like with transgenderism or other artificial constructs (yes, inter-sex friendship is an artificial construct), it is an attempt to cheat biology. And we all know what happens when humans try to fuck with biology. It does not end well.

Anyway, ladies, there can be no friendship between men and women.

Off I go back to the century I belong in.

Absolute bollocks. Oldest friend is a man. We lived together at university. Managed to be friends for 5 decades, as I have with his 2 brothers and many more men.

momtoboys · Today 14:09

He's a liar.

GiveOverRover · Today 14:10

There's no easy answer to this, but I would urge you to trust what you've seen, not what he says you've seen. Don't doubt your reality.

ilikemethewayiam · Today 14:13

FlorenceLawrence · Today 13:05

Just remembering this from ChumpLady that a poster upthread wrote.

Cynical Chump Lady thinks 9 times out of 10, emotional affairs are what cheaters cop to when you haven’t caught them in a physical affair. Adults like to have seggs. Most men do not invest themselves in another person they’re attracted to unless they want to shag this person. They don’t hold hands and read Kirkegaard together. They don’t go to hotel rooms for Bible study. Nor are they swapping Grumpy Cat memes because they’re buddies — they’re doing the mating dance."
Yep, most people caught in "emotional" affairs very definitely have had sex, but they will only own up to what they really have to own up to. And for those who were caught before they had sex - that was always the plan.

So true. I think we often so want to believe the guff these cheating men tell us, but ChumpLady is spot on. As a PP said, it's never Nigel from accounts that become their newfound confidants.

Totally agree with all this because this is exactly how the discovery of my ex’s affair unfolded. He admitted to the bare minimum to start with until he realised I wasn’t going to let it go. I was a pitbull on a pant leg. He drip fed a little bit more and a little bit more until finally he broke down and admitted it. When I realised my gut was spot on about about everything, I started to look back over our relationship and realised the same signs were there at other times so I started digging in to what was going on around that time and who he was friendly with. I totally called his bluff making out that I knew about Sue, Marie and Sharon. By this time he had no defences left and broke down again admitting to many affairs. He followed The Script to the letter! Begged and pleaded then when he realised it was well and truly over he turned nasty and our divorce was horrendous. Please listen to your gut @CoffeeRevelsfan . It will save you a world of pain in the long run. I wish I’d cut my losses the first time my Spidey senses were up.

user1464187087 · Today 14:16

Moveoverdarlin · Today 13:19

I would respond to this by saying.

Thanks for the update. Just realised who Joanna is, I’ve only found out her surname this morning. I’m doing some digging of my own and it’s a very small world!

Is it just Joanna you’ve discussed my gynaecological problems with? Or do I need to be prepared for Gary Jones to approach me in Tesco and ask me about my prolapse?

Feel free to keep up the flirting with her but please refrain from discussing my genitalia with your bit on the side.

I would really put the wind up him.

Why would you do this? Why make things up, who can be bothered with that shit? The OP has enough on with the husband making shit up.
Should she not just be adult about this (as she appears to have been thus far)
I'm sorry but your advice is rubbish.

badbunnysadbunny · Today 14:18

I’m sure his platonic confidante wouldn’t want his relationship to end , she would be more than willing to share the innocent messages to help him! Right? RIGHT?!?

I’m sorry OP. They’re either shagging already or he is doing the mating dance as mentioned above - his goal is to shag her.

you deserve to be happy and you deserve better than this

Rooroobear · Today 14:22

Here it comes. Be prepared for more as the days go on. Don’t back down, don’t accept his explanation. He spoke about your private issues to another person, that is disgusting and such a breach of trust from someone who is meant to love you more than anything. How fucking dare he!!!

Keyleads · Today 14:30

It's taken him till now to come up with this.
I bet you would feel utterly betrayed by those messages.
Him discussing your medical issues is disgusting.

Keyleads · Today 14:34

Use this time to get copies of paperwork, pensions, bank accounts etc together.

CombatBarbie · Today 14:35

Callmejudith · Today 13:41

and if he does have the delete function - it only deletes it for him - she would still have access to the chat

This, ask him to ask her to download their convo. Youll know if anything has been deleted by the messages

Silverbirchleaf · Today 14:39

’Confidant’
‘Personal stuff’

Classic emotional affair characteristics. Until mn, I didn’t know the concept of an EA (apart from watching Butterflies back in the day). Many people assume that if nothing physical has happened, then it’s platonic. However, when they start to hide a friendship, tell lies, discuss personal matters, etc, the boundary has shifted.

Sodthesystem · Today 14:42

CoffeeRevelsfan · Today 12:27

He’s sent me a message. He’s now saying that the became ‘pally’ a few months ago and she became his confidant. They have discussed personal stuff such as family members who have passed away this year and my gynae surgery. Apparently it’s all innocent and they are just friends.

why would he feel concealing a new found friendship at work with a female colleague who he’s now described as his confidant is acceptable?

Translation: he’s been slagging the fuck out of you. Probably with the hopes of getting a leg over of course.

Thought that could be the case and to be honest it doesn’t make things better.

ThreadGuardDog · Today 14:43

CombatBarbie · Today 14:35

This, ask him to ask her to download their convo. Youll know if anything has been deleted by the messages

If the company have enabled the function he can delete his own sent messages for other users as well as himself. He can’t delete ‘Joanna’s’ though. He can only hide them. So if OP were to ask to see Joanna’s messages and they’ve been deleted then it’s because he’s asked her to ditch them. If they’re innocent chat as he says, why would he do that ?

Wentforyo · Today 14:46

Puzzledandpissedoff · Yesterday 20:07

Ask him to hand over his phone saying you know someone who can restore messages. His reply will tell you all you need to know

Unless he's a real IT whizz himself that might just work - or rather not, since I doubt there's any hope of him handing over the phone

Another option is what I did myself: create a fake Facebook account with a very tasty profile pic, send him a friend request, approach him about some "mutual interest", ramp up the conversation to a LOT more and see how he responds

After the endless lies and denials I got mine as far as meeting up with "Sue", and his surpise when his wife turned up instead was quite something

@Puzzledandpissedoff if you find yourself creating a fake Facebook profile to catch a partner out - it is dead in the water whatever you find out.

Noshowlomo · Today 14:50

Classic affair stuff, even if it’s emotional, he’s deep into it. How shit!

shuggles · Today 15:02

Runoryoga · Today 09:37

@shuggles have you been contacted by a prostitute on line?

Yes, women have offered to send me lewd photographs and videos in exchange for money.

As I explained, sexual messages from random women on the internet are always money-related in one way or another. Prostitute or scammer. We are not stupid.

Wentforyo · Today 15:02

shuggles · Today 15:02

Yes, women have offered to send me lewd photographs and videos in exchange for money.

As I explained, sexual messages from random women on the internet are always money-related in one way or another. Prostitute or scammer. We are not stupid.

That doesn’t mean they were prostitutes @shuggles

AcrossthePond55 · Today 15:03

CoffeeRevelsfan · Today 12:27

He’s sent me a message. He’s now saying that the became ‘pally’ a few months ago and she became his confidant. They have discussed personal stuff such as family members who have passed away this year and my gynae surgery. Apparently it’s all innocent and they are just friends.

why would he feel concealing a new found friendship at work with a female colleague who he’s now described as his confidant is acceptable?

If they've become 'pally' then surely she would understand that there'd been a 'misunderstanding' about their 'pallyship' and understand why he's asking for the messages AND would be happy to help her 'pal' prove his innocence by giving them to him. And that's how I'd reply to his message.

Of course, even if he did come up with the messages, is there a way to prove they are 'THE' messages and that they're complete and unedited?

PS I'd be furious if my DH discussed my gynae surgery with anyone without my knowledge beyond simply saying to a good friend "I'm worried, I hope it goes OK".

Wentforyo · Today 15:03

We are not stupid.

you speak on behalf of all men @shuggles ?