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I think I’ve just caught my husband cheating

553 replies

CoffeeRevelsfan · 14/09/2026 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:
Mumoff5 · Yesterday 23:36

ginasevern · 14/09/2026 16:50

That's pretty much what happened with my DH of 26 years. I came home unexpectedly. He shut down all comms, went bright red and flustered - which wasn't his style at all. I never thought in a million years he'd cheat. My legs nearly gave way from under me with the shock. So yeah, it's textbook I'm afraid OP. I'm really sorry. Look after yourself and don't believe a single word he says because he will read you "the script" for sure.

Hi if you want a chat pm me

Joliefolie · Yesterday 23:36

Opheliamay · Yesterday 18:55

Having spent a bit of time thinking about possible ways in which your gynae problems could have come up in conversation with a relatively new female work “pal” of a few months….. and the only plausible explanation I can’t think of is that he was trying to pull the poor me, my wife isn’t meeting my needs line.

I would ask him to explain how that came into conversation and how the chat went??

But of course it is that. I wouldn't be able to say this to anyone else, there's just something about you. I hope this doesn't sound really creepy - please, don't be scared!!! ha ha - but I feel so connected to you, like you really get what I'm saying. It's tough being married to someone who doesn't want to be intitmate. We've been like just room mates for a long time now. I feel really sorry for her, of course, really, poor love, I know that her gynae issues are really very hard for her but...

Mumtobabyhavoc · Yesterday 23:52

PinkBottle75 · 14/09/2026 22:44

If someone does something that reasonably damages trust, but then says, "I'm not showing you anything, I'm not discussing it further, and if you don't trust me you can leave," the person who was hurt is effectively being handed the entire burden of repairing the relationship.
The dynamic becomes:
Their behaviour → your doubt → your anxiety → your need to forgive → your responsibility to trust again.
Meanwhile, they don't necessarily have to do anything to make that trust possible.
And there's an important distinction between trusting someone and choosing to believe their assertion.
Trust isn't something you can simply command yourself to have:
"I say nothing happened, therefore you need to trust me."
That's not really how trust works. Trust is built from consistent behaviour, honesty, openness, accountability and time.
If the person who caused the uncertainty says, essentially, "I'm not going to give you anything that helps resolve it," then they're asking the other person to do something psychologically very difficult: to override their own perception and uncertainty without receiving new information.
And that can create a horrible situation where the injured person thinks:
"Maybe I need to stop being suspicious. Maybe I need to forgive. Maybe I'm ruining the relationship by not trusting him. Maybe I need to accept that I'll never know."
So they end up doing all the emotional labour.
Meanwhile, the other person can remain in the position of:
"I've told you my answer. The rest is your problem."
And that's where the ultimatum becomes significant.

This can leave the person who found the evidence with a particularly impossible task: they're expected to forgive something they haven't been able to fully understand, and trust someone who isn't willing to participate in restoring that trust.

You don't have to prove that he cheated in order to decide that what happened has made the relationship impossible for you to trust.
And you don't have to force yourself to "get over it" simply because he has declared the matter closed.

This x 100.

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