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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

husband has been having an affair

92 replies

foxy1 · 05/12/2008 20:31

i found out my husband has been having an affair at the weekend. we have been together 17 years and married 8 years. we have 2 toddlers and i am a sahm. i came across lots of very graphicpictures from his phone on our computer (there by accident). he worked with her and i suspected something when his mobile phone bill was really high last summer 07 and there was one number that kept on appearing. he said that she was just a friend and that was it. the dirty pictures date back to oct 06 to april 08. it started when i was pregnant with my second. my mother had died and and i had a c section with second. checked recent phones bills and her number is still on there regularly. he has said that nothing has happened since the early part of this year. that he has kept in contact with her to stop her from telling me. now i know, he has has told her he can't have anything to do with her. i feel so sad i can't believe its happened to me. he said it was only sex nothing else. i am angry that he has continued to keep in contact with her as much as he has done. i don't want to throw 17 years away so i have said that i will give him a chance. she works there and am worried that she will continue to pursue him.

OP posts:
reindeermum · 05/12/2008 20:33

Oh no foxy! I'm so sorry - how do you feel? How have things been between you today and how sorry is he?

Hulababy · 05/12/2008 20:37

So sorry

foxy1 · 05/12/2008 20:38

ok - i just feel so angry. aprt of me feels that things have carried on longer than he says.. to be in contact with someone everyday what do you talk about. she wanted him to leave me and the children. she said that she was from a divorced background and she is fine. that makes me so angry i want to punch her. my confidence has really been knocked and because i gave up a good job to be a sahm i feel a bit bitter and vulnerable. what can i do to pick myself up. thank you

OP posts:
OneBoyOneGirlWithBellsOn · 05/12/2008 20:39

so sorry foxy

kittywise · 05/12/2008 20:39

So sorry, do you believe him though? How likely is it that he has really stopped seeing her?

reindeermum · 05/12/2008 20:41

Does he still have to see her on a day to day basis for work?

How is he acting towards you now? Is he sorry?

So sorry you must be feeling awful.

foxy1 · 05/12/2008 20:44

he told her yesterday but part of me is worried that maybe after a while because she works with him and has pursued him for a long time that she might keep offering herself to him. when he was naughty withe her is was during office hours so i wouldn't know. i would have to trust him.

OP posts:
Spellcheck · 05/12/2008 21:08

Oh how horrible for you Foxy1. I keep doing this on other people's threads and sod it, I'm going to do it here - I've been where you are now!

In May this year I found a text on my DH's phone. Same old, same old, you've all heard it before. It had been going on for several months and I suspected all along but naturally he denied it and made out I was being an unreasonable, possessive cow for even suggesting it. The moment I found out what he'd done I realised that I didn't want to kick him out, though he seemed quite keen to go. And recently he's admitted that he felt relief that I knew and he could get out of here. Nice, eh?

Anyhoo, we've got 3 young DC and he said he'd try and give it a go with me. He broke it off with her, and...that was it really. Didn't do a lot else to rebuild the marriage. I sent him to counselling as there were a lot of things going on last year, and this, that I firmly believe contributed to his dissatisfaction with his life. I thought that may be the reason for the escapist affair. But, of course, No. everything - the vast debt, stress at work, his mum's cancer - he is coping perfectly well with, thank you. His counsellor said after two sessions that she thought he should do what's right for him. So he stopped seeing her, made his mind up to leave me, but didn't tell me for ages. I eventually persuaded him to see a marriage guidance counsellor with me, and spent ages researching, found a really good one who we saw twice, he was working out a plan for us to follow to rebuild our marriage...and DH decided it wasn't for him, and that was it. I am waffling, I apologise, what I should be saying to you Foxy1 is find a really really good counsellor for the pair of you ASAP. Find out why your DH did this, and what you can BOTH do to rebuild what you had. You will hear some things you don't want to hear but it will all help long term, believe me. After just two sessions with this guy I am able to be more honest about myself and look more honestly at our marriage. And I can see where we went wrong, and I'm sure we could put it right.

DH has left us this week, I am inwardly devastated, but I know I will be ok. Kids will be fine because time has helped me get used to the idea and I am strong for them. What really pisses me off is that we never really had a good old go at working on our marriage. I could handle him going much better if I felt I had closure. Plus I feel a marriage that's been through shit and been worked on comes out enriched, deeper and better. Funny thing - I have accepted the affair. We both see it for what it was - an escapist nothing, it was some excitement and it made him feel good. It wasn't about her at all. It fades into nothing when I look at the whole mess that is my life.

Another thing - please don't keep bringing it up with him. If you have to, simply say "I know you don't like talking about it, but I have to know this..." and thank him for his answer. Think hard about what you want to happen next. Give yourself time, it really really does help. Try and eat well. God, I really feel for you.

expatinscotland · 05/12/2008 21:10

it was only sex and it went on for that long?

you don't want to 'throw away' 17 years but he's still working with her.

he's throwing away nothing. he's having his cake and eating it, too.

please see a counsellor and get some professional help before making any decisions.

he doesn't sound very 'sorry'.

FantasticMissFox · 05/12/2008 22:20

TBH He's sounds like an idiot for doing this to you and you can do better without him. I know it doesn't feel like that now but it will soon. He was seeing this woman when you were a)pregnant? and b) your mum had just died????

SpellCheck, hes sounds like an idiot too.

You are going to get through this and be a better person. Please don't blame yourself for his twatiness.

WhirlingStirling · 05/12/2008 23:08

I have been where you are (although not pregnant at the time - I think that would have devastated me a bit more).

The only advice that I can give is to take a step back and truly think about what you want. I really hope that he means what he says and that he will have no more contact with this ow but if they are working together is that possible?

My h asked for redundancy and, as of the end of Dec, he will be leaving the company that he and she worked for. He had a very good job but we are sure he will get another, and maybe even better, job somewhere else. If he does continue to contact ow then I know where his heart lies. Things are still not certain, even 13 months down the line for us!!

Only time will now tell whether your h means what he says.

Someone gave me some good advice on here before - dont pay any attention to what your h says, just watch what he does - actions speak louder then words. So true.

Good luck and keep posting. I got some fantastic advice here and I am sure you will too. I hope that you get as much strength from it as I did.

foxy1 · 05/12/2008 23:23

thankyou everyone! sorry spellcheck. he said that she was constantly offering herslef to him and i was pregnant at the time and so we were not having sex. he said he did not feel anything for her it was just sex. he was relieved when i found out so he could tell her he didn't want anything to do with her as she was threatening to tell the family. do you think he would have felt anything for her?

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 05/12/2008 23:26

yes, foxy, i do think he felt somethign for her if he slept with her for that long and i think he's lying to you to keep what he has and it's up to you to either dump or keep.

but he knows you'll keep so he's going to tell you what you want to hear.

sorry, that sounds harsh.

but hey, what he did is far harsher.

like i said, see a counsellor.

because he still works with her.

he's still in touch.

it's easy enough to play her side off on his because after all, you don't hear her side, you hear his. and after 17 years, he's going to know how to tailor that to what you want to hear.

foxy1 · 05/12/2008 23:34

Sad Sad

OP posts:
ClausImWorthIt · 05/12/2008 23:42

'Only sex'?

But this is one of the most intimate experiences that we share with others.

blinks · 06/12/2008 00:43

the only sex thing is always dodgier to me...

QwertyQueen · 06/12/2008 07:43

foxy, you just don't know.... ou may never know what the affair actually entailed ie: just sex, emotional support whatever....

I think now that it is out in the open you need to take a hard stance, maybe tell him either he leaves his job or you leave him? Daily contact with her will tear you apart, you will always be wondering.
Do check his phone bills to make sure he has stopped contact with her "now that you know about it"

But what bothers me - if he kept in touch with her just because she was threatening to tell you - that would surely be accepting her calls, rather than making them???

I am sorry if this makes you feel worse. You need to stand up to him, if he thinks he can still get away with it, he just might

so sorry, I hope you can both resolve this

skidoodle · 06/12/2008 08:00

she kept "offering herself to him?"

Oh please!

He's not sorry, he's blaming it all on her, and you're buying it.

If you react in a way that preserves your own dignity that doesn't mean it is your fault that 17 years are "thrown away"

Although for at least a quarter of your marriage he's been shagging around, so clearly you need to re-evaluate the supposed worth of the relationship and the man

ReinDIORdroppings · 06/12/2008 08:09

Message withdrawn

kittywise · 06/12/2008 08:31

It's true from what I have read so far that you are not blaming him at all.

She kept offering herself and you weren't providing sex

He made the choice to have sex with her on many many occasions. She didn't force him did she?

It was HIS choice. HE did it and it is HIS fault.

He could have said"no". but he didn't

You can bet that he is only telling you as much as he thinks he can get away with

moopymoo · 06/12/2008 08:35

Another vote for counselling.And I think that i would insist that he changes jobs, difficult I know in present economic climate, but even if it meant a paycut, would be cheaper than divorce.

georgimama · 06/12/2008 08:40

If she wanted or wants him to leave you then I very much doubt the relationship was "only sex".

Sorry but I think you need to be very careful, get some legal advice about where you stand with assets/benefits if you separate, and above all do not stay with himjust because you fear the perception of failure, or "throwing away" 17 years.

foxy1 · 06/12/2008 19:55

thanks for everyones feedback. he works in big department of 700 people and she works within it but he does not have much to do with her. i will be checking his mobile but can't check his work phone as this has a security code to log on. he said he did not love her he only loved me, it was just to have sex as he thinks about it alot.

i just feel so shocked.

OP posts:
georgimama · 06/12/2008 20:04

I'm so sorry Foxy, what do you want to do?

Regardless of whether he did or did not have real feelings for her at some stage (because actually that is a bit irrelevant so I am sorry for my first post), if this could play out as you would want, what would happen? Do you want to stay with him or not - what you want, not what you think is best for the children?

georgimama · 06/12/2008 20:06

And not what you think you have to do because of money worries? If money and the children were not issues, what would be your gut instinct to do? Because that is what I think you should do.

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