
Hello Anu, I am married for 14 yrs. I have 5 yrs old twins. Currently I am dealing with my husband's extra marital affair with his ex colleague. In 2022 we went to abroad with my husband. But I found it very difficult to adjust with 2 3.5 yrs kids with my son diagnosed with ASD. I came back to India in 6 months.In April 2024 I came to know that my husband went on vacation with his ex colleague in abroad. He even sponsored her flight ticket and entire vacation. They spent 3 nights in a single hotel room. In 14 yrs old marriage despite being love marriage, I had to sponsor my honeymoon and first anniversary. With me he is always on savings mode where as with this woman he does not even care about money. When I confronted, he and his family blamed everything on me. They said it was my fault that I came back to India. Also as per him and his family it is nothing. Friends can travel like that. They pointed everything on my trust issues. He came back to India but he did not even contact me. He just wanted to meet kids. He never accepted his affair. As per him she is just a friend. I wanted divorce first but I asked him whether he wants to marry that woman he said NO. So we started couple therapy. During therapy he accepted his mistakes and said he was alone. That woman was going through her second divorce. And they started chatting on what's app frequently. Then calls and video calls. That woman was in India. He said he wants his family. But he never gave me any details about his affair. I came to know that when he was in India during holiday they went to pune , he lied to me and went to pune to be with her. There also they spent night in 5 star hotel room. I was devasted. This also he did not tell me. Going on vacation, sharing a hotel room , sharing a bed is nothing for them. I am also BE but I feel like he has crossed all boundaries. I was devasted. I felt so much betrayed that I was getting thoughts of suicide but looking at my kids I decided to work on our marriage. In diwali he gifted me a saree, we spent quality time as family. I said let's forget all and start a new life in our new house but please leave that affair. He said ok. But again he cheated. He booked 5 star resort room for her. He even sponsored her flight ticket. I was genuinely trying to save my marriage, to build our bond but he messed it. Even after that he wants to be with me. Recently I lost my job as well. Counselor told me to ignore his affair. But my husband wants me to pay half EMI, half of everything even though he has onsite money. I feel stuck in this marriage now. This man has always neglected my needs.He never respected me, he never valued me the way he is treating that woman. He wants me to perform all wifely duties but also wants to enjoy his time with that woman. Now he is saying he has stopped contact with her. But in Diwali he said the same in temple .when I am asking for divorce he is saying I want his money. He has zero regrets , no remorse of his actions. I am mentally very much disturbed now. I feel worthless and hopeless because of all these things. Now he wants to live with me but he wants me to share all the expenses. I don't trust him now and I don't want to invest my money in this marriage as there is no transparency. He has also disrespected my parents when they went to ask him about his affair. If he loves that woman this much why can't he accept that and leave me? He wants me to take a call. He leaving me would have helped me to move on.
Is it worth saving such marriage where there are insecurities, no trust , no transparency, no respect?
I put my ego aside for many times but should I also loose my self respect?
I have decided to protect myself now.
Ans: Dear Anonymous,
Clearly your therapy didn't take you anywhere and your counselor telling you to forget the affair makes it even more clear that he/she was leading you into a space of impossibility. If it's so easy to forget, why haven't you? Because it is not possible to forget what impacts you the most...
It has to be worked upon and skimmed over. What I could gather from what you have shared is that you seem to be waiting for your husband to decide the fate of your marriage!
What's your thought on it? What makes you wait for his approval or decision on it? If after repeated attempts, the marriage does not seem like a priority to him, how can you expect him to make a decision about it?
He's a pretty cat sitting on a fence playing both fields and wishing that he can be the best player on both sides of the field...You get the depth of this? He's never going to decide and this will constantly keep you on the edge not letting you move on anything.
I am sure you will be relieved knowing that the decision when in your court can help you accelerate things and it will be clear how and when you wish to move on...
The decision must be yours NOW!
All the best!
Anu Krishna
Mind Coach|NLP Trainer|Author
Drop in: www.unfear.io
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