So I thought. My husband Derek had always been a loving father and husband. He worked hard to support our family and often put in extra hours to make sure we had a good life. But I had no idea that his many business trips were for more than just work.
I became suspicious when I found a room ticket from a nearby hotel while cleaning his car one day. There’s no reason for him to need to stay in a hotel in our town. I tried to ignore it because I was sure there had to be a good reason, but my interest got the best of me.
I started to keep a closer eye on him by keeping track of his actions and collecting papers. Then I found more hotel papers, and each one showed a pattern of lying. I knew I had to talk to him, but I didn’t want to do it right away.
So, when Derek told me he had to go on a business trip, I offered to go with him. This is what I saw that really shocked me. He met a young woman at the hotel, and I was shocked by how close they were.
I spoke to them, and Derek’s face showed clear signs of shame and fear. He hadn’t known she was a con artist while he had been seeing this woman for a while. She lied to him to get him to open a joint account, then took all the money out of it.
Bad luck had come Derek’s way. I was fooled by him, and now he was fooled himself. It was hard after we broke up, but I was determined to look out for the future of our children. Once just a ritual, the prenuptial agreement turned out to be a very important way to protect the couple from Derek’s careless behaviour.
I saw that our once-happy home was built on lies as I thought back on the years we spent together. But I was set on moving forward, smarter and stronger, with the health and safety of my children as my top concern.
