 They say, keep your friends close, but enemies closer. But what if your wife's stalker gets too close? Life is unpredictable. One moment you're married for 26 years to your college sweetheart, the love of your life, mother of your children. But at the peak of bliss during a college reunion, evil could be lurking in the sinister eyes of an old college admirer who seemed too creepy to take serious. From loyalty and love to cruel disrespect, dark intentions and absolute ghosting, this is the story of Benjamin and Lucy. Warning, the following story will be upsetting to cheaters and creepy stalkers. I'm a 57-year-old male, married for 26 years to the woman who was the love of my life. Let's call her Lucy. She was my college friend, and we had known each other for 10 years before marriage. Those 10 years consisted of two years of friendship, a year of pursuing her and the remaining seven years we dated. We also had a long distance for a few years in those seven years when we moved to different cities for work purposes. Our relationship stood the test of time and distance. Lucy was not only my wife and mother of my children, she was my friend, my dearest friend since college. She knew me the way no one else did. Hence, her betrayal broke me into pieces. A week ago, Lucy and I attended our college reunion. Our college organizes a reunion every year for the batches that had graduated 35 years ago. It is a grand event where they call singers and celebrities to perform. Every year, the alumni look forward to it. This year, it was our batch turn to enjoy the limelight. We and our batch mates were looking forward to meeting the older version of each other. Lucy and I were particularly excited because we were the only few college couples who ended up marrying each other and being together for many years. We both entered the party in a mood to flex our relationship. Little did I know that I was digging my own grave. We were having a great time meeting some of our closest friends after several years. We were having the best time of our life until when someone approached us. Let's call him Rick. Rick was one of Lucy's admirers and everyone in our class knew about his profound love for Lucy. Lucy was one of the most brilliant girls in the class. Like any other woman, Lucy had many admirers in the college. Yeah, I was also one of them. However, Rick was not the usual one who would just flirt, try his luck and move on when the girl doesn't give a damn. He was the persistent one. He kept wooing Lucy throughout the college and even after that, he didn't budge despite knowing she dated and loved me. I'm always a secure partner and didn't let his advances affect our relationship. Rick and everyone else knew that Lucy was well beyond his league, yet he never stopped trying. I remember when Rick got to know that Lucy finally ended up marrying me, he actually texted me and said that Lucy had made a mistake. He further said that he hoped I'd care for her as he would have. Lucy and I just used to laugh at his childishness and romanticism. We hadn't spoken or heard from him since that day. Till the day of the reunion when Rick approached us, we thought that he would have moved on by now because it was already 35 years of college and 26 years of our marriage. But surprisingly, he was still stuck at Lucy's chapter. He greeted all of us with a hug and we hugged him back. However, Lucy preferred to just shake hands with him because his intense eye contact made her uncomfortable. He sat opposite of Lucy and gave her a weird and intense look which everyone noticed. I could not help but ask him if he had brought his family along to the reunion party, to which he said that he was single. He said that he was married for a very brief period in his 40s, but soon got divorced. I said, I'm sorry to hear that. To which his epic response was, Well, yeah, you should be sorry. You stole my love. Followed by a burst of hysterical laughter, had I been in my 30s, I would have broken his limb, but we are on the verge of hitting 60s and all those things don't seem to matter anymore. Also, Rick isn't intimidating at all. He's the sleazy loudmouth guy you wouldn't have picked during sports. Though everyone heard his joke, no one responded and you could sense others being getting uncomfortable so we kind of ignored him. But Lucy got really silent after that. Nancy and I took Lucy aside. Nancy is our close friend from college. We tried to cheer Lucy, asking her to forget about the maniac and enjoy the rest of the evening. Knowing that Lucy was an over-thinker, we both tried to clear her head. Just then, Rick approached us out of nowhere. I'm guessing he was always having his eye on us. To our shock, he apologized, saying he didn't intend to upset her. Instead, he wanted to make her feel happy that despite so many years of separation and age taking a toll on her beauty, she still had an admirer. I lost my cool with his cheesy words and asked him to back off. He said that he was genuinely sorry about the discomfort. Lucy asked him to leave us alone, but he insisted Lucy forgave him so that we could enjoy the last meeting of our lives. Those last words made me think, let's get it over with and move on. That night was surely the last time we would meet our old friends and classmates. Hence, there was no point brooding over the past. Lucy hugged him and asked him to get over her and to leave it alone. We all hugged and proceeded to the dance floor to enjoy the party. Others joined us and it was fun. After a while, I saw Nancy and Lucy talking with Rick standing next to them. I saw he was talking too and acting foolishly by dancing comically, if that makes sense. I was happy that finally this was resolved and we could look back in a positive way. I kept looking at them to make sure Lucy was okay. Rick kept whispering something in her ears and she smiled and nodded at him. I was guessing that it wasn't anything explicit or else Lucy would have slapped him. This gave me the go-ahead to relax and enjoy myself with other friends and classmates. After an hour or so, I noticed Lucy and Nancy were not around. At first, I wasn't bothered because we were all on our own. Even I was catching up with other friends separately. But when I couldn't see them even after some time, I started looking out for them. I tried calling them first, but they didn't respond. I realized the music was so loud they might not hear their phone ringing. After 30 minutes or so, Lucy arrived, but she looked different. Nothing changed in her appearance, but somehow I felt she was a different being. She was exceptionally quiet after that and just kept insisting me to leave. Nancy joined us shortly after that, but Lucy and Nancy didn't speak to each other throughout the night. I thought that they both had fought over something because they didn't make eye contact. I kept asking Lucy why she was irritated and wanted to leave early, but she didn't say anything. I wanted to stay until the party was over, but upon Lucy's insistence, we just left early. Lucy was silent during the entire journey back home, which was of more than an hour. I kept asking her if she was okay. She said that she was just tired and needed to rest. It made me very uneasy because she is always the one who is beaming with energy and seeing her upset while I don't know why makes me worried. I asked her if it had anything to do with Nancy. She just said no with no further explanation. I thought she was exhausted, so left her by herself. After reaching home, when most of us were posting our happy pictures of the evening and chatting on social media, expressing our happiness of meeting after so many years and grieving over the fact that it could be the last, Lucy snuck into the bed with closed eyes. I guess she wanted me to believe she was asleep. Why do I say that? It was almost 2 a.m. when I went to bed, tired. I dozed off as soon as I hit the bed. I don't know how long I was asleep when Lucy woke me up. She was crying, resting her head on my chest. I cuddled her and asked her if she got emotional about meeting her old friends, but she didn't say anything. She just kept crying. I held her firmly to gesture my support as it was the least I could do while she isn't telling me what's going on. I let her emotions flow out, and when she was done crying, she told me something that made me numb. She said that she cheated on me. She cheated on me with Rick. I was lost for words, couldn't ask her anything further. I was frozen. Everything started playing in my head as to what might have happened. The last I saw Lucy was when she was dancing with Rick and Nancy, along with others. Then the trio disappeared for a good one hour. Then she returned with a sullen face and insisted on leaving the party. Lucy told me Nancy knows, but she was fuming towards Lucy. Hence, she too looked upset. I couldn't talk, so as she saw me in the frozen state, she spilled the beans by herself. She said that while they were dancing, Rick kept apologizing to her for all the embarrassment he put her through, especially after she rejected his advances time after time. He praised her, saying he had traveled the world but had never met a woman better than her. She said she felt he must have meant it and fell for his openness and enjoyed his compliments. He asked her if she would like to go for a walk with him. She denied it initially, but he insisted that it was the last time they were seeing each other. And most of all, she deserved to know everything he truly felt about her. She wanted to know what he had to tell her, so went with him for a walk on the college lawn for the silent surroundings. While on the lawn, Rick expressed his feelings freely as to how he has always loved her and that she is the most wonderful woman to have ever existed on earth. She narrated different sentences, but the crux are the same. Lucy claimed that she was drunk and stupidly fell for his words. He then held her hands while walking and the situation made Lucy feel like a big load of tension fell from her shoulder, making her feel comfortable. I don't want or feel the need to write further details of what she told me that had happened, but she told me everything, everything. Till the point she said that they were in the middle of the act, when her guilty conscience kicked in and she pushed him away. My mind was numb and so was my body. She nudged me for a reaction, but I didn't say anything. I told her to leave me be for a moment. She kept crying and saying sorry. I told her to sleep and we would discuss the matter in the morning. She held me tightly and said that she couldn't lose me. I just kept my eyes shut and laid there while I went over the situation over and over again. I was retrospecting till I remembered specifically what happened that I found odd. Rick gave me a weird creepy smile after Lucy returned from their make-out session, but I didn't notice it then. I guess that was his smile of victory that he finally had her. With that thought, I felt the rage and disgust build up inside me, too restless for self-pity and I just couldn't bear sharing the bed with her. I realized that she was deep asleep after her hours of wailing. I sneaked out of bed, dumped my laptop, wallet and other essentials into a backpack and left the house. I loved that woman. We were married for 26 years. I don't know a life without her. We have a family and kids, but I couldn't stay. She knows me. She would have convinced me against separation if I stayed until morning. So I checked into a hotel and blocked her number as well as from all social media platforms. It was already sunrise by the time I went to sleep. It was by eight or nine when my phone started blowing up with calls from my children. I have two kids with Lucy, a 24-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter. They both are in college and live on the same campus. Now, after reading so many stories, I realize I made a hasty decision of ghosting Lucy that very night. I should have planned meticulously for my next move to stay in control. I read so many stories where OP pretended to stay normal with their cheating partner while preparing for the revenge and finally destroying them and the affair partner. But in my case, I could not have behaved normally with Lucy after what she did. She was my best friend and my better half in the truest sense. Even if I tried, she would have caught me at the first moment and neither could I ever pretend in front of her. Lucy cheating on me was the last thing that would have occurred to me. Hence, I never had a plan for how to deal with it. So, when my children called me, I had no plans what to tell them, but I had to speak to either of them before they went to the police to file a missing complaint. I then called up my son, who is calmer and more mature than my daughter. I told him there was no better way to break this news than to let him know that his mother cheated on me last night with her past lover or admire a stalker, whatever you call him. I needed some time to get over it. He was shocked to hear that mom, his own mother would do such a thing. On top of that, he knows we had a great family and his parents always had a great and loving relationship. We made sure of that. Now, she ruined that. My children, relatives and friends have always admired our loving relationship. We used to be that tight, strong and proud family unit. He was not ready to digest the blow that his mother could do such a thing and kept insisting there must be some misunderstanding. He kept asking about the how and wanted to put everything in chronological order. But my son doesn't need me going over all the details. It would break his soul before his life even starts. I told him I wished it was just a joke, but mom had confessed to me about her infidelity. He is 24 and had already experienced heartbreak, but I know that for him too. This is rough on another level. I asked him to promise he would not disclose this to anyone until I did it. I texted my daughter that I was stressed about work-related issues and would be out of town for some time and the phone calls stopped. So the situation was as follows. While my daughter thought I was out of town for work, my son and Lucy both knew I had separated myself from Lucy. The next few days I spent on the internet, searching for the best lawyers and looking for a solution to my problem. That's when I stumbled upon one of these subreddits where tons of men had suffered a similar fate as mine. I read how they have planned their revenge and destroyed their cheating partner, including their rage towards the affair partner. I understand, I really do, but taking revenge on Lucy is the last thing I would do in life. I still love her deeply. I would be lying if I told you. I would be able to go scorched earth on her life. I don't want to, but neither can I be with her. I could never be with her again. I don't know how I'm going to deal with this or come out of it, if at all. I have many things to take care of, my work, my children, my assets, name it. I have an appointment with the lawyer tomorrow. Let's see what he has to say. I'll make an update as soon as I'm able to move forward. That's so sad to hear. I don't know how a woman loyal to a man for 26 years suddenly slipped for other men's words. And not just a man, the creepy dude that doesn't know about boundaries, even after becoming an adult after high school. I mean, your relationship was great and you have two kids together. I hate to say it, but wow, please reconsider and see if you can give her a chance. She came clean and this is extremely rare in these cases. It tells me she is definitely sorry for her mistakes. It was just a one-time thing and she immediately confessed to you. How bad it seems, I still think this is salvageable. You got caught off guard, but man, you have to buckle up. You have a lot to sort out. If you wanna separate, start by freezing your bank accounts, altering your will, and most importantly, hiring a lawyer. I'm not sure what's your profession. If you run a business or work at an office, then ghosting your wife might not be successful. She might turn up at your workplace, so prepare accordingly. That affair partner is so sick. Sounds like a broken-hearted lover of the 60s. I think his only intention of attending the reunion was to get back at you and your wife. I'm married for the last 15 years with my college sweetheart. Now I'm worried that I should keep a plan ready in my back pocket if anything such happens. Fingers crossed for you and your family. Hey all, thanks for all the support. While reading the comments, I realized I had missed adding some information. Lucy and I are both management consultants. However, in our late 40s, we both had quit our full-time jobs. Lucy took up her long-awaited passion for writing and I became a business consultant for startups. So I don't have a fixed workplace since I'm self-employed. One of you commented that Lucy might show up at my work location. Ghosting her might not be a good idea since I sometimes work from home and occasionally visit my client's office. I consult multiple clients simultaneously. Lucy has been unable to find me yet. As I mentioned, I'm about to hit 60 and we have been planning for our retirement for a very long time. We both have been saving to buy a beach house in the countryside to spend our retirement years. We were supposed to buy the house next year. We have even shortlisted some properties in the countryside and have been in talks with some property owners. Thank God we didn't buy it yet. Otherwise, it would have been a different problem altogether. Imagine that. Lucy had been trying to contact me ever since I ghosted her. I met the lawyer the day after my first post and he advised me to first inform the children about the separation as they were adults. He also asked me about the property division and I have decided to divide it evenly between me and Lucy. No, my revenge would not be to rip off Lucy from the wealth but me. She would get half of all the assets as she has earned it but she would get the separation because that too she has earned. I also know her very well. She wouldn't mind signing off all the wealth to get back with me to stay together as a family. While the divorce papers were getting ready, I met my children. I asked my son to discreetly bring his sister to a restaurant without telling her I would be there. He obliged. My daughter's reaction was insane. As soon as she saw me, she bombarded me with her questions. One of her questions was if I was cheating on mom because she knew I had ghosted her. She was breathing heavily which broke my heart but I had to stay strong for them and for what I was about to do. I calmed her down and assured that I wasn't seeing anyone. Then, bit by bit, I revealed the truth to them. Although my son knew about it, he didn't know about my next move. My daughter was shattered to hear that her mom could cheat on me. She has been living with Lucy for the past 15 days since I left the house. She hugged me and apologized for being mad at me. They both asked me if I could give another chance to our marriage but I made it clear that I was filing for a divorce. They both broke down. Seeing them cry was awful but they understood my pain. They promised to stand strong with me in this difficult time. I told them I was separating their mom, not them of course. My daughter told me that mom, Lucy, has not been eating and sleeping properly. She is transitioning between crying and tensely pacing while calling me endlessly. She is also driven to many of my clients' offices to inquire about me but they all said I have not visited their offices for two weeks. My daughter asked her if anything happened between us as this was the first time I had behaved like this. Lucy didn't answer our daughter's question. Instead, she just kept crying. She usually locks herself in the room, moaning and crying. I asked my daughter to stay at home with mom until our divorce is settled. I see their sadness turning into anger when we talk about mom. I can tell they feel betrayed by her too. I get it. They lost too. Our family is ruined and there is one to blame but I don't want or need them to hate their mother so I insist that they support her. You're not going to believe this next part. A few days later, I got a text from Rick asking me about Lucy. He said that if I was going to divorce her after knowing her infidelity, he was ready to take her. I replied that Lucy is a free woman and she could choose whatever she wanted. I blocked him after that. I'm sure he messaged me to infuriate me but I was least angry with him. I won't fall into his stalker's trap. I didn't marry or love or trust him. All these I did with Lucy, she had betrayed me and that affected me badly. I'm not insecure. You can have her if she wants. I'm least bothered about that. The divorce paper is supposed to be shipped today and I'm yet to get a call from my daughter regarding how Lucy has reacted. I'll make the update once my divorce is settled. Meanwhile, I still have to sort out many things, my assets, retirement and my children's security. It's so disheartening to see that one moment of thrill could destroy years of togetherness. I can feel your pain. It must be very disturbing to separate from the love of your life but kudos to you. You're handling it quite well. The fact that you are still treating your wife fairly and with dignity speaks a lot about your character. Massive respect for you, sir. You won my heart. When you said that you don't want revenge but also not a simp to take her back, you are doing a great balancing act of maintaining your self-respect as well as the respect for your wife. Hey, people, I know it's been a long time since I updated it. Sorry for that. I had a long list of things to sort out. So first thing, my divorce is settled now. When the divorce papers reached her, she didn't take it well. She lost her mind. Up until then, she was living inside a bubble where I was just angry and would return to her when my anger subsided. The water bubble bursted when she got the papers. She insisted my lawyer set up a meeting with me but my lawyer denied it. He said she was getting half of all the assets which was more than she deserved, to which she said that she didn't want any asset. But me, I told you, I know her. She said she wanted to meet me once before signing the divorce papers. She is confident of her capabilities. She knew that if she got one FaceTime with me, she would be able to convince me against separation. She was right. If I had met her, I might have changed my mind. I still loved her and could not see her becoming a living skeleton, but I can't put aside my self-respect. She took me for granted, destroyed our family, for what? I won't go into that rabbit hole, I just want to say. I cannot bear living like that. My daughter wanted to meet up. She told me that her mom became fragile to the extent that she had to be hospitalized. She has slipped into depression. On top of that, she refused to take any medication or supplements to ease her health. She had to be hospitalized and kept on a liquid diet because she wasn't eating at all. I know at this point, many of you would be thinking of me as a ruthless, egoistic man, wondering if I ever really loved Lucy because of my indifference towards her deteriorating health. My answer, have you ever been betrayed? If not, you won't understand my pain. Saying that I loved and adored my wife is an understatement. I worshiped her. I was her biggest fan, her biggest cheerleader. She's the mother of my children together for almost three decades. Rick was right to an extent. It's really hard to find a woman like Lucy. She's intelligent, talented, empathetic, and had everything you need in a partner. Therefore, I ensured to treat her like one. But what did she do to me in return? She hit me at the weakest spot. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that she would cheat on me and on top of that, with Rick. A few days after the divorce paper reached Lucy, Nancy texted me. She asked me how I was doing and eventually asked about Lucy. I told her that we were separating. She didn't seem shocked and said she knew the reason. She called me after that. Nancy asked me how I discovered the cheating. I told her that Lucy had confessed. She said she was sorry, but she had tried to warn Lucy against Rick and suggested not to go outside with him, but Lucy didn't listen to her. Nancy revealed something that made me confident of my decision. Her description of the incident slightly differed from what Lucy had told me. She and Lucy were dancing happily when Rick joined them and started making advances towards Lucy. He kept whispering into her ears, which, according to Lucy, was Rick's apology. Nancy didn't like Rick's advances and tried to cut him off, but she noticed that Lucy suddenly was enjoying his company. When Rick asked Lucy to go out for a walk with him, she looked at Nancy for suggestions. Nancy kicked against Rick's offer for a walk because everyone knew how creepy Rick was. But after some time, Lucy excused herself and went with Rick. Nancy didn't mind that too much because Lucy was also interested in going with him. Nancy was enjoying herself with other friends when she realized Lucy hadn't returned yet. Concerned about Lucy's safety, she went out to look for them. Guess where she found them? In the changing room of the college swimming pool, where did Lucy say they were on the lawn? Nancy said that she caught them in the act. They stopped only when Lucy saw Nancy coming towards them. So it wasn't Lucy's guilty conscience that stopped her. It was Nancy who disturbed them. Until this revelation, I was still proud of Lucy that she owned up to her mistakes and confessed them to me right away. It gave me a sense of peace by knowing the truth, even though she betrayed me so brutally. I believed her story that she got carried away because she was drunk, but her consciousness stopped her. She didn't cheat on me because she was drunk. She cheated because she wanted to. The college swimming pool was at least a 15-minute walk from the place we were, and the changing rooms were way inside the arena. Unless you really want to go to that place, you can't end up there just like that. Her cheating was intentional and by choice. After telling me her side, Nancy asked me if I see myself giving Lucy another chance to rebuild our relationship because Lucy had confessed by coming clean completely about her mistakes. The thing is, Nancy didn't know that Lucy's version of the confession differed, and I didn't even clarify it or answered her question. Lucy might be in a miserable condition, yet she lied to me. I ended the conversation abruptly. This was the defining moment. I lost all respect for Lucy. Meanwhile, my children told me that Lucy's condition was deteriorating. She had slipped into depression and was on the verge of hurting herself. After this news, I called up Nancy and told her about our previous phone call and how I was told another story by Lucy. I asked her to visit Lucy and have a transparent conversation with her. Lucy had been locking up her secret, which had made her life miserable. I also told Nancy to let Lucy know that I was now aware of the exact truth of the night, and I was never going to forgive her or take her back, so it was better for her to prioritize her health. I knew Lucy was deliberately ruining her health, so I would take her back. I know her, right? Nancy visited her and she updated me about it. Although Lucy is yet to recover from her weakness and depression fully, my daughter said that she is doing much better. She also signed the divorce papers, which was a big relief for me. I plan to wrap up my pending work and travel alone. I want to ditch my previous idea of settling in one place, because that would drive me crazy. I know I'm not handling it perfectly as the people posted on this community have handled a similar situation, but I have done it in the best way I could. Let's see what unfolds in the future. I'll keep you all updated. I'm sorry to hear about the real truth. Reading your earlier updates, I was actually rooting for your wife and that you are being too harsh on her, but I guess you were right. Your cheating wasn't a mistake. It was deliberate. I hope you find solace after making this heartbreaking discovery. It's so unbelievable sometimes that people with such strong personalities can also fall for a creep and get into the trap of lies and cheating. Though I feel sorry for you, I wish you and your wife both move on from this trauma as soon as possible. Reading your updates, it doesn't look like she's in good condition. Hey people, hope you all are doing well. It's been a year since my last update. I wish I could say time flies, but it didn't for me. I spent a few months in a motel and then rented a condo for a few more months until my divorce was settled. Coming to my work as I planned, I gradually switched to clients with whom I could work 100% remotely. The money that Lucy and I saved for our retirement house, she got 50% of it and the remaining 50%, which was my share, I distributed between my two children. I don't need it and they are adults and mature enough to park that money where it would benefit them. As for Lucy, she's still undergoing therapy. Nancy is in regular touch with Lucy and she calls up sometimes to check on me. She told me something that I'd never expected from Lucy. This is what I learned from Nancy. Take it with a grain of salt as she is still pro-Lucy but she has no reason to lie to me. Here we go, brace yourself for this. I know I repeatedly told you I know this woman even after she cheated, but after hearing this, I don't think I ever really knew her. I took Lucy to be a strong lady with a resilient mind but I guess loneliness got the better of her. Lucy started chatting with Rick and he too opened up and showered his love for her until he got to know about the divorce. However, as soon as he got to know, he acted strange and kind of ghosted her. Lucy was heartbroken to find that Rick stopped talking to her after she told him about the divorce. Lucy reminded him that he claimed to love her and longed to be with her despite everything. It came out that he was just flirting with Lucy for some quick action which he got. He said that he can't marry or be in any emotional relationship with Lucy because she's such a strong headed woman. For someone who knows Lucy, it is just unbelievable that she pleaded with Rick for a relationship. She could not stoop lower than this because everyone knew Rick to be a prick. Rick showed his true colours by saying he was up for nothing but a physical relationship but Lucy wanted emotional and not physical support. He said he has a live-in partner and is happy with her. Looks like all his love and admiration were fake. When Lucy and Rick got into an argument, he ended it with a blow. He indirectly mocked Lucy that finally he was successful in tasting her water. He said that he thought Lucy was smart yet he was successful in fooling her which means he is the smarter one between the two. She further fell into depression because she lost everything by falling for his ugly lies. The last I heard about Lucy was a couple of weeks ago. My daughter had been living with Lucy ever since I moved out of the house. She needed someone's company to cope with her depression so my daughter lived with her but after staying for a year she realised that she could no longer live with mom. Lucy was becoming impossible. Lucy, who once was an emotionally strong woman has become a maniac, insecure person who constantly needs someone's presence and attention. She has also become delusional and disoriented. Lucy has turned into a controlling and possessive mother. She blows up my children's phones when they don't answer their calls. She also insisted my son move in with her until he got married but he pushed back her request. She had been bossing my daughter to spend time at home instead of partying or holidaying with her friends. They are no longer kids. They are adults now and they can't be caged. Whenever my daughter tried to confront Lucy about her pestering behaviour Lucy broke down and said that she was scared of losing them. She was terrified after losing me. My children told her that they were not going to leave her and were trying their best to help her cope with the depression. But if she continued to be this controlling then they might have to think otherwise. She often gets into full blown fights with the children that they are not supporting her at her worst time. I don't know her like this. The children don't know her like this. They had to ultimately tell her that it was she who had messed up everyone's life. Our family once considered a wholesome, safe loving, happy family is now broken and distorted. She couldn't take it that her own children blamed her for everything. My daughter has moved out of the house two weeks back. She told me that she tried her best to help Lucy but she couldn't halt her life to look after her. I think my daughter's decision made sense. She needs to get on with her life and Lucy needs to take control of her life. Anyone in their 20s or 30s would be glad to see their cheating ex-wife in misery. But no, I wasn't happy to know all this. I felt terrible for her condition. Her poor judgment made her suffer for her remaining life. I wish she gets back to her previous self of being a confident, stronger woman and stops begging people like Rick for emotional support. Coming back to me, I have travelled and lived in four different countries in the last year. I had a great time exploring the local culture and cuisines and living a completely different lifestyle. I was initially unhappy that I had to make a detour of my retirement plan. I always wanted to spend the last innings of my life living peacefully with Lucy but now I feel good about experiencing many different cultures and lifestyles. I met some fantastic people in the different cities of the world. No, I'm not seeing anyone yet and neither I'm looking forward to any relationship as of now. Let's see what the future holds for me. I'll update you if anything develops. It amazes me to see how depression can make a person so miserable and needy. But I'm happy that you are moving ahead in life. Been following your story but I can't shake this feeling back to the party. I would have dropped Rick the first time after he opened his mouth. Are you sure your wife didn't cheat before that? Seems like they have more going on. Maybe. I feel so bad for your children. They are suffering in this situation the most. Don't fall for your wife's trick and get on with your life. Looks like this crisis has made her a worse version of herself. I apologize for not making any updates for so many years. The thing is, nothing worth updating happened in the last two and a half years except that I traveled to over 12 countries and picked up my hobby of painting. I initiated this thread to share my cheating wife's story and there was no point in updating my travel itinerary in this, so I skipped it. So, what happened now that made me write this update? Last month I met Lucy after four years. It was because my son would marry. Yes, my baby boy found the love of his life and decided to exchange vows. He called me up two months prior to the wedding and told me about his decision. He wanted me and Lucy to meet the girl's parents. To make it clear, he wanted me to be there at the same time as Lucy. Initially, I declined it, saying that I would directly meet them at his wedding, but I realized that it's not about me as I had to fulfill my fatherly duties. The girl's parents hosted a dinner for us a week before the wedding. Although I didn't confirm my presence, I showed up at the last minute. It was rough to be seeing Lucy there as I would have preferred it was just one of us. Nonetheless, I know I had to go for my boy. He and his fiancee were delighted to see me. Her parents were good people and very warm and welcoming. They are great people and from their side meeting me I feel like we hit it off. The dad and I laughed together and hit common ground when he opened up about his business. I won't go too much into that part as you might want to know more about the Lucy situation only. So here we go. When I entered the room initially, Lucy was surprised. She looked different. Her eyes showed me she's not the woman she used to be. She smiled politely, but I could sense she was feeling tensed up. She always had thick, long hair, even when we became older, but she aged harder than I expected in those four years. When we sat at the table, they put us next to each other, which makes me think our son didn't tell them. It would be the first time his parents would see each other too. Just noteworthy. It should be no problem. She didn't say anything in front of others, but as soon as she got the opportunity to talk to me, she remarked that I looked healthier and happier. I affirmed it, saying yes. It was because I had cut off all the toxicity from my life. This set her back for a brief moment as she looked around, but nobody heard us. She asked me if I was seeing someone, but I dodged the question, saying my relationship status shouldn't matter to her. I barely looked at her during the conversation, focusing my energy on everyone else predominantly. After the dinner, when we were about to leave, I said my goodbyes by hugging everyone a good night, but just nodded my goodbyes to Lucy, telling her to take care. I guess she didn't expect that as she stood up too when I was saying my goodbyes to everyone. It went by fast, so I don't believe it was too awkward for the others. Unexpectedly, it was pretty uneventful concerning Lucy. She looked as if I either intimidated her, or she was too tensed up to speak more openly. Overthinking, like he used to or not, I couldn't care much. So when I left and walked outside, my son walked me out and asked me if I wanted to spend the next few days with him, but I declined, but told him I'd call him for sure and drove off to my hotel. By the way, I don't have a house. I'm mostly out of town, and when I'm in, I stay in a motel. It was difficult for me to lead a nomadic life after being a family man for 26 years, but I guess I have now gotten used to this adventurous life, and I'm loving it. Apart from my family dynamics, I have another update. I do have a companion. Yes, during my visit to Tokyo, I met Ashlene two years back. She's 52 years old. She had just come out of an abusive relationship and was enjoying her first solo trip. We bonded while climbing a mountain. We bonded as friends because neither she nor I was up for any sort of relationship. After Tokyo, I was about to head to South Korea and I was heading to Thailand. We stayed in touch for the next six months and then decided to plan our trips together. Since then, for the last one and a half years, we have been travelling together to over eight countries. We took each other as travel companions. We didn't even get intimate for the next two months of travelling together. We both had decided not to rush into anything, be it physical or emotional. So we took our sweet time to understand each other, but we both were clear that we didn't want to get married. We want to enjoy travelling and exploring places for now. My children knew about Ashlene, but didn't reveal this to Lucy, fearing her depression might relapse. After reaching the hotel, I called my son to explain to him why I declined to stay with him. I told him that Ashlene had accompanied me to the town and I couldn't leave her alone. I told him that I wanted Ashlene to attend the wedding. He was excited, but was equally tense about Lucy's fury. I insisted that Ashlene should attend the wedding because she is my partner and should get to meet my family. My son added his sister, my daughter, to the call to ask for a second opinion, but mostly to talk it over between the three of us. She was by my side that Ashlene should meet the family. The wedding was after a week. I used that time to give a city tour to Ashlene because it was her first time visiting Kentucky. Now, the day of the wedding. The moment we came in, I saw Lucy already staring at me. She lost her mind when she saw me hand in hand with Ashlene at the wedding venue. I had already given Ashlene the heads up about Lucy's potential obnoxious behavior, but she assured me she could handle the situation very well. This was when I first saw how controlling Lucy could be since we separated. I saw Lucy rushing towards us in a fast pace and immediately squeezed my wrist and tried to pull me aside. I told her that I didn't want any private conversation with her. She asked me if Ashlene was my girlfriend or if I was going to marry her. I said that it shouldn't matter to her. I asked her to leave us alone because the guests had started to come in soon and some of them were noticing Lucy's tears and anger. She said she doesn't care about anyone but needs to sort this out now one way or the other. My daughter pitched in and tried to calm down her mom but Lucy refused to go with her. We said that she was ruining the wedding. She said that she didn't care in a higher voice. At this, my always so soft daughter peeked her head in discreetly and turned into a banshee. She didn't only lose her cool, she gave Lucy the lesson of her life. I didn't expect coming from our daughter. She whispered with fierce controlling anger to her mom that yes mom, you were supposed to be walking into the wedding in dad's arms and be with dad but you chose to fuck some random guy so you either accept it and get over it right now or I'm gonna make sure you're kicked from the wedding before it starts. I almost wanted to interfere as it felt natural for me to do so if I see my daughter in distress but she's tougher than I could ever be towards her mom. As my daughter pointed her finger towards Lucy every single word I could feel the tension of Lucy's hand on my wrist release. I saw Lucy's face tremble as she let me go to which she stared at me for three seconds saying nothing but her face changing from anger betrayal and sadness in all those seconds. Lucy walked away after this needless to say she didn't introduce herself to Ashleen but nice to be able to say my daughter told Ashleen that she was sorry to which she hugged us. I told her she shouldn't be she's my trooper and I'm proud of her referring to my daughter. I saw she was emotional when she said it's on her dad we suffered enough she needs to move on or leave you alone. Lucy had made everyone's life miserable but she had been acting entitled to all the sympathy and care from some friends during all these years children don't have a family house to gather in on special occasions I know I'm also responsible for that for the rest of the wedding Lucy got infuriated that our children took my side she stood at the corner or sat seemingly more excluded than a mother of the groom should for the rest of the event she didn't even join us for the family picture. Nancy called me a few days back she told me that Lucy had taken this to her ego and that I had moved on so fast in life yet she was still single I told her that I and my children had done with Lucy's drama she is alone in this she can do whatever she wants I just want to enjoy the remaining years of my life peacefully I'm thinking about staying closer to my kids and accept that even though they are old enough it's good to be able to offer them a family home to gather peacefully if they need it this wedding made me realize there's a new stage of life coming and I could become a grandparent it's just not something I'll share with Lucy and I'm totally fine by that we'll see if Ashlene would be willing but that's for when it's time thank you for your pieces of advice and for the sincere experiences some of you shared with me I wish you all to stay loyal and true to your spouse if not for yourself or your partner do it for your children always good there's always more to enjoy take care oh it's so great to see your update after so many years I'm glad that you are enjoying your life I remember reading your story and updates years ago I was actually rooting for you to reconcile with your wife because you had such a long and beautiful relationship but I'm glad you chose otherwise your wife did turn into a full-blown narcissist if she wasn't before wish you knew more about Rick and his life imploded but as he's a creep I hope his self-destructive tendencies keep him warm at night best to you OP your wife truly needs to move on with her shit she had been acting selfishly and ruining her children's life the fact that she was more bothered about sorting out her own mess than caring for her son's wedding reflected how she felt about her children I'm happy you found a partner enjoy and travel while you can thank you for updating it brings us to the end of Benjamin's story I'm sure that the stalkers didn't make it till the end of this episode but you did, my loyal viewer imagine 26 years with someone you build a seemingly unbreakable bond only for it to be tested by shadows from the past my two cents Rick's a prick, no question about it but this story shows that life could become heart-wrenchingly difficult when you let sinister people with ill intentions get too close I'm not saying Benjamin's responsible for Lucy's actions but when he put faith in Lucy while seeing her literally dance with the person who openly professed his love to his wife, he ignored a huge red flag but what do I know? I'm curious to what you think where would you have acted differently or what would you advise OP? let me know and I'll see you in the next one