Time for me to join this thread. This past Saturday, I found out my SO cheated on me.
For the past couple of days, it's been therapeutic to talk about my experience so I'm going to post about it here...this is going to be long enough to be a book.
So, my SO and I were spending time together at my place this past Friday. He decided to head home at about 9pm. I don't know, but something about his demeanor made me think to myself "He's about to cheat on me" but, I've been cheated on in the past and I do still have some trust issues because of that. I quickly dismissed my thoughts as me being "paranoid". He left, I started my long wash routine (detangling, shampooing, henna treatment, DC). He called me when he got home and said "Let's go to brunch on Sunday." I already had plans with my friend to go to brunch on Sunday so he said "OK, let's go tomorrow instead." I asked him what time he wanted to go and he said "Just come over, we'll leave once you get here." OK, fine.
He then texts me about an hour later saying goodnight. For some reason, I also thought the text message was weird. Him sending a goodnight text is nothing out of the ordinary. I think it was because I thought it was a little early for him to be going to bed. But, I texted goodnight back and continued my wash routine.
During my wash routine, I kept having the urge to drive by his place. But again, I dismissed my intuition and thought "Are you going to drive over there with henna in your hair and a plastic shopping bag on your head? Come on now". But, for the whole night I just felt uneasy.
Next morning, I text him at about 10am to see if he's awake. No response. So, I call him 30 minutes later and he picks up and answers in a voice that sounds like he just woke up. Something about the way he answered, made me think he was faking the voice. He said he just woke up and that he would text when he's dressed. So he texts about an hour later and I head over.
Once I get there, his car is not in the parking garage. I instantly was really annoyed...like more annoyed than is probably normal for the situation. So, I didn't make a big deal out of it, but I called and asked him where he was. He says he's at Home Depot getting a deadbolt for my door...I had asked him to install one for me but I thought it was kind of weird that he picked that time to go get it. So I went ahead and let myself into the apartment.
I was hungry, so I opened the refrigerator to see if he had any snacks for me to eat to hold me over before brunch. When I open the refrigerator, I see that there are NO snacks and...Red flag #1: An opened bottle of Stella Rosa. SO doesn't drink and Stella Rosa is a woman's drink. Now I'm on high alert.
I begin to go into other rooms of the apartment to see if I see anything else out of place. I notice the sheets had been stripped from the bed (red flag). I go to the bathroom and notice that in the trash can there is a tissue with red lipstick on it (I didn't have to dig either. The trash can was basically empty except for that). HUGE HUGE red flag. SO has one sister who lives in another state, no female friends and his mom lives over an hour away. At this point my hands are shaking. I go back to the kitchen which has another trashcan, open the lid and see an opened condom wrapper right on top of the trash can.
He calls basically right then and says he's around the corner and to ask if I was waiting outside. I made myself sound normal and said "Yeah, I'm outside." I start walking outside and am debating with myself whether I should bring it up right away or if I should wait and gather more evidence. Then I thought "F*** that I don't need anymore evidence. I'm confronting him now."
When I get to his car he says "Hi, babe" then the first thing he does is start stuttering about how the apartment manager moved out of the building (weird). I got straight to the point and asked if he's cheating on me. He denied it at first and tried to give me a look like "Why would you ask me that?" Then I told him the things I noticed in the apartment and he says "So what does that point to?" and I said "You're cheating on me." and he just says matter-of-factly "Yeah."
I almost fell out of the seat. I shrieked, it felt like I got punched in the chest, it was like I was in physical pain. And all I can remember is saying "Oh my God" over and over and my voice didn't even sound like it was coming from me. I was in so much shock that I couldn't even cry and his face was blank the whole time. He claimed that last night was the only time it happened (I don't believe that) and that it hasn't been going on for long, he would not tell me who the girl was he just said that I didn't know her and that she was "nobody", that he doesn't know what his problem is and that he just feels detached from everything. I didn't want him to see me completely break down so I got out of the car, drove off and immediately called one of my close friends. I spent basically the whole day at her house. I sent him a horrible text message.
Late that night he called and left me a voicemail apologizing and s***. I didn't respond, yesterday he texts me apologizing more and I ignored it. This morning, I couldn't help myself. I responded and just told him how this is effecting me. It's been a cycle of emotions, but right now I don't feel angry. I just feel sad. So f***ing sad.
Next month would have been our 3-year anniversary, I thought I had found my future husband, this is the LAST thing I would have expected from him. I've barely been able to sleep. I don't think I've ever been so heartbroken in my life.
And now that I look back, there were so many times I ignored my intuition in this situation and even in the weeks leading up to this situation...I guess I was blinded by my emotions. I wish I had paid attention but I guess even if I had, the outcome probably would not have been any different.