The cruel revenge of the 'cuckolded' husband

I printed out 75 pages of text messages between my wife and her lover, called a lawyer to draft an agreement forcing my wife to leave the house and not give her custody of the children.

A few years ago, I thought I had a happy life: a well-off family, good health for both husband and wife, a fulfilling sex life, two well-behaved children, a 14-year-old daughter and a 9-month-old son.

My wife and I both work all day and don't have much time for each other. During that time, I saw my wife texting her "girlfriend" a lot. I didn't mind much, but I tried to come home from work earlier, help my wife with chores, and listen to and care for her.

One day, I accidentally saw some Facebook messages from my wife while charging the old Ipad that my little son was playing with. They were messages between her and a guy from the same hometown, whose name I abbreviated as JBC. These messages were not too bad but seemed disjointed and confusing (as if some messages had been deleted). I reminded myself to pay attention to this and try to fix what was not working between us.

The next day, I took the day off to surprise my wife, leaving a few sweet notes telling her how much I loved and appreciated her.

A short time later, when I looked at my iPad, I saw countless messages between my wife and that JBC guy. They mocked my flaws, secrets I only told my wife. They sent sex messages to each other.

Photo illustration: Paramount Pictures.

I couldn’t face my wife. I stayed in the office until she fell asleep and had a few drinks. The next day I took the day off, lay down and thought to myself and tried to figure out what to do next.

Over the next few weeks, I continued to monitor my wife’s messages closely. They openly had sex and the JBC guy even complimented my wife’s private parts.

I consulted a lawyer and made a decision. Through text messages, I discovered that JBC often came to the town where my family lived on weekends and met my wife at a nearby hotel.

One weekend, my wife said she wanted to go to the spa with her best friends to relax. I contacted a lawyer and drew up a separation agreement, stating that my wife would have to move out of the house, visit the kids only on weekends, and not stay with the kids while waiting for the divorce to be finalized. The next two weeks were the most painful of my life. After all, all the feelings I had for my wife were dead, the only thing left was boiling anger.

The day of reckoning arrived. I quit my job. I withdrew half of the money from our joint account, leaving half for my wife, and set up a new bank to transfer my salary. I closed my investment account and withdrew half in cash to my wife and the other half to my new account. Finally, I printed out a photo of my wife’s text messages, about 75 pages.

The next day, I was at the hotel and called my wife from the lobby. She lied again and said she was with her girlfriend. I went to the front desk and asked to be transferred to JBC's room. It rang three times before he picked up.

JBC: Who is it?

Me: JBC, can you tell my wife to come downstairs?

JBC: I don't understand what you're saying.

Me: Okay. I guess I'll have to call his wife and invite her over (I pretended to know everything but all I really knew was that he was married).

JBC: (Speechless, panicked).

Me: You have 5 minutes.

Less than two minutes later, my wife stepped out of the elevator looking confused. She sat next to me in the corner of the hotel lobby. She explained that things weren't as I thought.

Me: I didn’t come here to argue. Everything I need to know is in this pile of paper (the paper where I printed out my wife’s text messages with her lover). The only way I can avoid sending this to our daughter or your parents and emailing it to everyone is if you leave the house immediately. (My wife is a proud person. Our daughter is going through her teenage rebellion phase and she knows that if she finds out about this, she will never look at her mother again. My wife is also the darling of her parents and is afraid of embarrassing the family. I know her weaknesses and know that she will do anything to protect her reputation.)

Wife: Sniffling, scared.

Me: This is enough money for you to have a new place to live.

The wife began to cry and the turmoil of emotions was evident on her face.

Me: Here's the separation agreement. Please read it and sign it. Have fun with JBC. Don't come back home or I'll send these to everyone.

I left and knew she had collapsed. I got into the car and cried like a baby too. I tried not to cry or scream in front of my wife.

After that, she texted and called me constantly. I hung up. A few days later, I let her come over to move things and talk to the kids, like mom and dad need to be apart for a while but we still love the kids.

A week later, I agreed to talk to my wife. She apologized, fell to her knees, and cried into my lap, hoping for a chance to make things right. I had no intention of getting back together. I suggested that she go to marriage counseling, that I couldn’t live with her anymore, but that she should stay close to the kids and try to maintain a relationship with them.

So from then on she came over to cook and have dinner with the kids 3 times a week (always leaving some food for me), cleaned the house, did the laundry, then left.

A few months later, I myself went to therapy and was diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. I asked my employer for permission to work part-time to deal with personal issues and was immediately approved.

After 6 months of therapy, I told my wife that I couldn't forgive her right away and that I wanted an amicable divorce, but she said she still loved me and hoped that someday we would get back together.

Before the court could make a decision, I needed my children to agree to stay with me. I deliberately let my oldest child find out that her father had searched Google for information like "how to get over a cheating wife". My daughter came to her father and cried. I told her that she shouldn't know about this, that her mother had made a mistake but still loved her very much and that I would always be there for her.

It was no surprise when a few months later the court announced that both my children would be able to live with their father in the house where they grew up.

When the divorce was final, I got the house (which I bought with half of my wife's money), custody of the kids, and a pretty hefty child support payment from my wife since I only had income from a part-time job.

Now, two years later, I am living comfortably in that house. Every weekend, my ex-wife comes to pick up the kids and I have a good time online dating.

In my children’s eyes, I am a saint, always devoted to taking care of them and being there when they need me. In my ex-wife’s eyes, I am a desirable person and she is willing to give me sex whenever I want because she still hopes that one day we will get back together. But that will never happen.

According to VNE