When Grace*, 37, discovered that her husband Peter*, 37, had cheated on her several times, she chose to take him back. She tells SIOW YUEN CHING how she turned their relationship around.
I found out that Peter was having an affair with his colleague, Susan*, when her husband, John*, came knocking at our door after my husband had left for work. John said he’d hired a PI to follow his wife and that Susan was spending almost all her time with Peter. He also claimed his wife was in love with my husband.
“John said he’d asked Peter to stop seeing his wife and warned him that he’d tell me about their affair otherwise. But my husband didn’t keep his promise. I was devastated when John broke the news to me because I didn’t think my husband was capable of hurting me that way. Later that morning, I confronted Peter outside his offi ce. He denied he’d been unfaithful and assured me that Susan was just a friend. I believed him, but I told him he’d better clear up the misunderstanding between Susan and her husband.
“Six years into our marriage, Peter quit his engineering job to start his own business. He threw himself into networking and went out at least three nights a week. When I pointed out that his constant late nights would take a toll on his health, he insisted he needed to be out there making new business contacts. Before this, he rarely went out after work, preferring to stay home with me.
“Our marriage was more or less smooth, but on hindsight, I remember wondering about Peter’s fi delity on several occasions. The signs were all there – I just refused to acknowledge them. He began staying out later, and a couple of nights, he didn’t come home at all. When I walked into his study once, he hurriedly closed his laptop without shutting the machine down properly. Even though I was suspicious, I didn’t think to question him.
“On Valentine’s Day, I sent my husband a bouquet of flowers – to his offi ce. It was my way of telling Susan that my husband and I were still close. A few months after that, Susan resigned and Peter told me that they were no longer in contact. I was relieved.”
