“I said to my ex: ’I want you to put me first the way I put you first.’ My ex responded: ’I can’t imagine anything worse.’ There was no coming back from that.”

I'm a New York City-based Staff Writer who enjoys covering lifestyle, relationships, and women's content.

"Stunned, I got up from the table and walked to the fridge, not knowing where to go. As I stood there, I can actually remember thinking, 'Nope, not gonna stay.' Right then and there, I started making plans for my departure. That was 27 years ago. My son is healthy, I'm in a 23-year marriage, and he's dead. Life is good."

"She'd claim they were rehearsing, and it was easier to stay closer to the venues because it was about a two-hour drive. I don't believe in snooping through a partner's phone. I've always felt that if you need to do that, then you shouldn't be involved with that person, but something was off, and I could feel it like an itch that could not be satisfied. Eventually, the night came where her phone became like the 'Telltale Heart.' I was in bed, and I swore I could hear it vibrating. I couldn't take it anymore; I quietly took it and went to the living room. I opened the phone and saw a very strange wallpaper photo. It looked like two people kissing, but I wasn't sure. I opened the photo library and found the picture. She, not being tech savvy, did not realize that you could revert a photo to its original format, so I hit edit, revert, and there it was. The picture was zoomed in and cropped. It was her and the band leader kissing. I was devastated. I could feel my heart beat in my stomach. I started to breathe like I had just sprinted 100 yards. I was sitting on the couch in our living room, and all the pictures of us around me instantly began to make me feel like I was sitting in a funeral parlor. I paced around a bit and tried to figure out what to do. This had been going on for two months at this point. I went to the bedroom, opened the original photo, placed the phone down, and turned the lights on. She began to slowly wake up, and the first thing she went for was her phone. She saw the photo and had nothing to say. We tried to work on things for about a year, but the damage had already been done. I knew deep down when I opened that photo, things would never be the same and that it would essentially be the downfall of our marriage and relationship. Cheating is extremely difficult to recover from."

"The other was about a year later, when I had a minor but painful accident and asked to get some help from our families for a few days (I was physically struggling to pick up my child). He initially said it would be too much of an inconvenience. He came around after a few hours when his own family expressed concern, and he did apologize, but the damage was done."

"When I finally got him to go to marriage counseling, he put in zero effort and sounded like a robot. He lasted three sessions and then said it was time to end it. He never put in any effort in our marriage. I read books, journaled, confided in older married couples, and went to therapy. All he did was play video games and hide in his man room. I honestly felt so relieved when he said it was over. I wanted to get divorced for three years, but I refused to give up without fighting for us. We have been divorced for over a year, and I have never been happier. Best decision I’ve ever made!"

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