Before she accidentally caught her husband in therapy, Colleen thought she knew everything about him. Michael’s shocking statement revealed his deepest secrets, ending their 12-year marriage and leaving Colleen to put their broken family back together.
Hi, this is Colleen. What would you do if you found out something shocking about your partner? Something that made you doubt your marriage all the time? The same thing happened to me, and I would have never known until I got that fateful phone call…
My life used to look like a picture-perfect family book until not long ago. Michael and I have been married for 12 years and are very happy together.
Shawn and Milly are our two great kids. It looked like everything was fine.
We were happy about both small and big things, like Michael getting promoted at work and family game nights. Oh, I’ll never forget that night.
Michael surprised us by taking us to dinner. We had fun and laughed. I’ll never forget how his eyes lit up when he told us the news.
But that afternoon, everything changed.
It was just another day. While I talked to Michael on the phone, I did the laundry. He was about to start going to therapy.
Michael had been showing signs of stress lately. He was tired from all the business trips he had to take and the stress at work. He started seeing Dr. Hanks, a therapist, to help him deal with his worry.
A lot of normal things came up: his day, the kids, and ourselves.
I told him dinner would be his favorite turkey roast. We said goodbye in a friendly way when Michael told me the therapist had arrived. Leaving my phone on the table, I went back to folding clothes and thought about what the evening would bring.
After ten minutes, though, I called a friend about a dish. I then saw that Michael hadn’t hung up. I could hear everything he told his therapist.
At first, I wasn’t sure. It was wrong to listen in. Then I heard something that shivered through my body.
“Okay, Mr. Fox, let’s go back to our last conversation,” Dr. Hanks said in a clear voice. You said that your family isn’t the only one you have.
“Yes, Doctor Hanks,” Michael answered.
I FROSTED.
“Can you please elaborate, Michael?” I was just as confused as Dr. Hanks was when he asked.
Michael had a steady voice that didn’t show much expression.
“I have more family than just my wife Colleen and our two kids, Shawn and Milly.” My other two families depend on me. There is one in New York and one in California. I have a daughter with one woman and two kids with the other.”
My knees gave out. I fell to the ground with my phone still in my ear. My heart was beating so fast that I could hardly hear Michael.
“I tell Colleen I’m going on business trips, but I’m really just going to see them.” “This is something I’ve done for years,” he said.
I was having trouble breathing. The hot tears started to come out of nowhere. Everything we had, every moment, and every party was a lie.
I held the phone tight and stayed there, wanting to wake up from this nightmare but not being able to. Michael’s words were sharp, and each one hurt more than the last.
I could make out Dr. Hanks’ voice through my fog. “Michael, that’s several things to think about. What do you do to handle it?”
Michael let out a sigh. “Doctor, I don’t know.” I love all of them, but it’s too much. It seems like I’m living three lives at once. I consider telling the truth sometimes, but I can’t stand the thought of losing any of them.
I thought I was going to get sick. He says he loves us, but he’s lying to us? I had a lot of questions, but I couldn’t move or think straight.
I could only listen because every word broke my heart.
“I know it’s wrong,” Michael said next. I know I’m all lying to them. I don’t know how to stop, though. I’m not sure what to pick.
She spoke in a soft voice. “Michael, this needs to be talked about. Not just for your sake, but for everyone?” These kinds of secrets can do a lot of harm.
Michael’s answer was almost a whisper. “Yes, Doctor. I understand. I can’t do anything, though. “It’s too late now.”
My world broke into a million pieces, and I froze on the floor. What the heck is going on? How could the man I loved and who was the father of my kids be living THREE lives?
The tears wouldn’t stop, and my whole body hurt from crying. I had no idea what to do or where to go next. I only knew that things would never be the same in my life again.
I sat there with my hands on my chest and tears running down my face because Michael had betrayed me. It felt like every memory and moment was ruined. It hurt my heart, and I didn’t know how I could ever face him again.
As I held the phone to my ear, I could feel every word cutting deeper into my heart. “What made you cheat on your wife Colleen and have two secret families?” Dr. Hanks asked Michael after he admitted what he had done.
“Colleen, she… she’s my third wife,” Michael said in a shaking voice, and those words hit me like a bomb.
“Doctor, I feel very bad about what I did. But now it’s too late to tell the truth. I love Colleen and our kids very much. I had no plans to cheat on her. I had to make decisions in the past because of what was going on.
“What do you plan to do now?” To be polite, Dr. Hanks asked.
Michael let out a heavy sigh. “I’m scared to tell Colleen about my other families.” Kids from those homes are already in high school. I don’t know how to deal with her. I’m scared that I’ll lose her.
“Do you feel guilty, Michael?” It took a moment for Dr. Hanks to ask.
Then Michael suddenly broke down in tears after being quiet for a long time. “It’s too late to fix things, even if I want to.” For the rest of my life, I have to split my time between my three families.
“Do your other two families know about each other?” It was Dr. Hanks.
“No,” Michael replied straight out.
I was sick of hearing it. When I dropped the phone to end the call, my hand shook. I fell to the floor and started crying so hard that the room spun around me.
How could he? Why would he lie to us like this?
I heard the kids coming home from school right then. “Mom, we’re back!” Shawn spoke up.
I quickly wiped away my tears and splashed cold water on my face to make it look less puffy. For them, I had to get myself together. My mind was spinning as I walked into the kitchen and started to make the turkey roast.
I felt like a storm was coming, but I chose to stay calm. I had to give Michael one last chance to tell the truth.
He came home that night and pretended everything was fine. It was TV time for him and the kids when I called him over.
I told Michael straight out, “We need to talk.”
“What’s up, honey?” He looked confused as he asked. “Okay, wait a minute. “Coming!”
As Michael sat down across from me at the table, I took a deep breath. My heart was beating fast.
“I’ve wanted to tell you something for years, but I was afraid of getting our family killed. The guilt has been getting to me, so I chose to tell the truth,” I started.
Michael’s eyes got bigger. “What do you mean?”
“I cheated on you five years ago,” I forced myself to say. “I met this guy in Spain. He was beautiful, divorced, and on his own. I know it was a mistake. But I’ve had to deal with it for years.”
Michael jumped up and kicked the chair back.
“WHAT?” Colleen, how could you treat me this way? I believed in you! And you slept with someone else? YOU TURN ME OFF… You’re a CRAZY woman!”
His face turned red with anger. “You’re not loyal! “You make me SHAME.”
His words hurt a lot, but I kept my cool. As I got up from the chair, I crossed my arms and stared at her with astonished eyes. “Oh, darling, it’s strange that you’d start to suspect me over a story I made up,” I said.
Michael stopped moving. He looked confused and shocked. “C-cooked up?” What do you mean?”
“It was a fabricated tale to see if you would come clean about the two secret families you’ve been hiding from me all these years,” I said.
Michael’s face lost all of its color. He began to stuttered, “Col-Colleen, I… I can explain—”
I cut him off with a hand wave that meant no more. “Don’t do that, Michael. I heard everything. “You stabbed me right in the heart, and I trusted you.”
As he ran after me, his eyes begged, his shoulders sagged. “Colleen, please—”
“That’s it, Michael. Our family is broken because of you. I stepped back and called out to the kids. Shawn and Milly, get ready to leave. We’re going.”
Michael just stood there, sad, while I got our things together. The kids didn’t ask any questions because they could feel the stress. We left the house, leaving Michael alone with the pieces of the family he had so easily broken.
After a week, I sent him the forms for the divorce.
The processes have begun, and I have no regrets about leaving Michael. But the fact that he lied to me so much scares me every day. And I’m not sure if I could get over the wounds he’s made in my heart.
Every night when I put Shawn and Milly to bed, I think about how I’m going to fix our lives. One thing is for sure, though: I will never again let someone break our trust in that way.