Real Life. “My Father Says My Husband Has Another Woman”: He Says It's Because I'm Not a Perfect Wife

Those words were like a knife in the back.

I was sitting in the kitchen, staring at my cup of tea. My father's words were still ringing in my ears, like an echo that wouldn't go away.

– „Ania, I don't want to hurt you, but Marek has another woman. It's plain to see. Maybe if you were a better wife, he wouldn't seek happiness elsewhere.”

Those words were like a knife in the back. How could he say that? Did he really believe that it was all my fault? My head was in chaos – on the one hand I wanted to deny it immediately, on the other I began to wonder if there really was anything to it.

Marek and I had been married for eight years. Our relationship was never perfect, but who can boast of a perfect marriage? There were times when we argued, when fatigue and daily duties took away our energy for romantic gestures. But I always believed that we were faithful to each other.

My father had a different opinion.

– „I saw him, Ania. I saw him with another woman. They were together in a café. They were laughing, looking at each other like they were in love. Don't try to convince me it was a random acquaintance.”

– „Dad, maybe it was a colleague from work. Marek said he's been having a lot of meetings lately.”

– „A colleague from work? Don't be naive, child. I saw him touch her hand. How he leaned towards her. Believe me, Marek is not what you think he is.”

I couldn't believe it. My father had always been skeptical of Marek. He said that my husband wasn't good enough for me, that he didn't care for me as he should. But this accusation was something completely new.

That evening, when Marek came home, I couldn't hold back my emotions. As soon as he entered the kitchen, I blurted out the question that had been burning inside me for hours.

„Marek, are you seeing someone else?”

He looked at me, surprised.

– „What? Where did that idea come from?”

– „My father saw you with some woman at the café. He said you were acting too close.”

There was silence for a moment. Marek sighed and sat down at the table.

– „Ania, that was Magda, my colleague from work. We were talking about the project. Nothing more. Do you really think I would cheat on you?”

– „I don't know, Marek. Tell me if there's something wrong in our marriage? Or am I doing something wrong?”

– „Don't say that. That's not the point. We're together and that's not going to change. But if you don't trust me, we need to work on that.”

His words sounded sincere, but deep down I knew something was wrong. My father could be wrong, but his accusation planted a seed of anxiety in me that began to grow.
For the next few weeks I tried to act normal, but inside I was torn.

Every late meeting with Mark, every glance at my phone reminded me of my father's words. Was I too gullible? Did I really not notice what was happening right under my nose?

One day, when Marek left for work early, my father called again.

– „Ania, you have to do something about this. You can't let him cheat on you. Talk to her, find out who this woman is.”

I didn't want to listen to him, but in the end I did something that scared me more than anything else – I started looking through Mark's phone. In his messages I found several conversations with Magda. At first they were formal, but then came the words that froze my blood: „I'm glad we can spend so much time together.”

When Marek got home, I showed him my phone. He looked at me, and I saw a mixture of shame and anger in his eyes.

– „Ania, it doesn't mean anything. Magda just admires me. Maybe I was too nice to her, but that doesn't mean there's anything between us.”

But for me, that wasn't enough. That night, I realized that even if there was no physical betrayal, there had been emotional betrayal. Mark had pulled away from me, and I began to doubt everything we had.

My father may have been right, but the price of his warning was high. My marriage was never the same. The seed of uncertainty he had planted grew into a wall between Mark and me – a wall that we were unable to tear down.

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