Betrayal - Samantha | Betrayal Weekly

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

A Google search leads Samantha to a truth she never saw coming. And once she starts digging, she can't stop.  If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal team by emailing us at [e-mail]. You can also find us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com.     If you are currently in crisis, please reach out to organizations that offer immediate support. We are including a few US-based resources here:    988 Lifeline. If you or someone you know is in crisis or need to talk to someone immediately, please call or text 988 – the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline available 24/7/365.   National Domestic Violence Hotline. They offer 24/7 phone and chat support to help you create a personalized safety plan and connect you with local support.   For resources on sexual violence, visit rainn.org/betrayal. You can also get free, confidential, 24/7 support through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Text HOPE to 64673 or call 1-800-656-HOPE.   Every state has a domestic violence coalition. If you’re looking for help in the US, search the web for your state’s domestic violence coalition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, everyone. We have some exciting news to share. ABC News Studios has turned Caroline Berega's story from Betrayal Season 4 into a docu series. You'll get to meet the people involved. You'll hear from people who have never spoken before, and you get to see where this story took place. We are so proud and excited to share it with you all. You can stream Betrayal Dirty Secrets on Hulu and Hulu for Disney Plus starting on August 4th. It was like not being able to look away from a car accident. I couldn't look away.

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a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Samantha Gray is a professor of psychology. Over the years, she's taught a variety of classes. I was teaching couples in family therapy. I taught adolescent development. I taught an undergrad class called Psychology and Technology. She got her start in the academic world exploring how tech shapes are personal identity. and how we relate to each other.

Samantha has always loved technology. When she was growing up in the 80s, her favorite toy was a wizkid. It was literally a laptop. It had a little handle, so I would carry it like it was a little briefcase. That kind of went along with my vibe. Her vibe,

which Samantha describes as... Opinionated, inquisitive, and bookish. Whenever she was around her more rowdy cousins, I was just kind of like patting my pearls like, oh my. I'm like, they're going to play in the dirt? Like, oh, no. I had my little purse, and I was right at the adults table. Samantha wanted to be the first in her family to go to college.

I'd read the newspaper with my dad, and we'd watch the nightly news together. Samantha's dad was in the military. Growing up, they moved a lot. I was born in Chicago, but then we moved to. to Texas and then Georgia, and then we moved to Germany, and then California. Finally, her family settled down in Indianapolis, Indiana. In high school, Samantha floated between a few social groups. I wasn't in the super nerdy group.

I wasn't in the cool kids group. I was right there in the middle. I was the editor for my high school newspaper. She wasn't really into high school sports, unless she was writing about a game. for the school paper. We got passes to go to the football games and report from the sidelines. I was like, VIP coming through. My access to the cool kids was having to interview players.

One of those cool kids was a guy we're going to call Michael. Michael was popular. He was a football player. He was tall and big. Everyone called him Big Michael. Michael had moved. out of his parents' house and lived on his own. He already seemed like an adult, and Samantha admired that.

He was already kind of grown, and maybe that helped him be the cool guy because he had his stuff together. They both stayed in Indianapolis for college, but they weren't in touch. A few years into college, a guy Samantha was talking to invited her to a house party at his place. He lived with a roommate. When Samantha got to the party, her date went off to smoke with his friends, leaving Samantha alone. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink. I felt uncomfortable. Samantha wandered through the party, feeling out of place. Then she walked past the door to the garage.

She immediately recognized Michael. It turned out he was her date's roommate. He had converted the garage to a game room. He had speakers hooked up in there. Michael and some of his friends were hanging out on a couch in the garage playing video games. So I was like, okay, like video games. There's a targeted activity with these people in this room. Samantha made her way over to the couch. Michael saw her approaching and immediately made room for her to sit next to him.

He handed her a controller and showed her how to play. He's very charismatic, very gregarious, charming. I remember having a great time. They took turns playing a golf video game and laughed at each other's mistakes. Hanging out with Michael, Samantha finally felt relaxed at the party. After a while, Samantha got up to head back into the main house. You had to go down a step to get to the loom. I was coming out of the garage, and I fell off that step.

I hyper-extended my knee, and the whole party got quiet. Everyone stopped and stared at her. She was so embarrassed. I was in searing pain. I was like, let me just go home and get out of here. Everything will be fine. I went to stand up, and I couldn't bear weight on it. She couldn't get up.

She looked around the room waiting for someone to help her. She spotted her date, but he just seemed embarrassed on her behalf. But then she found hands lifting her up. It was Michael. Michael went into straight action. He came over. He's like, can you stand on it? We tried that. I couldn't. When it became clear that she couldn't stand on her own, Michael didn't hesitate. He literally scooped me into his arms in front of my date, takes me outside, carrying me, puts me into his car, buckle. me in, drove me to the hospital. Samantha was awestruck.

Michael was taking care of her like it was the most natural thing in the world. I thought highly of him and was grateful because my date, I don't think, had a car or a driver's license. He literally swept me off my feet. The next day, she got a text from Michael. He had gotten her number from someone at the party so he could check in on her. He asked her how her knee was doing. After that, it was like we'd never stop talking. She learned more about his life.

Even though they were young, Michael was already a dad. He had two daughters with his ex-girlfriend. He was balancing parenting with going to college. This didn't scare Samantha away. Michael was responsible and seemed like a great dad. It just felt like we had so much to talk about. Their conversations became more and more flirty. Michael invited her back to his house to play video games.

This time, it was just the two of them. We had our first kiss at his house in that garage, pretending to play video games. After that, they started going on dates. In a lot of ways, Michael and Samantha were pretty different. But the more they hung out, the more they found things they had in common. We were two kids coming from families that we were the first generation to go to college. He was innately intelligent.

He was quick-witted, for sure. And so I think we kind of connected over both wanting an academic life, like to go to college and to talk about the classes that we were in. Whenever she was with Michael, life felt brighter and more fun. I was definitely. head over heels. Michael could do no wrong in my eyes. He was so kind to me.

He was hilarious. Six months later, they made their relationship official. When people from their high school saw them out together, they were confused. Michael was super social in high school. Everyone remembered him. But Samantha had flown under the radar. I'd be standing right next to him, and they'd be like, Michael, what's up, Big Mike?

They would not acknowledge me and I'd realize they didn't know that we were together. And so then when he would bring me into the conversation, they were like, oh, hey, how do you know Mike? Did you go to our high school? And I was kind of like, yep. People seemed to think they were an odd couple, but neither of them cared about what other people thought. We would drive up from Indianapolis to Lake Michigan. There was this gorgeous pier, and we'd go out on the pier, and we would pack like a picnic. This was more than just a summer fling.

They continued dating throughout college. As the seasons changed, their relationship stayed steady and grew stronger. A lot of things weren't very traditional. I didn't really cook and clean. He did the cooking. Another untraditional thing they did is that while they were both in college, they decided to get married at the courthouse. One, because they were in love.

And two, because being married would help Samantha qualify for financial aid on her tuition. The arrangement worked for both of them. Samantha and Michael made just enough money to scrape by. We were really struggling. We only get gas at a gas station called Speedway. And we'd save up our points. There were times where that was dinner,

like hot dogs, not just. shows, whatever. In her senior year, Samantha started applying to PhD programs. And I got into a PhD program straight out of undergrad. The program was in Tennessee. It would be a big change. But this was more than just an academic opportunity. There was a lot at stake.

When I got into a PhD program, it was this amazing opportunity to really change our lives. So Samantha and Michael decided to move to Tennessee, for a few years. Michael's daughter stayed in Indiana with their mom. It was a big sacrifice for him to be away from his kids. But they knew they were building a better life for all of them. Starting over was challenging. Grad school was tough.

It was very obvious that my peers had backgrounds that were different than mine. They would talk about their vacation backpacking through Europe or whatever. We qualified and were, on food stamps. Even though their lifestyle wasn't glamorous, they were happy. He was so fun. He was this bigger than life character. Like he wanted to grab life and live it.

And so even though we didn't have a lot of money, we were also in a new part of the country. We were in eastern Tennessee, which butts up to the Smoky Mountains. We would pack a picnic and go to the Smoky Mountains. Michael always reminded Samantha that life wasn't supposed to be one long sprint. They had to take time to slow down and enjoy where they were. Sitting by his side, the smoky mountains wrapping around them, she remembered how far they had come.

Here we are with this fresh mountain air. And like, here you are on a PhD program. Things are looking up. We're still poor, but gosh darn it, like, we're just on the cusp of things being good. Samantha and Michael dreamed of having a child one day. Michael was already supporting his two daughters back in Indiana, and they just didn't have the money to afford to raise a child of their own. I knew we did not have money, but I did want to have a kid.

I still wanted to dream about it, and we did. He was also a big dreamer. So in between late night classes and long shifts at work, They allowed themselves to dream. I remember us sitting at the computer in the hallway at our house. I opened a Microsoft Word document and we created this list of baby names. If I had a girl, I always wanted one of these gender neutral names, names that were like Andy or Peyton. There was one baby name that was at the top of Samantha's list.

We're going to use a pseudonym that shares the same unique style Samantha loves. Allington. She didn't know any other kids with that name. Michael loved it too. At this point in her life, having a kid was still far away. But she hoped that dream might one day be within reach. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello.

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Cheers. Open the free IHR radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. Hi listeners. I'm Annesonfield, the host of the Girlfriend Spotlight podcast. And I'm excited to share these incredible stories with you. I wanted to let you know that you can now get access to all episodes of The Girlfriend Spotlight, as well as seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of The Girlfriends, 100% ad-free

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Hi, I'm Nancy Glass, host of The Burden of Guilt Podcasts, I'm excited to share this latest story with you. It's incredible. And I want to let you know that you can get access to all episodes of season one and every single episode of Burden of Guilt Season 2, 100% ad-free, with an I-Heart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to all episodes of Burden of Guilt Season 3

one week ahead of everyone else, available only to IHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts. Search for IHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today. Even though they didn't have a lot of money, Samantha and Michael were happy. They were in love. And they had big plans for their future. After years of hard work, Samantha got her Ph.D. in psychology.

She got an internship and then a postdoctoral fellowship, and not just any fellowship. I got to do my postdoc with Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. That is a Harvard Med Fellowship. Walking across campus was a real pinch-me moment for Samantha. Here I am with a school ID for Harvard, and I'm going to Harvard Libraries. I'm on Harvard campus. For someone from my background, never would I have thought that I would have had any opportunity like that.

They moved to a town 30 minutes outside of Boston. It was the start of a new chapter. Michael had a steady job, and Samantha was chasing her dreams. In their free time, they explored their new city together. We were enjoying being on an ocean. Like, we are Midwesterners. We got an apartment that was walking distance to the beach. It was grand.

We started to eat better. It was like we had just enough money to enjoy a few of the finer things. Gas station hot dogs were replaced by fancier options. Lobster rolls on the beach. Yeah, it was just, it was so cool. But that winter in Boston was bitter. It was like the snowpocalypse. And even Bostonians were telling me, they're like, no, Samantha.

Like, this is not normal. We cannot believe that this is your one year in Boston. Michael was working a retail job with Verizon. When the temperatures dropped below zero, he still had to go into work. Then one day, he got sick. He caught pneumonia and was hospitalized. In the hospital, while they were treating Michael's pneumonia, the doctors noticed something even more alarming.

Michael had heart failure. And they were like, how has no one told you that you have heart failure before, because this is pretty advanced. There's no way. No one told you that you had major heart issues. And he was like, oh, someone may have said something, but it didn't seem this serious. Michael hadn't told Samantha anything about this. Even now, he was downplaying it.

But the doctors were clear. He needed to start treatment immediately. After he caught pneumonia, Michael never fully recovered. It was a stark difference to go from walking around and enjoying the fall to pretty quickly having a significant disability. His heart couldn't keep up so he'd run out of breath. Michael was forced to slow down. He'd kept his heart issues under wraps for years. But now, they were impossible to ignore.

He just became more sick and that was the first time that I, realized that his health would become a big part of our lives. After a year in Boston, Samantha's postdoc fellowship ended. She and Michael moved home to Indianapolis. I was able to secure a tenure-track job with the University of Indianapolis. It was a dream job. She'd get to teach classes in psychology and technology. She would even run her own lab.

My lab was about social technology and communication. But Michael's doctors were worried about the move. They were like, when you get out of our care, you absolutely need to take this seriously when you get to Indiana. Like you have to immediately connect with a team of doctors. When they got settled back in Indiana, Michael's health got worse. He was living with advanced heart failure. It was a scary diagnosis.

I think he was trying to put on a strong face for everyone else. behind the curtain, he definitely couldn't hide it from me. Soon, even basic tasks, like getting around the house, became challenging for Michael. There were times I had to help him to the bathroom. The fluid on his legs was so great that sometimes he couldn't stand. I was like 5'2, and he was over 300 pounds. I ended up hurting my own back trying to help him. It was very difficult to be a caregiver.

It was a stressful time. Samantha had started working long hours as a professor. In her time off, she was caring for Michael. It almost made my love for him grow because I was worried about his health and him not being around. It became clear that Michael was going to need a heart transplant. But planning for that procedure was a long and complicated process. They needed a more. more immediate treatment to keep him stable.

So Michael's doctors started him on a medication that flowed through a 24-hour IV. He wore a backpack and we hid the pump in his little backpack. It was to keep him comfortable. But it was so terrifying. Like you had to keep the batteries loaded so that this medicine would continuously flow. If it stopped, he could have died. It was terrifying. And their dreams for the future were.

put on pause. We were still relatively young. Going to the cardiologist every two weeks wasn't on our to-do list before. It was a mess trying to take care of his physical health and trying to get tenure. It was extremely stressful. Michael's doctors advised him not to work. Samantha was making enough money to cover their bills, and any strenuous physical effort was too much of a risk for his heart. But Michael did not take this advice well. He was not someone who enjoyed being told no or having things taken away. He's always been a competitive person. He was an athlete in his younger years.

He's always considered himself healthy and able-bodied. Against the advice of his doctors, he kept working. I was telling him, like, Michael, sit down. I can pay the bills. All you need to do is focus on. your health. I was agreeing with the doctors. I saw his condition. The evidence was very clear cut. And I was like, what if your medicine runs out? What if you have a stroke or something happens? Michael insisted that he felt fine. He was on a lot of prednisone, which I called the duct tape of

medicine. Just a general steroid that makes you feel great. That's how sick he was. But he didn't understand. They're trying to keep me comfortable. He only understood, I feel great. No matter what she said, Samantha could not get Michael to stop working. He said they needed the money. I couldn't understand why he was so money hungry. Michael's health made other aspects of their relationship more challenging. There was a difference in our level of physical intimacy that came along with some the woes of being a heart failure patient. Things were hard.

They were stressed about money, work, intimacy, and the future. Everything we were going through felt like the pamphlets you would read in the lobby at the cardiologist office for families going through heart transplant. It felt like financial stress, relationship stress, intimacy issues. All the while, Michael kept coming to her with ways to make more money. One day, he told her he'd found a lucrative business model, a trucking company. Bread box-box-type trucks that just delivered clients for big box stores, like Lowe's Home Depot, stuff like that. He'd always wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Samantha already knew she couldn't stop Michael from working. So if he'd found something he was excited about, she wouldn't stand in his way. In this weird time where I felt like he was losing. himself a little bit, losing his identity. I did want him to be happy and I wanted to support him. I was like, okay, I'll get on board because he's going to do it anyway. Michael enrolled in a training program to learn about the trucking industry. The trainings were extensive and took place in North Carolina. They would be anywhere from three days to a week. So he'd get a hotel and do the training and then come back. Whenever he was gone, Samantha worried about him.

But at the time, she was working a lot too. I was working as a tenure track professor, and it is so much work. Teaching a class for the first time and having to prepare the materials. I was at the office until one, two in the morning. With all the travel and hotels, attending these trainings became expensive. But Michael found a solution. He had a friend in the program who would let him stay at his house. I was like, that's very good.

kind of them? Are you sure? Michael assured her that it was totally fine and that his friend was happy to host him. A few days later, he left again for North Carolina. One day, he sent me a text message to tell me that he was going to church. And I was like, oh my goodness, you went to church. We haven't gone to church in a long time, but we both come from families that faith is really important. Michael texted her through. the church service, telling her about the amazing singer he was watching. She happened to be performing one of his mom's favorite songs. His mom passed away when I was in grad school, and he was emotional because he was hearing

his mother's favorite songs. I'm like, oh my gosh, that does sound amazing. I'm so glad you got to go. Samantha was touched by this update from Michael. And he was so excited. He told me the name of the artist who was singing. He's like, oh, she sings so great. You've got to hear her sing this song.

So I'm thinking, okay, I'll look it up later. When she had a free moment a few hours later, she decided to look up the singer Michael was raving about. I just Googled the artist's name and the date, and it came right up, except the artist singing that day wasn't in North Carolina. The artist singing that day was in a church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Samantha stared at her screen. I immediately knew he was lying. I just didn't know why. She pulled up the church's Facebook page. It was a big enough church that they were recording their services. And by the time I got on the Facebook page, those services had already been uploaded to the website. She clicked on the recording of that morning,

service. This church records their services from the back of the church. So the entire congregation was visible. It was like the back of everyone's heads. Scanning the crowd, her eyes landed on Michael. My heart sank when I saw him. He's big and tall. And he's in yellow. Right smack dab in the middle of the spring. And then my heart sank again when I saw her. Bekar, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, wolf parades, I'll Believe in Anything, and tattoos all the things she said. And how they all became a part

of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, listeners. I'm Annesinfeld, the host of the Girlfriend Spotlight podcast, and I'm excited to share these incredible stories with you. I wanted to let you know

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available only to True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait, head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today. Hi, listeners, I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the Betrayal Weekly podcast, and I'm excited to share this riveting story with you. I'm also excited to tell you, that you can now stream every episode of Betrayal Season's 1 through 5,

as well as Betrayal Weekly, seasons 1 and 2, completely add-free. Plus, get exclusive one-week-early access to all Betrayal Weekly season 3 episodes with an I-Hard True Crime Plus subscription, available only on Apple Podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like creating a con, the story of BitCon, Paper Ghosts, Piked in Massacre, Murder Home, unrestorable, the godmother, the girlfriends, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for IHard True Crime Plus, and subscribe today.

Hi, I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt podcast. I'm excited to share this latest story with you. It's incredible. And I want to let you know that you can get access to all episodes of season one and every single episode of Burden of Guilt season two, 100% ad-free. with an I-Heart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

Plus, you'll get access to all episodes of Burden of Guilt Season 3 one week ahead of everyone else, available only to IHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts. Search for IHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today. While Michael was on a work trip,

he texted his wife Samantha to tell her he was attending an incredible church service. But when Samantha looked up the church, her reality began to crack. Michael was lying about the state he was in. He said he was in North Carolina. But this church was in Tennessee. And when she watched the recording of the service, she saw him in the pews with another woman. My heart sank when I saw him. and then it sank again when I saw her.

The camera angle gave Samantha a clear view of them. She could see that they were holding hands. I glanced around the congregation. I'm like, wait, is this one of those times where everyone's supposed to be holding hands? Like, why are we holding hands? Like, is this, you know, we're going to do a group prayer? Like, what's going on?

And it was quickly just the next second. I realized, nope, no one else is holding hands. hints. They are clearly together, coupled. There was a time on the footage that they kissed. And I don't know if my heart could possibly sink one more stage, but he was with a family. Sitting next to Michael was a young boy, and next to him, an older woman. He has a whole other family in this pew. They were all clearly together. Samantha watched in horror. There are times where I can see him texting, and I realized he's texting me.

Michael clearly had no idea the church service was being recorded, or that by telling her the singer's name, he had told on himself. He was that confident and that comfortable and not concerned at all. he's like, I can just lie in this woman's face. She'll never know. But now, Samantha knew. After I found out what he was doing, and I saw the video, I went on a quiet rampage. Samantha and Michael had been married for over 10 years.

She knew all of his passwords. She'd never had any reason to snoop. Until now. I went home that night, and I started opening all the mail. I could find, opened up old computers, I powered up all his old cell phones. She held her breath afraid she would find more evidence of this affair. But as soon as she powered on his old devices, she was met with a tidal wave of information.

So many emails and texts from multiple women she'd never met. This wasn't an isolated affair. This was his way of life. she began going through his text messages. In some cases, Michael was paying women for sex. Transactional type relationships. Others were serious emotional connections. Some of these people, they had long-term relationships.

They had anniversary text messages. There was one woman who, I think it was like seven years. Samantha went further and further back in his text, emails. Michael had been cheating on her for almost their entire marriage. When she counted up all the evidence she could find, she had proof of at least 15 different affairs. This is years and years and years of affairs that I have found. So many women. So many lies. And these are people who know he's married, right? Some women who would talk about me to see your husband having a sexual communication with someone. And then that person says, you better save some of that for your wife.

You guys are trying to have a baby. That sentence stopped Samantha in her tracks. She had been trying to get pregnant for a while, but it had been a difficult road. Seeing someone joke about it made her sick. She kept reading, and she noticed something. His tone was different with different women. One of the women he was having an affair with worked at a prestigious hospital. With her, he texted in full sentences and made grand gestures. He had a beautiful set of flowers delivered to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. With other women, he was way more casual. The language he'd used their abbreviations. Oh, the slang he would use.

It almost looked like a teenager texting. I was like, my goodness, how does he manage these? He was like a little social chameleon. The messages were painful to read, but she couldn't stop. It's like not being able to look away from a car accident. I couldn't look away. I couldn't put it down. It was dizzying, disorienting.

The rug had been pulled from underneath me. She felt like she needed. to get to the bottom of everything. Next, she started going through his finances. Almost everything I opened had some sort of damning piece of evidence on it. It was a credit card in my name. Another credit card in my name. This one has a dinner date on it.

This one has a concert in Pennsylvania on it. It was becoming clear that Michael's work trips were not what they seemed. He'd been traveling to meet women. and racking up debt in Samantha's name while he was there. Samantha was stunned. She had always trusted Michael to handle their bills. But that's a bad thing when your partner's cheating on you because then you don't look at the bills

and you don't look at what's right in front of your face. Suddenly, Michael's desire to keep working and keep making money even when he was so sick started to make sense. It is very expensive to cheat. She sat on her bed, bills at old cell phones piling up around her. It was hard to say like, okay, this is the point that I should stop looking and go to sleep. I've got two more phones here that I haven't even powered up yet. I've got more emails to look through.

When do I put this aside or say like, okay, now I have enough. In the span of a few hours, everything she thought she knew about her husband had been turned on its head. So if Michael wasn't who she thought, who was he? I was getting to know this person that I didn't know, and I wanted to know him. Michael was still in Knoxville. Samantha kept texting him like everything was normal. I didn't want him to know what I knew. I wanted to be stealthy.

Before she made any decisions, she wanted all the information. She spent a few days reading everything, all the emails and all the texts. Catching up on the plot of the lives, she had no idea her husband was living. I would go to sleep with a phone in my hand. My laptop was on my bed. It was almost like reading a novel, but this was my real life. Finally, she had read all she could read, but still, it didn't feel real. In that moment, I was still lost.

I kind of wanted an identity confirmation. This is reality. Like, I want to see his physical body, not through a screen. I wanted it to be tangible. So she decided it was time to take a trip. Michael had taken her car, so she booked a rental. And I drove to Knoxville. I had no idea if I was going to confront him.

I had four and a half, five hours to figure, that out driving. When she got to Knoxville, she checked into a hotel. Next, she needed a disguise. I put on a wig, a hat, and sunglasses because I was on this secretive mission. She set out to find Michael, and it was surprisingly simple. Some of the details he told her were true. He really was working for a trucking company.

When she drove to the company's address, she found him parked there. From there, I started trailing him. Samantha followed Michael as he drove through the neighborhoods of Knoxville. I was so worried that he would notice that he was being trailed. But he didn't. He drove through Knoxville like he had nothing to hide. He picked up the woman Samantha had seen in the church video. And together, they drove to a dog park.

I'm like, how long have they been together? They have a dog together? Are you kidding me? Samantha parked up on a hill overlooking the dog park. I was looking at him. I could see him cheating. They were holding hands, walking the dog. She took out her phone and started recording.

I have video footage of them walking around this park, holding hands, kissing. To me, it was like, if there's an open and shut case, this is it. Michael was strolling through the dog park, holding another woman's hand, like everything about that way. was normal. Like this was his only universe, his only life. And I started recording myself talking through everything that I had been through, how I had gotten there. I don't know why did it. Maybe as the psychologist in me, it was almost like a trauma narrative. It's like talking to a friend through a difficult problem. So I'm sitting here narrating everything. It kept me calm. After the dog park, they went to a pancake house. Samantha followed them there. Then they went to

the grocery store. After that, she gave up on following them. She had seen all she needed to. She sat in her parked car, staring straight ahead. This is a normal life, and that almost made it more confusing to me because I'm like, there's nothing sexy about this. This isn't the classic sort of popular media representation of an affair, where it's like, okay, I'm going to check into the hotel, flip you my room card, and I'll be ready for you, type of affair, or looking into each other's eyes, talking about our feelings, and there's like a candlelit dinner. That's not how I found my husband.

I found my husband picking up poop after a dog at a park. This isn't fun. You're just having a boring life with another family. This is a painful affair. When she woke up in her hotel room the next day, Michael texted her good morning as he always did. He never stopped texting me. Here's my husband. He'd still send me good morning text messages.

She still hadn't told Michael that she knew. About the 15 women, the years of lies, his double life, she didn't tell him anything. It was his turn to be left in the dark. It was a beautiful day in Knoxville. And Samantha was going to church. One church in particular. She heard there was a great singer there. Brought my Bible, brought my Sunday clothes, right?

I had a big hat on. This is church in the South. He didn't want me to know what he's doing. Now he doesn't get to know what I'm doing. I think that was a big part of why I stayed a way to regain some kind of control or some kind of power. She prepared to confront Michael if he was there that Sunday. But he wasn't.

After she left church, she took herself on a little, drive around Knoxville. I did a tour of my husband's cheating by the stuff that I had found. I drove around to the places that I saw on my credit card receipt. I didn't go inside the E, but I drove and I'm like, yep, there's that restaurant. When she'd seen enough, she went home to Indianapolis. Michael texted her and said that he needed to extend his work trip for a few more days. She replied, she wanted her car back.

He's like, well, you know, I'm down here doing the work thing. I said, I don't care. I want my car back. That was the only inkling I gave him that I was upset about something. And he was upset because he couldn't figure out, like, why is this a big deal? Michael made the drive back to Indianapolis to return her car. But Samantha wasn't ready to face him. He still didn't know that I knew anything.

I wasn't ready yet. I was so afraid of interacting with him because we've been married. for so long, and I'm like, if he sees me, he's going to know. So she got a hotel room for the night and told Michael she was staying at her dad's place. He went to their house and dropped off her car. Then he went back to Knoxville. She was keeping a close eye on her finances now. And to her horror, she saw that he tried to take out another credit card in her name.

I was like, okay, well, I need to hurry up because I don't want him doing any more damage. She decided to go to the police to file an identity claim against Michael. But the fact that they were married made things complicated. The police were like, just divorced this guy. That's all you should do. While Michael was still in Knoxville, Samantha decided to move out of their house. The university she worked for had housing available for her to move into. So I packed up everything.

It was a quick pack, didn't sort anything. I moved under like the cover of my house. basically. She told the people closest to her, including Michael's family, that she was planning to file for divorce. And that's how he found out that I knew. He found out that I was divorcing him from his own family. But Michael didn't know what exactly Samantha knew. He just knew that all of a sudden she wanted to end their marriage. He called her trying to figure out what was going on. Samantha told him she knew about the woman in Tennessee. I was like, are you kidding me?

We were trying to have a kid and you're down here cheating. Michael denied everything. He never really admitted to anything. He's like, I'm down here for our family. I'm down here for you. I know things are bad now, but I'm almost done with the worst thing. It didn't even sound like we were talking about cheating.

his narrative was like, well, whatever you found, the truth is that I still love you and I'm down here trying to strengthen our family and that as soon as I get back and I don't have to come down here for work anymore, we'll get back right how things used to be. Michael couldn't even admit to this one affair, let alone the 14 others. Samantha knew it was pointless to argue further. Their marriage was over. I have no desire to do any kind of reconnection. I have no desire to do any kind of work to try to salvage a relationship.

I don't even want to waste my breath. When Michael finally came back to Indianapolis, he went to their house, expecting Samantha to be there. He put his key in the door. And because I had moved houses, his key didn't work. He called Samantha in a panic. He was like, all my stuff and I was like, well, who you got caught cheating with is who you can stay with.

After that, Samantha filed for divorce. Michael was faced with a sobering realization. Samantha was walking away. Now he was the one left desperate for answers. Michael started showing up at Samantha's job. And he was leaving notes on my car. And I contacted him and I said, I'm officially putting you on note. that I do not want you coming to my job.

Do not leave notes on my car. If you have any correspondence, do it through my attorney. And I remember he was just like, why are you being so cold? Samantha began setting up an independent life for herself. Not only did Michael's betrayal take an emotional toll,

there was a huge financial toll too. The credit cards he took out in her name severely impacted her credit. I started protecting myself, locking my credit report, getting my own health insurance. I was taking my life back, taking my control back, and still in pain, but still putting one foot in front of the other.

I'm just like, okay, finally, it's going to be some time, but maybe I can breathe because I've just been through the wringer. One day when she was at work. After I got my own health insurance, I was logging into my account. I was in therapy at the time, and I wanted to make sure that the insurance, was filing things correctly and whatnot. When she logged into her health insurance portal,

she noticed a new claim had been added to her account. I didn't know what it was for because I wasn't really going to the doctor. And especially for that month, it should have just been just my therapist on there. She clicked on the claim and started reading. It didn't dawn on me that the date of birth was on there, and it wasn't my date of birth. it didn't dawn on me that the city that the claim was in was Knoxville, Tennessee. It didn't dawn on me that it was a pediatrician that was the provider. And it didn't dawn on me that the last name of the patient was the last name of my husband.

The only thing Samantha saw was the name in the middle of the screen. Ellington. He had a baby with this woman, and he took the name that I was going to give my daughter, if I ever had a little girl. That was their baby name, the one they dreamed of together. This cut so deep, something in her snapped. I was crying, wailing, sobbing. I didn't think that he could take anything else for me, but I was wrong. That was the last thing. that he could do to me. And he did. A few weeks later, Michael called her.

She usually ignored his calls. But this time, she picked up. I was just screaming at the top of my lungs. I don't even think I was making sense. I lowered my tone and I said, did you have a baby with this woman? Michael played dumb. He was just,

like, what are you talking about? And I was like, I know already that you had a baby with this woman. Samantha held her breath waiting for Michael's response. But all he said was, I mean, so we're getting divorced, like whatever. His nonchalance was stunning. I was like, this is the one thing that you can't deny. Like, there is a life. There's a person that you have created. Surely that will be the one thing that you can see that I would fall apart over. I thought he was actually going to see how that would be painful. And yeah, he just, he did not. It took years for us to get divorced.

He refused to sign any of the papers. He would dodge phone calls, emails, subpoenas. I mean, it was a mess. But eventually their divorce was finally. Michael and Samantha stopped being in regular communication, but occasionally he or his family reached out with updates on his health. That was how she learned. Michael's health was declining rapidly. He needed a new heart. He was on the heart transplant list. He was approved and was waiting for a heart, but he was so ill that he could not go home. Michael was living in the hospital waiting

for an appropriate match. His family updated Samantha when he finally made it off the list. They told her he was going into surgery. He never woke up from that surgery. He died the next day. I began to weep. Despite everything, she went to Michael's funeral. I had the pictures that they could use.

I had the information for the obituary. I was the wife. I was grieving the husband that I thought I had. The person that I thought I was married to is who I was grieving. Samantha navigated complicated layers of grief. One of the hardest parts was grieving the opportunity to be a mother. She had to change her long-term plans. I did get tenure, so that was very exciting.

I bought my own car. I worked really hard to get my credit restored, and that took time. That damage went on for years. I recently bought a house. I was like, wow, yeah, I did that on my own. I think for me, it also marks having my life restored. She hasn't tried to erase Michael from her story. It's easier for me to conceptualize it as grief.

I lost one of the most meaningful relationships that I thought that I'd have for the rest of my life. I do not discount everything that happened in my marriage. I think I've learned that it's more like a both and instead of an either or. He did these things and I had times of joy and happiness in this marriage. There's no guide for situations like this one. I definitely just learned that I have far more room for like growth and expansion and self-care and self-love. Then I thought that I did. Wisdom, I think, that has come from the situation.

We end every weekly episode with the same question. Why do you want to share your story? I've always believed that there's power in narrative and power in processing, but I have learned that there's actually power in sharing outwardly. Shame is one of the most difficult emotions to work through. When it sinks in, it's so pervasive, it's in every deep, dark corner around our minds. And not hiding, it's the perfect way to work against shame. On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly.

I really started to see this pattern that she had been using for years. It was almost like this chess game. It was a checkmate. And she didn't really care that we figured. it out. We were just chess pieces to her. If you'd like to share your story on betrayal, please email Betrayalpod at gmail.com. That is Betrayal P-O-D at gmail.com. Please note that we are not a mental health organization.

If you are in crisis or currently experiencing domestic violence, we encourage you to seek local help or dial 911. Please contact organizations that offer immediate support. In our show notes, we've included a list of U.S.-based resources. You can follow us on Instagram at Betrayal Pod or find me at It's Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the betrayal community, join our substack at Betrayal.substack.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple

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Music Library provided by My Music. And for more podcasts from IHeart, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life.

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I'm Munga Chitigula, and I'm back with a new season of my podcast, Skyline Drive. This time I talked to scientists, biopunks, curmudgins, blues owners, super seniors, and Goa's top cryotherapy lab to try to understand this obsession with living forever and what it means for all of us. And I get into a bit of trouble along the way. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. To make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're seeking to try to understand the forensic science behind

these cases that we hear about in the news, Body bags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network, Iheart. Open your free IHeart app and search BodyBags with Joseph Scott Morgan and start listening. 150 years ago, they were hunting us down to kill us and now they're hunting down immigrants to deport them. This is First America.

the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.