Reddit Stories - Love's ETERNAL Embrace_ A PASSIONATE Journey of 6 Years CULMINATES in a Sacred Union_

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #love #eternal #passionate #journey #sacredunionSummary:Experience the emotional rollercoaster of a six-year journey culminating in a sacred union, filled with love and passion beyond measure. Dive into the complexities of relationships, challenges faced, and the ultimate bliss of finding eternal love.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, love, eternal, passionate, journey, sacredunion, relationshipadvice, emotionaljourney, marriage, true love, commitment, soulmates, enduringlove, romanticstory, reallovestory, emotionalrollercoasterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My spouse, aged 27, and I, aged 28, have been in a relationship for six years and tied to not one and a half years ago. I have a suspicion that she is being unfaithful to me. She does not seem willing to be open about it. To work on the relationship issues we've been struggling with, need advice, encouragement, and perspective. Sorry for the long post, I'm happy to answer any questions or provide further deep. as needed just ask. So things have been pretty rocky between my wife and I for several months, we had a rough 2020, didn't most of us. But I thought it was more due to the stress of my job,

than COVID-19, then she lost her job and my job started getting worse as I felt a stressful anxiety to perform even better as the only income earner at the time. Then she started a new job and we sort of drifted apart, early this year we had a talk about this where I expressed my sadness that we are so distant and haven't connected in a long time. We haven't been physically intimate in nearly all this time tier. In early April I commenced individual therapy and it has really helped me process my thoughts and feelings and I've been actively trying to share those with my wife

and be confident in being vulnerable and honest and genuine. She told me, however, that she feels like she is smothered and overwhelmed and need space which I've tried to respect and give to her through all of this, though, she's indicated that she does want to work on improving things with me and getting to a place where we can both be happy. So I've had hope that if I keep trying and putting an effort, things will move toward a better place. It hasn't, I don't know if anything I'm doing is helping or hurting, giving space, trying to be more supportive of her, not trying to be controlling or restrictive. She still seems so far away, I find myself holding back things if normally be excited to tell her about because she gives off a vibe that I annoy and distract.

and bother her. I brought this up to her and how I felt like she's not putting in much effort. From my point of view, and that I don't think there's a way to improve our relationship without actually spending time together talking about it and addressing it, she indicated that she had been trying and putting an effort for the past year and felt like I was the one who wasn't doing anything and now she's kind of burned out. I apologized and said I can't change what I did or did not do in the past, but I'm ready and willing in trying hard to fix things now, but I need her help too. She didn't have much to say to that, and because of the distance between us, I've started to notice how close she has gotten with a co-worker of hers. A single guy,

about my age, they see each other every day, go out to lunch almost every day, sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with others. My wife frequently stays late at work and, though not confirmed to me, I'm pretty sure he's always there too. They go out for drinks with co-workers and have a attended soccer games together, just the two of them, and then gone out to bars and I know they've gone over to his place till after midnight as well. This all makes me feel super uneasy and hurt. My wife doesn't do any of this with me, in fact it seems like a chore to her to have to spend time with me, but she willingly and gleefully seems to adore being around this guy, I'll call him Mark for ease of reference. This has been happening since like early March at least,

I didn't bring anything up then because. 1. She even mentioned to me that she didn't want to make me sad by hanging out with Mark, but that he's a good guy and had never tried anything. 2. Things were starting to get rocky between me and her and I wasn't confident enough to assert myself. 3. I didn't want to feel like the jealous boyfriend type and tell her she can't be friends with a guy. Well, as things have deteriorated between us and I've observed her talking to him and spending what seems like most of her time with him, it's been hurting me more and more.

I told her last week that they are making me uncomfortable, she asked well, what do you want me to do about it? And I felt very strongly that she should be the one to decide what she wants to do with the information I give to her about my feelings on her closeness with Mark, she never suggested anything. Just said that I can put my mind at ease about that and it kind of tapered off into her accusing me of not trusting her. I told her that I do trust her to Jot do anything physical with him, but that I do not trust Mark because I don't know him. She seemed taken aback by that. After I told my wife that I was uncomfortable with her and Mark being together so much in

their friendship or whatever it is, I felt very strongly that I shouldn't tell her what to do or anything. I didn't want her to feel controlled by me, but she also didn't propose anything to resolve this herself. The next few days I did notice she was at home more often and didn't go out for her usual drinks and happy hour with co-workers, which usually resulted in her spending extra time afterwards with Mark. I could tell she was sad and really down and I ended up telling her that I want her to be happy and do what makes her happy and I worry that she basically took that to mean that she

should continue doing whatever she's doing with Mark, regardless of my feelings. I've spoken with my therapist about my feelings on this and what I'm wary about and what is giving me pause and anxiety about my wife's friendship with her coworker. I told my therapist about how it makes me uncomfortable that my wife and Mark see each other all the time, that she chooses actively to spend more time with Mark than me, that she seems to constantly be texting him, that I've seen her sitting on the other couch near me. Texting him long threads or continually chatting when I am lucky when she sends me three texts during the day, that she has on several occasions gone out drinking with him and then

went over to his place and didn't get home until around 2 a.m. when he drove her home. That just last weekend she brought our dog over while she was. went out with some girlfriends and had Mark Dogg sit while I was out of town and didn't even tell me about that until after the fact that she seems to be happier when she comes back from hanging out with him or when she's talking him. That reminds me of how she seemed enacted when we were first dating and getting to know each other and that crushes me, I just have really weird gut feelings about the whole thing. From my perspective, Dash, which is the only one I have since she won't talk to me about this dash I feel like lines have been crossed that should not be in a

marriage, in fairness to her, maybe she doesn't think any boundaries have been broken or maybe she is towing the line and it's only a matter of time until stuff gets physical. I told my therapist that it hurt me when I explicitly told my wife last Sunday that her closeness with him is making me uncomfortable and uneasy she immediately responded with, well, we are just friends, so you can put your mind at ease about that, and then immediately shifted the conversation to, well, what do you want me to do about it? He's one of the few things that have brought me happiness and support lately which absolutely crushed me, it doesn't feel to me like they are just friends and I can't shake the weird

feeling, and it makes me feel so bad and guilty to feel like this, because I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and not assume the worst. But also I feel like my feelings are valid and deserve to be respected too. Anyway, after I told her that I want her to be happy and do what makes her happy. This past Saturday night she went to a co-worker's wedding with a big group. This has been planned for a while. It was a small wedding, and I didn't go. Mark was there. They all got super drunk together and then a DD brought her home at 1 a.m. and she was absolutely wasted and while I was helping get her into bed and making sure she'd be okay, she just kept repeating over and overhouse Mark. Is Mark okay? Did Mark get home? And I said I'm sure he's

fine, I don't have his number, you can find out tomorrow. Then she goes, I know his number, and started saying my number, that hurt, then she kept asking about how he was doing and if he was okay until she fell asleep. Now, a couple days out of that moment and still processing it, I feel even more like she's totally lost feelings and attraction for me and that she's not just friends with this guy but is more emotionally invested in him than she's willing to let on or maybe even admit to herself. It's really hurting me and I can't get it out of my head and my mind keeps wandering and assuming things and I really want to have a real honest conversation about this with her but I'm nervous that. One, it's going to come out as accusatory and interrogative

on my part and make her super defensive and dismissive from the get-go. And two, I get all hung up that I already shut the door on this issue and shouldn't rehash it with her because I already brought up that I'm uncomfortable with their dynamic and then a few days later told her I just want her to be happy and do what makes her happy. I'm constantly hurting, there's a pit in my stomach, I don't have an appetite, I'm not sleeping, I'm losing weight, I can't focus or concentrate, I worry all the time about if she's flirting with him or texting him sexual stuff or hugging him or if they cuddle when they're together all things she doesn't do with me. I get angry because he's a single dude who also actively chooses to spend all his time with a married woman what's in it for him.

and then I feel guilty about feeling all this stuff. Anyway, I'd love some advice, I just want this hurt to stop, I want her to be honest with me, if she's done with us, then tell me, if she would rather be with him, then tell me, if she's emotionally cheating, I want her to know that, own it, and understand how it's hurting me. How can I broach this subject with her? Should I? How can I get some, answers and definition about the dynamic between her and Mark,

not in an accustery slash interrogative way. Is she emotionally cheating on me? How should I confront this? My therapist didn't really have suggestions for me beyond, yes, you should have this conversation and you should firmly know going into what your boundaries for a married relationship, even one that's rocky, are in what is and is not okay for your partner to do. I've confided in several close friends and my sister about the details I shared here and

every single one of them thought it was fucked up, even for my wife to be doing in a marriage where everything was okay, that makes me feel a bit more validated. But I still don't know the best way to go about initiating this conversation and having it be an open and honest discussion where my thoughts and feelings can be heard and where she doesn't immediately feel defensive and defective. Please help, I welcome any and all advice, comments, thoughts, and please be blunt, feel free to DM as well. Update after post-re, emotional affair, wife still denying anything, expressing zero remorse or acknowledgement of my feelings. This goes against what many people here have said about me not engaging with her.

She could tell something was up with me and kept asking what was going on and what's bothering me. I finally broke and talked to her. I mentioned my specific concerns and told her that what's been happening is not okay and that it feels like lines and boundaries are being crossed. She seemed unfazed, she seemed offended that I would even think that something inappropriate was going on. she denied that they have been physical together. She said I've only been out till 2 a.m. with him twice, yeah, well that's too too many times for me, I said. She seemed to refuse to even attempt to see it from my point of view or an outside perspective.

It's telling to me that so many other people could recognize that maybe even texting a coworker so much and worrying about his well-being after the drinking was crossing a line, my wife seems to refuse to believe that she's crossing lines, she refused to acknowledge that maybe what she's doing is wrong or actually hurtful. He's like my best friend right now, yeah, well why can't I be that, I'm your husband, I know things are rocky and weird with us right now, but I'm trying to work on things and I can't help but feel there's stuff you're not telling me, all I want is for her to accept some, responsibility and remorse. She kept saying, what do you want me to do? She kept pointing out that they really haven't been together too much or stayed out late more than twice.

Uck it just feels like we got nowhere, when I spoke with her and told her how hurt and uncomfortable her behavior with Mark is making me, she seemed unfazed, her first reaction, rather than being sorry or concerned that I'm being hurt. was to say, well, what do you want me to do about it? I shouldn't have to walk her through this. She's a very intelligent person. She should be able to see that maybe there's even just a slight chance that what she's doing would look bad to anyone looking from the outside in. She's blinded by whatever she's feeling and doing. She kept deflecting. I told her it made me uncomfortable that she was out till 2 a.m. drunk with him, that it was weird. She said, well, that's only happened twice, she noted that they've only been to three soccer game dates together, that doesn't matter to me, the amount of times doesn't matter. What matters is that now she knows how it is

hurting me and that I told her I am not going to put up with it anymore, she should proceed accordingly, I told her that I want to be happy and I want to be with someone who makes me happy, I said I want her to be with someone she wants to be with also. And I don't want either of us to have to feel forced or like every day we have to try to conjure up feelings for the other person, she told me she loves me and wants to be with me, it felt hollow, I told her she seems completely emotionally invested in him and that there's no more room for me. I told her I feel like a roommate who sits around while she dates Mark, she kept saying we're just friends and I'm not even with him all that much, she denied any physical intimacy between them,

she said that other co-workers have asked her if anything is going on between her and Mark, I asked her what does is anything going on mean to her? She couldn't spell it out, I told her that I I find it incredibly hard to believe that mark a single guy my age has anything to gain from being just friends with a married woman. I told her that no matter how good of a guy she thinks he is, he has certainly had the thought crossed his mind of him. What if? She denied that they talk about their feelings for each other. I don't believe it. I told her that if he knows about our marriage issues, then it makes it even more suspicious that he continues to hang around. It's like he's just waiting for the off chance we do break up so he can have her with no strings. I can't shake the feeling that she's lying to me, something more has to be going on and she is trickle-truthing me, I feel gaslit, I feel crazy that I'm feeling so bothered and anxious by all this, I wish she'd show some effing remorse or own up to it. I told her how I sat on telling her my true feelings about this for so long because I was being too considerate of her feelings and neglecting my own but that I needed to protect myself going forward, I told her we need to tell each other the hard stuff that might hurt the other person and be ready to do so. I mentioned that I want to be open and honest and vulnerable with her and would expect the same from her, even if she thinks it'll hurt me or I can't handle it, I want her to tell me, I am not going to talk to her about this again, there's no point. She seems unwilling to accept that she's in the wrong here and very plainly hurting a person she claims to love, I know I'm being naive and stupid and will get tons of comments telling me similarly, but I am struggling so hard to get my head and heart around the idea of snooping into her phone, honestly, I've been curious.

But despite the heartbreak she's causing me, it's really hard for me to pull the trigger on that, and even if I did and even if I found something damning, I think I'd have an even more difficult time figuring out how to best confront her with that information. I feel so down on myself that I feel this way, that I feel so stuck. That I've let myself get to this position, I can't stop thinking where I screwed up along the way, what's wrong with me, what can I change, how can I change, why is this happening, I am so tired of all of this. Update number two, we talked, she confessed that she's in love with someone else. I told her it's over, hardest thing I've ever done. I told her I know about her

and Mark, I told her that I don't want to do this anymore and that I want her to be happy and do what makes her happy, but if that includes being with Mark, then I don't want to continue to be together. I told her we should go our separate ways. I told her I don't want to be in a marriage with a woman who isn't in love with me and isn't happy with me, she cried and cried and confessed that she and Mark do have feelings for each other, but she is adamant that it's progressed to nothing physical, I told her that regardless. I don't feel that we can continue how things are and that we should separate, I threw out the D word several times and she got super upset and emotional, saying that I'd already made up

my mind without her and wasn't even discussing it. I told her that she had made up her mind to pursue those feelings with Mark and did nothing to stop it back then, that put her on edge too she told me I was being mean and not understanding, I told her that I can understand her losing feelings for me and falling in love with someone else. But that I don't have to accept an EA and I wasn't going to put up with this anymore, then she started begging, crying, saying that it seems like a rash, drastic decision to divorce and that we should try just an actual separating first, I said, I don't know what that will do for us, you'll just go off with Mark, right, she didn't really answer.

She maintained that she doesn't want to jump straight to divorce. I maintain that I see no other option at this point. Even marriage counseling in my view wouldn't work, because of work obligations. I can't just leave, but I booked a flight to go stay with my family this weekend. I cannot describe the immense relief I felt when I told her we should proceed to get divorced. The other good feeling I had was basically realizing that she's made a choice, she's picking him, by not outright saying she'll cut things off completely with him, She's made a choice, I don't want to be with someone who won't choose me, edit.

For everyone concerned about the process of me moving forward with the divorce, one, our finances are already separated and we have very little marital property under the law. The biggest dispute will be over our dog, too. I am in a no-fault divorce state and the 60-day separation requirement before the divorce can be finalized is already met as we have been living under the same roof without sexual cohabitation for over 60 days. I don't foresee this being too procedurally or financially difficult, emotionally and mentally, for sure, update number three. Gave her the divorce papers, got a new job, trying to move on and start healing, but it's so hard,

I served the divorce papers earlier this week, it went better than expected, we didn't really fight, she didn't try to blame shift or gaslight me this time, in fact. She apologized for not being easy to deal with lately and for not handling the whole Mark thing very well, She said that she always felt like not crossing any lines or boundaries physically prevented it from being cheating. She didn't realize until I started talking more seriously about it to her that the emotional affair aspect of it all was very real and very devastating to me. It was good to hear that, doesn't change anything for me, but at least there was some ounce of acknowledgement from her. She told me she's sorry she did things that hurt me but that none of it was intentional. I still don't believe that she is being honest with me.

she's lied to my face for months and has treated me like less than even a roommate for so long. It hurts to know that the woman I thought I could love and trust more than anything was so capable of hurting me like this. She asked if we could still be friends after all of this. She told me I am her best friend and she doesn't want to lose me. She hasn't even treated me like a best friend for months. In fact, she has straight up told me that Mark is her best friend. I don't want to deal with that. Everything in my life reminds me of her in some way books, music, TV shows and movies, restaurants, even certain roads I have to drive down. I feel sick to my stomach every morning when I wake up and that turns into me feeling numb

and sluggish the rest of the days, I go to the gym or go on a run every morning to try and set myself up for a better day, it helps, but I think it's because I'm so used to doing it out of habit. I'm having a hard time eating and sleeping and focusing on anything else, I fixate on all this, on her, on us, on our past, on what I could have done differently or better, I still find myself feeling like it's all my fault like I wasn't good enough for her and she had to seek satisfaction from someone else. It sucks to feel like that, anyway. I got offered a great new job in my old home state, so around the first week of August I will be starting my new job and preparing my complete move out of this toxic environment I'm in now, I'm going to be moving

to about 30 minutes from my family and will be closer to a couple of my very best friends, I think that will be good for me. I'm putting in my two weeks' notice at my current job today, I anticipate the rest of the divorce should go smoothly, I told her I don't care about much of the stuff we have or the furniture, I just want to take the bed I've been sleeping in in the guest room, the desk and bookshelf I have used for working remotely. An address her to assist me in storing clothes, everything else I don't care about, I just want to associate from everything about her and be able to move on and heal. The worst part, though,

she is going to get to keep our dog. I always knew our puppy was going to be the biggest sticking point. She was going to fight me tooth and nail for him. She knows how much I care for him and how bonded he and I are and how dedicated I am to him. I made clear to her that I want to keep him but she adamantly refused. She said that she can't believe I'd be willing to leave her high and dry and with nobody and even try to take her dog away from her too. She is jealous that I am closer with my family than she is with hers and that I'm moving to be near my parents and siblings. Also how am I leaving her high and dry? I'm giving her practically everything. Plus, she has marked now, I decided that I just want this to be over with and I want to start moving on

from this. And if the dog is going to be the only thing slowing that down, I felt like I needed to give him up for my own sanity, but it's going to be so hard, it feels like I'm losing two people that I love, and it's devastating, or at least one soul that I love entirely. and another person that i love and thought loved me and cared about me and that ended up not being the case i feel like i mean nothing to her like everything i've done in the years we've been together has been worthless i'm so tired so strained so ready for it all to end