This is a first for The Scarlet Edit. Hope was a married woman who cheated on her husband and has been bravely sharing that experience on social media.
In this episode, she sits down with me for her very first podcast and walks through the full story of how her affair started, from the moment at a stoplight where she questioned whether her marriage was all her life would ever be, to the slow unraveling of communication with her husband, to meeting the man she'd eventually cheat with.
Hope vulnerably shares about why she didn't just leave, even though she tried more than once. She talks about the unique trap of being married to a "good guy" when your unhappiness doesn't feel like a valid enough reason to walk away. She even admits she used to fantasize about her husband cheating on her so she'd finally have a reason to leave.
She shares how the affair began through a shared work project, how the emotional connection formed before anything physical happened, and the exact moment it officially crossed the line.
We get into the guilt, the shame, the compartmentalization, and her powerful description of what it actually feels like to live inside an affair while you're still married.
Hope calls it the worst best time of her life. There's no peace when you're living in deception, and no amount of highs can outrun that darkness.
This is part one of a two-part conversation. Come back next week for part 2!
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