SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

I’m surprised at the number of reported "just kissing" affairs above. My wife claims the same, but I didn’t believe her at all. I don’t think that adults stop at kissing when they are excited and attracted. I think when caught, the cheating spouse may confess to kissing and hide the rest? I could be wrong here, I guess.

My wife's story was that she "Just kissed" her AP while drunk when I first found suggestive text messages 15+ years ago. It never felt right to me, I couldn't believe it either, and while we reconciled from the "kiss" I would ask her almost every year, "do you swear you really only kissed that guy?" Just after our 8th wedding anniversary and about 12 years from the actual incident, she confessed it was a lie and that they had sex numerous times (and that she had a few more wayward/EA type moments in the residual years as well without another full blown PA).

My take is this - I would assume the worst and just work from there. I believe that it is most likely, in most cases, they did not "just kiss". Being in this situation is such a mindfuck and so unfair, there are so many questions we will never be able to answer because of the passage of time, and IMO the WS does not deserve the benefits of any doubts, unless they have really gone above and beyond to try to prove it (i.e. polygraph, allowing you to read old diary entries or emails, etc).

Canbeme123, that is helpful, I agree! I thought about trying to push the polygraph but, unsurprisingly, she fears a false result. Asking every year and having that work is surprising. i wonder what changed to make your wife comfortable in confessing the truth? I’d love to do the same. I found the AP’s email adress, but I assume that he would lie if I emailed him.. I have the contact of her trip room mate for the night that she was "caught" but it was years ago and what could this chick actually say, she wouldn’t have seen sex. Could tell me durations of absence I guess. I’m quite game to ask her again with whatever framing you suggest. Something was different on your year 8

That's the rub, for those of us in this position there is often no real evidence to be found and the truth is only available at the mercy of your WS, who is obviously an extremely unreliable narrator.

It's infuriating and it can really drive you crazy, I was seriously manic in the early days after her confession in trying to find something, ANYTHING, to help me piece together the truth. Searching for old emails (nope account from back then is wiped clean by Hotmail) and reading her diary from that time period (some insight was found, but pages were torn out and she claims no memory of what they said) and speaking to old mutual friends from the time. Nothing really helped.

It's amazing how your own perception of reality can be so drastically altered by someone else's horrible secrets. The word I come back to time and time and time again is "unfair". It's just So. Fucking. Unfair.