A woman has claimed she initially stood by her husband when she found out he was cheating with a co-worker just six months into their marriage.
And now she has revealed why you actually shouldn’t.
An aftermath video posted by TikToker Shannon Mowery from Cincinnati, Ohio, has racked up 1 million views.
Mowery began the clip by explaining that she had never thought of herself as someone who would have stayed with her man if they were cheating, but she felt differently after it reportedly happened to her in 2019.
“I truly could have bet a million, billion dollars he would never be the type of person to ever cheat on me, so I think I was just in a lot of shock — and it took me months to process,” the 27-year-old explained in the 2-minute-plus video.
She had been with her husband for over seven years, since high school, and was almost 24 years old at the time of the affair.
“He changed so drastically, it was hard to grasp, and I wanted things back to normal — I wanted our love,” Mowery told The Post. “I had never been an adult without him. I see now I was a bit co-dependent.”
Mowery stayed in the relationship for about four months after her husband’s cheating was exposed, and it taught her an important lesson – that if she’s ever cheated on again, she’ll be out the door as soon as it happens.
“After the betrayal, when he wasn’t with me, I was in a constant state of just, like, anxiousness,” she explained in the TikTok clip, adding that she felt the urge to snoop through his phone.
“The affair partner was a co-worker. I didn’t trust him at work, I didn’t trust him to go on a drive. I was just constantly in, like, a paranoid state, fight-or-flight,” she continued.
However, there was a series of unfortunate events that happened to Mowery before she uncovered the affair.
Her mom had passed away unexpectedly a year before, and she was an only child with her family living more than two hours away, she told The Post.
She alleged that she was being “gaslighted” and “manipulated” by her husband, as he didn’t want her to tell anyone about his affair.
When she was still with him during those four months, she described not being able to eat or sleep – and even having nightmares about what had happened.
And even when they may have been having a good time together during those four months, she described that the reality of what he did would “hit her,” which seemingly affected their ongoing relationship.
She also alleged that her then-partner wasn’t doing the work to maintain their relationship – in fact, he apparently was continuing with the affair.
“I hated myself during those four months,” Shannon revealed about her usual state of mind in the clip. “I’m goofy. I’m fun. I’m carefree. I’m light-hearted. I’m loving. And, like, I was none of that.
“I can’t control what someone’s gonna do to me, and that’s all on him, and he broke that trust, he betrayed me,” she concluded. “But I can control the life that I live — and I will never be in that situation again.”
In a series of follow-up videos, she explained that she had found out about his affair after she went through his phone and saw messages on WhatsApp that were hidden in a virtual folder.
She decided to expose his affair on Facebook, which caused him to move out and “ghost” her.
They officially divorced on February 12, 2020, she told The Post.
Currently, Shannon and her ex are not on speaking terms and have each other blocked on social media, she told The Post.
In fact, she said, she has “no interest” in speaking to him ever again.
Viewers on TikTok put in their own 2 cents.
“Once trust is broken it’s never fully restored,” one person wrote. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Rip the bandaid off quickly & move on!”
“Once they cheat, you never see them the same way again. Its over,” another agreed. “I kicked my ex out after 15 years. Always know your worth ladies.”
Shannon told The Post that she went to therapy to learn how to trust people again and “find strength” to “stand up” for herself.
Now, she encourages people to leave unfaithful partners, as it’s more than just cheating – it’s “lies” and “betrayal” that can hurt the most.
“Relationships need trust, safety and love to build. It seems impossible to make it work after such deception and the mental turmoil,” Mowery told The Post, adding that it’s “not worth” the constant worry.
Now, Mowery is in a relationship with a partner whom she described as “amazing” — but she isn’t blind to the fact that men can still cheat, championing “honest communication.”
“I’ve worked through triggers and been honest about them with him and communicate when I felt uncomfortable,” she told The Post. “I love and trust him, but I’m not naive; if something were to go awful, I trust myself to leave now.”
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