“When I first found out about my husband’s sexual addiction, a cocktail of surreal confusion, panic, and pain disoriented me in a way I had never experienced. ”

“When I was thrust into the role of betrayed spouse, I longed for validation, and I dived into book after book, trying to figure out how to navigate this trauma. I gleaned a ton of wisdom from the books that I read, but the same thing bothered me each time: as I read these books, there was a sense of detachment that I couldn’t shake. I assume it was because the authors were writing about a time long ago and had many years of building trust and moving on between them and their great betrayals. The authors spoke so matter-of-factly. I found it hard to reconcile their lack of emotion with the great intensity of mine. Because of this, I felt compelled to write a book that could describe the intensity of emotion one feels in such a situation with raw honesty.”

“I sat on the therapist’s white couch once again. This time Stephen joined me. He held his head down as he read from his disclosure letter. The list revealed time after time he had cheated on me. He described in detail his first encounter at the massage parlor. The more he’d gone, the more he’d craved it.”

“I approached a crossroads. Would I let this hurt destroy me, or would I fight for a wonderful life? I had already prayed for God to take the pain away. I had tried to sleep it off, hoping I would awake from my nightmare. This was happening whether I wanted this to be part of the script or not. ”