Woman’s Own – 26 August 2019

MY HUSBAN

I honeytrapped

WORDS: BESS BROWNING AND HANNAH POON. PHOTOS: THE SUN/NEWS LICENSING

Emma Phillips-Mealins, 47, thought her

man meant it when he vowed to be faithful

S

eeing a jubilant child run to his

mother with open arms in the

play park, I couldn’t draw my eyes

away. There was a fierce look of

euphoric love between themthatI’d

never experienced – as if she

would do anything in the

world for her son. I’d never

really wanted children, but

now, single and childless at

37, with a divorce behind me,

I was suddenly experiencing

the yearning to become a

mother. Only, with no partner,

I knew it was unlikely to

happen any time soon.

As the next couple of monthspassed,

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d missed

out, that life was somehow slipping by.

But then, in October 2010, I was on

Facebook when an old friend messaged

me – I’d known Kevin for 14 years but

we’d lost touch. Kevin, a widower, was

eight years older than me and worked as

a firefighter for the RAF. After a few

messages back and forth, we agreed to

meet at my house. Kevin was a sweet

man and spent the evening showering me

with compliments. Things moved quickly

and after that, we were constantly texting.

He posted soppy, but sweet,

pictures of us on social media too,

and when we were together he was

so affectionate. It wasn’t long before

I told him about my desperation for a

family. ‘I want to have children,’ I told

him. Despite having grown-up kids,

he agreed and we were stunned

when, just four months into our

relationship, I found I was pregnant.

Caught up in a whirlwind, we made

plans for the future, buying a house

in June 2011 andevengetting

marrieda monthlaterwhenI was

eight months pregnant. It was

a small gathering with 25 of

our nearest and dearest at a

beautiful stately home. It was

perfect.‘I promise to love you,

and be faithful to

you...’ Kevin said,

reciting his vows.

I’d never felt

happier, and when

our son Oscar

arrived, he

completed our

little family.

Good wishes

poured in from

friendsandfamily, so when an old school

friend, Miranda, who I hadn’t spoken to in

years, sent me a message in October

2011, I thought it would be about Oscar.

Hurt and anger

‘We need to talk, call me when Kevin’s

not around,’ she’d written. It was an odd

message, but I did as instructed and

waited until Kevin was at work before

I phoned her.

‘I’ve just joined a dating site,’ she

explained, hesitating slightly before

continuing. ‘I’m pretty sure your husband

Kevin has messaged me on it.’ She’d

never met Kevin but said she recognised

him from my Facebook pictures.

Surely she was mistaken? There was no

way my husband was on a dating website.

Still, as much as I tried to convince myself

it wasn’t true, when I met Miranda at a

coffee shop, and she showed me his

profile, I felt a sinking feeling. It was Kevin

• and he’d sent her flirtatious messages.
  As I scrolled through his profile, there
  was no mention of me or Oscar, only that
  he loved cooking and watching the rugby
  with his friends. Through tears of
  hurt and anger I almost laughed.
  ‘He’s never cooked a meal,’
  I snorted. He barely had any mates
  either. It seemed lying came easily
  to Kevin and I felt stupid for ever
  believing him. How could I have
  got my husband so wrong?
  Although Kevin hadn’t cheated
  physically, the intention was there.
  Why else would he have created
  an online dating profile? I wanted
  to be sure before confronting him,
  so Miranda gave me her log-in
  details to the dating site and I sent

‘There was

no way he

was on a

dating

website’

The couple

got married

in 2011

Friend Miranda

received

flirty texts