​DANGEROUS DADDY! MONSTER LEFT ME LIKE THIS AFTER HE CHEATED

I was devastated when I discovered my boyfriend was cheating. But Luke would break more than just my heart... by Stacey Adams, 28,

Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I sighed at the sight of my loved up friends.

It was July 2011, and I was enjoying some alone time after finally settling my newborn son, Junior, to sleep.

Although I was loving the peace and quiet, I couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.

I was a newly single mum, and the thought of dating was too much to comprehend, when a notification popped up on the screen - someone had sent me a friend request.

Clicking on the profile, I didn’t recognise the handsome stranger staring back at me. I liked the look of Luke - a cute smile, and surrounded by friends in his pictures.

Noticing our mutual friends, I decided to take a chance on him and nervously accepted. Within minutes, a message arrived in my inbox from my mystery man.

Before long, Luke had me giggling away, and I couldn’t believe how much we had in common.

We talked for days, my heart skipping a beat every time a message came through, when Luke suddenly surprised me.

‘I’m on a train to your town,’ he wrote. ‘Come meet me for a drink.’

I was shocked, but something told me to go, and before I knew it, Luke was standing smiling in front of me with a coffee in his hand.

My heart fluttered, and I knew I’d made the right decision.

From that day on, I was smitten, falling for Luke more and more every day.

I was nervous about introducing a new man into my baby boy’s life, but Luke doted on Junior as if he were his own.

Listening to Junior giggle at Luke’s silly games, my heart swelled with love.

Luke became an amazing father figure to my little boy, so when I fell pregnant two years into our relationship, I was over the moon.

We were thrilled to have our own little baby together, but as my bump grew, Luke seemed to become distant.

He’d disappear off to the pub with the friends whilst I stayed at home, and became glued to his phone.

I focused on my growing bump, and did everything I could to relax myself and our baby.

I was in the bath one evening in February 2014, stroking my swollen belly, when my phone pinged with a Facebook friend request from a woman I didn’t recognise.

Confused, I accepted, and suddenly my inbox flooded with messages. I scrolled in horror through hundreds of screenshots of texts between Luke and another woman, detailing a long and sordid affair.

This can’t be real, I thought, but when I opened one of the videos, there was no mistaking it was my Luke.

My tears rolled into the bath water as I witnessed the father of my unborn child have sex with another woman.

Trembling, I climbed out of the bath, holding my bump protectively as I stormed from the bathroom.

The sound of my heavy feet stomping through the house alerted Luke, who turned with a face of fear as I entered the living room.

Throwing the phone at him, I seethed with anger as I watched his face turn white.

‘How could you do this to me?’ I spat, my hair still dripping wet from my not so relaxing bath.

Luke sobbed as he swore the mystery woman meant nothing to him.

My mind was made up to ditch the cheating rat, when Luke suddenly placed a gentle hand on my stomach.

‘Please give me another chance,’ he cried desperately. ‘For our baby’s sake.’

We both stared in silence at my stomach, the little life inside ME suddenly becoming all we could think about.

At seven months pregnant, it was a matter of a few weeks before our baby would enter the world.

Could I really rob our child of the chance at having both his parents around him?

Luke pleaded for forgiveness, and with a heavy heart, I decided to give him a second chance for our unborn child.

‘If you ever do it again…’ I began to say, but Luke cut me off. ‘Never’ he swore, kissing me before planting a kiss on my bump.

Luke was right by my side as we rushed to the hospital in April 2014. Hours later, I cradled our beautiful baby boy, Jacob, overcome with love.

Seeing the look of pure joy on Luke’s face as he gently stroked Jacob’s cheeks, I couldn’t help but fall for him all over again.

Luke doted on me and the kids, caring for us all and making sure I had time to rest. He helped with the night feeds, and woke me up with a kiss after letting me lie in.

It was like the old Luke I fell in love with was back, and I couldn’t be happier.

But in December 2015, I was in my bedroom when the dreaded ping on my phone sounded. To my dismay, the all too familiar name of Luke’s mistress appeared on my phone.

My heart broke as I opened my inbox to countless screenshots of messages between the pair, proving the affair had never ended.

I choked back the tears as I silently packed bags of clothes for me and the kids. Luke had blown his second chance. This time it was over, for good.

‘We’re leaving,’ I told Luke, who stood shocked at the bottom of the stairs.

I explained I knew all about his dirty secret, and marched towards the front door. Suddenly, Luke jumped in front of me, blocking my exit.

‘You’re not going anywhere,’ Luke spat, with a look of fury in his eyes I’d never seen before.

Luke locked the front door and shoved me hard, pushing repeatedly as I stumbled backwards.

I tried to regain my balance, when Luke grabbed my hair and plunged my head deep into the icy water of our kitchen sink.

I screamed into the water, struggling against his grip as I desperately tried to gasp for air, but Luke was too strong.

I couldn’t believe it. He was drowning me in front of our children - because he had cheated.

I heard Junior screaming at Luke to let me go, his tiny fists punching against his daddy in a frantic bid to free me.

Hearing my little boy’s cries of anguish made something snap inside me.

Luke wasn’t going to kill me in front of my babies.

I kicked out against him and Luke lost his footing as I finally came up for air.

‘Get upstairs!’ Luke yelled at Junior, who scooped up his baby brother and hurtled into their bedroom.

We argued for hours as I pleaded with Luke to let us leave, but he refused. As his face turned red with rage yet again, I feared for my safety, and sped to the boys’ room to check on my precious children.

Seeing the fear on their faces made me even more determined to escape, and I bravely stepped back onto the landing where Luke loomed.

‘Please…’ I started to say, when Luke flipped and hurled me down the stairs.

I cowered at the bottom as Luke rained down vicious blows on my body.

‘I won’t stop until you’re dead!’ he roared, slamming his foot into my ribs until they cracked.

I yelped in agony as I dragged myself across the floor to the bathroom, locking the door quickly behind me in a desperate attempt to end the horrific attack.

I peeled the bloody clothing from my body, and sobbed as I stared in the mirror at the damage Luke had done to me.

I washed my wounds, and struggled into a dressing gown when Luke started hammering on the door.

I prayed the wood would hold firm, but Luke was relentless, eventually kicking his way through.

He wasn’t done with me yet.

Luke dragged me out by the hair, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he punched me repeatedly in the face.

I felt the crunch of my nose breaking before a flash of light blinded me as Luke opened the front door and threw me outside.

Shocked, I wiped the blood from my eyes just in time to see Luke speeding off in our car… with Junior and Jacob sat in the back.

My babies!

A kind stranger raced over and helped me to my nearby friend’s house where I collapsed in a heap.

The police were called and I was rushed to hospital where medics revealed Luke had broken four of my ribs, as well as my nose and damaging my eye socket and cheekbone.

Although grateful to be finally free from that sick monster, all I could think of was my poor frightened boys.

Where was Luke taking them? Were they alright?

I wept with joy when officers told me they’d arrested Luke and my boys were safe and sound.
With my precious children found and well, I focused on recovering so I could get justice against Luke.

In April 2016, Luke pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for 16 months.

I’m glad he paid the price for what he did to me, but I’ll never forget the day my sick ex drowned and beat me in front of our children… because he cheated.

Stacey wanted to raise awareness and support other domestic violence victims when she worked with our team to tell her story gently and sensitively to a women's weekly magazine. If you want to speak out about a crime, contact Sell My Story to find out how it works. 0117 973 3730