​DELIVER-OOH! CAUGHT HIM CHEATING - WITH MY BIRTHING PARTNER!

My best friend was always lending a helping hand, but then she helped herself to my man. By Michelle-Mae Allen, 35

Cradling my baby bump, I winced as I felt another contraction. ‘It’s coming,’ I yelled to my best friend Yolanda, 40, squeezing her hand tight. ‘It’s ok, I’m here. Just breathe,’ she soothed.

Yolanda and I had been best friends for 10 years. Extremely close, she was a constant fixture at the home I shared with my partner of five years, Richard, 52.

So when I discovered I was pregnant, there was just one person I wanted by my side in the delivery suite. ‘Will you be my birthing partner?’ I asked her hopefully.

Yolanda was thrilled and so as soon as I went into labour in August 2017, Richard rang her right away. ‘The baby’s on its way,’ he gasped down the phone.

I was a bag of nerves as Richard and Yolanda rushed me to hospital, but with both my amazing partner and my best friend by my side, I knew I was in safe hands.

The labour was agnosing but when I gave birth to my little girl, Alana, it was worth every excruciating moment.

‘She’s beautiful,’ Richard whispered, tears brimming in his eyes as he cooed over our baby daughter.

‘I couldn’t have done it without you both,’ I looked up at him and Yolanda, and smiled. I felt so lucky to have the two people I loved the most in the world supporting me.

After Alana was born, Yolanda became an even more regular visitor to our home and over the next year, she was always popping round, lending advice.

Yolanda was my rock through my first few months of motherhood, quickly becoming an important part of our little family.

Not that Richard minded, the pair of them got on brilliantly too. ‘What are you two laughing at?’ I would often chuckle as I walked into the room to find them sharing a joke.

‘Just Richard being silly,’ Yolanda laughed, giving Alana a huge cuddle.

I loved my little family. So in 2018, when Richard and I started to discuss godparents for Alana, there was one person that was top of my list… Yolanda.

My best friend and birthing partner was delighted when I asked her to be Alana’s godmother and the gesture cemented how much she meant to our family.

‘I’d love to,’ she beamed. I excitedly started to plan Alana’s christening, but there was just one blot on the horizon... Richard.

He was a doting dad to our little girl but parenthood had put a strain on our relationship and our romance hit a rough patch.

Both exhausted, Richard became withdrawn and insular. Glued to his phone, he spent whole evenings texting his friends. I felt so left out, but I didn’t know how to approach it.

‘How about we go out this weekend?’ I suggested one day. But Richard claimed he was too tired. ‘Another time,’ he yawned, picking up his phone.

As Richard became increasingly cold and distant, I confided in the one person I knew would understand, Yolanda.

‘It’ll be ok,’ she soothed as I poured my heart out. Like always, my best friend knew exactly what to say.

‘Maybe it’s just stress,’ I shrugged, vowing to push my worries to one side. ‘I’m sure it’ll pass.’

But then in November 2018, Richard dropped his phone and all hell broke loose.

‘It's ruined!’ he roared, examining the shattered screen. I knew Richard spent a lot of time on his phone, but his reaction seemed over the top.

17 years older than me, Richard was always so calm and collected but that day, he completely lost it.

‘I need to get this sorted straight away,’ he insisted, as he rang a friend and asked to borrow an old handset in the meantime.

‘Is it really that important?’ I asked. ‘Surely you can go without a phone for a few days?’

But Richard was adamant he needed to borrow a replacement. And as I watched him pore over his mobile, spending hours as he desperately tried to fix it, I felt a sickening knot tighten in my stomach.

My gut told me something was wrong but just what was Richard hiding? Was he having an affair? I began to panic.

I told myself I was being silly. Richard was the father of my little girl, I loved and trusted him. So I buried my suspicions and convinced myself Richard was just going through a phase.

He’s stressed out, he just needs a break, I told myself.

But then a few days later, I was at home with Alana when I was distracted by an annoying buzzing sound.

Tracking down the beeping to a drawer in the kitchen, I found Richard’s broken iPhone. He must had left himself logged on, I thought as the screen lit up with Facebook messages.

But nothing could have prepared me for who he’d been messaging there. I love you my angel xxxx he’d typed… to Yolanda.

I felt the bile rise in my throat as I scrolled through their messages, spanning two years.

I love making love to you, he’d messaged her.

I was horrified. My man was cheating… with my best friend! The depth of their betrayal was almost too much to bear.

Their affair had been going on when I was pregnant, when I’d given birth to Alana with the pair of them in the room.

I felt sick as I realised that the whole time, the deceitful duo had been hooking up behind my back.

‘I know all about Yolanda,’ I yelled down the phone to Richard, furious, ‘What? That’s ridiculous,’ he stuttered.

I hung up but I was still logged onto Richard’s Facebook account on his broken old phone, and I watched in horror as he quickly messaged Yolanda.

How does Michelle know? Yolanda wrote back, unaware I could see everything. Just deny it, Richard typed back coolly.

If I hadn’t been so utterly devastated it would have been almost comical as I watched the deceitful duo try to get their story straight.

At least she doesn’t know we slept together, Yolanda typed. It was the final straw. I couldn’t believe the two people I loved most could lie to me so blatantly.

I’m still here, I can see your messages! I typed angrily.

Richard rushed home but it was too late. ‘How could you?’ I yelled as he walked in the door.

‘I’m so sorry, please give me another chance,’ he begged.

But the two people I’d loved and trusted most in the world had betrayed me and I knew I couldn’t forgive and forget.

‘It’s over,’ I sobbed. ‘You need to leave.’ Heartbroken, I watched as Richard packed his things.

But most of all I was devastated for my little girl. As soon as Richard left the family home, he ran straight back into the arms of Yolanda. Rats.

How could you? I furiously punched out a message to Yolanda afterwards. After everything we’d been through together, the coward didn’t even have the guts to ring me.

‘I’m sorry,’ she wrote back. Two words. Pathetic.

Richard and I have remained civil for Alana’s sake but I’ve cut Yolanda out of my life and the pair have moved away together.

As far as I’m concerned, they’re welcome to each other. I’m happily single but I’m still reeling from their double betrayal.

I’m determined to stay strong for my little girl, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the day I discovered my man and my best friend were phoneys.

Richard says: “Do whatever you like.”

Yolanda says: “ I’m not doing this.”

When Michelle faced the ultimate betrayal after she caught her partner cheating with her best friend, Sell My Story helped her share her story with several media outlets both in the UK and abroad. If you want to name and shame your love rat and earn a top fee, contact us now to find out how it works.