​RAT! HE GOT HIS TURKISH DELIGHTS… THEN FLEW HOME TO PROPOSE

I was over the moon to announce my engagement - but then a Facebook message arrived that changed everything… By Marie Jones, 50

I was six years old when I first met Brian. He was just another boy in my year at school, and we didn’t really speak when we were children.

I didn’t think much of Brian… until we got back in touch in 2012 out of the blue.

I’d been complaining about a problem with my taps on Facebook when Brian randomly offered to help.

‘I can have a look if you like,’ he typed.

I hadn’t heard from him in years, but as he was now a plumber by trade, I took him up on his unexpected offer.

When he turned up at my door hours later, he was no longer the little boy on the playground. Now a hunky plumber, I instantly felt attracted to Brian, stood in my doorway with his toolbelt strapped on.

‘Um, hi, you’d better come in,’ I blushed, offering him a cuppa.

Chatting over my leaky taps, our small talk soon turned to flirting, and we exchanged numbers before he left.

We started texting regularly and as our friendship blossomed, it wasn’t long before we began dating.

Brian was kind and funny, and I couldn’t believe I’d bagged myself such a handsome handyman by moaning on Facebook!

He was the perfect boyfriend, but our relationship wasn’t without its problems.

Family issues sometimes put a strain on our relationship and we had our ups and downs like any other couple, but we were determined to fight for what we had.

In October 2017, both eager to get away from the stresses of everyday life, I booked a holiday for me and my daughter and Brian arranged a trip to Turkey for himself at the same time.

We called each other every night during our blissful breaks apart and when we returned, it seemed some time away was just what we needed.

Brian showered me with love and affection and wasted no time in whisking me away for a romantic spa weekend, just the two of us.

‘This is the life,’ I sighed, as we relaxed together in Cornwall. Then when he got down on one knee in a restaurant and proposed, I’d never been happier.

I quickly logged into Facebook and changed my relationship status to ‘engaged’.

Posting photos of my gorgeous new ring on my profile, my heart jumped with excitement. Engaged to the man of my dreams, I quickly began to research churches for our big day.

Things went fast - we visited a travel agent to discuss prices for an incredible Maldives honeymoon, and even sent off designs to a wedding cake designer!

Everything was perfect, until three weeks later, when I received a message from a mystery woman.

Opening up Facebook messenger, my heart stopped as I read the shocking words over and over again. Staring at the screen in disbelief, I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

Congratulations on the engagement love, although you might want to know Brian was sleeping with another woman every night of his holiday in Turkey, it read.

And with that, my wedding dreams were shattered.

It didn’t stack up. Brian and I had spoken every day when he was in Turkey, and he’d only just proposed.

He wouldn’t have cheated… would he?

I messaged the mystery woman back straight away, demanding answers.

I felt sick as she told me Brian had been acting like a couple with her friend whilst they were on holiday.

Hearing how they were all over each other publicly without a care in the world miles away from where I would find out, my heart broke.

I didn’t want to believe it, but when she gave me the number for her mate, Brian’s mistress, I had to find out if it was true.

I wept as Brian’s holiday fling answered the phone and confirmed all the sordid details. I was in total shock.

Surrounded by all the paperwork for the church we’d planned to get married in, my heart was shattered into pieces.

We’d set a date for November 2019, and I’d happily told everyone I could to save the date in excited anticipation.

How could Brian cheat, then propose two weeks later?

Curiosity getting the better of me, I clicked onto the other woman’s Facebook profile and my heart sunk as I clocked Brian’s name.

She’d put up a status when she’d returned from Turkey calling Brian her ‘holiday husband’. Attached was a photo of the two of them smiling together.

Their happy grins beaming up at me from my computer screen, I felt the anger bubbling inside of me.

By the time Brian returned home, his holiday mistress had warned him that I knew, and he slunk shamefully into the room, his head bowed in embarrassment.

I shouted and pleaded with him for the truth, but he denied it all. It was only when I showed him the messages from his mistress and her friend that the truth started seeping out.

He’d met this woman on the second day of his Turkey trip as they sunbathed next to each other.

Both alone on holiday, they started chatting, and soon joined a group of friends who thought they were a couple.

Brian tried to make his excuses, claiming the flowing all-inclusive drinks was what made him cheat.

As he relived the drunken kisses, the lies about being single and waking up next to her in bed on numerous occasions, I felt sick to my stomach.

Brian begged for forgiveness, but there was no going back. The trust was broken beyond repair and the wedding was off for good.

I could never marry a man who just two weeks before he proposed to me had slept with another woman.

Over 2000 miles away he had cheated, but his dirty little secret had followed him back home and now our relationship was over because of it.

I kicked Brian out, but my ring was too pretty to throw back at him, and so now I wear it on the opposite hand as a constant reminder of what Brian did.

I’ve blocked the lot of them on Facebook and changed my relationship status to ‘single’ to try and get some closure.

I’m trying to move on with my life without my cheating fiance, and despite Brian’s attempts to win me back with flowers delivered to my door, I know that I’ll never take him back.

Who knew a trip to Turkey would reveal what a snake my fiance really is?

Brian says: “Yes I did go away to Turkey, yes I did cheat. I don’t believe I did it myself to be fair. It’s not like me at all. I went away obviously, I wanted some peace and Marie had already booked to go away. It was all inclusive, the drinks were flowing. On the second day, there was a woman sat on the sunbed next to where I was sat, sort of ended up chatting. That evening, she was talking to other people. I got invited to go over and sit with them because I was on my own. This other woman, the one who contacted Marie, she more or less said ‘Oh where did you two meet, on PlentyOfFish or something?’ We were like, ‘never met each other before, we just got talking here, two single people turning up.’ It seemed to go from there, they seemed to think we were a couple. I got slightly drunk, well very drunk on the third night. I kissed her. I can’t remember any more than that. I’m not the best person in the world when I’ve had a drink, I pass out, can’t remember any more than that. Next morning, I woke up in my own bed. That day, similar sort of thing, had a few drinks, got talking, I kissed her. She said things went a little bit further - I don’t know whether they did or not, I can’t say. On the fifth night, my room got flooded. I ended up changing rooms, and when I woke up in the morning, she was laying next to me. Whether I did anything, I don’t know. I did, I think, when I was drunk, tell her that I was single. I’ve been a stupid idiot and the only time I remember actually cheating on her is on the sixth night. Use your imagination. I slept with her, slept with this woman. Obviously yes I didn’t think I’d get caught in Turkey. I wasn’t looking for anything. I love Marie more than anything in the world. I absolutely adore the ground she walks on. I love her to bits and I don’t want to break up with her, I don’t want to be apart from her, I want to marry her. I come back and I got engaged to her. Yeah maybe I could have come clean to Marie about it, but sometimes the things you don’t know don’t hurt you. I’m regretting it for the rest of my life. I’m in so much f---ing pain, it’s killing me and she’s probably the same. If she thinks he couldn’t love me if he cheated on me, at the end of the day, I was a royal drunken stupid f--- up and I put myself in a situation I didn’t know how to handle. I’ve never been in that situation before. I was drunkenly stupid.”

Marie was devastated when she caught Brian cheating but our team helped her name and shame her love rat in a women's magazine. If you have a cheating story to tell, why not get in touch!