Life After Betrayal
Stephen says that he cheated on his wife, Natalie, in part because she made her work a higher priority than their marriage. "It just felt like I was a single parent that was married, and just being taken for granted," he says.
Natalie says that this was somewhat true. "When we got married, we were best friends. I mean, the whole time we were dating we were just together all the time and had a good time and enjoyed each other's company," she says. "And right when we got married, I went into management and dove head first into my work, and that's all I did was work. And I'd come home and crash."
Natalie said she took Stephen for granted. "He was such a great father and a great provider that he maintained the house, he maintained our children, which allowed me to work even more. And I stopped being a wife and I stopped being a friend and a mother."
Natalie says she'd already heard almost everything about Stephen's cheating, so she was not all that surprised by what he said on the show. One element in his frank discussion with Oprah was new, however. "The comments he made about the day he told me. That was the first time I ever heard him express the emotion about how hard that was for him," she says. "How bad he hurt me, and that he got that."
Natalie says that this was somewhat true. "When we got married, we were best friends. I mean, the whole time we were dating we were just together all the time and had a good time and enjoyed each other's company," she says. "And right when we got married, I went into management and dove head first into my work, and that's all I did was work. And I'd come home and crash."
Natalie said she took Stephen for granted. "He was such a great father and a great provider that he maintained the house, he maintained our children, which allowed me to work even more. And I stopped being a wife and I stopped being a friend and a mother."
Natalie says she'd already heard almost everything about Stephen's cheating, so she was not all that surprised by what he said on the show. One element in his frank discussion with Oprah was new, however. "The comments he made about the day he told me. That was the first time I ever heard him express the emotion about how hard that was for him," she says. "How bad he hurt me, and that he got that."
Published 05/05/2005