Life After My Husband's Affair

With Suranne Jones returning to our screens as the wronged wife in Doctor Foster, Caroline*, 45, an account manager, tells Christina Quaine how she lived through the discovery of her husband’s infidelity

- Christina Quaine

Like many other viewers, I was completely gripped by the first season of Doctor Foster. But it was also uncomfortable viewing, dredging up a raft of painful memories of my own husband leaving me for another woman.

Edward* and I met in August 1996. We worked for the same airline, me as cabin crew, him as a newly qualified pilot. We often flew together and it was a fun, exciting time. He was 6ft, slim, with dark hair and a dry sense of humour. He was the same age as me and we were friends initially, but there was a real chemistry between us. When he asked me out for a drink, that was it. Within a year we were living together, and 18 months after that we were engaged.

Our wedding day on 20 August 2002 was perfect. As I walked down the aisle, surrounded by family and friends, I could see tears in Edward’s eyes. “You look beautiful,” he said.

Like any relationship, there were ups and downs, but friends would say, “I wish my marriage was like yours.” We were husband and wife, but we were best friends, too, and we never went to sleep on an argument. Three years into our marriage, I left the airline industry to become a hotel operations manager, so whenever Edward was away flying, we spoke on the phone every day.

We discussed children, but it was always going to be difficult. When I was 17, I’d had an ovary removed because of a cyst. The chances of getting pregnant naturally were slim, but Edward said, “When the time comes, we’ll deal with it.”