'My husband asked for a second wife'

Julia Clark, 53, from Lincoln, had been married to Peter Clark, also 53, for 15 years and they had three children together - but a family holiday to Egypt in August 2016 took Julia's life in a completely new direction

- LUCY ROBINSON

Sitting around the side of the pool, my husband Peter and two daughters, Melissa and Ameila, relaxed in the water. Our two-week holiday in Egypt was coming to an end and we were making the most of our final few days in the August heat.

But, while we’d all had a laugh and were coming back with gorgeous photos, I couldn’t help but feel lonely. It felt like my relationship had gone stale. I’d been married to my husband for 15 years and he was a good man, a brilliant father to our children James, now 34, Melissa, 21, and Amelia, 18, and provided for me, but it felt like we were just there for the kids.

It was on that holiday in 2016 that everything changed. As I sat there watching my family, a hotel worker approached me and asked for my name. He wanted to know how I was and asked if I was on Facebook. I gave him my name and introduced him to Peter, who had got out of the pool. I didn’t think anything of it until we headed home.

After being home for a few days, I received a friend request from the man I’d met by the pool, which I accepted. I liked some of his posts, including ones with his friends in, which is when I first saw Ahmed. He must have seen me liking the posts and sent me a friend request himself. I don’t know why I accepted it, but I did.

For days nothing came through, not even a hello. Then he sent a message saying, “Hi. How are you?” We started talking in October 2016, just about my life and family. I told him that my mother had recently suffered a heart attack. I felt that I could confide in him and he was there for me.

After four weeks of talking, Ahmed, now 35, suggested we do a video call. It was great to see his face – he was friendly and smiley. From then, we video-called two to three times a week and messaged every day. At first, he was just being friendly, but three months in he started to say that he was falling in love with me. By five months, my feelings slowly kicked in too.