THE honeymoon phase came to an end immediately after the actual honeymoon for one recently married couple.
Trouble started brewing in paradise thanks to a perfect stranger, threatening to put an end to their marital bliss.
OVER THE (HONEY) MOON
Redditor Didntknowpickingaus shared how her love story started turning sour shortly after returning from the trip.
She was already contemplating ending her marriage “on the day we got back from our honeymoon.”
“I got back today from my honeymoon with my husband. We made some friends during the trip, one of which was a lone traveler,” she said.
“My husband and I thought she was cool and exchanged socials with her. My husband made a couple of comments that let me know he was checking out her stories throughout the trip,” she continued.
Though she wasn’t overly concerned at first, she did become curious to check her new husband’s private Instagram DMs due to their open phone policy.
It turned out that not finding any evidence – or chats – was the real problem, since he had tagged the stranger in a story.
He had also admitted to sharing “innocent” messages with her, as well as “nice to meet you” pleasantries.
“The whole thread was deleted by him and he first tried to gaslight me saying he didn’t erase it,” she said.
Though he eventually confessed to erasing everything, he wouldn’t admit to any type of inappropriate behavior.
Instead, he blamed his “nervousness” as the reason he got rid of the chat.
“To me, this is enough to end it. I have lost all trust because now even if he didn’t do anything I will never know,” she said.
THE PROOF IS ON THE PLATFORM
The whole ordeal had her head spinning with all the potential indiscretion possibilities.
“Plus, how many other things has he deleted I don’t know about? If it was so innocent why would he get nervous in the first place,” she said.
“We got married one month ago, this is so embarrassing, but I don’t think I can live with not knowing. I want to end it but I’m scared of my family’s reaction,” she added.
She also shared an update on their marital mayhem.
Although she didn’t ask him for further proof, her husband showed her screenshots from the traveler who had caused her fair share of turmoil in the relationship.
“I wanted to keep her out of it because again this is embarrassing and why would I trust someone I thought was talking to a married man,” she said.
She assumed that the “compromising” messages could have easily been deleted, leaving only the clean ones for her to see, but then she tested the platform for herself.
She realized that she was only able to delete messages she had sent, not those she had received.
“According to the screenshots, there was nothing on either part. That does make me feel better, but still, why would he delete the chat then,” she said.
She explained how he has tried to apologize “one million times” and made romantic gestures while claiming he was on the defensive because he knew he had “done nothing wrong.”
SO STAY OR NOT TO STAY
She might have been mad, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to end the marriage.
“We did have a great honeymoon, technically this issue happened after we got back. My husband is a great man who treats me amazingly and has never given me any reason to be jealous before.”
“I do trust the man and I’m in love with him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have married him,” she added.
“Because nothing like this has ever happened before I am taking my time to think about it.”
OTHERS WEIGH IN
She shared how many people believed she wasn’t ready for marriage after hearing about the incident, forcing her to rethink her “boundaries.”
“To me, any inappropriate messages with another woman would be divorce-worthy, however, so far I have no proof and I can’t let him go over just my suspicions,” she said.
She also never had any previous reason to believe he couldn’t be trusted.
“My husband is a great man who treats me amazingly and has never given me any reason to be jealous before,” she said.
She also defended her open phone policy.
“We live together and do most things together, there is no such thing as privacy here,” she said.
Not even bathroom time was sacred for this couple.
Many Redditors advised her to pretend she was able to retrieve the messages after all and watch his reaction.
“Yes. Let him talk. Make the initial question and/or statement, then clam up. People start telling on themselves when met with your silence,” said one user.
Others remained suspicious of her spouse.
“You got married a month ago, met this woman on your honeymoon and he’s already doing this? I doubt this is the first time, and it won’t be the last,” said one reader.
“Probably better to cut your losses now than when he inevitably cheats on you,” they continued.
“Even if the messages were innocent, it’s the lying and deleting that make it look bad,” said another.
One user had advice for the newlywed.
“Absolutely agree with this 1000%! But don’t worry about what your family has to say or how they react,” they said.
“They aren’t in this marriage, having to deal with all the stuff and things going on and running through your head,” they added.
“If they’re real family, they will support you, no matter what they think or how they feel because again, this is about you, not them. Our female gut doesn’t lie to us! Trust it.”