A husband left his wife for her older sister one month after she forgave them for snogging in a garden shed.
At first Lindsey Clarke, 41, was glad her husband Wayne and her sister Sarah got on well
Sarah lived just around the corner and was always popping into their home for cups of tea and catch up chats.
They would even look after each other’s children and Lindsey would keep an eye on Sarah’s dog.
Lindsey told Take A Break magazine: “Sarah was more than just my big sister, she was my best friend, and she got on really well with my husband Wayne too.
“They’d been friends since before we got together.
“We were all one big, happy family. We even went on holidays together.
“Wayne was the love of my life, and even though I already had young children when we got together, he took them on and raised them as his own.
“We were a team, and although we’d had our ups and downs over the years, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”
One day Lindsey was walking around to Sarah’s to return her dog and got the shock of her life.
At first she couldn’t see where her husband and sister were.
She said: “As I went to walk back to the front of the house, I decided to stick my head in the shed to see if they were in there.
“When I walked in, my jaw dropped.
“Wayne and Sarah were in the shed. And they were kissing.
“My whole world shattered around me.
“For a moment I was speechless as their betrayal hit me. Then I found my voice.
“‘Are you serious?’ I spat.
“Before either of them could answer I turned on my heel and walked away.
“I just needed to get away from both of them. But Wayne ran after me as I made my way home.
“‘It was just a one-off,’ he said. ‘It was just a kiss, nothing else happened.’
“I was so hurt and humiliated, I didn’t want to hear his excuses.
“‘It’ll never happen again,’ he insisted as he followed me.
“And with that, I turned around and punched him in the face.
“He looked shocked, but I was so angry I couldn’t contain myself.”
But the pair both said it was a one-off after Wayne had broken down to Sarah about coping with Lindsey’s struggles with alcoholism.
She forgave both of them and offered to ‘draw a line under it and move on’.
But roughly a month later Lindsey woke to find Wayne in the kitchen – he had packed his bags and was leaving.
“I’m sorry, but I’m leaving you,” he said. “I’ve found a flat and I’m moving out. We’re over.”
She begged him to stay but his mind was made up.
Wayne says he left, not because of another woman, but because he could no longer cope with her alcoholism.
Lindsey struggled to cope with the split and her drinking worsened. She ended up in hospital.
Sarah’s twin sister came to visit and had another bombshell for her.
“I’m so sorry I have to do this Lindsey,” she said. “But I’ve got to tell you.”
“Sarah and Wayne are together.”
Sarah insists that there was ‘no cross-over’ with the relationships and Wayne says it was six to 12 months before they got together after he moved out.
And Sarah also says her friendship with her sister had suffered before Lindsey split with Wayne due to Lindsey’s drinking.
Lindsey said: “Wayne leaving had been devastating enough.
“But the thought of him shacked up with my beloved big sister was too much to bear.
“And they hadn’t even had the guts to tell me themselves.
“I was in hospital for a week, and neither one of them tried to contact me to explain themselves or apologise.
“I tried to call Wayne, but he ignored me.
“By the time I came home I didn’t want to see either of them. My heartache had turned to anger as the awful truth sank in.
“When I saw a picture of them together at a family event it was like they were taunting me.
“Wayne filed for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour.
“I haven’t seen him since, and I’ve only seen Sarah once when Sue arranged an afternoon at Mum’s house.
“When I saw Sarah there I wanted to rip her throat out, I couldn’t even stand being in the same room as her.”
Sarah asked her sister if she was okay and Lindsey responded bluntly: “Not really.”
And it’s the betrayal of her sister which hurts Lindsey the most.
