Andrea Gunning

Some people in their community just didn't believe that Danielle was in the dark about her husband's double life.

Around town, she's noticed that people don't smile and wave as much as they used to.

She's had to reckon with blaming herself for not knowing who her husband actually was and what he was really doing all those nights he claimed to be in the basement working.

As part of her healing process, she's learned about people like Chad and the tactics they use.

Tactics that felt very familiar.

These kinds of things helped her understand how he had subtly manipulated her for so long, but that didn't ease the self-blame or the sense that she couldn't trust anyone around her or even herself.

Or is this just his presentation of who he says he is?

For Danielle, trusting the wrong person, building a life with them, left her all alone and a single parent.

She found work as an online English tutor.

And she built a business writing and selling knitting patterns.

After her divorce, she decided that she was done with romantic relationships.

But then she saw a post on Facebook from her high school boyfriend, Billy, the one who proposed to her 30 years ago.

They'd since drifted apart and hadn't talked in nearly a decade.

But in his post, she saw that his fiance had recently passed away.

So she reached out to lend support.

Danielle and Billy planned a FaceTime call where they would see each other for the first time in years.

After a few months of dating again, they got married, surrounded by their families at the Thanksgiving table.

We end all of our weekly episodes with the same question.

Why did you want to tell your story?

If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com.