My Husband Told Me His Mistress Is More Important Than Our Children. He Didn’t Know I Was Recording The Whole Conversation. How Do I Make Sure He Never Sees Them Again?

That same morning, Jillian called me. She said staying at my friend’s house looked like I was abandoning the marital home, which could hurt my custody case.

Judges didn’t like it when one parent left the house with the kids because it looked like you were trying to keep them from the other parent, even if that parent didn’t care. She told me to move back home immediately and document everything that happened there instead.

I didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to see Lance or have the kids around Gloria again, but I understood the strategy. We packed up our things at Gwyneth’s house that afternoon and I drove us home.

Lance’s car was in the driveway when we pulled up, which surprised me because it was only 3:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I got the kids inside and started unpacking our bags while they went to their rooms.

Lance came downstairs around five, glanced at us like he’d barely noticed we’d been gone, and went to the kitchen to make coffee. He didn’t ask where we’d been or if the kids were okay; he just made his coffee and went back upstairs to his office.

That night around six, the doorbell rang. I answered it and Gloria walked in without waiting for an invitation, carrying a bag of takeout food.

Lance came down and kissed her right in front of me and the kids, then announced they’d brought dinner for everyone. I pulled out my phone and took timestamped photos of her in our house, of Lance kissing her in our entryway, and of the two of them setting up dinner like they owned the place.

I made sure the timestamps were clear and sent them to Jillian immediately. Dinner was worse than I expected.

Gloria sat at the table and immediately started watching how Mia ate, making little faces every time my daughter took a bite. Halfway through the meal, Gloria put down her fork and looked at Mia with a fake concerned expression.

She said Mia needed to work on her table manners, that the way she held her fork was wrong and she chewed too loudly. She actually said my 10-year-old daughter needed etiquette lessons like Mia was some kind of project that needed fixing.

Lance jumped in immediately, agreeing with everything Gloria said and nodding along like she was making perfect sense. He told Mia that Gloria was just trying to help her become more sophisticated and that she should be grateful for the attention.

I watched my daughter’s face crumble and saw her eyes fill with tears that she was trying so hard not to let fall. Mia put her fork down and stared at her plate, not eating anymore, just sitting there trying not to cry.

I smiled politely at Gloria and said something neutral about how every family has different styles, all while making mental notes of every single word for Jillian. I noted the time, what was said exactly, how Lance backed Gloria up without hesitation, and how Mia reacted.

I got the kids ready for bed, reading to Jake and tucking in Mia, making sure they felt safe even though I knew they didn’t. Once their doors were closed and I heard their breathing settle into sleep, I went back downstairs.

Lance was on the couch watching TV with Gloria curled up next to him. I stood in the doorway and told him clearly that Gloria was not welcome in our home anymore until we’d worked through our marriage problems.

I kept my voice calm and reasonable, exactly like Jillian had told me to do. Lance looked at me and laughed; he actually laughed like I’d told a joke.

He said there was nothing to work through because he was happy with Gloria and I needed to accept that she was part of our lives now. He said it so casually, like he was talking about the weather, like our marriage and our kids meant nothing.

Gloria smirked at me from the couch and Lance put his arm around her. I had my phone in my pocket recording everything, the microphone pointed toward them.

I let him talk, let him say everything about how Gloria made him happy and I just needed to get over it and accept the new reality. I recorded every word, then excused myself and went upstairs to email the audio file to Jillian before I went to bed.

The next day I drove to Jillian’s office with the recording on my phone. I sat in her conference room and played it for her, watching her face as she listened to Lance dismiss our marriage and tell me to accept his mistress.

When it finished, Jillian smiled. It was not a happy smile, but a satisfied one.

She said Lance was making our case for us by being so obvious about his priorities and so blatant about choosing Gloria over everything else. She told me to let him keep going, keep bringing Gloria around, and keep saying these things because every word and every action was evidence.

She said we should let him continue while we quietly built our case, gathering everything we needed to show a judge exactly who Lance had become. I felt relieved and angry at the same time; relieved that we were building a strong case, but angry that I had to document my husband destroying our family.

Jillian told me the therapy appointments with Curtis were perfect timing. Having a professional assess the kids would be powerful evidence of the damage Lance was causing.

Wednesday afternoon, I picked Mia up from school early and drove her to Curtis Walker’s office. The building was small and quiet, with a waiting room that had kids’ books and toys.

Curtis came out to meet us, a man in his 40s with kind eyes and a calm voice. He shook Mia’s hand and told her they were just going to talk and maybe draw some pictures, nothing scary or hard.

I waited in the lobby while they went into his office, checking my phone and trying not to worry. After 45 minutes, Curtis brought Mia back out.

She looked tired but okay, not upset. Curtis asked if he could speak with me privately for a moment, and I followed him back to his office while Mia waited with the receptionist.

He told me the session went well and that Mia had opened up about feeling replaced by Gloria and how her daddy didn’t pay attention to her anymore. He said she talked about how Gloria threw away her artwork and criticized everything she did, and how Lance always took Gloria’s side.

Curtis said the emotional neglect was clear and concerning, and he would be documenting everything carefully for potential court involvement. He asked me to bring Jake tomorrow and said he’d start building a complete picture of what these kids were going through.