Cheating copper changed my life

Linda thought her marriage of 17 years was secure. Husband Ralph was an inspector in the police where she also worked as a photographer and they had two gorgeous daughters.
Ralph was away a lot with his work. He told her he’d been specially trained in surveillance, which took him overseas to chase triads in Hong Kong, Yardies in Jamaica and terrorists in Morocco. Each time Linda and the girls would tearfully wave him off at the station. He’d miss important dates but would always phone and text and Linda would welcome him home with specially cooked meals and celebrations.

But even though Ralph worked so hard the family was always hard up, never had the money for foreign holidays and treats.
Then one night she had a phone call. A woman wanted to meet with her, it was about Ralph.
Linda met her at a wine bar and the woman explained that she'd been having an affair with Ralph for years. Those overseas jobs had been a lie, he’d been taking her and other women on holiday. There had never been any Yardies, Triads or terrorists, he’d been sunning himself with his girlfriends.
Now Ralph had dumped her for another woman and she'd told him that she was going to see Linda to tell her everything.
Linda was in shock, but she believed the woman, she knew every detail about Ralph. She tried to ring, knew he was due home later that day, but he ignored her calls and never returned home.
Eventually, five days later, Ralph returned home to pick up a few things. He was going straight back to his latest mistress. He readily admitted everything but seemed more annoyed that his perfect life had been found out.
Linda's life was in tatters. She’d lost her husband of 17 years, and her job as she couldn’t carry on at work, then the house was on the line too.
The couple divorced on the grounds of his adultery and Linda hit rock bottom.
But her teenage daughters weren’t going to watch their mum sink. They decided they should all have a fresh start. They’d seen a programme about Scotland and it looked beautiful. So they drove from London home to Inverness.
It was their fresh start and they changed their names by deed poll – the girls chose the new one. Their home is a short walk from the sea and they can see the mountains out of their windows.
All have thrived in their new home. Ralph left the police and moved to Malaysia. The two girls visited him 18 months ago to try to make their peace, although they’ll never forgive him.
Linda, who’s 52, said: “Our family went without so Ralph could live the high life with his mistresses. I hit rock bottom but thanks to the girls we’ve ended up far happier than we ever were before.”