Lucy | Betrayal Weekly

After Lucy and her husband built a life most people only dream of, a confession unravels it all in an instant. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal team by emailing us at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. You can also find us on Instagram at @betrayalpod https://www.instagram.com/betrayalpod/ and @glasspodcasts https://www.instagram.com/glasspodcasts/. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com. If you are currently in crisis, please reach out to organizations that offer immediate support. We are including a few US-based resources here: 988 Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/ If you or someone you know is in crisis or need to talk to someone immediately, please call or text 988 – the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline available 24/7/365. National Domestic Violence Hotline https://www.thehotline.org/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=domestic_violence. They offer 24/7 phone and chat support to help you create a personalized safety plan and connect you with local support. For resources on sexual violence, visit rainn.org/betrayal. You can also get free, confidential, 24/7 support through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Text HOPE to 64673 or call 1-800-656-HOPE. Every state has a domestic violence coalition. If you’re looking for help in the US, search the web for your state’s domestic violence coalition. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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  I don't know this person. What I had in my mind is not true. He's not the person I thought he was. I had no idea what he was capable of doing.

• 3:24Speaker 00

  I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

• 3:34Speaker 00

  Really quick before we get into the episode, I have a small favor to ask you. If you're enjoying listening to Betrayal, please take a second to hit the follow button on your podcast app, and please rate and review. We read all the comments, and your voices help our show improve and evolve. I really mean it when I say thank you for listening and helping us grow. Also, if you want behind-the-scenes content or resources, follow @betrayalpod on Instagram, or follow me at @it'sandreaegunning. All right, on to the show.

• 4:11Speaker 00

  Today, we're sharing the story of a woman we're going to call Lucy. She grew up in Puerto Rico with her parents and siblings.

• 4:19Speaker 05

  Puerto Rico is an amazing place. People are super friendly. It's like everybody's family, and you feel absolutely welcomed.

• 4:30Speaker 00

  Lucy grew up with three brothers, and they were really close.

• 4:34Speaker 05

  I really tried to be up to their standards in terms of sports, so I had to run and play basketball and play baseball and things like that.

• 4:46Speaker 00

  Lucy is tall and strikingly beautiful. When she was 15 years old, she started modeling.

• 4:53Speaker 05

  Runways, commercials, TV. But you know, I always kept this part of my life a secondary thing.

• 5:02Speaker 00

  School was her top priority.

• 5:05Speaker 05

  I always had very high standards and I accomplished them. I graduated almost four point average in high school.

• 5:14Speaker 00

  She excelled in college as well. After graduating, she built a successful career in the media industry. Her twenties and thirties were full of adventure.

• 5:24Speaker 05

  I met a lot of very interesting people. I used to travel a lot. I've been lucky, one of the lucky ones.

• 5:33Speaker 00

  In her mid thirties, Lucy was in a long-term relationship. She and her boyfriend had been dating for eight years. One night, Lucy was out at a party when a friend of hers came over and told her that a guy at the party kept asking about her. His name was Ellie.

• 5:51Speaker 05

  I was going out with somebody else. So it was not in my radar to look at other people. But evidently, he asked about me and he told my friend, "I'm gonna end up with this girl."

• 6:06Speaker 00

  Ellie was bold to be announcing his crush on her. After all, Lucy was dating someone, and Ellie was too.

• 6:13Speaker 05

  He was the boyfriend of my girlfriend, and I always thought they were gonna get married.

• 6:18Speaker 00

  But she kept seeing Ellie around. And over time, he became a friendly face in the crowd. She always had fun talking to him. She learned that he had moved to Puerto Rico for work.

• 6:31Speaker 05

  Puerto Rico is small. So we would see each other like in a restaurant or in a party. But nothing so intimate.

• 6:40Speaker 00

  Eventually, Lucy and her long-term boyfriend broke up. And at the age of 35, she was single again for the first time in nearly a decade.

• 6:52Speaker 00

  One night, she went out to dinner with some friends at a Mediterranean restaurant.

• 6:57Speaker 05

  And when I got in, the first person I see is Ellie. And he stopped me and he said, "Oh, hi."

• 7:06Speaker 00

  He asked about her boyfriend, and she told him that they had just broken up.

• 7:10Speaker 05

  And I asked him, "And how's your girlfriend?" And he told me that they broke up. And I said, "Oh, my God, I can't believe this. We have to cry in each other's shoulder." And he said, "Yes," and he asked me for my phone number.

• 7:27Speaker 00

  After that night, Ellie called Lucy. Talking to him was fun and refreshing. He started calling her more often. And soon, he couldn't hide his feelings for her anymore, and he asked her on a date.

• 7:40Speaker 05

  And since it was recent that I have split with my boyfriend of eight years, I told him, "Listen, I'm not ready now. It's too soon."

• 7:52Speaker 00

  After her breakup, she was focused on herself, so they stayed friends. But over time, Lucy's feelings for Ellie grew.

• 8:01Speaker 05

  He was so smart, and he really attracted me to him a lot. I could listen to him talk for hours, and I was fascinated.

• 8:12Speaker 00

  And Ellie kept pursuing her, asking her out to dinner.

• 8:17Speaker 05

  He would call me and call me and call me.

• 8:19Speaker 00

  Eventually, she agreed, and they went out on their first date.

• 8:26Speaker 05

  I couldn't believe how amazing this guy was. I really liked him, and I was like, I started looking at him in another way.

• 8:34Speaker 00

  Ellie was a romantic. He pulled out all the stops to show Lucy how much he liked her. And it didn't hurt that he made a lot of money. He had a lucrative job in the oil and gas industry and could afford to spoil Lucy.

• 8:48Speaker 05

  He would send me flowers constantly. He would call me all the time. He would pick me up, and he would be dressed super nice and smell super good.

• 8:58Speaker 00

  She was having so much fun.

• 9:01Speaker 05

  He would take me to this wonderful restaurant. And I would go to the hotel and I would have flowers waiting for me and a bottle of champagne.

• 9:09Speaker 00

  They made their relationship official.

• 9:12Speaker 05

  At the beginning, I just let everything flow and, you know, enjoy myself. But then I realized, I admire him so much. This man is so smart, so well-versed. He was fascinating. He spoke four languages. He was well-read. He was really a very special guy for me.

• 9:37Speaker 00

  The feeling was mutual. Ellie admired Lucy's intelligence, ambition, and told her all the time how beautiful she was.

• 9:45Speaker 05

  He would call all his friends to tell them, no, I'm with this girl and I love her. He was really, really in love.

• 9:54Speaker 00

  They made a great pair. Over time, their relationship became more serious. They were both hoping to start a family soon, and they talked about their future together often. Then, when winter came around, and they'd been dating for a year, Ellie took a trip to New York for work and invited Lucia to come.

• 10:15Speaker 05

  We went out to dinner, to this beautiful restaurant, and then he said, "Okay, let's just go around the carriage in Central Park."

• 10:24Speaker 00

  So they booked a carriage tour and rode through Central Park together.

• 10:27Speaker 05

  It was beautiful. It was a beautiful night.

• 10:32Speaker 00

  Lucy looked out at the city lights, taking it all in. When she turned back to Ellie, he was down on one knee.

• 10:40Speaker 05

  Asking me to marry him. Oh my God. It was so perfect. It was really charming and so unexpected and really magical.

• 10:53Speaker 00

  Back in Puerto Rico, Lucy and Ellie moved in together. And seven months later, they got married.

• 10:59Speaker 05

  In this beautiful hotel in Puerto Rico, we really had a good time.

• 11:04Speaker 00

  After two years of marriage, they were ready to have kids.

• 11:08Speaker 05

  I got pregnant when I was 39. It was so wanted, and it turned out a beautiful experience.

• 11:16Speaker 00

  Lucy decided to put her career on hold and spend as much time as possible with her son.

• 11:22Speaker 05

  I never imagined I was gonna be a housewife, and I loved it.

• 11:28Speaker 05

  At that stage in my life, I had already traveled, I had partied, I had had fun. You know, I was ready.

• 11:37Speaker 00

  Ellie worked hard to provide for their family.

• 11:40Speaker 05

  He worked for a oil company. And the company was in Puerto Rico. He didn't like to live in Puerto Rico. He never got too used to our culture. We're a little relaxed. He's a little more A-type. He really wanted to move to the States. That's where he felt comfortable.

• 12:02Speaker 00

  As time went on, Ellie started having more and more success at work.

• 12:07Speaker 05

  He started buying properties with business partners. And he also had a gas company. So he started being very successful.

• 12:17Speaker 00

  They were happy, but Ellie dreamed of moving somewhere new. And when their first child was a year old, the timing was finally right. Ellie could work remotely and Lucy was up for the adventure. So they moved their life from Puerto Rico to the continental United States. Lucy didn't know what to expect. When they got there, she found herself immersed in a whole new world.

• 12:43Speaker 05

  It was a kind of a high-class community, which I didn't know when I bought the house, how prestigious was the place I was living.

• 12:54Speaker 00

  They moved to a gated waterfront community. We're not naming this community for Lucy's privacy, but it was an exclusive island where every street was lined with beautiful mansions. Many of the estates had their own pool or yacht. Suddenly, they had attained another level of wealth and luxury, and Lucy wouldn't have to work again.

• 13:16Speaker 05

  We had a huge house, beautiful house.

• 13:19Speaker 00

  After a few years in the States, they welcomed their second child, a daughter.

• 13:25Speaker 05

  And it was a wonderful pregnancy. I'm 43 years old. Remember, I grew up with boys only. So having a girl was fantastic. Ellie was still administrating the oil company in Puerto Rico, but he was investing in real estate. And he kept on doing very well. With time, he did better and better and better.

• 13:50Speaker 00

  Within their marriage, Lucy and Ellie each had their own domain. Ellie handled work and money, and Lucy handled their kids, the house, and their family's needs. They gave each other full rein to handle their side of things, and their system was a well-oiled machine.

• 14:08Speaker 05

  He would work. I would do the rest. Everything else regarding my children, regarding the house, he just said how much, and he would pay for it.

• 14:19Speaker 00

  They gave each other a lot of space and trusted each other deeply.

• 14:24Speaker 05

  I was so respectful of his space and his things. I really never knew how much money he had. I never knew all his businesses, just in general, but not details.

• 14:38Speaker 00

  Lucy didn't need to know the details to see the big picture. They were very lucky.

• 14:45Speaker 00

  They'd been happily married for 20 years, and their kids were teenagers now. They traveled together often and gave their kids everything they could dream of.

• 14:56Speaker 05

  Our lifestyle was so wonderful, and I was thinking, I have so much more than what I need. We traveled a lot. We ended up buying a beach house. We decided for many years to spend Christmas in Paris with the kids. We were happy, you know? We were happy. There was no reason for me to think that things were going to end up the way they did.

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• 16:42Speaker 00

  Lucy and her husband Ellie built an impressive life together. They lived in a beautiful house, had two kids and traveled often. They had everything they needed and more.

• 16:54Speaker 05

  Our lifestyle was so wonderful. And every time we traveled, we had fun. We would laugh and it was good. We were happy, you know, we were happy.

• 17:06Speaker 00

  For 20 years, their marriage was a dream. But when Ellie turned 60, Lucy started noticing some changes in him.

• 17:15Speaker 00

  He grew emotionally distant.

• 17:17Speaker 05

  I was more touchy feely than he was. He started not having any intimacy with me. I was always very much into looking good. I tried to keep being attractive to him, but there was no reaction from him.

• 17:34Speaker 00

  And on top of that, he started dressing differently.

• 17:39Speaker 05

  My husband was a very, very classy man. He would always be very well dressed, but very appropriate for his age. When he turned 60, I started noticing that he started dressing like a young guy. He would wear like skinny jeans and he started wearing bracelets. And I was like, what the hell? What's wrong with you? You look like an old man in teenagers clothes. And I asked him, are you seeing somebody else? Because this is too strange. And he would say, no, you're crazy.

• 18:16Speaker 00

  She took his word for it. Their mutual trust was an essential part of their relationship.

• 18:22Speaker 05

  I had no reasons to doubt. I respected him so much, I never went through his phone. I never went through his wallet.

• 18:29Speaker 00

  She chalked it all up to a midlife crisis. But over time, Ellie went from being distant to being cruel. One day, Lucy and Ellie got into an argument.

• 18:41Speaker 05

  And he said, you know something? You are not necessary. You are convenient. I went to the room and I started crying and didn't say anything. And he realized what stupid thing he said. And he started sending me flowers and saying how important I am.

• 19:02Speaker 00

  But Lucy couldn't get his words out of her head. Every year, Lucy and her friends went on a girls' trip.

• 19:09Speaker 05

  We would go to Europe or New York or different places, just for a week or something like that. We went to Spain and then we ended up in Turkey.

• 19:20Speaker 00

  While on her girls' trip, she called Ellie to check in. But when he picked up the phone, he was crying.

• 19:28Speaker 05

  And I said, what happened? He used to have a Bentley. And he said, I went to the mall to have a business lunch. And when I came back to pick up my car, it was scratched from head to toe. And I said, what?

• 19:46Speaker 00

  Lucy was confused. Why would that happen? And why was he in tears over this?

• 19:53Speaker 05

  Especially the mall that he went, it was a very high-end mall that had cameras and security all over. I said, how could this happen? He said, no, but don't worry, I'm gonna send it to be fixed.

• 20:07Speaker 00

  Lucy wasn't ready to just accept this and move on. It was too strange. Keying someone's car was personal.

• 20:16Speaker 05

  Who did this? Who could have done this? And he said, I don't know. This is just vandalism.

• 20:25Speaker 00

  Even though he'd been so emotional on the phone, Ellie insisted that this wasn't targeted at them specifically. Lucy wasn't convinced, but she tried to enjoy the rest of her trip with her friends.

• 20:39Speaker 05

  When I came back from my trip, I noticed he was very nervous. And the first night, I received a call at 3 o'clock in the morning.

• 20:51Speaker 00

  Lucy woke up in the darkness to her phone ringing. When she picked up, there was silence.

• 20:58Speaker 05

  And they hung up.

• 21:00Speaker 00

  Lucy looked at Ellie, sitting in bed next to her.

• 21:04Speaker 05

  And he was very nervous. And I was like, what's going on? And he said, no, no, that must be a wrong number.

• 21:12Speaker 00

  Her normally calm and collected husband of 20 years seemed a little rattled.

• 21:20Speaker 00

  The following day, one of their close friends came over for dinner. They shared a nice meal, good conversation, and everything felt normal. But then, just when their friend was about to head home, Ellie stopped him.

• 21:33Speaker 05

  He tells him, please don't leave. She's gonna need you. And he tells me, sit down.

• 21:41Speaker 00

  Confused, Lucy sat down and her friend sat next to her. They both looked at Ellie, waiting for an explanation. He stood nervously in front of them.

• 21:51Speaker 05

  And he said, I have been kidnapped. And I said, what? By who? What happened?

• 22:00Speaker 00

  All of a sudden, their living room became Ellie's confessional.

• 22:04Speaker 05

  I have been dating women from sugardaddy.com.

• 22:11Speaker 05

  I have dated a few women. I would see them at lunchtime, two days a week. But for the last six months, I have been closer to this Russian woman, Anna. And she's married.

• 22:32Speaker 05

  She has a three-year-old baby. Her husband knows that she's an escort. He manages her.

• 22:42Speaker 00

  Ellie would meet Anna in different places. Sometimes in hotel rooms, sometimes at one of his rental properties. But one day, things took a turn.

• 22:53Speaker 05

  Anna told Ellie to meet her in an apartment that Ellie owned. When Ellie goes to the apartment, he thought he was going to be in a rendezvous with Anna. When he goes there, who's in the apartment? Anna's husband.

• 23:12Speaker 00

  Ellie told Lucy how shocked he was in that moment. But he said there was no time for him to react. Once Ellie was inside, Anna's husband closed the door and took out a steel pipe, threatening to hurt Ellie.

• 23:26Speaker 05

  He wanted Ellie to see that he was serious. He told Ellie, "Take off your clothes." So he got naked. He sat him in a sofa and he started breaking things in the apartment.

• 23:46Speaker 00

  Anna and her husband had been struggling financially. And they knew how wealthy Ellie was. So they devised a plan to extort him. They planted cameras in the hotel rooms and rental properties where Ellie and Anna met. And they filmed them having sex to use as blackmail.

• 24:04Speaker 05

  Anna's husband would put the camera in front of the bed and tell her, "This is where the camera is. This is where you have to concentrate." And then he would record everything.

• 24:17Speaker 00

  Now Anna and her husband were threatening to release these tapes if Ellie did not comply with their demands.

• 24:24Speaker 05

  "You have to give me $1 million, cash. And you have to put under my wife's name two apartments in a specific building."

• 24:35Speaker 00

  And if he didn't...

• 24:36Speaker 05

  "I'm going to tell your wife. And everybody, I'm going to ruin your reputation." And for Ellie, his reputation was everything.

• 24:48Speaker 00

  If his reputation wasn't enough, Anna and her husband had more collateral.

• 24:55Speaker 05

  Anna's husband showed Ellie pictures of my children, pictures of my house, pictures of me, pictures of the cars, pictures of the school my children went. They knew everything. They implied there were gonna be consequences. Something's gonna happen to your family.

• 25:14Speaker 00

  Anna's husband held Ellie in the apartment for a few hours to make it clear he was serious. Finally, he left and Ellie was free to go. Ellie explained all of this in one go to Lucy.

• 25:29Speaker 05

  I didn't know how to react. This was like from a movie. But it was happening. That day, my life collapsed.

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• 26:26Speaker 07

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• 26:55Speaker 00

  Lucy's husband Ellie sat her down and told her he needed to confess something. She never could have predicted what came out of his mouth next.

• 27:05Speaker 05

  That day, my life collapsed.

• 27:10Speaker 00

  She thought her husband of 20 years was an honest and loyal man. She saw no indications otherwise, until Ellie was forced to tell her the truth. For years, he'd been meeting women from a sugar daddy website. For the past few months, he'd been seeing one woman regularly. That was until she and her husband devised a plan to blackmail and extort Ellie, threatening Lucy and their children's safety if Ellie didn't give them what they wanted, which was a million dollars in cash and the deed to two real estate properties.

• 27:45Speaker 05

  It was such a shock. My world crashed and I didn't know who to call. I didn't know who to talk to. I didn't know what to do.

• 27:55Speaker 00

  Her immediate reaction was to make sure the kids were safe.

• 27:59Speaker 05

  There was a clear sign they were watching us. We didn't know with whom we were dealing with because we don't know the associates they have.

• 28:06Speaker 00

  Ellie came clean about the time someone keyed his Bentley. It wasn't a random act of vandalism, and he'd known it.

• 28:16Speaker 05

  Evidently, that was Anna's husband and his friends.

• 28:21Speaker 00

  That call she'd gotten in the middle of the night had also been from Anna's husband. They had all sorts of information on Lucy and her family. Their phone numbers, license plates, their address. Anna and her husband had also sent someone to take photos of Lucy's kids and her. It was terrifying. Anna and her husband were three steps ahead, and Lucy was scared of what they might do next. She had to think fast and went into solution mode. All the while, Ellie seemed to shrink.

• 28:54Speaker 05

  He was super scared. He has always been a coward.

• 28:58Speaker 00

  Lucy wanted protection right away, so she hired a private security detail.

• 29:03Speaker 05

  I had an armed guard for 24 hours in the front of my house. And this is very unusual where I live. Just imagine the shock on my children.

• 29:13Speaker 00

  What Anna and her husband were doing was a crime. It was extortion. Despite how angry Lucy was, she worked with Ellie as a team. She told Ellie he needed to go to the police and report the crime.

• 29:26Speaker 05

  And he contacted the FBI. So the FBI took the case.

• 29:32Speaker 00

  The FBI needed proof of the extortion, so they planned to record a phone call with Ellie, Anna, and her husband.

• 29:40Speaker 05

  And the FBI told them, "Make him believe that you're going to comply with what they want. We're going to record this and then we're going to arrest them."

• 29:50Speaker 00

  The call went off without a hitch. Anna's husband gave the FBI exactly what they needed.

• 29:56Speaker 05

  He said, "You know, I'm going to give you a break. Just give me the million dollars and you don't have to give me the two apartments because I want the money right now." So they have that on tape. So they sent SWAT to their apartment and they got them, both of them, and their computers. They had all the evidence.

• 30:17Speaker 00

  Authorities were able to charge Anna and her husband with a federal crime.

• 30:21Speaker 05

  They charged him with extortion. Both of them went to jail.

• 30:26Speaker 00

  Since her husband's confession, Lucy had been in fight or flight, terrified for her children's safety. Finally, it seemed like the threat was neutralized. She thought that once Anna and her husband were in jail, Ellie would apologize for what he'd done and make amends with the family. But Ellie shut down.

• 30:47Speaker 05

  I really tried and he's like talking to a wall. He would never, ever explain himself, talk about feelings, talk about anything, zero. He never asked about me, how I felt. He never said, "I'm sorry." He portrayed himself as the victim. He told me, "I am the victim of extortion. I'm the victim." He thought I was going to just ignore the situation and keep on being married like nothing happened.

• 31:23Speaker 00

  But the fact that he didn't seem to care about what he'd put the family through was what alarmed Lucy the most.

• 31:30Speaker 05

  How can you live with yourself knowing that you crushed the people that love you the most and portray yourself as a victim after you have caused so much damage?

• 31:43Speaker 00

  As the shock of it all wore off, a new feeling emerged in its place: betrayal. Who was this man she'd built a life with? Was anything he told her true?

• 31:55Speaker 05

  I started questioning many, many things. I felt like lived a lie and I don't know who his true self was. When this happened, I think that was the most difficult thing to deal with: the betrayal of knowing that I don't know this person, that what I had in my mind is not true. He's not the person I thought he was. Absolutely, he's not.

• 32:23Speaker 00

  Ellie had been meeting women from sugardaddy.com for years. After every meetup, he'd return to their home, sit down at dinner with their kids, and lie about where he'd been.

• 32:35Speaker 05

  It's not like I'm talking about five years. Twenty-one years of being fooled.

• 32:42Speaker 05

  He lived a facade.

• 32:45Speaker 00

  Lucy realized that Anna and her husband weren't the only threat to her safety. It was also Ellie.

• 32:53Speaker 05

  I had no idea what he was capable of doing. The betrayal was too much, too deep. It was hell.

• 33:02Speaker 05

  I went through the motions of living. That's it.

• 33:07Speaker 05

  I could hardly survive. I was just an entity, walking around.

• 33:11Speaker 00

  She emotionally disconnected from Ellie. For weeks, he tried to win her back with grand gestures, the kind he'd made at the beginning of their relationship.

• 33:21Speaker 05

  He promised me, "I'll buy you an apartment in Madrid. Let's move, let's do..." He promised me the world.

• 33:28Speaker 00

  But all the money in the world wouldn't fix it. Lucy couldn't be bought. It was too late.

• 33:36Speaker 00

  There was no coming back from this.

• 33:39Speaker 05

  I kicked him out of the house. For him, it was a shock that I left him. He never thought I was gonna leave.

• 33:50Speaker 00

  Then Lucy filed for divorce. When Ellie saw that she was serious about leaving, it was like a switch flipped. She saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice.

• 34:03Speaker 05

  He thought, "I'm gonna destroy this woman because she left me. I'm losing her, but I'm gonna destroy her in the process."

• 34:11Speaker 00

  After she filed for divorce, Ellie became vicious.

• 34:14Speaker 05

  He started being super mean to me, and he would blame me on everything. He declared war.

• 34:22Speaker 00

  The man who promised her the world just a few weeks earlier began berating and insulting Lucy every chance he got. He told her...

• 34:31Speaker 05

  "I don't even love you. If you were the last woman that existed in the world, I wouldn't even get close to you. That's how much I dislike you."

• 34:38Speaker 00

  Lucy thought his cruel remarks were as low as he would go, but he was about to take his retaliation a step further.

• 34:48Speaker 00

  One day, they got into an argument on Lucy's front lawn. Ellie was escalating, becoming increasingly agitated and getting in her personal space.

• 35:01Speaker 05

  And he started talking to me with his finger in my face. And I pushed him because he was on my face. He said, "You want to play with me? You're gonna see what suffering is." He called 911 and 911 came. They arrested me for domestic violence.

• 35:21Speaker 00

  Lucy remembers this moment vividly. Ellie watched unfazed as she was being handcuffed.

• 35:27Speaker 05

  They took me to jail. I was in jail for three days, two nights in jail. It was unbelievable.

• 35:35Speaker 00

  Surrounded by strangers, she was too anxious to eat or even use the bathroom. She waited there until a friend was able to bail her out. Lucy has since gotten the domestic violence charge expunged.

• 35:50Speaker 05

  Narcissists, I think that they enjoy making you suffer because it makes them feel better. It makes them feel superior. It makes them feel in control.

• 36:01Speaker 00

  It was easy for him to pose as the victim and paint her as the villain. And he made it clear he was willing to do it again. A few months later, it was time for Anna and her husband's sentencing hearing. Lucy wanted to attend the hearing. She wrote a victim impact statement.

• 36:20Speaker 05

  I prepared a statement explaining everything that has happened and how it has affected my children.

• 36:26Speaker 00

  But Ellie told her she wasn't allowed to go to the hearing. If she showed up there, he said he'd have her arrested again.

• 36:34Speaker 05

  And since I was in jail not too long before, I just believed him because he was so convincing.

• 36:42Speaker 00

  Ellie was doing whatever he could to control the situation and keep Lucy in the dark. Not only did he intimidate Lucy out of attending the hearing, Ellie didn't attend either. He never went to present his testimony, and he was the only witness.

• 37:00Speaker 05

  He's a coward. He didn't want anything on record. Because when you go to a court, everything is transcribed. So the judge never knew exactly what happened. They just said in general, but nothing like the tragedy and all the implications, the threatening, the impact on me and my kids. The judge never heard that. He didn't advocate for his family, for us. His reputation was more important. He didn't want anybody to hear what he did.

• 37:34Speaker 00

  He couldn't face the shame of it. Because Ellie wasn't there, the judge was very lenient with the sentencing. Anna's husband was sentenced to 15 months in jail, and Anna was only given five. As for Lucy, she endured a much longer sentence, trying to put the pieces of her life back together after Ellie's betrayal.

• 38:01Speaker 05

  I was a mess. I barely could move for a year and a half. I was in bed crying, crying, crying. I would cry for days. I don't even remember many days. This guy destroyed my life such a way that he destroyed my soul.

• 38:22Speaker 00

  During their marriage, she and Ellie had cultivated a community of close friends. After his betrayal, she needed someone to turn to. But she'd stopped getting replies or calls back from friends. Then she found out that Ellie had been telling everyone a very different story about their divorce. One where Lucy was to blame.

• 38:47Speaker 05

  I would receive calls from friends that would say, "How could you be unfaithful to your husband like that?" And I'd say, "What? What are you talking about?" He started saying that I was unfaithful to him with a Russian guy. Just changed the story, making me the one that did everything he did. It was crazy.

• 39:06Speaker 00

  It was the definition of projection. But she couldn't stop the rumors. Many of their friends took Ellie's side, and she has a theory about why.

• 39:16Speaker 05

  Unfortunately, money talks. People respect people with money, even if they are the devil in disguise. People want to be close to success, to successful people, not to people that are destroyed or a mess. I was a mess.

• 39:38Speaker 05

  I took a few pills because I want to numb myself, not because I want to die. I wanted to numb myself, but maybe I took too many. I ended up in the hospital, in emergency, and they transferred me to a psychiatric hospital.

• 39:55Speaker 00

  The doctors asked Lucy what was going on at home.

• 40:00Speaker 05

  When I told the psychiatrist my story, she thought I was making it up. She told me, "You're delusional. What a story."

• 40:11Speaker 00

  Lucy stayed in the psychiatric hospital for a few days. Ellie brought their kids to visit her.

• 40:17Speaker 05

  He looked very calm and collected. He told my 19-year-old son, "Listen, I think you should leave alone because your mother is not well, so you shouldn't be with her." And he gave him an apartment. That was devastating. He took advantage of my vulnerability that he would talk about me like I was the crazy one. He keeps the financial control of everybody.

• 40:47Speaker 00

  It took five months for their divorce to be finalized.

• 40:51Speaker 05

  It cost him a fortune. It cost me my sanity.

• 40:57Speaker 00

  Looking back now, Lucy sees how wealth enabled Ellie.

• 41:01Speaker 05

  The more money you get, the more powerful you feel. He felt superior to everybody, and he's above everybody. He thought he was untouchable.

• 41:13Speaker 00

  It's been almost 10 years since she discovered Ellie's betrayal. Not a day goes by that she doesn't think about it.

• 41:20Speaker 05

  I'm not sure if I forgive him, but if I don't, it's okay. Because you don't have to forgive everybody. Especially somebody that has been so purposefully mean to you and your children. You know, he doesn't deserve forgiveness.

• 41:38Speaker 00

  The person she has forgiven is herself. She knows now that none of this was her fault. It took her a while to trust again, but when she did, it was worth it. A few years ago, she met someone new.

• 41:54Speaker 05

  He made me believe in life again. We got married in 2023. We're happily married and he's an amazing man. And he brings me joy every day.

• 42:07Speaker 00

  She's rebuilt a life that feels authentically hers.

• 42:10Speaker 05

  I just dedicate myself to what makes me happy. My two dogs are my life, my husband is my life, my children. I live a very quiet life. I love to read. I love to watch my Netflix. I just accept things for the way they are. I don't sweat little things. Finally, I'm at peace.

• 42:37Speaker 00

  We end every weekly episode with the same question. Why do you want to share your story?

• 42:44Speaker 05

  What happened to me was minimized by many people around me. And the hurt. But I think that my story was so extraordinary that it has to be heard. And you know something? In a way, I want validation. Because I have been strong. I went through hell for years. Not months, years.

• 43:10Speaker 05

  And I discovered that I'm stronger than I think.

• 43:16Speaker 00

  On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly.

• 43:21Speaker 00

  I remember everything. That man, for so long, had so much control over me. I cannot just stand by and do nothing.

• 43:33Speaker 00

  You will not get away with this.

• 43:45Speaker 00

  If you'd like to share your story on Betrayal, please email [email protected]. That is [email protected]. Please note that we are not a mental health organization. If you are in crisis or currently experiencing domestic violence, we encourage you to seek local help or dial 911. Please contact organizations that offer immediate support. In our show notes, we've included a list of US-based resources. You can follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod or find me at It's Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community,

• 44:28Speaker 00

  join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. Big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Olivia Hewitt. Our story editor is Monique LaBord. Also produced by Ben Fetterman. Our associate producer is Lea Jablow. Production management by Kristen Malchurie.

• 45:13Speaker 00

  Booking support by Curry Richmond. Our iHeart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krychek. Audio editing by Tanner Robbins with additional editing and mixing by Matt Albeckio. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MyMusic. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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