Hello-
It’s hard to understand the was a ws will brainwash themselves with justifications, villainizing their spouse, rewriting marital history, etc until they believe it. It’s fundamental that we tend to take the unhappiness of our lives and instead of taking accountability those feelings and trying to rearrange things to where they are more manageable we transcend into the escapism of the affair rather than dealing with reality.
It’s also hard to understand the destruction limerance creates in both the ws and in their external lives. Limerance is an addiction to the happy chemicals your body releases in great quality -endorphins, adrenaline, etc created by the instability and secrecy of the affair.
And though there may not have been a physical affair being conducted, any contact with that AP continues the ability to escape. So in my mind he has only continued to conduct the affair since he has been home.
Basically, my opinion is he has stayed in the escapism and when he pokes his head up and doesn’t like what he sees, he is resistant to work within the confines of reality.
Because there has been no introspection or taking accountability of where he is at he continues to blame you. That resentment creates this false narrative that it’s you that needs to win him back and make it possible to fall in love with again.
This paradigm of course doesn’t work for someone who has been betrayed. It’s almost like him saying "I know I shot you and you are bleeding out in this table, but do you remember all the ways you used to scratch me?
I am unclear of why he came back—but I am guessing it was either she gave him the boot or there are financial/logistical reasons?
He wants you to evaluate the pre-a marriage as a way of saying "see no wonder it got so bad I cheated, can you show me you will do better?"
What are your viable options? What do you want?
[This message edited by hikingout at 6:21 PM, Friday, September 11th]