Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that infidelity is the sole matter on which arguably the entire world’s opinions align — they deem it offensive, immoral, and downright cruel. This much is actually evidenced in Hulu’s ‘The Ashley Madison Affair,’ which lives up to its title by delving into the nefarious as well as notorious titular online dating platform for married individuals. Amongst those to thus feature here to help the narrative were victims of the same, including Stefany Phillips, whose husband’s infidelity turned her whole world upside down in more ways than one.
Who is Stefany Phillips?
It was back in early 2006 when Stefany first came across Brad (last name not mentioned in favor of privacy), only for them to soon fall head over heels in love despite all their minor differences. The truth is he’d been married twice before and even had a son, yet she happily agreed to be his third wife around a year and a half later owing to the strong personal connection they shared. After all, she could’ve never imagined their union would crumble apart within a decade despite them having welcomed an adorable daughter in 2009 as well as built a good home in the suburbs.
“I was very unhappy in my marriage,” Stefany once penned on the Divorced Moms blog. “Miserable is another word that could be used to describe how I felt. I was so unhappy that my unhappiness consumed me 24/7. I would spend all my time trying to convince myself that no, I hadn’t fallen out of love with my husband; it was just a rough patch that all marriages go through. I would lie in bed every night telling myself that in 13 years when my daughter would turn 18 that I could finally leave and be happy.”
She then candidly continued, “My husband and I had talked about getting a divorce a couple of times and inevitably I would chicken out… The reason was that I had so much guilt about ripping our family apart and having to tell my daughter that the reason she has two homes is because Mommy was bored. I had also helped raise my stepson from the age of 4-12, and he was at the age that our divorce would really impact him and not in a good way. He and I had a great relationship and both loved each other. My husband and I tried marriage counseling, but that didn’t help either.”
Therefore, even though Stefany felt something was wrong once Brad allegedly started having long days at work and spent weekends with a friend he rarely spoke to, she didn’t dwell too much on it. That is, until December 27, 2014, mere hours after the couple had a long overdue heart to heart resulting in them deciding they’d give their union one final shot before leaving for good. This is because while he was at the grocery store picking up some ingredients for dinner, she got a call from an unknown woman claiming she’d been having an affair with him for the past 18 months.
As per Stephanie’s account, her mouth automatically went “dry. I feel like I had just put a handful of cotton balls in my mouth. My heart is racing a mile a minute, and I start to sweat. ‘Ok,’ I say. And she proceeds to tell me she would come over while I was at work and her and my husband would have sex in my bed. When I went out of town to attend my Aunt’s funeral, she stayed at my house. When I went to spend a week with my sister in California, she was at my house. She even told me he took our daughter to a park and met her and her daughter there. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
It thus comes as no surprise there was a shouting match as soon as Brad returned home, just for Stefany to kick him out by night since he’d actually met his mistress through Ashley Madison. Then there was the fact the latter had shown up at her doorstep and later called for love advice — the reason she’d come forward was Brad calling it quits in an effort to make the marriage work. But alas, the infidelity was too much; Stefany sold her wedding ring within five days to pay for a divorce attorney, and it was finalized on April 24, 2015.
Where is Stefany Phillips Now?
Stefany admittedly had a lot of rage inside her following this incident, which even had her slapping her ex-partner during a private meeting to discuss their assets as well as divorce proceedings. Hence, in December 2015, she began going to therapy and is now in such a position that she can not only be in Brad’s company without any issues but can actually talk to him in a friendly manner despite him still being with the other woman. She has healed in a way she never expected was possible, and she credits these sessions, TED talks, self-help books, hiking, and, most importantly, her friends for the same.
“I wish my ex the best and I truly mean that,” Stefany once said. “Although I wish he’d never had an affair; it got me out of a marriage I so desperately needed to leave.” Coming to her own personal standing at the moment, from what we can tell, the singleton has since moved out of her marital home too, plus she has also taken back her maiden name. So, it’s under Stefany Phillips that the Seatle, Washington, resident now serves as a Lead Strategic Account Solutions Consultant at Mindbody to provide for her growing daughter and two dogs. She hence specializes as a mentor in advanced project management, collaborative problem-solving, dynamic communication, relationship building, as well as retention strategies.
Read More: Is Ashley Madison Still Active? How Much Does it Cost?
