AITA for exposing my husband’s affair after I found out he was still in contact with his ex?

I (34F) married Richard (37M) five years ago. We had a beautiful wedding and what seemed like the perfect marriage. We both had strong careers, traveled together, and enjoyed a fulfilling relationship. But about a year ago, I started noticing things that felt off. Richard started being more secretive about his phone, and I noticed that he was always texting late at night.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then I found an email exchange between Richard and his ex-girlfriend, Claire (36F). They were talking about meeting up, and from what I read, they were planning a secret meeting when he was on a business trip. I was devastated. I confronted Richard, and he denied everything, saying it was just friendly communication and that I was overreacting. But I couldn’t ignore the signs.

I decided to investigate further and discovered that Richard had been secretly seeing Claire behind my back. He’d been meeting up with her whenever he had business trips, and they had even kissed during one of those encounters. I was crushed and heartbroken. I felt completely betrayed by someone I thought I could trust.

When I confronted Richard, he admitted to the affair but said he never intended for it to become something serious. He apologized, begged for my forgiveness, and promised to cut all ties with Claire. But I couldn’t let it go. I had to tell Claire’s husband, who had no idea what was going on. I confronted him, and he was equally devastated.

Now, Richard and I are separated, and Claire is facing the fallout with her own family. I feel like I did the right thing by exposing the affair, but some of my friends say I should have just forgiven Richard and kept it within the family.

So, AITA for exposing my husband’s affair after I found out he was still in contact with his ex?