AITA for leaving my husband after I discovered he was cheating with my coworker for months?

I (31F) have been married to my husband, Liam (34M), for seven years. We met in college, shared similar goals, and got married two years after graduation. We have a son, Henry (5), and I thought our life was stable and happy. Liam always seemed loving and supportive—at least that’s what I believed.

I work from home running an online consulting business, while Liam works as a project manager at a tech company. Over the past year, I noticed subtle changes in him. He started coming home late more often, became secretive about his phone, and sometimes seemed distant, like his mind was elsewhere. I initially chalked it up to work stress, but a part of me felt uneasy.

Then, one day, I saw an email from a coworker on his laptop—just sitting there open while he went to the bathroom. I didn’t want to believe it, but curiosity got the better of me. The email chain revealed that Liam had been texting a colleague named Rachel (29F) for months, and the tone was intimate. At first, it was subtle—flirty jokes and comments—but soon escalated to overtly personal messages expressing attraction and desire to meet outside work hours.

My heart sank. I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe the man I loved and trusted was doing this behind my back. I confronted Liam immediately when he returned home. At first, he denied everything, claiming I had misread the messages. But when I showed him the emails and texts, his expression changed—he admitted that he had been having an affair with Rachel for the past six months.

He said it started as emotional support—she understood him at work—but it had turned into something physical. Liam apologized, begged me to forgive him, and promised he would end the affair immediately. But the betrayal cut too deep. This wasn’t just a moment of weakness—it was a prolonged betrayal, involving lies, deception, and emotional infidelity.

I was heartbroken and angry. I couldn’t trust him anymore, and I felt humiliated. Every time I looked at him, I imagined all the times he had lied, the secret messages he had sent, and the moments he had spent with her while pretending to love me. My self-esteem was shattered, and the thought of rebuilding trust seemed impossible.

Rachel, when confronted, claimed she didn’t mean for it to go this far and that Liam was the one who pursued her. Her casual dismissal made me even angrier—I couldn’t believe she had participated so willingly in betraying my family.

I spent weeks trying to decide what to do. I loved Liam, but I couldn’t live with constant doubt, betrayal, and humiliation. Eventually, I realized that staying in the marriage would only prolong the pain. I asked Liam to leave, filed for separation, and started rebuilding my life with my son.

Friends and family are divided. Some say I did the right thing—betrayal is unforgivable and trust once broken is hard to repair. Others argue that I should have tried therapy and worked through it for the sake of our child and the marriage.

Now, months later, I’m slowly healing, but the emotional scars remain. I question whether people can truly change and if forgiveness is possible after such prolonged deception.

So, AITA for leaving my husband after I discovered he was cheating with my coworker for months?