Life was hard when I was with him

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THEY were still husband and wife in name.

But Mona told The New Paper in a phone interview on Wednesday that she had considered their marriage over since early 2009.

Like him, she too claimed she had caught him cheating on her many times before they were married and even after that.

And she claimed that she, too, had tried to break up with him, but each time he would beg for her forgiveness and she would relent - because of their children.

But, she alleged, he was an irresponsible husband and father who failed to provide for them financially.

She claimed: "Life was really hard when I was with him.

"He kept changing jobs and didn't give me money."

After she gave birth to their second child in early 2009, she decided that their relationship was over as she did not believe that he would turn over a new leaf.

She stopped sharing a bed with him and, according to her, they both agreed they could start seeing other people.

She denied two-timing him when they were dating.

She said she only casually dated one man after she and Vincent started leading separate lives after their informal agreement.

The only other relationship she has had with a man outside her marriage is with a Caucasian man in his 30s, she said.

They started seeing each other in April 2010 and plan to get married in January next year.

She expects her divorce to be finalised at the end of this month.

She said Vincent knew about this relationship and was jealous of the man.

"I introduced my children to my boyfriend and he (Vincent) couldn't accept it because my son liked to talk about my boyfriend and how nice he was," she said.

Mona claimed that Vincent threw away the toys her lover bought for their son.

She believes it was due to this that he flew into a violent rage when he saw photos of her with her lover.

She claimed he could not accept that she had moved on.

"He kept calling my boyfriend to ask him to leave me," she added.

She claimed that the photos and video clip taken by her son were shot by accident.

Playing

She and her lover had taken the children on an outing that day and she was showering after they got back to his apartment.

"(My son) started playing with the camera... and when I saw him shooting me while I was showering, I shouted at him to go out," she said.

Her lover then took the camera away from the boy.

Child psychiatrist Brian Yeo said a child caught in such a situation could end up confused about his parental figure, especially in an extra-marital relationship.

Said Dr Yeo: "The child can see the man and his mother having a very intimate relationship and may have been told to keep it a secret from his father.

"The child may not be comfortable doing that."