Dating in Columbus: A Series: Episode 7: Catching a Cheater

Short intermission from my own personal dating experience to bring you an authentic Heidi catching a cheater in action story…

This is one of the craziest experiences as the likelihood of being in Vegas at the same time as a relative’s wife on vacay with her boyfriend is highly unlikely. (Read that again – relative’s wife on vacay with her boyfriend) It is also a reminder that if you are not doing what you should… someone is always watching 😉

Back in 2010, I spent a summer out in Las Vegas and the other half in Hawaii – between Kauai and Maui. I spent that summer writing my dissertation and figured that leaving Ohio for a summer was a good bet for writing and researching. 8 weeks off – 4 weeks in Vegas and 4 weeks in Hawaii. So, one may ask….how do you decide on Las Vegas and Hawaii?

I went out to Las Vegas as I had a friend out there who worked and planned to get my writing done during the day and planned on 4 weeks to get my research including interviews done during the day and time to walk around at night and sightsee as well as catch a few shows here and there on discount. After 4 weeks, planned to head to Hawaii for 4 weeks with – 2 weeks in Kauai and 2 weeks in Maui.

So….in Las Vegas, my parents and brother were concerned that I was going to be out of Ohio for 8 weeks and wanted to check in on me so they came out to spend a week – we went over the Grand Canyon on Helicopter, went to see Carrot Top (I dearly love) and a few other epic adventures. On day 3, we opted to go and see different casinos. In Bally’s, we never go in there…and for whatever reason, my mom wanted to watch the “Price is Right” and she ended up on stage; long story short, she did not win. (not real tv version, just Las Vegas version)

When exiting, my mom and dad headed in one direction and I went to get in line for a massage. My brother was waiting with me. My dad comes over about 15 minutes later and said “you need to come see this” and I am like “I am not leaving this line” and dad was insistent….. I was like this better be worth it…

Who Are You When No One is Watching?

This begs the question in life when you are given choices to make a bad choice, do you take it or do you choose what you should? Every day… every decision has an implication… and a consequence….

As I said this was years ago (noted with my dad in the story as he has been gone almost 9 years now)

So:

Samantha (not real name) married to my relative Steve (not real name)

Dad said “your mom sees Samantha holding hands with some dude” and I am like….um “no way” and get out to the main area and sure enough…..

So, what did I do? I took a picture…and then called Steve (Samantha’s husband) and said “hey, if I know something I should not know, do you want me to tell you?”

Steve was like…”uh….yes” and I asked “where is Samantha?” and he said “she is at a horse show in Indiana”

I was like “um….I am in Las Vegas and she is holding hands with a dude”

He was like “what, and I am like yep, here is a pic” and sent it

So, being the Heidi I am…..I go up to Samantha and give her a hug and say hey, I am talking with your husband, want to say hi? And if looks could kill, I would be totally dead.

Honestly figured my phone was going in the lobby fountain, but surprisingly it was not….so details right????

So, Samantha gets on the phone and talks to her husband Steve (my relative) and said that the horse show in Indiana was cancelled and she was offered a free trip to Las Vegas for Mary Kay (the cosmetics company; no she does not work for them) and the guy she was holding hands with was helping her because her hand was cold.

Give me a break…. so she spun the web of lies……when you lie like your life is depending on it – con artists are good. They can make you believe almost anything.

Samantha was on the first plane out of Las Vegas (and we live in Ohio) and lied through her teeth….my dad, brother, mom and I all witnessed this chaos. My mom was the one who saw her, my dad was like –Heidi, Heidi, Heidi……I was in line to get a massage and was really upset about losing my spot in line…but to be honest, it was worth catching a cheater! 

So really, let’s play the odds. What are the odds that I would be in Las Vegas, out there for 4 weeks; one of the weeks with the family; go into the casino at the same time and run into Samantha who is cheating on my relative? I did happen to play the lottery and did not win, though I wished I would have. My parents and brother flew home and I went on to Kauai. 

After that, going to Kauai was like a dream…. Kauai has always been a magical place for me – I have been 10 times and just find it so beautiful and not commercialized. I booked a hotel with a balcony and wrote my dissertation. I stayed on schedule with writing and finished 8 days in and had the rest of the time to enjoy Kauai and then on to Maui….for two weeks of revisions and preparation for the defense. 

So, you probably want to know what happened…….Samantha and my relative/ her husband Steve did reconcile for a short period of time. There were other episodes of crazy and unexplainable and truth is hard when people are in love….they did separate and go their own ways. So what about that random dude….so he resurfaced later as the next target for Samantha… it did not last long….

I was awarded my Ph.D. in November of 2010 and graduation was in Miami, Florida in January 2011. And this is important because it cost a lot of money, time, and was the reason she was caught … 😂

And for the updates, Samantha went on to have a guy buy her a house while she was married to Steve and had another guy giving her jewelry and plane tickets to go back and forth to Florida. Steve had a medical emergency and was unconscious for a few days recovering and while he was hospitalized, she was cleaning out his retirement, equity in the house, and so on.

Who you marry matters and she was legally able to clean him out and was working on her exit plan with finding his replacement while still being in the relationship and while he was hospitalized. Since they were together, there was nothing that could be done.

If Steve would have left her when she was caught; it might have ended better. It was shocking to me how well she was treated in their marriage and it was never really about that – it was about taking the money and improving her life. She was having an affair with a doctor I will call Shrek and worked to extort him, took Steve to the cleaners and continues to work her magic in unsuspecting guys. This has become a full time career.

Let’s be honest – it’s hard to find a decent human, but to be married and to find a guy who buys you a house to live in (while you are married to another guy) and another guy to pay for plane tickets (again, while married to someone else)- the girl got game…

Next Episode: Ugly Duckling to Swan

Late Night Talking is the song I would put to this episode.

Xoxo,

Heidi

welcome!

A travel, home, & lifestyle blog written by Heidi Stevenson. Follow along for affordable ways to travel, sophisticated and savvy style, expensive looks for less for the home, and everyday style

Favorites

Trending

Traveling Must Haves

Connect

Archives

Leave a Reply