Confessions: My husband's mistake with suitcase exposed his double life and second family

A woman who had been married for five years thought she had the perfect family - but one simple mistake from her husband exposed a devastating truth.

Before Karen married Mark, she had already come to terms with the fact he travelled a lot for work.

When the couple welcomed twin girls into the world, he spent most of his time at home with them in Perth, but when they got a little older he accepted a new job which required more time travelling again - or so he said.

After one particular trip, Mark arrived home exhausted and went to bed but Karen stayed up to get a few jobs done around the house.

She noticed her husband had left his suitcase untouched so she decided to unpack it for him and throw anything that needed cleaning in the washing machine, as reported by Honey.

In the suitcase she found a small photo frame with a picture of a woman in her mid 30s and a boy who was about 18 months old.

Thinking he had picked up the wrong suitcase by mistake, her heart sank when she checked the rest of the belongings and found they were his.

She slept on the sofa and the following morning, after their twins had gone to school, Karen confronted him with the photo, asking why it was in his suitcase.

She said: "He looked at me for a few seconds without speaking then he just put his face in his hands and said, 'I’m so sorry. I knew you’d find out one day, I’ve been dreading this moment.'

"He went on to explain that he had an affair with the woman in the photo, and she fell pregnant and now he has a son.

"I couldn’t stop crying, I said things like, 'How could you do this to me and the girls?' He told me he never stopped loving me, he just got himself in a situation he couldn't get himself out of."

But then came a second bombshell. Karen had assumed his second family lived in one of the countries he visited on his work trips.

It turned out that Mark hadn't been travelling overseas at all, and the other woman and his son actually lived just three miles away.

The penny dropped for Karen, who had found letters bearing her husband's name but a different local address, only for him to dismiss it as a post office box number.

She says she went a "bit crazy", kicked him out of the house and later got a divorce, knowing he would run straight into the arms of his second family.

Mark told her the other woman knew about Karen and their children, but she believes his other family have no idea that they exist, and so close to home.