Out of all the possible heartbreaks a person can go through in their lifetime, getting cheated on and left by your spouse probably makes it to the top 3. In that case, you can either allow yourself to heal with time or rage about it for years and try to teach them a lesson. However, one man executed a mindblowing revenge!
According to a report by The Washington Post, a man living in North Carolina was cheated on by his wife and later divorced, so he successfully sued her lover for Rs. 5.31 crores!
So, here’s what happened. Howard and his wife Julie were married for 12 years and even had 2 kids. According to the court record, they had “genuine love and affection” for each other.
In 2016, Julie, a school teacher, met Jernigan when he joined the same school as a teacher and. Julie was asked to mentor him, and that’s how they started spending a lot of time together. Gradually, their relationship shifted from being professional to very, very personal. Julie and Jernigan engaged in a romantic relationship in January’17 and started having sex 3 months later.
Completely unaware of his wife’s affair, Howard met Jernigan and attended New Year’s Eve party together. He also invited Jernigan to family dinners and shared stories from their personal lives.
Obviously, Howard and Julie’s relationship went downhill and they started to go for marriage counselling in March’17. A month later, Howard confronted his wife about her affair. Julie confessed about the affair and said that “Jernigan had said all the right things to her and that sex with him was a mistake”, court documents revealed.
“She had originally told me that she wanted a divorce because I work too much and wasn’t around to be there. I talked about that as part of my mistake in the situation, but it was like a punch in the gut because I thought I had this trust for 12 years and love,” Howard told WITN.
The two separated in June’17 and finally got divorced in September’18.
“It was the hardest thing of ever had to face, it was like someone calling you and telling you that a family member had tragically died,” said Howard.
However, Howard wouldn’t get over his failed marriage that quickly. Instead, he filed a case against Jernigan under the ‘Homewreckers Law’ which is prevalent in North Carolina and 7 other states. The law dates back to as early as the 18th century and it allows a “scorned spouse to sue their partner’s lover” for the “damages incurred” due to “alienation of affection”.
Howard told WITN, “I filed the case because I felt it’s very important that people understand that the sanctity of marriage is important, especially in this day and age when people question everyone’s morals, people question everyone’s viability as a person. And the state backed me up on it.”
On August 19, North Carolina Superior Court judge decided that Jernigan must pay Howard $750,000 (Rs. 5.3 Cr approx) for sleeping with his wife. However, Howard and his lawyer haven’t yet executed the order.
“My client will probably not see any of this money. It was a moral victory for him,” said Howard’s lawyer. He is now going through therapy, has accepted the situation and is in a “good place”.
Name one revenge which is more badass than this. I’m waiting!