Incredible cheater: 'My husband is a bigamist'

Dubai : One man, three women over three continents, four passports, unpaid debts, theft, bigamy, allegations of homosexuality, and the woman who stood by him for over two decades.

The story British expat Diane Petty has to tell is both mind-boggling and heartbreaking. It's the story of a wife madly in love with a man who's been cheating on her for over 20 years.

"When I first met Roderick William Petty in 1985, it was love at first sight. Forty-eight hours later, he proposed, I accepted," says Petty, a part-time property consultant. Within two years their son Kiel was born. "It was a magical journey, a love story that swept me off my feet," says Petty.

Smooth talker

When the couple moved to Dubai in 1997, the ex-stewardess noticed discrepancies in her husband's stories. "Soon after we moved to Dubai I would see texts from other women on his phone. But he always found a way to explain everything away. And I was in love with him. I wanted to believe that he was loyal to me." Roderick was working as a marketing manager for an oil company in Dubai.

By 2007, however, Petty couldn't ignore the infidelities. "Roddy went too far when he got my best friend pregnant. It led to a court case and a warrant for his arrest. That's when he moved to Saudi Arabia. My son [23] and I stayed back due to unpaid debts Roddy and I had undertaken." The debts, related to a property in Greens community in Jebel Ali, amounted to a payback of Dh500,000 which Petty says she paid off with the help of a friend.

Despite the affair and the financial issues, Petty decided to stand by her husband and make their marriage work. "After nearly a year apart, I missed my husband. But he couldn't return to Dubai due to the arrest warrant. I couldn't leave since my passport was being held against Roddy's bounced cheque."

The 55-year-old said it was a flash of intuition in May 2008 that led her to type her husband's name on Yahoo search. "I was aghast to learn he had married a Czech nurse named Maria Kaminavasova at St. Christopher's Cathedral in Manama, Bahrain, on November 15, 2007."

When confronted, Roderick threatened to kill himself and said it was just a fling. "Seeing that the laws in Saudi were so strict, he had no choice but to marry her if they wanted to cohabitate. He swore to me that the marriage was all a sham," says a clearly devastated Petty.

By October 2008, Petty had paid off her husband's debts and was allowed to leave the country. "At the time Roddy was living in the US, in Florida, where we were married 20 years prior." A 20-hour flight later, Petty was stuck in a hotel room, crying her eyes out for the husband who barely had the time to see her. "He said he had a night job and couldn't meet me as often as he'd like to. Little did I know that after spending a couple of hours with me each afternoon, he was going home to Lorinda Stirling, a high school friend he had reunited with."

An e-mail from Stirling on March 8, 2009, was the eye-opener. "Her subject was ‘Nearly Another Petty Wife'. She asked if I was or am married to Roderick, and if so, we should talk. And talk we did." While Petty updated Stirling on the fact that Roderick already has two wives, Stirling informed the Briton that she was engaged to Roderick and on the verge of a break-up since discovering that there may be another person in the picture.

"We still don't know who that fourth person is. But when Lori confronted Roddy after discovering racy text messages on his phone, he responded with the unthinkable. Roddy said it was a man he was flirting with, and although he was still madly in love with Lori, he was questioning his sexuality," laughs Petty, who has since befriended Stirling.

That was the last straw. Petty realised that the man she loved was an illusion.

Kaminavasova has since communicated to Petty that she has separated from Roderick who, according to Petty, has American, British, Burmuda and Caribbean passports and now lives in Bermuda. Stirling has broken off the engagement. As for Petty, the dramatic turn of events has disillusioned her. "I never want to fall in love again," she says. "I'm scarred."