The granddaughter of legendary magazine editor and heiress Babe Pailey wrote in an excerpt of her new memoir “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage” published in The Sunday Times<\/a> that six days after their family arrived at their vacation home, after a normal dinner in their kitchen, she received a phone call from a number she didn\u2019t recognize, so she didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n When she played the voicemail left, it was a man\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n “He said, \u2018I\u2019m trying to reach Belle.\u2019 He paused,” she wrote. “\u2019I\u2019m sorry to tell you this, but your husband is having an affair<\/a> with my wife.\u2019”<\/p>\n CHERYL HINES BREAKS SILENCE ON HUSBAND RFK JR.\u2019S ALLEGED ONLINE AFFAIR AHEAD OF JOURNALIST’S TELL-ALL<\/a><\/p>\n Belle Burden with her ex-husband Henry Davis in 2008. \u00a0 (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t even have to confront her husband, who seemed to know she knew.<\/p>\n He initially claimed the affair, which he said had only been going on for weeks, meant nothing, and that he loved only her.<\/p>\n While still trying to hide her world shattering from her children, and baking them turnovers as they requested that night, she called back the husband, who revealed he couldn\u2019t talk because his wife had just tried<\/a> to kill herself.<\/p>\n DENISE RICHARDS’ ESTRANGED HUSBAND AARON PHYPERS SAYS HE’S ‘BEGGING FRIENDS FOR MONEY’ AS DIVORCE TURNS UGLY<\/a><\/p>\n She moved through the next few hours in a daze, and after sleeping separately, and staying awake most of the night trying to decide if she could forgive him, he gave her another shock.<\/p>\n Belle Burden’s “Strangers” book was released on Tuesday.\u00a0 (Belle Burden\/Instagram)<\/p>\n The heiress wrote that her husband of 20 years walked into their bedroom, fully dressed, and told her matter-of-factly that he wanted a divorce, and he was leaving \u2014 right at that moment, apparently.<\/p>\n He later told her she could have custody of their children.<\/p>\n “In the days that followed, I tried to hide the truth from the girls,” she continued. “A therapist I spoke with said I should wait to tell them until the pandemic was less scary.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n She added, “But instead of easing, the pandemic became more frightening. And so did I, appearing at dinner with swollen eyes and unwashed hair. I cried as I did laundry<\/a> and scrubbed our lavatories. I spent hours behind the closed door of my bedroom. I decided not to drink, knowing it would make me sadder, but also found it hard to eat.”<\/p>\n Belle Burden with her 21-year-old daughter this year.\u00a0 (Belle Burden\/Instagram)<\/p>\n She said her husband never explained to her what went wrong, and after initially supporting her, her husband\u2019s family eventually cut her off.<\/p>\n LIKE WHAT YOU\u2019RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Belle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/belle-burden-with-husband-henry-davis-in-2008.jpg\")
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