Today’s tales are all about timing. Really lousy timing. Maybe there’s never a good time to tell someone that the marriage is over, but still, some times are worse than others. Here are a couple of the worst…

— Jill and Rob were living the good life. She was 27, he was 29. They had been together for 10 years, married for seven; they were in their second house; they had a 4-year-old daughter and enough money to take a month-long trip to Europe.

When they got back, Jill found out that she was pregnant. She was thrilled. She and Rob had talked many times about having another child. So, when Rob seemed a little tense over the Christmas holidays, she just chalked it up to stress at work.

And then…

‘A few days after Christmas, I got a phone call from Rob, while I was at work. He said he couldn’t go out to dinner that night because he wanted a divorce. Within the next few days I learned he was having an affair with an older lady from work. He said he had to stay with her because she threatened to kill herself if he left.’

In the space of a phone call, Jill’s world fell apart. For a few weeks, she tried to tiptoe around the situation. Then she told Rob to get out. He told her he would be living in a room at work, she could reach him there. She found out he was actually living with his suicidal girlfriend.

Rob asked her to give him her joint credit card. He said he couldn’t trust her any longer. And, all the while, he was the one who had been charging hotel rooms and fancy dinners. Jill found out about everything.

‘I found out that for several years, he had been using drugs, visiting prostitutes and cheating on me. I learned that my whole marriage was a farce. This was the man I thought was my true love.’

Jill had the baby. Due to some complications, she had to stay in the hospital for a week. Rob couldn’t be bothered watching their daughter. He would drop the little girl off at his mother’s house and then spend the night with his girlfriend.