Betrayed mum: “I took in my homeless cousin – but she slept with my fiancé”
Annie Macrae thought nothing of offering her cousin a place to stay when she became homeless, but her kindness was repaid with devastating betrayal…
When Annie Macrae kindly W offered to give her homeless cousin Charlotte a place to stay, she had no clue that her fiancé would sleep with their guest behind her back. But the mother of one, 23, was left heartbroken when Charlotte, 19, began an affair with Annie’s long-term love Luke Weston, 22, within days of moving into her Lowestoft home.
BARELY COPING
Annie – who shares five-yearold daughter Olicia with Luke, a painter and decorator – says, “At first, I thought I must be being paranoid when I started worrying there was something going on between them. But in March this year – nearly 18 months after she moved out – Charlotte admitted everything. They’d been sleeping together for the three months she was living with me. I dumped Luke and I’m now a single mum. I’ve lost 3st from stress and I can barely cope. They’ve hurt me so much.”
As children, Annie and Charlotte were so close, they were virtually like sisters. Annie’s mum and Charlotte’s father would often look after the children for each other. Annie would wake up early so she could go round to her uncle’s house to see her little cousin before she went to school, and she loved having sleepovers with Charlotte at the weekends. But sadly, when Charlotte was six, she was put into foster care due to family complications. Annie was distraught when she wasn’t allowed to see her cousin any more.
Annie remembers, “I was ten at the time and absolutely devastated. I loved Charlotte like a little sister. I wasn’t allowed to see her for six years, but as soon as we could visit her, I did. From then on, we’d see each other every couple of months. I was so happy to have her back in my life and introduced her to all my friends, and of course Luke.”
FLIRTING
Annie had been dating Luke since they met at school aged 15, and the couple had stuck together through two devastating miscarriages before having their daughter Olicia. By October 2016, aged 18, Charlotte was able to leave care, and Annie immediately offered her the spare room in her three-bed house while she found her feet. Charlotte moved in later that day.
Annie remembers, “I was so excited that she was going to live with me. Luke wasn’t as keen, but I talked him round. She was family and I loved her like a sister. It wasn’t working out with her foster parents and I wanted to help her. But I soon started to feel uneasy. Charlotte used to wander around in tiny shorts and low-cut tops, and it felt like she was flirting with Luke. I did mention to Luke that she seemed to be after him, but he They were very close as children said I was being paranoid, and she was just friendly.”
SUSPICIONS
Annie adds, “There were even a few occasions I was out and Charlotte posted photographs of her, Luke and Olicia on social media in a local restaurant. It felt like she was trying to pretend they were her family. I remember talking to my friends about it, and they said it was a bit weird, but my family seemed to think there was nothing suspicious about it. I even asked them both if something was going on and they looked me in the eye and swore they’d never do that to me. Luke even proposed while she was living with us, taking me out to the local pub