
ยทS5 E1
In The Dark | EP 1 | Saskia's Story
Episode Transcript
On the morning of October twenty eighth, twenty eighteen, Saskia woke up in the same bed she always did.
It was the bed she'd shared with her husband for years.
She felt her regular cotton sheets around her, and she opened her eyes to the same white ceiling.
But this morning was different because the night before, Saskia had seen something.
Speaker 2I told myself, this is really important, and I need to remember anything that I can.
Speaker 1In the middle of the night, she awoke in a haze to find her husband on his laptop.
His face was a glow in the light of his screen.
What was on that screen, she knew would change her life forever.
Speaker 2I was so out of it.
It was like I was in a dream, but I also knew that this was really serious.
I told myself, you have to remember this.
I just knew, and I passed back out.
Speaker 1In the morning, she could still picture it.
Flashes of one image ran through her mind.
It was a window into a life her husband never planned for her to see.
Speaker 3And so I woke up feeling so scared, like petrified.
Speaker 2I didn't know what I was looking at, but I knew that he was doing something in secret.
It felt like I was in danger.
And I knew that I had to confirm him and find out what was going on.
Speaker 1That morning marked the end of a marriage of a family, but with that ending came a new dawn.
Saskia didn't know it at the time, but in climbing out of bed that morning, she was finally climbing out of the dark.
Speaker 3I told him I needed to talk to him.
Speaker 2I had his laptop and I told him what I had seen the night before.
Speaker 3I said, I need you to tell.
Speaker 2Me exactly what you're doing and I'm not going to tell the police if you totally come clean.
Speaker 3And immediately the mask came off.
Speaker 1I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, Season five, Episode one in the Dark.
This season is about a crime our team had never heard of before, that is until we heard about it from a listener.
She was a woman in the Midwest, a mom.
Over the course of a few months and many phone calls, she told us the story of what happened to her and the crime she described horrified us.
We couldn't imagine how anyone could do something so cruel to someone they loved.
But then we heard from another listener, and another and another that mom in the Midwest wasn't alone.
Dozens of women were discovering the same thing.
The husbands they knew in the light of day were different people when the lights went out.
One of these women was Saskia Inwood.
Speaker 3That's a quick ride.
Speaker 1After getting to know Saskia over the last year, we drove down to visit her in Maryland.
She welcomed us into her home.
Today, Saskia has a full, beautiful life.
She's got a great job too, thriving kids, a house full of pets, friends who'd do anything for her.
But it was a long road to get here.
For a while, it was difficult to even leave her.
Speaker 2House, being around people that just had normal lives or happy relationships, or we're talking about I don't know what they bought at the store.
It just wasn't where I was at.
So it was easier for me to isolate and everything went dark for me.
Speaker 1Since that morning seven years ago, sask has overcome something unimaginable, a betrayal that threatened everything.
Speaker 2It was clear to me that miss Enwood was comatose, not asleep, but comatose, unconscious.
Speaker 1It was a betrayal that altered her sense of reality.
It shattered her ability to feel safe in her own home and even in her own body.
Speaker 3You pretended to support me through my uption.
Down Number one is putting on that.
Speaker 1You were using me by signing her marriage certificate.
Saskia had no idea all that she was signing away and that the man she was marrying would try to break her.
Speaker 2You're a dangerous person who prays on vulnerable and trusting people.
Speaker 3You reprivate or micro loving good.
Speaker 1On our trip down to Maryland, we spent a lot of time with Saskia's friends.
She's had the same group since elementary school.
For the most part, they haven't ventured far from home, which is Montgomery County, Maryland, about an hour outside of DC.
This group around Saskia, they are her people.
They've been there since day one.
When we asked her friends what they love most about Saskia, so many of them pointed to one thing.
Wow, you a laugh.
That is the most genuine, heartfelt laugh.
Her laugh alone cracks me up.
That's Melissa.
And here's another friend, Carrie.
Speaker 4She has this.
It's like not a cackle because it's beautiful.
Speaker 3She'll be like, I can't even do it, but I think I was close.
Speaker 1Though Saskia's got a great sense of humor, and when it comes to dating, she's always looked for the same in other people.
Here's Saskia.
Speaker 2I always liked someone, you know, just making jokes, someone fun, silly, goofy, don't like to talk about work when I'm not at work, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1In her twenties, she liked guys with big laughs, big personalities, Guys who didn't take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 2But yeah, usually that came with not being the most responsible people in life.
Speaker 1Some of the men she dated were unemployed.
Others had a habit of getting into trouble.
Speaker 2I remember I had one boyfriend who was shoplifting when I was with him, and we both got in trouble, even though it wasn't childlifting.
He feelt terrible.
Was like, let her go home, and they were like no.
Speaker 1When she was twenty eight, she met the man who'd become the father of her kids.
We'll call him Chris.
Speaker 3We met at a jaw Works concert.
It's a reggae band.
Speaker 1Chris seemed a little more responsible.
He'd served in the army, but he was also the life of the party, just like the other guys from Saskia's past.
Speaker 2I thought he was really good looking and funny and silly, so we started dating and things went pretty.
Speaker 4Fast after that.
Speaker 1Within a year they decided to move in together.
Speaker 2And then literally two weeks after that, I found out that I was pregnant.
Speaker 1Saskia was thrilled.
At the time, she was a social worker in child welfare and she always knew that she wanted children of her own.
They had a girl, Alyssa.
Speaker 2Alyssa was the cutest baby in the world.
I'll have to show you, guys pictures.
Speaker 3You'll die.
She was so just chunky and so cute.
Speaker 1She and Chris wanted to make their little family official, and.
Speaker 2We took her a little stroller to the Justice of the Peace and we got married.
Speaker 1After that, they had another baby, a boy.
Speaker 3We were ecstatic.
Speaker 2We high fived in the sonogram room because it was the first boy on his side of the family.
Speaker 3And Alyssa loved her little brother.
Speaker 2She was always holding his hand and pulling in places.
Speaker 1Being a mom was a dream, But Saskia felt alone in her marriage after five years.
Chris just didn't feel like her person.
Speaker 2I felt like he didn't care about any of my needs or my wants.
I've always wanted love, and that wasn't it.
Speaker 1So she asked Chris for a divorce and.
Speaker 3He basically told me, you can leave.
Speaker 1He didn't fight for her, even though she had asked for the separation.
It wasn't easy.
They had a year's long custody battle.
Speaker 2It was a very, very painful, difficult divorce.
I felt very unsteady and scared during that period.
Speaker 1During this time, she leaned on her older sister Marisa.
Of all the women surrounding Saskia, all the people you'll hear from this season, Marisa is Saska's rock.
She drove Saskia to every one of our interviews and she sat in the next room while we talked, just so Saskia could feel her support.
Speaker 5Saska is my best friend over my lifetime.
She's been the one person that I can be myself around and say anything too.
And I feel like that's mutual.
Speaker 1When Saskia first moved out with Marisa, Marisa saw her sister cope with the separation.
Speaker 5She was fragile, you know, definitely wanted it to work and did not want to be moving on and becoming a single parent to two little kids.
I remember her crying a lot, but.
Speaker 1At the same time she was strong.
Speaker 5She got herself an apartment, she networked with her friends, she found her resilience.
Speaker 4I was really proud of her.
Speaker 1Here's soasky again.
Speaker 2I didn't wait very long after splitting up getting my own apartment before I started looking for somebody.
Speaker 3I definitely wish that I would have healed from.
Speaker 2My first marriage, but I think that there was just so much work to do that I had no idea I had to do that.
I felt like I would find the answers in another person.
Speaker 1Marisa could see how important it was to her sister to find a partner.
Speaker 5Companionship is part of what gives solus through tard times, you know what I mean, not social interaction and being loved by somebody.
It's like souvin so I feel like she's always wanted that in her life.
Speaker 1But Saskia knew if she wanted a real partner, she might have to go for something different, to look beyond her usual bad boys.
Speaker 3So my sister helped me make a profile a match.
Speaker 1Marisa pushed her to look for someone driven, established in their career.
Speaker 3I was encouraging her to be choosy.
Speaker 5She's always had professional careers, and she's always been really great at her job because of her empathy and her compassion and her you know, all of those strengths that she has.
Speaker 1Saska gave match her best shot.
She went on a few dates, but no one impressed her.
Speaker 2I was about to throw in the towel and just say I don't feel like doing us anymore.
Speaker 1And that's when she found Mike.
Speaker 2His pictures seemed really sweet.
There was one of them with a dog, which of course tugs at my heart, and then he had a picture of him with his two daughters.
Speaker 1He was in the midst of a divorce too.
He was a single parent, a girl dad, and he had a good job.
Speaker 2He worked for Bank of America.
He was a vice president of marketing.
Speaker 1Mike was the quintessential good guy, the safe choice, and safe was exactly what Saskia was looking for.
Speaker 2My wish in life was to have true love and to have someone to be a good step dad to my kids, and Mike seemed like the perfect guy.
Speaker 1Saskia was ready to give up on dating when one profile caught her eye.
Mike looked Jennle.
He was a girl dad with a kind smile and kind eyes.
Speaker 2So I think I waved winked whatever you do, and he responded back, and then we started communicating and he asked for a date pretty quickly.
Speaker 1The first date was casual.
They met at a.
Speaker 3Brewery and we were going to have a couple drinks at the.
Speaker 6Bar, but that night the bar was packed, so they sat us at the most uncomfortable, awkward twosome spot in the restaurant.
Speaker 1Immediately, one thing was clear the.
Speaker 2Type of person that I usually go for at all.
He was a little bit nerdy.
He had a glass of wine and he was like stirring his wine, which.
Speaker 3I thought was weird.
Speaker 2He talked a lot about his job and things like that.
Just wasn't as joky as I'm.
Speaker 1Used to Saskia.
Was used to guys who would crush a few beers in the first hour, guys who would have one eye on the game the whole date.
Mike in his button down shirt and skinny jeans swirling his wine was anything.
Speaker 3But I just kind of wanted to get through the date.
Speaker 2And I remember afterwards telling my sister like, he was nice, he's successful.
Everything on paper sounds good, but I'm not sure if it was there And I remember my sister saying, if he's not your usual type, that could be a good thing.
Speaker 5I actually encouraged her to go on a second date with him.
I said, some guys are more second date material.
Maybe him being timid on the first date means he's a regular guy, you know, not everybody has to be a huge personality off the gate.
Speaker 1Saskia gave him another shot, and in round two, Mike started to grow on her.
Speaker 2We were going to meet for a second date, and I think I had something come up with the kids.
Speaker 3So he suggested that we.
Speaker 2Have a phone date and grab a glass of wine and we can talk.
I'm not a phone person and it wasn't something that I thought that I would enjoy, but I thought it was really cute and endearing.
Speaker 1By their third date, they both were a little more at ease.
They got sushi, and the date went well enough that Saskia brought him out with her coworkers.
Speaker 2My friend was having a little birthday get together, and we drove over to the bar and everyone's just having fun drinking and taking shots.
Speaker 1And after the party, Saskia took my call.
He slept over.
Speaker 3In the morning.
We ended up being intimate and I was like, I can get with this.
I could do this.
He was in really good shape.
Speaker 2It felt like we had really good chemistry.
It wasn't wild, it wasn't crazy.
It just felt good.
Speaker 1She started to see Mike in a new light.
He made her feel safe and.
Speaker 3Comfortable, and then it just kind of picked up after that.
Speaker 1After a month of dating, it was time for Mike to meet Saski's friend group.
This wasn't an easy crowd to jump into, after all, they've known each other forever.
Here's another one of Saskia's friends, Bridget.
Speaker 3We just keep it real.
Speaker 7We've known each other so long that we're not going to sugarcoat anything.
If we see a red flag, we're going to be like, what are you doing?
You're an idiot, Like, let me.
Speaker 1Tell you what I see.
Bridget's a tough critic, and knowing all that Saskia had been through, she wasn't sure if she was going to like Mike.
Speaker 7When she just got out of this one marriage.
I was very protective and I thought the world of him.
I thought he was great, and I was like, finally, she deserves this, she deserves to be happy.
Speaker 1Here's another friend, Heather.
Speaker 4I liked him right away.
Speaker 8I thought he was really nice.
He seemed kind, he seemed gentle.
I just thought he was put together.
Speaker 1Marisa, Saska's sister, liked him too.
Speaker 3Normal.
Speaker 5Guy seems even keeled.
He's not overly showy trying to impress us.
He's being polite, he's being respectful.
Okay, you know, maybe this guy will work.
Speaker 1With her friends and sister's approval, any doubt Saskia had about Mike went away.
Speaker 3Everybody from the get go thought that he was just a catch.
Speaker 1Mike was a great boyfriend.
He took Saskia on nice dates, basketball games, fancy dinners, massages.
Speaker 2He had plenty of money for us to do nice things.
And I made me feel really special and important.
He wanted to do these fun things with me and that I was worth that to him.
Speaker 1But right as Mike started to get serious, Saskia pulled away.
She was still in the middle of her custody battle.
She didn't have room for one more thing on her plate.
Speaker 2There was one time where I was having like a breakdown about stuff with the kid's dad, and I just said, I can't deal with you right now, like I'm going through too much.
Speaker 3And he was like, no, I'm coming over, let me help you through this.
Speaker 1That night he went over.
He wanted to be there.
Speaker 3He said, I will never hurt you.
I will always be here for you.
Don't run away.
Let me help you.
Speaker 1He showed up for her.
She'd never had that before.
From then on out, Mike was team Saskia, a teammate, a partner, someone that was on her side.
Speaker 2He helped me to feel like my life was going to go on and that I could have a future despite what happened with my ex.
Speaker 1As friends and family got to know Mike, they saw just how much he had to offer.
Here's her friend, Meghan.
He was like a knight and shining armor.
I mean, she dated guys with it a job, and then you get Mike and he's like vice president at the bank and he was just like this stand up guy with a great job and two kids.
I mean, it looked great at the time.
Megan was actually married to one of Saskia's older brothers, and her brothers didn't really get Mike.
They thought he was like a dork.
Speaker 4You know.
Speaker 9They watched football, play cards, drink beer, and Mike was like this, you know, yoga guy who ate granola.
Speaker 1The nerdy corporate type stuck out in this crowd.
Speaker 9I mean, he was just different, and that's what every one of us thought was a good thing.
Speaker 1Saskia needed different.
Slowly, Mike was integrating into her world and she liked that.
Speaker 2He was everything that I thought would be good for me, good for my kids.
And I did fall in love with him.
It wasn't like the boom you get hit with this love from the beginning, right.
Speaker 3It grew when a pace that I felt like was a healthy pace.
Speaker 1As their love grew, so did Saski's comfort level.
She could let her guard down.
Speaker 2There was one time where we played strip bowling or something, I.
Speaker 3Mean something like that.
Speaker 2It sounded fun at the time, and it was kind of fun, especially because I never had that with my first husband.
Speaker 3I didn't think he desired me at all.
Speaker 2So here this was and it felt like, wow, like this person that I'm gonna be with, Like we do like desire each other and we can have fun and it is sexual, and like that's good because it shouldn't be just a roommate situation.
Speaker 1When he tried to spice things up, he was respectful of her boundaries.
Speaker 2I remember one time he took a picture of me and showed me how good my butt looked or something like that, And I explicitly asked him, what are you doing with that picture?
And he's like, well, of course, I'm going to erase it.
I would never show it to anybody.
Speaker 1She had every reason to trust him.
They loved each other.
Speaker 2When he would go to work in the morning, he would always leave me like a note on my pillow.
Speaker 1Saskias shared some of those notes with us.
Here's a voice actor reading one half.
Speaker 10Of me wishes that we would have met ten plus years ago, just because I think of all the time we would have had.
But then I realized it just wasn't meant to happen back then.
I am finally at a place in my life where I can embrace who I am, and I just feel like you are the other half, the one who makes me complete.
It is not easy to open up so much, because you open yourself up to being hurt.
But I don't care.
I will do anything for you to know how I feel.
Speaker 1After years of feeling alone in her first marriage, Mike's words meant a lot.
He made it clear how much he loved her.
Whenever he traveled for work.
Speaker 2We always had a nice sweet kiss before he left and a big hug, and we would talk every night, and he would always bring me something from his trips, like a bracelet or a little trinket.
Speaker 1But there was one final test the relationship had to pass, introducing their kids.
At the time, Mike's daughters were eleven and seven, Saskia's daughter was five and her son was three.
They set aside a whole Saturday for the kids to finally meet.
Speaker 2We met at Dave and Busters in the mall.
I brought my kids, he brought his kids, and his daughter grabbed my daughter's hand and they were walking around together and just so excited to show each other their favorite games, and we had them pick out prizes at the end.
And that was their first meeting and they basically were best friends after that.
Speaker 1From that point on, they began hanging out more and more, all six of them.
Speaker 2Shortly after that, we were at my apartment and we had a power outage, no electricity, and didn't know when we were to get electricity turned on, so we all made a trip to Mike's apartment and so we had a little like a family bonding.
Speaker 3There and it was really cute.
Speaker 2We had to like figure out who's going to sleep wear in this little two bedroom apartment.
It turned into a really fun time.
Speaker 1Mike's daughters started to feel like her own.
As co parents, Mike and Saskia made a good team.
They balanced each other.
Speaker 2He was kind of more the organized, practical one.
I was more the social coordinator and the nurturing, fun mom, and so he relied on me for that, and I relied on him for saying like, Okay, it's time to go to bed, or those kinds of things.
Speaker 1Saskia always loved motherhood, and she loved having a packed house.
Speaker 2I liked having the four kids together.
It was like your breakfast is like a little conveyor belt.
Speaker 3I liked it.
Speaker 2I liked being a mom of feign we were a family.
I wish I could say that we had a happy end to our story, but that wasn't reality.
Speaker 1A year into dating, Mike was staying at Saska's apartment most nights.
Speaker 2And then my lease was getting ready to be up, and Mike and I both felt like it was just the natural progression to rent a place together.
So we started looking and was really exciting.
Speaker 1They moved into a townhouse his daughters started sleeping over too, whenever they weren't with their mom.
Marisa felt like her sister had found the one.
Speaker 5With him and her balance.
She did seem to be like kind of becoming her best self.
They seemed like a partners.
She brought the energy and the fawn and he brought stability, and you know, it was a good match.
Speaker 1At the time, Marisa was going through a lot.
She and her husband, Ronnie were trying to get pregnant, and Saska could see it was weighing on her.
Speaker 3It was a lot of.
Speaker 2Hope and disappointment regarding my sister's journey to have a child.
She had so many almosts where they were trying to do IVF.
She would be so excited, and a few weeks down the line, you know, they get the bad news, and I could just see that my sister was not going to be fulfilled without having her own family and having her own kids.
So then, after the last time that they told her she didn't have any more tries with the IVF, I just said, you know, I would love to give it a try.
Speaker 1Saskia offered to carry Marisa's child for Marisa.
Accepting this offer felt like giving up her dream of carrying a baby herself, but then again, this could be her only option.
Here's Marisa.
Speaker 5One of the things to ask you said to me was you're comparing the wrong things.
You're comparing carrying your own child with what is possible, and carrying your own child is not possible.
She knew what to push me, and that was a big eye opener, like, oh yeah, I'm still mourning a loss instead of looking at what I can gain here.
Speaker 1After a lot of conversations, Marisa was in and Saskia was excited to carry her baby.
Of course, it was a big decision.
It would mean carrying another man's child and it would change her body significantly.
So Saskia brought it to Mike.
Speaker 3I discussed it with him.
Speaker 2He said that he was on board and that he thought it was a really loving, special thing to do.
Speaker 3I also talked with the.
Speaker 2Kids about it, you know, told them we were trying to have a baby for Marisa.
The baby might be in my tummy, and we had this whole Kangaroo book that we read to them, and I don't know that they totally understood, But once everybody was kind of on board, we started the.
Speaker 5I think It made her happy to be able to do it, and everybody was still amazed by what she was doing.
So, you know, you're getting a ton of positive feedback and you're pregnant.
Everybody loves pregnant people.
I think it was a good, happy phase for her.
Speaker 1Still, pregnancy isn't all smiles, and Mike was there every step of the way making things as comfortable as possible.
Speaker 2For Saskia, having a baby at thirty six as opposed to twenty nine was different, so I'd have more like aches and paints.
He would give me massages every night.
He was there by my side for whatever was important to me and my family also, and I think it brought him closer to my family.
They thought, what a great guy that he's not worried about how this would affect him, that he's going to be there for you.
Speaker 1Seeing him step up during the pregnancy deepened Maura's respect for Mike.
Speaker 5I was grateful for Mike when they were together and he agreed to anticipate in that process.
I thought that was amazing.
I didn't think a lot of men would do that, and he was very supportive.
Yeah, we called him one on the team.
Speaker 1When Saskia gave birth.
Mike was right by her side.
Speaker 2He was there at the end of the delivery room bed, so he was like the perfect partner to go through this with.
Speaker 1The nurses handed the baby to Marisa.
Saskia watched with love her sister was finally a mom.
Speaker 2I just thought he was so beautiful, and I was so proud, and I could just see my sister like so proud, like this is my baby.
Speaker 5She gave me the greatest gift in the world.
And I think she did that because of who she is, not because of any kind of sense of obligation or like I need to offer this.
I think she just felt my pain and wanted to step up for me, and I think that is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1The pregnancy, Marisa and Saskia were closer than ever, and Saskia fell closer to Mike too.
The care he'd given her confirmed what she already knew.
Mike was a real partner.
At this point, they'd been together for three years, but the two of them never talked about getting married.
Speaker 2Neither of us were like gung ho looking to this relationship for a marriage.
We didn't know if that was like the end result that we were looking for.
We knew we wanted to be together, but as our families got really close, it didn't feel right to say this is my boyfriend.
Speaker 1So Saskia told Mike how she was feeling.
Speaker 2I was like, you know, it would really it would be nice to be engaged.
It would be nice to be able to say.
Speaker 3This is my fiance.
We don't have to get married anytime soon, but it would be nice.
Speaker 1And Mike thought it would be nice too.
With engagement on the brain, Saskia and Mike took a trip to Amsterdam.
They wanted to visit Saskia's relatives.
Her mom's side is Dutch, and a vacation felt like the perfect way to celebrate the end of the pregnancy.
Speaker 2We went to the Heineken Brewery, walked around, got nutella coffees, and went to the smoke shops.
And I loved it because there was like cats in some of those smoke shops.
Just walking around.
I was like, this is my happy place.
Speaker 3This is the best.
Speaker 1They even went at the Red Light District.
Speaker 2It felt like something that we were doing just because we were like, went in room, went to this one place.
They give you like a ticket and there's a hole that you look through in a wall.
So I looked, and he's looking at a different hole and it was two people having sex.
It was the least exciting.
They had zero anything on their faces, like they were just like having sex.
Speaker 3And I was like, what the hell, who wants to watch that?
Speaker 1The trip came and went, and despite conversations they had in the lead up to the trip, Saskia returned home without a ring.
Speaker 2There was a lot of really cool moments or I'm like, oh, that could have been a nice engagement opportunity.
So after we got back, everyone was just where's her ring?
Like my brother was like, what's going on?
What's going on?
Mike kind of teasing him about it, and so I think that put in his in his head.
Speaker 1Shortly after that came Saska's birthday.
Speaker 2We went to this restaurant with a bunch of my friends and we were sitting outside and I remember I was like talking with Bridget and she asked me about the trip or something.
I said, look, I am about ready to just be pissed off because he knows.
Speaker 3We wanted to get engaged, and she was.
Speaker 2Like, Saskia, just don't bring it up today, just give it another month or something.
Speaker 3Just be patient.
Speaker 2Later that night, we were in the bedroom and I was like getting ready to go to bed, and he gives me this little book and it's saying like all these things about our relationship, all the stuff that he likes about me, and like he personalized it.
Speaker 3And on the last page of the book it said, will you marry me?
And I was like what?
Speaker 2And then I looked up and he had the ring and it was a ring that I wanted.
It was a tanza night.
I didn't want a diamond.
It was beautiful, you know.
Speaker 3We hugged and kissed.
Speaker 2And I said it about time.
Yeah, And so it was really exciting.
Speaker 1Sasaki and Mike were happy to be engaged, but they didn't feel a need to rush to the altar or even get to the altar at all.
They'd both already been married once before being engaged was enough.
Speaker 2I would have kept him my forever fiance.
There was no like, okay, now, let's plan in a wedding.
We were okay with taking our time, and it was that way for about six months, maybe a year even, and then it seemed like all of a sudden he was in a hurry to have.
Speaker 3Us pick a place, pick a date.
He was very insistent upon it.
Speaker 2Once he set that in motion, we started going to like different venues and that started happening pretty quickly, and then we decided on the Waverley Mansion and it was just a really beautiful venue.
Speaker 1With most of the money going towards the venue, Saskia tried to save wherever she could.
Speaker 2Heather was making cookie favors for are there like two love birds?
Speaker 3Or she's really good at making fancy cookies.
Speaker 2I borrowed Bridget's dress, which she was happy about because she spent way too much money on it and only got to wear it once.
Speaker 1Finally, the wedding day arrived.
Speaker 2I got up, went to Nordstrom to have my makeup done, bought some makeup, you know how you have to do that.
My sister's friend did my hair, all the girl's hair, and then we all trucked to the Waverley Mansion and had the bride's suite there.
Speaker 1The day was as much about the four kids as it was Mike and Saskia.
Speaker 2Mike had this idea to do a sand ceremony where basically everybody picks a color of sand.
My son pick blue, the girls picked purple, and pink.
Mike and I each had a color, and everybody pours sand into this glass vase and just symbolizes the family coming together, merging into one family.
Speaker 1Megan, her sister in law, remembers it as a beautiful wedding.
Speaker 9She seems so happy, and we were all happy for her, and we were happy for the kids that they had two new step sisters and we had new nieces.
We were just so happy to integrate them into our family and they was official now, so it was just.
Speaker 1A great day for everyone.
But that wasn't how everyone felt.
Here's Heather.
Speaker 4The entire night, she seemed off.
Speaker 1Sitting in her chair watching Saskia at the altar.
Heather wanted to be happy for her friend, but to her, Saskia didn't seem happy at all.
Speaker 8The entire time that Sasa is up and they're doing the ceremony there far apart.
Speaker 1There was no handholding, no loving gaze.
Speaker 4She looked so uncomfortable.
Speaker 1The thing is, Heather knew something the other friends didn't.
The night before the wedding, Saskia had gone over to Heather's house to pick something up, but Sasa didn't seem like herself.
Speaker 8She seemed unnerved, and I said, what's going on?
And I thought maybe she was just nervous about the wedding, she said, and I can't remember.
It was like the very night before or some night previous to the night she came over.
She said that her and Mike had been out drinking and they went back to the house and they started having sex, and she saw the laptop.
Speaker 4Was open and there were people on the screen.
Speaker 1For Saskia, the incident was blurry.
Speaker 3We were in bed.
Speaker 2I can't tell you what was happening before after, but it was literally like a snapshot in time.
Speaker 1In a fog.
She saw Mike on his laptop and on his screen there were two people, and.
Speaker 2I didn't know if it was like a movie or whether he knew them.
And I remember being really confused and saying, like, what's going on.
Speaker 1He turned to her for a moment, and just for a moment, she slipped into a different reality, and he said, oh, say hi.
Coming up this season on Betrayal, people were paying to see this go down.
Saskia had absolutely no idea what was happening to her.
Speaker 4You're supposed to be safe.
Speaker 7That's your home, that's your husband.
Speaker 1For resources on sexual violence.
Visit rain dot org slash betrayal.
That's our ai n N dot org slash betrayal.
You can also get free confidential twenty four seven support through Rain's National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Just text Hope to six four six seven three or call one eight hundred sixty five six hope.
You are not alone.
If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your story, email us at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com.
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A big thank you to all of our listeners.
Betrayal is the production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning.
Written and produced by Caitlin Golden.
Our supervising producer is Carrie Hartman.
Our story editor is Monique Leboord.
Also produced by Ben Fetterman.
Associate producers are Olivia Hewitt and Leah Jablow.
Production management by Kristin Melcurrie, additional support by Curry Richmond.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crincheck.
Voice acting by Steve Lelinsky, Audio editing by Tanner Robbins, with additional editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio.
Special thanks to Saskia, her friends and family, and special thanks to Will Pearson and Carrie Lieberman.
Betrayal's theme is composed by Oliver Bains.
Music library provided by my Music and For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts,