Hiding the second marriage requires planning and an ability
to lie. Luck is also important. There are stories of couples who have been
affected by second marriages where some husbands were not clever enough in
covering their tracks, while others simply did not have enough luck.
Abdullah, a 40-year-old Saudi who did not want to reveal his
last name, is married to three women. The first wife lives in her villa, while
the other two live in apartments in buildings adjacent to each other.
"I got married to my second and third wives within a
short time. I found a perfect apartment in a high-rise building that I rent out
for my second wife,” he said.
“When I got married to my third wife, I rented another
apartment in a different building close by so I could move easily from the
second to the third wife. None of my wives knew about my multiple
marriages."
He said that one day he asked the building watchman to call
the shop and bring two water gallons for each of his apartments.
“The doorman did not tell the shopkeeper to keep my
marriages secret. The shopkeeper brought the two water gallons to the second wife
and asked her where my third wife’s home was,” he said.
"My second wife was shocked and exploded in anger when
she learned that she was not my first wife. She went and fought with the third
wife, who was shocked that she was not even the first or second wife. To make
matters worse, they found the address of my first wife and decided to pay her a
visit and expose me."
Abdullah said that the second and third wives demanded equal
treatment and wanted him to buy a villa for each of them before they accepted the
marriages.
Abdullah Al-Zahrani, a Saudi teacher married to two women,
said his daughter inadvertently exposed his second marriage to his first wife.
"I was married to my second wife secretly for three
years. My second wife is a peaceful woman,” he said, adding that because he
sometimes had to leave her alone in her apartment for a long time, he decided
to get a mobile phone just to call her.
“That mobile was hidden in my car. One day, I took my first
wife and daughter for shopping. My daughter was playing in the backseat when
she discovered that there was a cell phone underneath the passenger's seat. She
gave the phone to my wife who looked at the contact and found only one name, my
second wife’s.”
The first wife browsed the messages on the phone and found
out about his second marriage.
“She threatened to divorce me if I didn’t leave my second
wife.” He said that he has been trying to bring his first wife home and
persuade her to accept that he is married to another woman.
A Saudi woman who works at King Abdulaziz University and did
not want her name mentioned said that she discovered her husband’s second
marriage by accident.
"During the last rains, my husband phoned me to say
that he was unable to pick me up. He told me to come back with one of my friends.
One of my students saw me waiting and decided to take me back home,” she said.
“She was recently married and in the car she started talking
about her husband. I realized he had many similarities with my husband.”
When the woman started talking about her husband and
mentioned his name and work, the student suddenly looked as if someone close to
her had died.
“I too was shocked when I discovered that her husband was my
husband and that he had married one of my students." She said that when
she confronted her husband, he had nothing to say.
