WHEN Gina Martin's husband Joe was posted to South Korea with the US Army, she knew it would put a strain on their relationship.
But nothing could prepare the 20-year-old, who now lives in London, for the betrayal of discovering Joe, now 21, had spent £1,000 of their money in brothels.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital, Gina shares her story...
It could be difficult being married to a man in the military.
While I lived in Illinois, USA, my husband Joe was thousands of miles away in South Korea with the US Army. I lived for his phone calls.
Joe and I were childhood sweethearts. I was only 16 when he nervously asked me out, but I couldn’t refuse. Joe was gorgeous and seemed really sweet.
It wasn’t very long before we were seriously dating. Joe treated me like a princess and was always spoiling me with fancy meals and thoughtful gifts.
Within a few weeks of us being together, he told me that he loved me. It was fast - but it felt completely right.
"I love you too," I said, a smile spreading across my face.
When we left school, Joe was accepted into the US Army to train as a mechanic.
It was tough, meaning Joe would be away on tour for months on end, but I wasn't worried - ours was more than a teen romance.
Then, in December 2015, Joe was given some news that turned my world upside down.
"I’m being sent away for my first tour of duty next month," he said. "It's in South Korea."
I stared at him open-mouthed. Although I knew his job would put a little distance between us, I was absolutely distraught that he was going to be so far away.
That’s when Joe told me he had an idea.
"This is going to sound crazy," he said. "But let’s get married."
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. "What?" I asked. "Have you gone completely mad?"
But Joe was adamant it was the right thing to do.
He said: "If we get married, you’ll be taken care of. There’ll be more money and better benefits.
"Plus I love you Gina. I want you to be my wife. I don’t like the idea of being away from you.
"This way, at least we’ll be married and I can take care of you, even though I won’t be with you."
It was far from the romantic proposal I dreamt of - but we didn’t have time for all that. Joe was leaving in a matter of weeks.
Just like that, we were getting married. We called our family and close friends, who helped us organise a wedding in record-breaking time.
I was just 17 when we got hitched in the local registry office, weeks before Joe left for his first tour of duty.
It might not have been how we imagined our lives as newlyweds, but we were beaming throughout the whole ceremony.
"I can’t believe I’m married," I said to Joe when we woke up. "I’m somebody’s wife. It’s so strange and grown up."
"I can’t believe I’ve got to leave you in a few weeks," Joe groaned. "It feels so unfair."
Saying goodbye at the airport was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but Joe and I kept in touch everyday on the phone and via Skype.
Ten months later, in October 2016, Joe started to change.
We were already thousands of miles apart, but there was a new distance between us.
Whenever we spoke, Joe seemed distracted and uninterested.
Sometimes he’d even claim he was too busy playing computer games with his fellow soldiers to talk to me. It just didn’t add up.
Joe had spent £1,000 at a string of Korean brothels. It was so shocking, I could hardly take it in
Gina Martin, 20Although I asked him repeatedly what was going on, I was always met with the same response.
"Don’t be silly," he snapped. "I’m just busy and tired, that’s all. Work is difficult at the moment. There’s a lot expected from me out here."
I knew Joe worked hard, but I had a sinking feeling he was hiding something.
After that conversation, I checked our joint back account, and saw something which made my heart stop.
Joe had made two payments of £500 to two different businesses in South Korea that I'd never heard of.
It didn’t make any sense - the Army was taking care of all his expenses when he was out there, so usually he didn’t need to spend more than a few quid here and there.
What had he spent £1,000 of our money on?
I decided to Google the names of the businesses, but nothing could have prepared me for what I found.
Joe had spent £1,000 at a string of Korean brothels. It was so shocking, I could hardly take it in.
Confused and furious, I phoned Joe to confront him. To my surprise, he picked up straight away. I couldn't help but lose control.
"How could you?" I screamed. "I know your dirty little secret! I’ve seen the bank statement! How could you, Joe?"
Joe just stayed silent as I screamed at him. Eventually, I calmed down, and my anger subsided to quiet sobs.
"I’m sorry," he whispered. "I don’t know why I did it. I’m so lonely and bored out here. It didn’t mean anything Gina, it was just sex."
"Don’t give me that," I spat. "You’ve just thrown away everything. You’re disgusting. I hope you’re happy with yourself."
Joe told us:
“(It was the) pressure of being apart for so long and being so young to be honest.
“I have no regrets, a life filled with regrets is a life spent in misery.
“I didn’t have a future with her as a husband, as those events and recent ones have shown me.
“I don’t want kids - she is a big family person and I am not.
“I did what I what I did because things changed in the relationship and I didn’t like any of it.”
With that, I hung up and cried until I didn't have any tears left.
Although Joe kept insisting he visited prostitutes because of the pressure of being away from me for such a long time, I couldn’t believe the depth of his betrayal.
His tour of duty was nothing more than a call of booty. I knew our marriage was over there and then.
In July 2018, our divorce finally came through.
MOST READ IN REAL LIFE
Since splitting from Joe, I've moved to the UK - where I met my current partner - and we now have a child together.
I’m moving on without Joe, but I’ll never forget the day I discovered he’d splashed our cash on prostitutes.
Last week, one woman revealed why she'd never date a Brit - claiming they're short, drink and smoke too much and have terrible teeth.
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