Mauricee Bravo-Hibberd noticed a change in herhusband’sbehaviour, but the cause turned out to be sinister
I’ve always said that Sam and I were destined to be an item. Fate threw us together in April 2017 when he came to Peterborough City Hospital where I worked as a hand and wrist specialist practitioner. He’d broken his wrist while working as a satellite engineer. As he followed me into a room for a steroid injection, I was struck by how tall he was. His 6ft 4in frame towered over me – I’m only 5ft 1in! He was so handsome, too. At 31, I was a single mum to Theo, then seven, and not interested in dating again following the breakdown of my first marriage. But after Sam was discharged from the clinic in May 2018, he messaged me on LinkedIn to ask me out. His confidence and good looks pulled me in and I agreed.
We hired bikes and as we cycled and chatted, we discovered we had lots in common, from our deep love for Africa and volunteering work, to a childish obsession with Marvel films. Our sense of humour matched, too, and I was struck by how cheeky he was.
Three months after our first date, I introduced him to Theo and they adored each other. Sam continued to amaze me, embracing my Filipino heritage, learning to cook my favourite dishes and studying the Tagalog language. He was awful at it and joked it was because I was a bad teacher.
He proposed in February 2019 and we couldn’t wait to get married – we tied the knot two months later in Santorini. Just me, Sam and Theo, during the most spontaneous, blissful week of our lives.
When I presented Sam with a positive pregnancy test on our first wedding anniversary, he couldn’t stop shouting for joy. We were so excited.
Gabriel was born in November 2020, and I’d never seen such a hands-on dad. Even when it was my turn to get up in the night, Sam insisted on joining me so I wasn’t on my own. But during a trip to the Philippines in December 2022, I started to notice a change in him. By now I was pregnant again and struggling with morning sickness. Sam had been so attentive during my pregnancy with Gabriel, but now he seemed disconnected. He chatted about the scenery while I was being sick, instead of caring for me.
Back home, things just got worse. We’d be halfway through a conversation about something
