Society heiress reveals humiliating downsize by hedge funder husband after he dumped her for younger woman
A glamorous New York City heiress has revealed that her estranged husband abandoned his family in a tiny apartment while he left her for a younger woman.
Flobelle ‘Belle’ Fairbanks Burden, 56, is the granddaughter of New York socialite Babe Paley.
The NYC attorney has penned a memoir detailing the moment her glamorous life came to an abrupt halt after she received a phone call exposing her hedge funder husband’s affair in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Henry Davis, 60, allegedly admitted to cheating on his wife of more than 20 years with a 35-year-old woman he met through work.
In his book, Heiress recalled that Davis’ mistress attempted suicide after a month-long illicit affair was unmasked.
He claimed that he told his wife the next morning that he was unhappy, that he did not want their house in Massachusetts or their apartment in New York, and that he could have sole custody of their three children.
‘You can have the house and the flat. You can get custody of the children. I don’t want this. He was alleged to have said, “I don’t want any of it.” According to The Sunday Times.
Shortly after their divorce was finalized, she traded in her $4.7 million Martha’s Vineyard home and a ‘stylish’ two-bedroom apartment.
Socialite heiress Flobelle ‘Belle’ Fairbanks Burden wrote at length about the day her idyllic life was ruined when she revealed her husband of 20 years, Henry Davis, was having an affair
Burden (pictured) admitted she was blindsided by her husband’s decision to destroy their marriage
The 56-year-old man lives with his son Finn in his $4.7 million Martha’s Vineyard vacation home
“I still thought that she would want to set up a home for her children and that she would not implement her decision not to have custody or overnight stays,” she said in her book Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage.
Burden claimed that Davis converted the second bedroom into an office, leaving no room for his three daughters and son.
Burden noted that six years later, Davis occasionally saw the children for dinners and tennis matches but was not involved in the co-parenting process.
He remains their sole guardian and claims there has been ‘no transfer or vacation since the day he left’.
Burden, a descendant of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, was completely stunned by his family’s complete collapse.
It all started on March 15, 2020, when the couple and their two youngest children escaped the pandemic and quarantined on Martha’s Vineyard..
Burden’s memoir, which details the collapse of her twenty-year marriage, hit shelves on January 13.
When Davis got out, he allowed Burden to keep both his NYC apartments and his Martha’s Vineyard mansion (file photo of the latter area)
In his book, Burden described the stability and routine the family experienced as they escaped isolation as “delightful” in the early days.
Just six days after the quarantine began, Burden received a call from an unknown number claiming Davis was having an affair, a call she rejected. Times.
“I’m trying to reach Belle,” a man said in the memorable voicemail. ‘I’m sorry to say this, but your husband is having an affair with my wife.’
Burden confronted Davis about his infidelity, claiming he admitted to having an affair with a mother of two he met through work.
Burden claimed that her ex-husband apologized at first. He said their wanderings were “over” and “didn’t mean anything.”
But on the morning of March 21, Davis told her she wanted a divorce, packed her bags, and set off for New York without even saying goodbye to her daughters.
‘I thought I was happy, but I’m not. I thought I wanted our life, but I don’t. I feel like a switch has flipped. I was allegedly done with a phone call to him when he got back to town.
While there, Burden received a phone call saying her husband was having an affair.
Burden is the grandson of socialite Babe Paley, who rose to fame in the 1930s
He reportedly admitted that he wanted to check on his mistress and make sure she was okay.
Burden, who was 50 when they broke up, claimed one of the last words Davis said to him before leaving was: ‘You’re going to be okay.’ You’re still young.”
He stated that Davis had reached the ‘peak’ of his career in hedge funds.
To this day, he is unsure whether age or the pandemic played a role in the end of their marriage.
‘I don’t know why you left. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever do that,’ he wrote in his memoirs.
Burden and Davis met at his stepmother Susan’s home in Water Mill, N.Y., in June 1999, after the pair met at a corporate law firm.
Strangers: Memoirs of a Marriage was released on January 13.
