A prominent New York City heiress has come forward with a startling revelation about her estranged husband, who she claims deserted their family to pursue a relationship with a younger woman. The ordeal left them living in a modest apartment.
Flobelle ‘Belle’ Fairbanks Burden, 56, hails from a lineage of New York’s elite, being the granddaughter of famed socialite Babe Paley.
In her recently released memoir, the NYC lawyer recounts the devastating moment her life took an unexpected turn. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she received the shocking news of her hedge-fund manager husband’s affair.
Henry Davis, 60, allegedly confessed to infidelity with a 35-year-old colleague, ending more than two decades of marriage.
Burden revealed in her book that the affair had a tragic twist when Davis’s mistress attempted suicide after the clandestine relationship was exposed.
The following day, Davis reportedly informed his wife of his dissatisfaction, expressed no interest in keeping their homes in Massachusetts and New York City, and left her with sole custody of their three children.
‘You can have the house and the apartment. You can have custody of the kids. I don’t want it. I don’t want any of it,’ he allegedly told her per The Sunday Times.
He traded in their $4.7 million Martha’s Vineyard home and for a ‘sleek’ two-bedroom apartment shortly after their divorce was finalized.
Society heiress Flobelle ‘Belle’ Fairbanks Burden has written at length about the day her idyllic life was ruined when her husband of 20 years, Henry Davis, revealed he was having an affair
Burden (pictured) admitted she was blindsided by her husband’s decision to blow up their marriage
The 56-year-old at her $4.7 million Martha’s Vineyard holiday home with her son Finn
‘I still thought he would want to make a home for his children, that he wouldn’t follow through on his decision to have no custody and no overnights,’ she said in her book Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage.
Burden claimed Davis converted his second bedroom into an office, ensuring there would be no space for their three daughters and son.
Burden noted that six years later, Davis does occasionally see the kids for dinners and tennis matches, but has not been involved in co-parenting.
She remains their sole guardian and alleges there have been ‘no handovers or holidays since the day he left.’
Burden, who is a descendant of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, was completely blindsided by the total collapse of her family.
It began on March 15, 2020, when the couple and their two youngest children fled the pandemic to quarantine at Martha’s Vineyard.
Burden’s memoir detailing the downfall of her two decade marriage hit the shelves on January 13
When Davis walked out, he let Burden keep both their apartment in NYC and the Martha’s Vineyard estate (file photo of the latter area)
In her book, Burden described the stability and routine the family had while escaping lockdown as ‘delightful’ in the early days.
Just six days into lockdown, Burden received a call – which she declined – from an unknown number claiming that Davis was having an affair, she revealed in an excerpt published in The Times.
‘I’m trying to reach Belle,’ a man said in the haunting voicemail. ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but your husband is having an affair with my wife.’
Burden confronted Davis about his infidelity, alleging that he admitted to having a relationship with a mother of two whom he met through work.
At first, her ex-husband was apologetic, Burden claimed. He said their entanglement was ‘over’ and ‘meant nothing’.
But on the morning of March 21, Davis told her he wanted a divorce, packed a bag, and left for New York City without even saying goodbye to their 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’m done,’ he allegedly told her in a phone call when he got back to the city.
Burden received a phone call while she was there, revealing her husband was having an affair
Burden is the granddaughter 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 separated, claimed that one of the last things Davis told her before he left there was: ‘You’ll be fine. You’re still young.’
She noted that Davis has just reached the ‘pinnacle’ of his career in hedge funds.
To this day, she is unsure of whether her age or the pandemic played a role in the dissolution of their marriage.
‘I don’t know why he left. I don’t think I ever will,’ she penned in the memoir.
Burden and Davis in June 1999 at her stepmother Susan’s home in Water Mill, NY, after the pair met at a corporate law firm.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage was released on January 13.
