Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.

-Psalm 1:1, NLT

Cheaters often project their own treacherous behavior or character upon their marks.

This is what is happening, in my opinion, when Cheaters call faithful spouses “manipulative.” They are projecting all their deceitful manipulation upon their mark, the faithful party.

What they likely are doing is trying to offload feeling guilty for what they are doing or they hate that they don’t have complete control over the faithful spouse anymore.

The irony of such an accusation is how blind the Cheater is to their own manipulations. They completely ignore the mountain lies that they told to cover their double lives. “Manipulation” is perfectly fine as long as they are the manipulator.

So, don’t feel bad if your Cheater accuses you of this. They are probably just “telling on themselves!”