Hillary Clinton, Victoria Beckham, Lin Fengjiao.

They are powerful and well-known, but they also share a common thread. All have stood by their cheating husbands after their infidelities were made public.

'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned', they say.

But these spurned wives still chose to stand by their philandering husbands, enduring weeks of their husbands' sordid affairs being aired in public and discussed.

The recent sex-for-contracts scandal involving Central Narcotics Bureau Chief, Ng Boon Gay, gave the public a glimpse of one such woman.

Ng's wife, Ms Yap Yen Yen, has faithfully appeared together with her husband during the ongoing court trials.

Her gentle and unwavering support for her unfaithful husband has drawn much admiration, but also disbelief from some camps.

We may never know what goes on behind closed doors, but one can argue that it is harder to stay than to pack your bags and leave when your partner strays.

Why do they do it?

You can forgive, says one woman interviewed by The New Paper in June.

But life will never be the same, says Jane, who did not want the reporter to use her real name in order to protect her children from re-living the nightmare.

Jane suffered through the humiliation when her husband's mistress of two years went public with details of their affair.

For Jane and Silda Wall, whose husband, New York mayor Elliot Spitzer cheated on her with a call girl, they blamed themselves for their husband's affair.

Said Jane: "I gave him the chance to cheat on me. I gave him the chance to hurt me."

Read more here.

Click on the thumbnails for women who chose to stand by their unfaithful husbands after their affairs and sex scandals went public.

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