Edwards' Betrayed Wife Tore Off Shirt, Collapsed: Aide

After learning that John Edwards had lied about breaking off his affair with Rielle Hunter, wife Elizabeth had a meltdown at an airport in North Carolina, a former aide testified at his trial yesterday. Edwards, who was dying of breast cancer, "stormed off and collapsed into a ball in the parking lot" after confronting her husband in October 2007, Christina Reynolds told the court. Aides took her to a restroom to calm down, but she "stormed out of the bathroom and tried to engage Mr. Edwards," Reynolds said. "She said to him, 'You don't see me any more,' and tore off her shirt and bra."

Asked how John Edwards reacted, Reynolds said, "He didn't have much of a reaction," ABC reports. On cross-examination, the former aide said Elizabeth was "mortified" and "humiliated" by her husband's betrayal. "Her primary concern was the family," she said. "She didn't want it to become public so the kids wouldn't have to deal with it." Before Reynolds' testimony began, Edwards, who is accused of using campaign funds to cover up the affair, asked his daughter Cate to leave the courtroom and she fled in tears. "I don’t know what’s coming," he told her. Click here for more on the trial. (More John Edwards stories.)