You love her - Check
It works on so many levels - check - lifestyle just works well
Sex is shit or non existant - check - Zero Sex
Punting fills a need (sort of) - check - Having Sex
Had an affair but sold my soul - check - Not doing it again
Too chicken shit to walk out on an affluent life - check - Women generally earn less than men but own more properties than Men due to the phenomena called divorce.
What to do? ( no wrong answers, more a discussion) - carry on punting and don't escalate.
GO! ......
I had an long-ish affair once and was caught up in the excitement, it was taking time and money and was becoming harder to hide and even thought of divorcing and splitting up at one point. However, I was lucky it was with someone with a similar mindset who also extremely discreet. Eventually, once the initial buzz fizzled out we did a clean break after a few years.

In hindsight and upon reflection,
if she was a more sticky / clingy / jealous type, then breaking up it could have literally fucked me over. It could have cost a divorce, my house, a lot of stress and even affect my health. I felt lucky it didn't end that way.
Now, my bottom line is avoiding anything that takes my attention and affection from home, so i'm strictly punting only and avoiding anything more intimate.
Upon reflecting as I type this post, I'm actually quite happy with kids, a house and stable job, the only problem is that I've been celibate for over 10 years in 25+ years of marriage. Its very likely that if i didn't punt then we would have problems and be in divorce territory already. Therefore, I could consider punting, a white lie activity that maintains stability of the marriage.
I've seen some interviews of young to middle aged (very good looking and affluent) ladies who were asked if seeing a sex worker is considered cheating. The answer was generally no unless you start spending money i.e. gifts. This obviously isn't everyone's view, but at least it is for some women, and also for me.
Actually, i do feel she is turning a blind eye but as long as there are no tell tale signs and her life isn't affected, then she ignores it ... women are very sensitive beings, we think we're smart, but sometimes they are smarter.
This is how i rate various kinds of 'cheating' from benign to serious
- Looking at another woman - Possible Scolding
- Dream about someone - Scolding + Disapproval
- Strip bar - Scolding + Disapproval
- Punting - Life changing stress + possible divorce
- Mistress - Definite Divorce + untold amounts of stress, hassle and animosity.
My final thought. When i get bored of punting and i hope that happens way before I retire. I would like to travel the world. Travelling requires money and if I had mistress(es) i can definitely kiss that retirement dream goodbye.