Cheating is like, you, the cheater, started a fire in her house. There are no alarms, no warnings. She wakes up, there is a fire. Her initial reaction is she does not want this to happen, she wants to save everything, she loves her house, this was not her choice. But the fire is already too big, she needs to get out to save herself if she wants to live. No matter how scared and upset you are, you need to get out. That is what it feels like to be cheated on. swap genders it doesn’t matter. No matter how bad you wish it didn’t happen, it did. Your house burned down. You need to rebuild one way or another, get a new home or rebuild your old home, but you will always remember how it burned the first time.
To add to this, the moment a cheater cheats the significant other becomes a loser.
They lose trust.
They lose love.
They lose all hopes and dreams.
They lose mental health.
they lose emotional stability.
If the cheater wants to reconcile, they need to understand that all these losses need to be refunded with interest.
Just stopping the cheating is never enough.
As to your analogy, I believe if the old house is rebuilt it should be different, changed to suit both parties better.