How Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have been secretly working to REKINDLE their romance – despite actor missing his wife’s birthday lunch amid furious divorce speculation

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck draw on the early days of their romance in a desperate attempt to get their marriage back on track. The estranged couple write love letters to each other in an attempt to rekindle their strained relationship.

Lopez, 54, and Affleck, 51, who reunited in 2021 after splitting in 2004, have been living apart, are occasionally photographed without wedding rings and have not been seen together since June. They have faced persistent reports that their two-year marriage is in crisis and headed for divorce.

But despite Lopez and Affleck being on the verge of “throwing in the towel” a few months ago, they are no longer on the verge of breaking up. They are doing everything they can to save their relationship by keeping their love life out of the spotlight.

“Jen and Ben agree that it’s best to take some time apart so they can really figure out what they want,” an insider told DailyMail.com.

“They were ready to throw in the towel. The divorce papers are ready and can be filed. But they wanted to try one last time before they walked away from this and go back to the beginning by writing letters to each other. This is what made them fall in love in the first place.”

Lopez shared a plethora of Affleck’s love letters in her film The Greatest Love Story Never Told, with the Gone Girl actor revealing that he continued to cherish correspondence with Lopez throughout his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner.

He later had the letters and emails bound into a book to give to the Jenny from the Block singer when they reunited in 2021.

“This book is a book that Ben gave me on our first Christmas together,” she said in the documentary. “It’s every letter and every email we wrote to each other from 20 years ago to today.”

She marked a note that read, “The Greatest Love Story Never Told by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck 2001-2010… and counting…”

However, her final love letters to Affleck are not made public.

“This time, JLo will absolutely not be showing these letters to anyone and they are meant to remain just between her and Ben,” the insider said. “If they decide they want to stay together, she will keep her love life private. Right now, things are looking promising.”

Affleck said in the documentary that when they decided to rekindle their relationship, he initially asked them to keep it private.

He said: ‘When we got back together, I said, ‘Listen, one of the things I don’t want is a relationship on social media. ‘

“Then I realized it’s not fair to ask. It’s like, you’re going to marry a captain and you say, ‘Well, I don’t like water.'”

He added: “We’re just two people with different approaches trying to learn to compromise.”

Lopez also saw that her husband was uncomfortable with the idea of ​​them being in the public eye as a couple, especially given the intense media attention they received the first time around.

‘I do not think so [Ben] I really enjoy doing all this,’ she said.

“But he loves me, he knows I’m an artist, and he’s going to support me in any way he can, because he knows you can’t stop me from making the music that I’ve made… he doesn’t want to stop me. But that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable being the muse.”

The couple, affectionately known as “Bennifer,” got engaged in late 2002 but called it quits a year later. They finally ended their relationship in 2004.

They reunited in July 2021 and finally tied the knot the following year, first in Las Vegas and then again in August at Affleck’s Georgia mansion.

Another source claimed their marriage is “under strain,” but added that “there is also a deep love for each other.”

“They just need to discover what brought them back together in the first place, and if that happens, chances are it will be three times lucky,” they said.

“They’re not throwing in the towel. They’re taking it day by day and they don’t want to part.”

Last week, DailyMail.com reported that the fact that they are spending time apart has only served to underscore how much they love each other. Lopez has put her work on the back burner to save their marriage and focus on being a mother.

“They’ve given each other space to think about it and it’s strengthened their love for each other,” a source said.

“Jennifer has put her work on hold to focus on repairing the damage that has been done. She knows that at times she has let her career and her fame come between her marriage.”

They continued, “She’s just trying to be a good mother and a normal person because she knows that her wealth and fame aren’t everything in the end. She hopes it’s not too late.”

Lopez celebrated her 55th birthday early over the weekend, where she was joined by her manager Benny Medina and her 16-year-old twins Max and Emme for lunch in the Hamptons. Affleck was not in attendance.

The weekend before, she was photographed at an antiques fair with her husband’s daughter, Violet, 18, whose mother is Garner. The former couple also have Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.

Concerns about Lopez and Affleck first surfaced in May when it was revealed that they had not been photographed together for 47 days.

Lopez attended the Met Gala and the premiere of her film Atlas alone.

The speculation reached a fever pitch when Affleck moved from their $60 million California mansion to a $100,000-a-month rental home near his ex-wife.

Just weeks later, the house was quietly put up for sale for $65 million and the couple began selling the artwork from the home.

The last time they were publicly photographed together was on June 2, when they shared an awkward kiss on the cheek at Affleck’s son Samuel’s basketball game in Los Angeles.

They later attended the 12-year-old boy’s graduation ceremony and subsequent party at Affleck’s current home in Brentwood, California on June 12, but were photographed separately.