They say that if you want to play, you have to pay.

This week a Superior Court judge in North Carolina ordered a Texas man to pay $8.8 million to the jilted husband of a North Carolina woman with whom the Texas man had been having an affair.

The award represented $2.2 million in compensatory damages and three times that in punitive damages, the Herald Sun of Durham reported.

In an April 2017 civil complaint, Keith King of Durham accused Francisco Huizar III of San Antonio of criminal conversation, alienation of affection, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery, the newspaper reported.

In court testimony, Danielle King – who is 15 years younger than her husband -- said she pursued the relationship with Huizar in 2015 and that her marriage to Keith King had been unhappy nearly from the outset, according to the Herald Sun.

The Kings married in 2010 and have a 5-year-old daughter, according to court records.

North Carolina is one of a few states where jilted spouses can sue affair partners.

Attorney Joanne Foil said the affair and an alleged assault by Huizar cost King's company, BMX Stunt Shows, revenue and an employee, as his wife worked for the company.

Huizar's attorney, Cheri Patrick, says the Kings' marriage was damaged before Huizar met the wife at a BMX show. Patrick says King was controlling and manipulative.

Huizar plans to appeal.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.