Chris Watts, 33, told Nichol Kessinger his family had "gone" at around 3.45pm on August 13, the very day Shannan, 34, Bella, four, and Celeste, three, were reported missing.
Ms Kessinger recalls receiving the emotionless and cold message, which followed a dozen of other normal messages they had shared throughout the working day.
Reading the news, she became even more confused when she realised journalists were outside his house, and she was horrified to learn he was still married to a woman who was 15 weeks pregnant.
Ms Nichols had starting dating Watts in early July, believing he was separated and at the end of divorce proceedings.
She told Denver Post: "I thought, 'If he was able to lie to me and hide something that big, what else was he lying about'?"
Keen to find out what had really happened, Ms Nichols began to quiz Watts via text, but he repeatedly changed his story and changed the subject, she claimed.
The following day she thought to herself, "he was telling me so many lies that I eventually told him that I did not want to speak to him again until his family was found".
But she decided to tell police about her relationship with Watts, and what he had told her.
It comes as Shannen's parents, Frank and Sandra Rzucek blasted the claims made by Watts' family.
In an interview with Denver7 on Monday, Cynthia defended her son, saying: “He’s not a sociopath. He’s not a psychopath. I asked Chris, ‘If you did not do this, do not confess to something you didn’t do [but his defence attorney] shut me down. She completely shut me down.”
The couple told the broadcaster they have “no idea” whether Watts was coerced into taking the plea deal last week.
But the Rzucek's told Dailymail.com, everyone knew their daughter was a "faithful wife, gentle and loving mother, and the best daughter…. even Chris Watts knows this to be true".
They added: "Chris Watts still chose to dump the bodies of his own family in oil tanks. And Chris Watts still chose to lie about it until he could lie no more. He pled guilty to murdering his family because he is guilty."
Watts, 33, struck the plea deal to avoid the death penalty after slaying Shanann Watts, Celeste, three, and four-year-old Bella at their family home in August.
On November 6, he sobbed in court as he pleaded guilty to five counts of murder in the first degree, three counts of tampering with a deceased human body and one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
He also admitted to hiding their bodies in an oil field. Watts’ plea deal sets out that he serves three consecutive life sentences for the three murders.
Shanann's body was found buried in a shallow grave and the girls had been dumped in oil tanks on the property of Watts' former employer.
He was arrested the following day and charged with first degree murder and other felony counts in the slayings.
Police say Watts was having an affair with a co-worker and had informed his wife on August 13 – the night before her disappearance – that he wanted to separate.
According to court documents, an investigation determined that Watts, who was fired from his job at Anadarko Petroleum on the day of his arrest, "was actively involved in an affair with a co-worker".
Watts told investigators that he killed his wife after discovering that she had strangled their two daughters after he told her he wanted to separate.
Shanann's body was discovered in a shallow grave about 40 miles from the family's home and the girls' bodies were recovered from nearby oil tanks, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Watts now awaits sentencing on 19 November.
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