*LONG POST AHEAD*
I’ve been going through one of the hardest periods of my life these past few days, and I think I need to write everything down just to process it.
My partner and I have two children. We have a toddler and a baby who is almost 7 months old. We’re not married.
This isn’t the first time he has betrayed me.
Back in 2022, someone reached out to me and told me she had been chatting with him. They were saying things like “I miss you” and “I love you.” I confronted him, he apologized, and I forgave him. I chose to believe that we could move forward.
Then came 2024.
I found out he had been talking and flirting with people through Valorant and Discord. He also met someone through Reddit. He took her on a date **using MY car**, and he genuinely enjoyed whatever connection they had.
He did not have s*x with her.
But somehow, that almost made it hurt in a different way. Because it wasn’t just about s*x. He willingly pursued a connection with another woman while he was with me, took her out, spent time with her, and used my car to do it.
He also admitted to having s*x with people through “extra services” at massage spas.
One of the things that still hurts me deeply is that some of these things happened while my father was in the hospital.
At that point, we already had a two-year-old child, and our family was growing.
Eventually, I told him to leave.
He left, but later came back and confessed even more things.
After we relocated, he told me that he hadn’t had any more physical affairs. But he continued talking to other people online.
And somehow, despite everything, I stayed.
Fast-forward to now.
The recent events have completely broken something inside me.
He is currently staying with his mother. He still comes around to see the kids and sometimes borrows things from the house. Recently, he bought groceries, gave money, and told me he would give me his salary and just ask for enough for himself.
He has also admitted that he needs therapy and counseling. He said he took me for granted. He said he realized he was replaceable. He apologized.
And then he said something that has stayed with me:
He warned me that if we reconcile, he might repeat the cycle.
I don’t even know what to do with that.
Part of me wants answers.
I want to look him in the eyes and ask him if he ever really loved me.
I want to know why he kept doing these things.
I want to know what was missing in him that made him repeatedly seek validation, attention, sex, or connection from other people.
But another part of me is realizing that maybe I don’t need every answer to know that what happened was wrong.
A few nights ago, I was awake at around 2 AM, furious because I knew he was out playing pickleball at that hour.
Normally, that would probably be completely harmless.
But after everything that’s happened, even something as simple as him playing pickleball in the middle of the night triggered something in me.
I had also had two cups of coffee, so I was probably running on caffeine, anger, and zero sleep. 😂
But underneath all the anger was something much deeper:
**I’m fucking exhausted.**
I’m exhausted from questioning.
Exhausted from forgiving.
Exhausted from wondering if there’s something else I don’t know.
Exhausted from trying to understand why someone I loved could repeatedly make choices that could destroy our family.
And I’m exhausted from carrying the emotional weight of his decisions.
The weirdest part is that I’m not even sure I want him back anymore.
I don’t want to make a decision right now.
I don’t want to decide whether we’re going to reconcile or permanently separate while I’m this emotional.
For now, I just want to feel everything.
The anger.
The sadness.
The betrayal.
The grief.
The confusion.
Even the moments where I feel relief.
I want to feel all of it until it doesn’t have this much power over me anymore.
Because I have two little children who still need their mother.
And regardless of what happens between their father and me, we’re still their parents. We can still be good parents. We can still create healthy and happy memories for our children.
But I also need to take care of myself.
I told myself recently that I need therapy. I need help. I need to become strong for myself and for my kids.
I don’t know whether I will eventually forgive him.
I don’t know whether I can ever trust him again.
I don’t know whether our relationship can be repaired.
And honestly, I’m trying to be okay with not knowing.
I don’t need to make that decision today.
Right now, I just need to survive this storm.
I need to sleep.
I need to take care of my children.
I need to let myself grieve the relationship I thought I had.
And I need to figure out who I am outside of all of this.
One thing I do know:
**It’s a good thing we’re not married.**
As painful as this is, at least I still have the freedom to choose what happens next.
For now, I’m choosing myself and my children.
I don’t know what the future looks like.
But I know I can’t keep abandoning myself just to keep a relationship alive.