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AIBU?

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Did he cheat, was he unreasonable? Is it me?

35 replies

Gladya72 · 10/11/2024 08:12

Someone hacked into an old facebook account, I couldn't remember the password so i found an old family computer which had everyones login details on to try and get in and stop it, it was already logged into my husbands account so I had a look in it and found some old messages to a woman I had never even heard of who he had met on a course lasting nearly 3 weeks, a few years ago, the messages were innocent enough but I was upset he never mentioned her, I woke him up with a pic of her in his face one morning and straight away without any hesitation he said "of thats so so so from the course" (I have done this since with someone he kinda knows from work and he didnt recognise nor know her name) I have to mention, I remember him coming him from this course and raving about the other person there( who was male) telling me all about him, his family, where he lived, what he did, everything,,, her not a mention, she lives just down the road, had a sick child like I did but even though we had these things in common, you would think he'd come home and mention it, he just said that he didnt think to mention her! (this is not what he is usually like). I know I have been jealous in the past but we got past that, so there was just no need, the night the course finished he was messaging her. a few months later and they messaged on a off for a few months even bumping into her (when he ever bumps into anyone he knows, usually he would mention it in passing) A few months later gets a message about the course and looked at me and said the outcome and he led me to believe this message came from the man he met, when it was in fact her, his behaviour when I have asked questions has been to just disregard, say I am overeacting, he didn't lie because he never told me so its not lying and that he didn't sleep with her so he's done nothing wrong! i cant seem to make him understand that the purposeful deciet that he has followed up with has really upset me, when i ask questions he claims to have forgotten but didn forget her bloomin face though! one minute he says I wont allow him friends then retracts with 'attractive' friends, then she wasn't a friend, then she was, he didn't fancy her because she was big (I was bigger than her at the time) all contradictory, I know him better than he knows himself, I struggle to verbalise what I mean but he has been too evasive, if I don't ask something in a specific way I won't get the truth. we have been together over 30 years, he let slip when arguing about it one night that if I dont ask, he doesn't tell! I honestly thought we were on the same page re something like this, I asked how he would feel if I met two people at a course and came home and raved about the woman only and left the atrractive younger man out of the equation but he claims that would be ok, even though I know he would be hurt, its not the substance of the chat, it the hiding it, he says he didnt hide it, he just didnt mention it and that's what I struggle with, if it was innocent why would you not tell? I have become obsessed with trying to find out what went on as I now feel that it will happen again and I need to be on the lookout for it! i have become what will push him away and we spend more time arguing than anything else. Until this we had a great relationship, in my bones I just cant get over how we suddenly see something so simple, so differently. Any advice? I need an outside perspective as Its driving me mad

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kalokagathos · 10/11/2024 13:05

Control your jealousy. This is very intense interrogation I would expect from a 15 year old

toomuchfaff · 10/11/2024 11:59

Have you ruined every single relationship? You're ruining this one.

SeeTheWorldAnotherWay · 10/11/2024 10:16

Sorry OP, but this sounds like it’s all on you. Your behaviour is placing you on target to reach a self fulfilling prophecy though. Apologise to your husband and ask for his support to help you as you start to address your insecurities, ideally with professional help. You’ll eventually lose your marriage otherwise.

MyCatsAreFuckwits · 10/11/2024 10:15

I have only one word.....
UNHINGED

KrisAkabusi · 10/11/2024 10:08

I know I have been jealous in the past but we got past that

You clearly haven't. You're going through his Facebook. No reason, just because you could. You're waking him up, to interrogate him about something you found. You are ranting at him for mot mentioning someone. This isn't normal behavior. You are being very unreasonable.

FieldInWhichFucksAreGrownIsBarren · 10/11/2024 09:54

I think your post, which absolutely needs paragraphs, makes you sound slightly unhinged and is most likely why he didn't mention anything.
You certainly aren't over your jealousy issues.

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 10/11/2024 09:52

What realistically would you do if you found out he had cheated back then? Will you divorce him now? Staying means you may never get the answers. Leaving also means you may never get the answers. But to live in this constant state of mistrust is crazy. Something needs to give.
His attitude to “if I omitted the truth that’s not lying” is utter bullshit. But clearly that’s how he lives his life. If you can’t trust a man like that (no judgment here, I wouldn’t either) then you can’t live like that and have fundamentally different morals. If you can, then you’ll have to just overlook this and other things that make you uncomfortable and stop making yourself ill with jealousy and mistrust.

Interlaken · 10/11/2024 09:49

I’m sorry OP, but you sound nuts.

And the thing is as well, he will know that you react like this so will be very careful about what he says to avoid the row and you “being suspicious” (aka, giving full flow to your jealousy).

Did he cheat: probably not.
Did he have a nice conversation that made him feel good about himself: probably.
Does he know that you would hate him to have a nice conversation with someone: definitely.

If your standard is “positive interactions with people of the opposite sex is cheating” then you need to own that, and accept it is extraordinarily controlling.

The whole drama of how you woke him up with that picture, is off the wall. It is absolute acid on your relationship and probably part of a very emotionally coercive dynamic. There is no way you can justify it or think it is anything other than scary.
Presumably you wouldn’t like him to describe that interaction to a friend or sibling?

WeeOrcadian · 10/11/2024 09:42

OP, kindly, please just take a breath and a step back.

This is far too much. You acknowledge that you've had jealousy issues. This sounds perfectly innocent on his part.

Would you consider speaking to your GP about your anxiety?

WeeOrcadian · 10/11/2024 09:41

LizzoBennett · 10/11/2024 09:37

Insane in the membrane...

IYKYK

Tiswa · 10/11/2024 09:40

There is a reason he didn’t tell you - he made a friendly connection with someone and that is it but he knew what your reaction would be so he said nothing - I don’t tell DH about my message interactions with friends and that is all she was but if she he had told you this is how you would have reacted

LizzoBennett · 10/11/2024 09:37

Insane in the membrane...

DinnaeFashYerself · 10/11/2024 09:34

You sound disproportionately annoyed and determined to make this something.

nobody here will change your mind.

AmICrazyToEvenBother · 10/11/2024 09:32

If I woke up to a phone thrust in my face and demands to know who someone was, I'd be fucking off out of that relationship.

You don't sound like you're in a good place, OP. If a woman posted this about her male partner, everyone would be advising her to get out and warning her about controlling behavior and possible escalation - this is you, OP. Do you want to be that person?

My advice is to get counselling and/or leave this relationship. I'd steer clear of any relationship until I'd got to the bottom of this behaviour.

Haveyouanyjam · 10/11/2024 09:28

If he has cheated before then I understand, otherwise this is totally unreasonable.

My husband had serious trust issues due to previous experiences and would question me over the smallest interaction with other men early in our relationship. I wouldn’t have mentioned them to him as obviously they were meaningless to me and totally normal interactions. Once he understood that his jealousy was a him issue and I wouldn’t have him blowing up at me for nothing, we worked through it. If he had carried on I would have left.

Get counselling to address this. Either on your own, or if he has cheated before, together.

Notsuchafattynow · 10/11/2024 09:25
  • You've certainly not 'got over' your jealousy.
  • You are actively looking for evidence (logging onto an old computer that handily saved all passwords)
  • And when you can't find any, you are twisting what you find into something

It sounds an exhausting way to live, for you both.

Has DH ever cheated on you in the past?

OrigamiOwls · 10/11/2024 09:18

You're in danger of pushing him away with your behaviour OP.

Londonrach1 · 10/11/2024 09:17

Yabu. You sound very intense. I'd be advising your boyfriend that you are a red flag. Reread what you have written and apologize to him. Unless there's a back story you not sharing.

DoreenonTill8 · 10/11/2024 09:14

I woke him up with a pic of her in his face one morning
Agree absolutely bat shit, and.scary!!

Branleuse · 10/11/2024 09:11

Wtf?

Hes done nothing wrong

Lancastrienne · 10/11/2024 08:57

You should get help for your jealousy. You’re going to ruin this relationship

MissUltraViolet · 10/11/2024 08:48

You said "if it was innocent why would he not tell" ...well, read your post again, that's why.

Waking him up and shoving a picture of a woman in his face, that he has had a few friendly convos with, then proceeding to question him about it is fucking mad.

Talking about how until this you had a great relationship, is mad.

The this that is the problem, is your behaviour, not his.

I am going to assume he has never cheated on you because you would have mentioned it in the OP so, why don't you trust him?

Jurassicparkinajug · 10/11/2024 08:48

If you’re a paranoid person and you go looking/ snooping, you will always find things that will confirm your suspicions, even if there is nothing going on. If something had happened between them, there would be more to the messages. He’s not told you because he knows you worry. You need to work on your trust otherwise your relationship won’t last. Many people have been cheated on previously but find a way to move forward. Are there any underlying issues from childhood that could be affecting you? Would be worth unpicking with a therapist if there are.

Theextraordinaryisintheordinary · 10/11/2024 08:36

You said you’ve become “obsessed” with this. He must feel exhausted. With respect, I felt exhausted reading it.

I’m sorry you’re feeling so insecure but you’re projecting this outward rather than seeking help for yourself. I don’t think he’s done anything wrong but your behaviour will drive him away.

Close the book on this one now. Apologise to him, sort yourself some counselling to help deal with your low self esteem and then have a really fabulous Sunday with him. You can turn this around!

TH1NG1E · 10/11/2024 08:35

You are being crazy, obsessed and jealous. FFS no wonder he doesn't tell you anything.