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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU or is this a toxic relationship? 🙁

61 replies

Rnr06 · 28/04/2020 02:47

I really don’t know what to do anymore. Me and my fiancĂ© have been together for 8 years, we were due to get married next year but due to finances it won’t be possible. However we have got many other issues at the moment.
My partners dad sadly passed away a few days before Xmas 2 years ago. At the time I was actually suffering from delayed grieving for my own dad, who passed away when I was a teenager and I never grieved him at the time, I didn’t have any family apart from my mother and she suffers with her MH so neither of us really knew how to cope with my dads passing. So when I was going through the delayed grieving (took a while to establish that’s why I was so depressed) but I started having counselling , I feel it did me the world of good and I finally could talk about things and get it off my chest, however at the same time my partners dad unexpectedly passed away after suffering a bleed on the brain. My partner and his dad always had a very strained relationship, and they had only recently started talking properly to each other. My parter would say awful stuff out of anger about his father when they argued, stuff like ‘I wish he dead’ it was horrible to hear because firstly you just don’t say that but also having lost my dad at a young age I thought it was so inconsiderate to say that. I feel my partner has some regret and guilt over the stuff he said but hasn’t actually said that to me.

I also saw that my partners dad didn’t make any effort to help their relationship and would always go out of his way to help his other children.

After my partners dad passed away, I was there for my partner and his family 110% I was there every step of the way whilst I was dealing with my own grief. A few months later my partner started not dealing with things too well, which was expected after losing his father. My partner had issues with work and the way they handled his grieving, again I was there every step, but he also had a couple of counselling sessions but didn’t like counselling.

After a year had passed my partner started taking it out on me, and I mean every thing. He would go through my phone whilst I was sleeping, he would hack my social media accounts, he would constantly ask who I was speaking to, I went to the cinema with one of my girl friends from work and he didn’t believe I was going with her. He only believed me when he physically saw me and her getting in the car together, he accused me of cheating because his gut was telling him, after every night out that I had he would check through my phone and my pictures and ask if any boys were out. He questioned me one night whether anyone has messaged me, I handed him my phone and said no, I had been drinking after a works party but he decided to question me when I got home. However I’d had a message from some guy 2 weeks before this night, on Instagram who I’ve never met, never spoke to or never seen in person, from the gym I go to, he said he added me just as he’d seen I go to that gym, I said back that’s fine and just followed him back out of politeness, nothing more to it and that was the end of the conversation. How because I said ‘no’ when asked if anyone’s messaged me even though I gave my partner my phone to look through he’s held it against me for over a year and says there discrepancies in my story and that’s why he has trust issues. Now my partner would go out a lot more often than me, and also followed girls from the gym and also a girl that he met on a night out but swears theres nothing to it, he also likes girls profile pictures but I’m just supposed to accept it, which I do as I’m pretty laid back, and I kind of feel I’ve been too laid back with him during our relationship and he’s taken advantage of that. But I told my partner that he questioned me about that message whilst I was drunk and I gave him my phone so why would I give him my phone if i was hiding anything? I even blocked the guy who messaged me the next day to show my partner there’s nothing to it at all. Oh also the message my partner was referring to, he had already read it as the night before he has gone through my phone whilst I was sleeping and I know this as I had unread messages from friends that he had opened and he admitted to it too.

My partner has also accused of lying about my finances and outgoings, even though he knows all of my outgoings but lies and says he doesn’t, I had given him a list of my outgoings, 3 times over a few months. But I never ask for anything like this from him. He also wanted me to print out a years worth of bank statements and payslips to give to him, when i refused to do this as I said he’s being unreasonable he held it against me and just said he didn’t know where my money was going, I’ve had to get a new car within the last year and because we were planning to get married and start a family I bought a family car, so my finances haven’t been great and my income was pretty much the same as my outgoings. My partner had a lot of inheritance money when he dad passed so he bought a very expensive sports car outright, so I feel he doesn’t understand how much I’m actually struggling with finances and I personally feel it was quite selfish that he bought a car that was completely impractical and leaving me with no option, when I would suggest a family car to him he would tell me it’s his money.

We have had 7 counselling sessions and the counsellor has told my partner that he’s being unreasonable, we have gone over the fact it’s his grief thats causing him to react this way, the counsellor told him that there is nothing more I can do and he needs to soothe his emotions otherwise if me and my partner end he will be like this in every relationship he has.

Fast forward 2 months and my partner has stopped looking through my phone etc, but we still have bad arguments, although my partner says they’re just discussions. We argue over intimacy mostly. I’ll be honest we very rarely have sex and that is probably mainly because of me. The first reason is whenever I feel my partner wants to have sex he will be nice to me, and then after we have had sex, a day or 2 later he goes back to his old ways, I’ve told him how I feel and he just blew up and accused me of accusing him of using me for sex, but got unbelievably angry and irate. The 2nd is the amount of times he’s accused me of lying, cheating or being shady makes me think why would he want to have sex with me if that’s the case and I don’t want sex with him because all he does is put me down and make up these horrible accusations.

I’m also really really struggling to try and move on from this, for the whole of last year it was constant. I feel like our relationship has completely changed, I don’t know if theres any coming back from this. Even when we have our good days I just don’t feel happy. I’ve expressed how I feel but he just doesn’t seem to listen, we own a house together and back in March he left for a week to see if he still wanted to be with me, when he came back we talked about things and I told him that I don’t see us getting married, so he said ok we’ll just postpone the wedding, but said he wants to be with me. I’ve told him that if we aren’t happy then we shouldn’t be together as it’s not fair on either of us, but just like in counselling i feel it goes in one ear and out the other. My partner has a go at me and tells me I need to move on and I need to get over it, but when he was grieving I didn’t tell him to move on. He’s also only recently admitted that it was his grief that made him react how he did, even though the whole of last year and during counselling he was hellbent on blaming eveything on me, he’s told his family and friends that it’s because of me, they all think I’m shady and he shouldn’t give me any more chances, but I haven’t actually done anything wrong. I haven’t had any apology and he doesn’t seem to have any regret or be remorseful over how he’s treated me. I saw a quote that said ‘if you don’t heal what hurt you you’ll bleed on people that didn’t cut you’ and this is how I feel. I feel angry, upset, hurt, confused and before the last year happened I felt I was stronger than ever, I had dealt with my delayed grieving, I was on the right path and now my partner taking his grief out on me to the extreme, has made me feel depressed. I just don’t know what to do.

OP posts:
Thepigeonsarecoming · 28/04/2020 02:54

I’m sorry OP, I think I read most of your post ( it is very long). You don’t sound like you should be together is all I can say

Thepigeonsarecoming · 28/04/2020 02:56

Maybe try a shortened version of events though so people can comment on the main points.

Rnr06 · 28/04/2020 02:58

Sorry I’m new to this and don’t know how to amend my posts, also with the current lock down I don’t really have any one to speak to, sorry there’s a lot of information x

OP posts:
caramac04 · 28/04/2020 02:58

Well it sounds as if you’re very unhappy and there is not much likelihood of things improving.
I think you want to end the relationship but possibly worry about his reaction if you tell him it’s over.
In your shoes I would be planning to leave, he is abusive in many ways and that will only increase if you have a child together.
Can he buy you out of the property ?
Is there somewhere you could stay whilst finances are sorted?
Get yourself prepared, make a plan and get out as soon as you can. I reckon you will be much relieved and happier. You deserve better than this.

JD180785 · 28/04/2020 03:04

That’s a manipulative, selfish man. Get out of that relationship now. He wants to know where all your money is going but he guys a sports car? There’s the door mate....

ShallallalAa · 28/04/2020 03:12

Your post is fine. You've got a lot to say and a lot to deal with.

You don't need his permission to end it.

It sounds like a living nightmare and one that you do not need to be in. Run for the hills.

Oliversmumsarmy · 28/04/2020 03:13

If the trust has gone and you have taken to handing him your phone to prove you haven’t messaged someone then why carry on.

Even if this relationship does limp on you have his family and friends believing the worse of you.

You need to start selling the house and splitting up.

You also need to get through to him that this relationship is over and the blame lies solely on him.

There is little you can do at the moment but as soon as you can you need another discussion about you splitting and moving on.

Get a valuation and see if he can buy you out. If he can’t or if he ignores you then maybe an estate agents board outside the house will give him a clue you are serious.

I would also tell his family and friends that you couldn’t put up with his behaviour anymore and let them know exactly what you have been going through.

Grief is one thing. Acting like a jealous a**ehole is something completely separate

PotholeParadise · 28/04/2020 03:24

You sound like a very kind, forgiving person who tries her best to think the best of everyone.

You need to change the habit of a lifetime and stop giving him excuses.

This is a forum of adults. We are old enough to have children and thus sadly, many of us have lost our parents and we can tell you that grief over our parents' passing never made us controlling or made us accuse our partners or spouses of cheating. That wasn't grief taking him over. That was all him not being on his best behaviour
Turns out that who he is when he's not making an effort, is an irrational unpleasant man.

I am not my best self in grief, but I am not like your partner, and nor are any of my friends, because they are genuinely decent people and genuinely decent people don't become abusive when they're grieving. Because that is not who they are!

PotholeParadise · 28/04/2020 03:44

Further.

Even if you still 100% believe that he is only like this because of grief, you should still end it because he has shown you that he cannot cope with any kind of adversity. Life is full of crises, and if you can't rely on him not to turn into an abusive prat whenever things get tough, then you can't rely on him ever. Life is full of tough times, and he's proven that he will be a burden to you in all of them.

Losing parents is hard. I know first-hand, too. But losing your parents as an adult isn't an unnatural event. It is to be expected, and there are worse things that can happen than that. You know that because you lost your father younger than he did. If he can't cope with this, how would he cope with an entirely unexpected crisis?

averytiredmom · 28/04/2020 04:05

Your post is fine!. You need to end this relationship, even if he is grieving he should still not be treating you like this x

TheGirlWithAPrince · 28/04/2020 04:15

You need to end it and never let a man treat you like that again.

Its ridiculous how much people put up with. Dont accept it because it isnt normal to treat someone that way.

I would rather be single for life than have some man try to run my life like that

stringoflights · 28/04/2020 04:26

Sounds such a joyless relationship. You should be happy together.....or else why bother.
You don't have to be with him. Leave him to his controlling misery. It all sounds such hard work and depressing.
Go find some happiness and freedom.

Dontjumptoconclusions · 28/04/2020 04:30

I'm sorry you're going through this op. I agree that grief hits people in different ways, but you can't just keep going through this whenever something doesn't go to plan. He held against you for a year that you didn't think a random dude messaging you once on IG was worth bringing up? And what about in March he left to see if he missed you? What if you don't want to be with him? It sounds like your relationship is very one sided and based on his own feelings and emotions. Please look after yourself op. You are posting on here, which shows that you know its not normal. You wanna go through this for the rest of your life? End it, please!

indub · 28/04/2020 04:36

That doesn't sound like grief. It sounds like he's an a***e.

Do you really need anyone else to explain that you should leave this relationship?

Wannabangbang · 28/04/2020 04:37

I think he will use whatever excuse he can to use his issues as a reason to why he acts like this towards you. He sounds very manipulative and controlling. None of any of your story mentions anything remotely happy about your relationship. Please don't have a family with this man, you will be tied down to him forever and he will then use your child as means to destroy you further even you split afterwards.

Its highly weird you don't share money and he can do as he pleases ie nights out, following girls but you aren't allowed to even add one lad on insta. Before you know it he will be dictating what clothes you where and when his tea should be on the table and when his mother dies one day it will be another reason for him to grind you down further.

Leave him, your self worth and freedom will be worth it and you may meet someone who actually cares about you and your needs.

Rockdown2020 · 28/04/2020 04:41

OP, listen to @PotholeParadise wise words. It’s summed up perfectly.

Becoming abusive during grief isn’t normal. I’m surprised that the councillor you went to agreed to continue sessions where the issues above were discussed and then came to the conclusion it was grief on his part.

Get out of that horrible relationship and find someone who values you. Someone who doesn’t demand bank statements from you to see where your money goes. Someone who doesn’t call you names, accuse you of lying, cheating and then bad mouths you to his family. Someone that isn’t only nice to you so he can have sex. You deserve so much better. Don’t settle for him.

Justabitworried · 28/04/2020 04:53

Leave him. Grief doesn't give anyone an excuse to be controlling and abusive. What kind of father do you think he'd be? Please don't bring a child into such a toxic environment. Seriously, run for the hills.

Aquamarine1029 · 28/04/2020 04:59

Run. For. Your. Life.

TJ17 · 28/04/2020 05:06

Hello

First of all can I just say you should never have to shorten your post on here and that's quite an insensitive thing to say. If people can't be bothered to read it all that's up to them but this site is for talking about your feelings and sometimes people need the full story to understand! Especially when coming from a complete stranger!
I don't have much experience to offer here but even I can tell you that this is emotional abuse which can sometimes be just as serious as physical abuse and who knows if it will get worse in future. It's so easy to say and not at all easy to just do but I'm with the others that this is not a healthy relationship for either of you and you should at least trial a separation (on your terms this time).
I found this website if it helps

www.relate.org.uk/relationship-help/help-relationships/arguing-and-conflict/what-emotional-abuse

Wishing you all the best and I hope you can find happiness soon x

stophuggingme · 28/04/2020 05:08

He is horrible
The death of a parent doesn’t make you an abusive controlling shit. He was one to start off with

Be overjoyed there are no children involved
Leave him and never look back. He will only ruin your life instead of dealing with his demons. Don’t be his victim

You are allowed to have had enough
You are allowed to leave

Reclaim your life and your future Flowers

speakfriendandenter · 28/04/2020 05:16

It sounds very toxic. You have worked hard at saving it and it comes across like you have already decided in your head that things are over and you're waiting for him to catch up. Put yourself first. You know his behaviour is not down to you, you don't have to take it.

Hanamuslim · 28/04/2020 06:09

This is an awful relationship. And going by your message, you seem like a nice, considerate and caring person. This guy is not the one for you. And if he was serious about marriage, he wouldn't have married you before now. You seem like you have your priorities right, marriage, family and whatnot. He on the other hand, doesn't. He can spend his inheritance on whatever he wants, but at the same time he should have considered you, in regards to the family car or putting anything down for the future. I suggest you end this relationship immediately and he is being the most unreasonable person I have ever heard of. Going though your phone and asking for a years worth of bank statements and receipts....what the hell

That's absolutely ridiculous. And I will tell you something, if someone is accusing their OH of being unfaithful, its usually because they are. Hes acting extremely suspicious.

If my husband was liking girls profile pics or following girls from the gym on Instagram, I would probably hit the roof. Our religion and culture is probably different to yours but in my faith,islam,you dont have female friends If you're a male and visa versa. And to respect yourself and not be staring or looking at other women and ti lower your gaze. He is not the one for you, hun.
End it now and get with someone who is serious and wants a family and all what you want. Hes a control freak and saying nasty things about you to his family when you are innocent, is truly awful. I wish you all the best.

MashedSpud · 28/04/2020 06:30

The sudden accusations make me think he’s projecting his own guilt on you.

billy1966 · 28/04/2020 06:57

@PotholeParadise
Great post.

OP,
He's not a nice man, nor a good man.

Both myself and my husband lost our fathers suddenly.
My husband adored his Dad and deeply shocked.

Neither of us resorted to abusing each other.
But then neither of us are abusive people.

His default mode is to terrorise you when life isn't good.

Your depression is your gut screeching at you to leave.
You don't have sex with him because he is abusive and you dont want sex with an abusive person.

You sound so lovely and kind.

He sounds like a nasty piece of work.

Make plans to separate, sell up and work towards the future you so richly deserve.
Flowers

Friendsofmine · 28/04/2020 07:01

Grief can make us think, feel and do strange things but we still remin responsible for trying to cope with our feelings. There is no excuse for his abusive blaming and controlling behaviour.

I think for your future happiness you must move on, accepting it is really sad, you tried hard but even with counselling this man isn't going to re-emerge as the one you loved.

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