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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Who do I believe?

206 replies

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 02/03/2022 11:00

Adult DS and GF have been together for 6 years. Met overseas and she has come back to live with him from another country. Always had a pretty good relationship with her although she can be a little sensitive over certain issues so have learnt to just be diplomatic. She is 32, 6 years older than him.

Hysterical phone call received from her last night telling me he had locked her out of their flat. She said they’d rowed earlier, she’d gone out in her car to walk the dog. When she got back, he wasn’t allowing her back in and not answering her calls. As she was safe, I suggested she just waited in the car until things perhaps cooled down and asked if she wanted me to try and call him to talk to him? She was adamant that wasn’t a good idea so I wasn’t quite sure why I was called.

She was sobbing, told me she was very scared of him and that he had a very nasty temper. This genuinely alarmed me as DS has always been seemed pretty chilled and unless he’s very good at deception, we could be talking about a totally different person. I asked if he had been violent and she told me he had once ‘punched’ her in the arm in the car when they were driving. Without being there, I have no idea what his version of events was and I’m actually very alarmed to think my DS might be treating women like this.

Whilst staying in the phone to me, she tried the door again and got straight in. I could hear her shouting at him for locking her out - he denied he did - clearly he didn’t know it was me on the other end of the phone and I could hear everything. He tried to apologise but she accused him of not meaning it. She made a great big deal out of it to him, keeping on and on. Surely, if she was frightened of him, she wouldn’t have continued to up the anti and be attempting to diffuse the situation?

She regularly goes back to her home country alone to her family. Her and DS have no children, I own the property they are living in and apart from DS she has no ties to this country. If he was that controlling or scary, why does she keep come back or am I in denial about my DS?

I posted on here 18 months ago about a dog saga too. She acquired this part German Shepherd puppy, despite my DS not wanting her to, but he relented. She didn’t agree with formal training and this combined with lack of socialisation in lockdown has made it into a potentially dangerous animal that has already bitten DS. Again, if DS was that much of a ogre, why would he still tolerate the dog or even allowed her to have it in the first place?

When he visits us (she rarely comes because she can’t leave the dog alone without company) she constantly messages him. Maybe it’s because he’s controlling, but again if he was, why would he leave her to do her own thing? She has her own car, comes and goes as she pleases, does online tuition/translation and doesn’t appear to be a ‘prisoner’

My DD can’t believe her brother is as violent as the GF is implying and thinks she was just trying to get her version of events in first. I don’t want to think my DS is an abuser and if I found out he was, adult or not, I would be down on him like a ton of bricks.

DH and DD thinks GF was very wrong to get me involved in their argument and that she’s the one being manipulative but it still worries me that any woman might be scared of my DS. I really want to hear his version of the situation but tbh, also want to keep well out of it too.

OP posts:
RebeccaManderley · 14/03/2022 18:49

@5128gap - Government statistics from the ONS say:

The following figures represent data supplied from 26 police forces.

The victim was female in 73% of domestic abuse-related crimes in the year ending March 2021, similar to 74% in the previous year.

AcrossthePond55 · 14/03/2022 18:49

I hope all goes smoothly from here until she gets on a plane home. I'd be calling right away to get the locks changed, just in case.

I hope your DS is planning on staying with you for a few days. I think he needs some peaceful recuperation time with you nearby. He may not want to talk, but just your presence should help reassure him that soon all will be right in his world.

I think, when the time is right, that you should encourage him to seek counseling. He needs to delve into why he allowed himself to be involved in an abusive relationship and how he can avoid doing so in the future.

Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 14/03/2022 18:52

Glad the ddog and ds are rid of her... Good riddance to bad rubbish as they say.

Munchcrip · 14/03/2022 18:58

So happy for you, your son and the dog, OP, well done!

RockinHorseShit · 14/03/2022 18:59

Talk to your son. My money is on GF being the abuser. Calling you like this is a real red flag & something my abusive psycho ex used to do too

RockinHorseShit · 14/03/2022 19:01

Apologies Blush

So glad it worked out okay & that you DS is free of this & dog safe too 🎊

Gonnagetgoing · 14/03/2022 19:02

Good result OP.

Now everyone needs to stand strong and stay strong because trust me these people normally don’t go quietly!

WallaceinAnderland · 14/03/2022 19:18

Great update OP. Let's hope she stays gone. Is she giving your DS any hassle? Shame it had to end like this for them. Very sad.

SheRasBra · 14/03/2022 19:24

What a rollercoaster. You are heroic OP, in support of your DS and that poor dog. Hope you can all relax after she has gone.

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 14/03/2022 19:39

@diddl

I was just thinking re the dog-if she is leaving the country with no provision to take the dog-how could Op & her son be stealing it?

Hope all goes OK Op & that doggy stays safe!

Thank you so much.

Luckily, she’s finally agreed that the dog is surrendered.

Had she left the country without doing it, I would have told the the rescue centre that she had abandoned it as it is highly unlikely she will return to the U.K.

OP posts:
Riseholme · 14/03/2022 19:46

That was like reading about my db's ex wife.
She was a grade A abuser, gaslighter and bully.
Including bullying my poor dm and ringing her too with the sole intention of trying to upset my dm by denigrating db.
She even had dogs except they would always prefer db so when he was away for work she would rehome them without telling db out of spite!
She did this several times.
The relief when they split was indescribable.

Marshatessa · 14/03/2022 20:18

Has she got her stuff and left quietly now

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 14/03/2022 21:11

@Marshatessa

Has she got her stuff and left quietly now
She has!!

She’s also deleted us all on SM and Whatsapp! Grin

DS is now beating himself up about how maybe he was at fault and what if he’d handled things differently. I’ve told him there is always a period of mourning at the end of a relationship over what might/should have been but he will soon move into the angry stage when the real facts start to slot into place and he will see things for what they truly are.

I’m sad for him but his friends are brilliant. They are already rallying around and inviting him out to ensure he doesn’t have time to be alone.

OP posts:
diddl · 14/03/2022 21:14

"what if he’d handled things differently"

Hopefully he'll soon realise that you shouldn't have to be a certain way around someone & that after a point, whatever he had done would be wrong.

Marshatessa · 14/03/2022 21:22

Bless him. I’m so glad he has some good friends around him. Onwards and upwards. Thank goodness they never had children as he would have been tied forever.

Walkingalot · 14/03/2022 21:57

Bit late in the day but just wanted to say that you have handled the whole thing brilliantly @JohnPrescottsPyjamas. The stand off with the dog and the neighbour overseeing her collection of belongings - absolutely nailed it.
Hopefully your DS will see it's all for the best and realise that Mum will always have his back.

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 14/03/2022 22:19

@Walkingalot

Bit late in the day but just wanted to say that you have handled the whole thing brilliantly *@JohnPrescottsPyjamas*. The stand off with the dog and the neighbour overseeing her collection of belongings - absolutely nailed it. Hopefully your DS will see it's all for the best and realise that Mum will always have his back.
Thank you so much.

I actually hate confrontations myself and generally feel sick at the thought of them, but I was incensed with her behaviour. I’ll be honest, a lot of it was bluff. Had she chosen to really push it, I might have found myself on legally shaky ground but I was gambling on the fact she was only in the U.K. for a short time and wouldn’t want the cost and hassle of pursuing a court challenge.

Despite grieving over the ending of the relationship, DS is very appreciative. He admitted being petrified when she messaged him this morning and telling him she was going to report him for abuse. It took a while to reassure him that someone can’t just make an unfounded allegation.

OP posts:
LookItsMeAgain · 15/03/2022 08:59

You must be so relieved there @JohnPrescottsPyjamas. I'm so pleased that she surrendered the dog and that your DS has escaped her clutches.
Please remind him that in a good healthy relationship, you don't have to alter who you are, how you behave, even what you say as your other half in that relationship just 'gets' you. He was losing who he was, how he behaved and what he was saying while in her company (at least that is how it has come across in your posts).

He is also very possibly grieving for what might have been if the relationship had continued but he'll get through the stages of that grief and be an emotionally stronger person from it all.

Best of luck to him, to the Ddog and to you.

MrsMinge · 15/03/2022 09:07

Well done @JohnPrescottsPyjamas, you handled it well.
It's difficult to see what's right under our nose sometimes especially when it's drip fed
Best wishes for brighter times ahead

purpleboy · 15/03/2022 09:36

Ahh good update. So pleased it all went ok.

I hope your ds isn't too down, luckily he has a great family behind him to help him through.
I wonder though if it might be worth looking into some help for him, so he can recognize in future relationships what is acceptable and what is abusive.
I think someone mentioned the freedom program, maybe this could help?

Chocaholic9 · 15/03/2022 13:44

So pleased to hear that this individual is out of your son's life, your family's life and the dog's life. I also think you handled it really well and I hope your son can heal soon and move on to better things.

BambinaJAS · 15/03/2022 14:09

@BurntO

You need to speak to him. No one here can help you know what the truth is. For what it’s worth when I have been abused in a previous relationship, it was his mother I called. I was too ashamed to speak with my own family and there was a part of me that felt protective over him, despite the abuse. So in calling his mother deep down I knew she’d love him regardless of what I told her but could also potentially help with the situation at hand ie calm her son down or be an outlet that wouldn’t hold it against me if I stayed with him. Sounds messed up I know. I also bet many mother of abusive men would swear their son isn’t like that. None of this means she is telling the truth of course. It sounds toxic all round and I think the best you can do is remain relatively impartial but supportive if they need help
For future thinking,

Lack of empathy and compassion for animals is a HUGE red flag when it comes to personalities. Run far, far away from a person who shows those traits.

Regarding OP,

Glad it worked out. You handled the situation well. Dealing with dysfunctional, personality disordered individuals is pretty much always energy draining.

AcrossthePond55 · 15/03/2022 14:43

@JohnPrescottsPyjamas So glad it went smoothly.

Now to get DS into some counseling where he can explore the feelings that allowed him to think his relationship with her was 'worth keeping'. And to learn to recognize signs of abuse and control.

When I divorced my exH I went to a counselor and came out of it much wiser and much stronger. And with a clearer head and eyes that could truly 'see' trouble ahead!

Mix56 · 15/03/2022 17:06

He is will be in shock for a while, it all came to an end fast.
What a lucky break that she decided to end it. Clearly your son was in the FOG, (fear obligation guilt.) Would he accept some counselling on abusive relationships ?
She may drag this out yet. You should all block her number too.

luckylavender · 15/03/2022 17:10

[quote AcrossthePond55]@JohnPrescottsPyjamas So glad it went smoothly.

Now to get DS into some counseling where he can explore the feelings that allowed him to think his relationship with her was 'worth keeping'. And to learn to recognize signs of abuse and control.

When I divorced my exH I went to a counselor and came out of it much wiser and much stronger. And with a clearer head and eyes that could truly 'see' trouble ahead![/quote]
Not everyone can afford a counsellor. It's also not for everyone