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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

His ex

83 replies

PepsiKitty · 17/06/2022 00:58

This is so ridiculous but I’m posting to prove I’m not crazy…

been with OH for 2 years. I am 36, him 32. Engaged and living together for the last 4m.

bear with me because I don’t want to drip feed

OH has only ever had 2 relationships

first relationship 2009 age 18 - they were together for a year total. When he met her she was in a relationship with someone else (we will call him John). She “couldn’t decide” between OH and John for a while but eventually stayed with OH. She later had a threesome behind his back, they broke up, he forgave her a month later, then she eventually left him. All this in just one year. He was devastated, suicidal he said. He loved her and she said she loved him.

For the next 6 years he admits he was embarrassingly hung up on her - think Facebook statuses about missing her, dreaming of her on one occasion in 2015 (!) saying she’s his perfect girl, he will wait til the end of time for her, misses her etc. During this period he is desperate and trying to find a new girlfriend but with no success.

age 25 he meets his next girlfriend, not keen on her but his mum threw him out of the house so he moves in with her. She has a 3 month old baby and the dad isn’t around. OH stands by her and the baby for 3 years. This girlfriend is physically and emotionally abusive to him. She also regularly cheats. They then end the relationship in 2018, but she doesn’t move out until 2019.

he then meets me end of 2020.

he tells me he messaged first girl (we will call her amy) right before he met the second girlfriend, but she didn’t want to talk to him. Bear in mind it had been 6 years!

For a few months every time I ask him something he brings up amy. For example “do you like cheese?” “Amy liked cheese”. He says he’s trying to share his life experiences. I compliment him and he says “amy said that” and says it’s because it was an odd compliment. I ask if he loves her still (no) if he thinks of her (never) if he wants her (no) and what he’d do if she came back (nothing). I asked this because I felt he was hung up on her.

Things go well, it’s a good relationship although OH is emotionally very immature and Doesn’t seem to know how to be in an adult relationship (not his fault given he’s never really had one). I was married for 10 years so we are very different.

fast forward to a few weeks ago…

amy adds OH to Snapchat. He adds her back and they talk. She basically says she misses him and asks if he ever thinks of her (he says not as often as he used to but things remind him of her), she asks if he would meet her and he says no because he’s engaged but that he would if he was single. He says her adding him is a mindfuck. He says he waited for her and she was all he thought about. She says feelings don’t go away and he puts a sad face.

now bear with me because here it gets ridiculous.

i then get added by her to Snapchat and she sends me the screenshots. I then see that he’s messaging her at the same time as me, but her first. Telling me he loves me while telling her he thinks of her.

i confront him. He says he never believed it was her and was trying to catch her out. She then texts him, and he shows me the screenshots and here he is blatantly trying to catch her out by asking questions only she’d know the answers to. I point out that what he said on Snapchat wasn’t catching her out.

turns out it wasn’t even Amy in the first place, it was his abusive ex pretending to be her. So now OH is saying he knew all along it wasn’t her etc but I feel like because amy doesn’t want him, he’s turning to me.

we argue as he doesn’t understand my point of view. He says he’d talk to her if he was single and hear her out, maybe give her a chance because she’s familiar and it’s easier than meeting someone new. But then says he wouldn’t give his other ex a chance (odd given that she’s more resent but hey ho)

he can’t possibly even know Amy after 12 years… she was 17 when she dated him and she’s 29 now…

its all ridiculous and childish to me. The man is just shy of 32 years old. Clearly hung up on his high school ex , all she did was lie and cheat and hurt him, they only lasted a year.

to be honest I feel like he’s with me because she didn’t want him, and he said all he said because she came back too late. He’s trapped now as I have kids he’s stepdad to and we are TTC.

OH is quite immature emotionally and admits this. But I find the whole situation ridiculous and I want no part of it.

he is adamant he doesn’t love or want her and added her out of curiosity… but to be honest I think he will say whatever he has to say to keep me.

AIBU to think he did wrong and needs to let go of her or is he unreasonable?

OP posts:
PepsiKitty · 17/06/2022 01:03

Oh and btw when she left him she went back to billy.

OP posts:
bloodywhitecat · 17/06/2022 01:04

Walk away. You will never be able to trust this manchild.

AngelCakes87 · 17/06/2022 01:04

He needs to grow up, how can he even know her after over a decade? Especially given that they are now adults not secondary school kids?

IMO it sounds like he is attached to what she represented - he wanted a girlfriend and the whole relationship thing, she was his first girlfriend and she abandoned him, he couldn't replace the relationship so he views it with rose tinted glasses.

It all sounds quite sad tbh. Especially with kids involved

AngelCakes87 · 17/06/2022 01:06

What she said - how can you trust this man child

Aquamarine1029 · 17/06/2022 01:08

Why the fuck are you with this emotionally stunted man child? You are light years apart, and I can't imagine anything more foolish than having a baby with him. You should be running for the hills.

DaftyLass · 17/06/2022 01:09

Sweet Jesus don't try and have his baby, this guy isn't grown up enough himself

nalabae · 17/06/2022 01:10

He’s a weirdo and will not benefit your life in anyway but bring you down.
get rid

SpiderVersed · 17/06/2022 01:14

Get back on contraception immediately, OP!.

Do not have a child with this emotionally stunted manbaby who'd ditch you in a heartbeat for a girl he dated as a young lad.

Have the self-respect to give him the boot. You're worth so much more.

Bunty55 · 17/06/2022 01:17

OP This is what you need to be - his ex.

MistyGreenAndBlue · 17/06/2022 01:18

Jesus I couldn't be arsed with all this drama. How can you even take him seriously?
Bin this one. He's defective

Carlycat · 17/06/2022 01:21

Why are some woman's expectations so desperately low? Where's your self respect?

pumpkinpie01 · 17/06/2022 01:26

This all sounds ridiculous behaviour for a 32 year old , he is with you and communicating with an ex which is disrespectful. Do not have a baby with him and ask yourself have you really got a future with him ? I think not.

KettrickenSmiled · 17/06/2022 01:26

For a few months every time I ask him something he brings up amy. For example “do you like cheese?” “Amy liked cheese”. He says he’s trying to share his life experiences. I compliment him and he says “amy said that” and says it’s because it was an odd compliment.
FFS ditch him.

I ask if he loves her still (no) if he thinks of her (never) if he wants her (no) and what he’d do if she came back (nothing). I asked this because I felt he was hung up on her.
He's lying.
He thinks about Amy when he eats cheese.
He thinks about Amy when you compliment him.
He wants her, he would be with her if she would have him, & he is hung up on her.

Also - never trust a man with more than one "crazy ex".

Tinkity · 17/06/2022 01:39
  1. You can’t take screenshots on Snapchat without the other person being notified though so how does that work?
  2. How did the abusive ex even get your username / number / snapcode to add you when your relationships were 2 years apart?
AngelCakes87 · 17/06/2022 01:40

I'm so confused it's been 12 years why would he even bother adding her back?

When a man messages his ex it's never good, but when it's his high school ex that he's obsessing over when he has a fiancé and kids?

You run OP. You run and you don't look back.

PepsiKitty · 17/06/2022 01:42

Tinkity · 17/06/2022 01:39

  1. You can’t take screenshots on Snapchat without the other person being notified though so how does that work?
  2. How did the abusive ex even get your username / number / snapcode to add you when your relationships were 2 years apart?

You can if you take photos of it on another phone which I assume is what she did… definitely his username and obv he admitted to it when I confronted him

the ex pretending to be his ex knows us both, as we used to be involved in her kids life so we all got on well (til she got a boyfriend and took the kid away but that’s another story) so she knew my Snapchat.

OP posts:
AngelCakes87 · 17/06/2022 01:44

She sounds toxic as well then OP

This is all immature imo and he's not ready to be a father or a husband for that matter. Not if he's still thinking about an ex from school.

Find it weird he would add her back tbh she had a threesome behind his back at 17???

Like I said you run and you don't look back.

Player001 · 17/06/2022 01:47

"AIBU to think he did wrong and needs to let go of her or is he unreasonable?"

In that regard yes, you are being unreasonable. You can't force someone to let go. It reads like

Choice 1 - If you believe him when he says he knew it was the second ex and he was trying to catch her out then crack on but you'll need to drop the subject.

Choice 2 - If you don't believe him then you need to get onto some contraception quick smart and find a partner more in your emotional maturity range.

Tinkity · 17/06/2022 02:00

PepsiKitty · 17/06/2022 01:42

You can if you take photos of it on another phone which I assume is what she did… definitely his username and obv he admitted to it when I confronted him

the ex pretending to be his ex knows us both, as we used to be involved in her kids life so we all got on well (til she got a boyfriend and took the kid away but that’s another story) so she knew my Snapchat.

Oh I see, she definitely sounds like a piece of work!

But how do you know he was messaging her first then you right after? Haven’t your messages disappeared? They aren’t timestamped anyway so how do you know he was messaging her first? Don’t tell me he told you?!

Sunnytwobridges · 17/06/2022 02:06

He’s most definitely still in love with Amy.

britneyisfree · 17/06/2022 02:19

Wtf.

BadNomad · 17/06/2022 02:30

Hmm I wonder how abusive his second ex really was. I'll bet she had to deal with the ghost of Amy in their relationship too. Was this her way of warning you that you'll never be enough?

AngelCakes87 · 17/06/2022 02:30

He needs a psychiatrist

TheCatterall · 17/06/2022 03:22

Two years in and having been engaged for only four months and you’re TTC? Are you mad?

he’s immature and emotionally stunted. He’s got a massive hang up on his childhood sweetheart.

he’s already a giant man child and you are a plonker if you stay with him.

go your separate ways and work on your boundaries and red flag identifiers…

LadyMinerva · 17/06/2022 03:32

BadNomad · 17/06/2022 02:30

Hmm I wonder how abusive his second ex really was. I'll bet she had to deal with the ghost of Amy in their relationship too. Was this her way of warning you that you'll never be enough?

Nailed it!