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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think my fiance overreacted by getting a younger woman's number because I double booked by accident, and threw my belongings about?

1000 replies

Sunglasses1979 · 01/06/2026 12:52

I am trying to work out whether I am being unfair or whether my fiancé genuinely overreacts to situations.
I was spending a long weekend with him and we had plans for Monday. Friday to Sunday eve were lovely and we did sightseeing etc. then went to his and were planning to stay there for a few nights.

However, I realised I had accidentally double-booked the Monday because my adult DD had arranged for me to meet her new boyfriend and his father over lunch. It was important to her and had been organised for a while. DD has is ND and has severe MH issues; this is the first "normal" relationship she has had and it's a huge deal for her.

I told my fiancé on Sunday afternoon that I would go to the lunch for a few hours and then come back afterwards so we could still spend the Monday evening together and the following days.

He was furious. He said I was choosing other people over him and repeatedly referred to my daughter's boyfriend and his father as "strange men". He seemed particularly upset that I would be spending time with another man, even though it was DD's BF's dad not just a random stranger.

After I had told him I had double booked and would need to go for a few hours we were arguing about it non-stop for hours. I was crying at one point and I kept saying I was sorry, it was human error, not deliberate. After all this arguing I was tired and wanted to stay in, but at around 11pm he insisted we go out. While we were out he deliberately started talking to a much younger woman, introduced himself to her, claimed he got her Instagram and then repeatedly talked about how he was meeting her for dinner the next day. His argument was that if I was going for lunch with strange men the next day, then why couldn't he meet up with a new person too? Even though it was not the same at all, obviously. The young woman must have been about 20 and we are both in our 40's so it just felt really weird and "off".

The argument continued after we got back to his for most of the night and I got very little sleep. The next morning I had to get an extremely expensive Uber to make sure I did not let my daughter down and miss the lunch. He had said not to come back to his after lunch but then called me when I was in the Uber and asked me to come back to his after all.

The lunch itself was lovely. Afterwards, I travelled back to his. However, when I arrived we had another argument. During it, he picked up my bags and threw them across the room in anger, they went everywhere as he threw them so hard.

He later continued to use the lunch as an example of me not caring about him enough and prioritising other people over our relationship, and how I like "strange men".

From my point of view, I attended an important family event for a few hours and still made the effort to return afterwards. From his point of view, I had disrespected him and chosen other people over him.

When I told him how much the Uber cost he took offence because I have never gotten an Uber to his even if I am running late; he said he didn't realise I have money in this way.

When I went back to his after the lunch I had to get a standing room only train in the middle of the heatwave; I don't like public transport at the best of times and he kept asking when I arrived what did I want to do; meet his friends in the pub or go straight to his. I said I don't care and was almost in tears as I was finding the journey so stressful. I didn't realise but he had me on loud speaker so all his friends heard me when I said "I don't care" and now he's saying his friends all think I am horrible and rude to him. When it was taken out of context and they didn't know we had been arguing all night and that he'd got a much younger woman's contact details the night before.

Am I missing something or was he overreacting?

OP posts:
Pedallleur · 01/06/2026 15:50

In time honoured MN tradition Leave him, right now. Block his number and bin him. If you do it today you'll save yourself a week/month/year plus of this behaviour.

TooTiredToCareAnymore88 · 01/06/2026 15:52

If you leave him do it very carefully. DO NOT tell him. I have a feeling he might be violent if you decide to leave him.

TheWeeDonkeyFella · 01/06/2026 15:53

She and her friend just looked at me with such pity, it was horrible.

So a couple of young women got the measure of this creep in a few minutes. No wonder they felt sorry for you OP, probably hoping like the posters on this thread you'll come to your senses very soon.

tsmainsqueeze · 01/06/2026 15:54

I am visualising him chatting up the girl , how absolutely embarrassed and humiliated you must have felt .
Your family must be really concerned about you and i think rightly so.
Please take note of all the responses on here ,this man is no good and things will get worse ,please end it .

dragonbreaths · 01/06/2026 15:54

this is him on his best pre-wedding behaviour. Imagine what he's going to be like after the wedding

Sunnydaysarehereagain2026 · 01/06/2026 15:54

Don't waste anymore of your life analysing his behaviour.. At exh's insistence we got a baby sitter and went to watch his team play football.. Had an OK afternoon actually.. Picked dc up and he picked a fight.. He claimed I had rolled my eyes at him. He then stormed out and jammed my arm in the door quite badly. Obviously my own fault for trying to follow him.. Was the start of a short downfall to me throwing him out. Should have been a shorter time...
The relief when he was gone was huge.

Chlorpool · 01/06/2026 15:55

Sunglasses1979 · 01/06/2026 15:33

The words "relentless arguing" have really resonated with me as that is what it was, I kept saying can we just stop talking about this, I'm sorry, it was a mistake to double-book but it wasn't done with malice. I think he thought he could persuade me to not go for lunch with DD to meet the new boyfriend and his dad. But I obviously did and that seems to have annoyed him because in his mind I chose DD over him.

It annoyed him because you drew a boundary and didn’t do what he wanted.
He feels his control slipping away and is desperately trying to draw you back in.

Aluna · 01/06/2026 15:55

He’s completely round the twist OP, how have you ended up engaged to him? Why aren’t you listening to your friends?

Ricequark · 01/06/2026 15:59

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Ricequark · 01/06/2026 16:00

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jannier · 01/06/2026 16:01

Well why did you even go back hed already shown his colours just end it.

Ellie56 · 01/06/2026 16:01

The only thing you are missing here is that he is an abusive arsehole and you need to get rid ASAP.

And FFS don't marry him. If you do he will get worse.

UnctuousUnicorns · 01/06/2026 16:01

TooTiredToCareAnymore88 · 01/06/2026 15:52

If you leave him do it very carefully. DO NOT tell him. I have a feeling he might be violent if you decide to leave him.

I'd echo this. I've said he's a fucking loon, completely unhinged by the OP's description. Be careful and stay safe, OP. 🙏

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 01/06/2026 16:02

Don’t bother with Clare’s Law - if it comes back clear, you may end up second-guessing yourself. He is emotionally abusive, and that’s true whether or not he’s ever been reported for it.

My sister ended up in a relationship like this. It took her two years after realising how bad it was to get free. From the outside, it’s very difficult (and frustrating) to understand why a woman stays. But you are far from the only woman to end up here.

Good luck.

HopeIsAScaryThing · 01/06/2026 16:03

You're in an abusive relationship and I hope you see that now after all these comments.

It may have not started out that way as he was sucking you in and pretending he was someone he was not no doubt, but It's screamingly obvious that he's a controlling, emotionally abusive arsehole who is starting to move on to physical abuse (destroying your things and throwing your things) now.

You need to end it and block him on everything.

MrsPottscloset · 01/06/2026 16:04

He is an abuser, please leave him. Throwing your things about is normally the first step to domestic violence!

Namechangeforthisdilemma1 · 01/06/2026 16:05

Sunglasses1979 · 01/06/2026 15:38

Yes it is starting to feel very claustrophobic in that it is just us most of the time.
Interesting you say about your ex picking you up after nights out as this is what he has offered too, and he always wants a phonecall before bedtime too. Once when I was surprised by a night out when I was meant to be stayign in he sounded like he was annoyed but was trying to hide it.

I’ve read all your replies and you still seem to be avoiding the question about ending it, what’s going on OP? You have an exit plan right? You should make it a very careful one because he sounds unhinged.

Ricequark · 01/06/2026 16:06

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Twooclockrock · 01/06/2026 16:07

He is emotionally and phhsicaly abusive.. please leave.this will not end well. It wilk end up with you as a shell of yourself wondering how you let this happen and by that time you will be too tired and confused to know what to do. End this relationahip now.

AllTheTreesOfTheField · 01/06/2026 16:07

It may take OP a few threads to take action.

OrdinaryGirl · 01/06/2026 16:07

FeliciaFancybottom · 01/06/2026 12:54

Jesus love, bin him off. He's flying so many red flags you can see them from space.

I could not possibly put it better than Ms Fancybottom has, above.
🛰️ 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 🔭

FrostyPalms · 01/06/2026 16:07

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I don't think that's completely unusual. Lots of people still don't live together until they're married. I was engaged to my now husband and we lived apart until just before we got married. It wasn't for any moral reasons, it just happened to be practical at the time.

ChapmanFarm · 01/06/2026 16:07

Others have covered the relationship aspects to the abuse better than I could but there's another angle for you to consider.

I've just lost a father with an abusive partner. Think about this from your daughter's perspective. I wasn't allowed just to grieve, I had to snap to attention for what she wanted. Nothing I did for the funeral was right. The wake was an utterly awful egg shell experience.

If he becomes your husband there's a very real chance that one day your daughter will have to make medical or financial decisions with this man. Could you trust him to put her interests first?

From everything you've written here I'd say absolutely not. So if you won't leave for your own sake, do it for hers.

No one should spend an entire night arguing. What is there to say? It's just a form of control.

oviraptor21 · 01/06/2026 16:11

Please tell us you are going to leave him.
This is an abusive relationship and you need to get away before he does something worse than throw your bag across the room. Please call one of the domestic abuse charities if you need help to leave.

BunnyLake · 01/06/2026 16:11

GCAcademic · 01/06/2026 12:56

Why are so many women on here putting up with this kind of shit? Are you so desperate to be with a man that you'll literally put up with anything?

This a million times. Keep reading it OP till it clicks.

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