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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:
Ricequark · 01/06/2026 16:12

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Passingthrough123 · 01/06/2026 16:12

Run for the fucking hills and keep running.

BibbityBobbityBuggerit · 01/06/2026 16:14

@Sunglasses1979 "But I obviously did and that seems to have annoyed him because in his mind I chose DD over him."

No. He was annoyed because you disobeyed him. It's that simple. Nothing other than complete compliance will suffice and when he does have complete control, the hoops he will want you to jump through will become more and more bizarre as he entertains himself with 'I wonder if I can get her to do X? OK ... now how about Y?" Eventually, when you are a worn out shell, endlessly trying to placate and second guess his wishes he'll get bored, dump you and get a new toy to amuse him whilst he breaks it.

Womanofcustard · 01/06/2026 16:15

OP you are typing this about your ex - aren’t you?
He sounds unhinged and possibly dangerous

WiddlinDiddlin · 01/06/2026 16:16

Please say you're leaving this man - he isn't going to change, he doesn't want to, he likes being a nasty abusive controlling fucker.

Get out, call off the engagement, get your stuff back, get the hell away from him, he is dangerous.

ClarasSisters · 01/06/2026 16:20

Christ he's a knob isn't he?
I'd have been out of there as soon as he objected to lunch with my kid.
Chuck this one back op, there's plenty more fish.

ExitPursuedByABare · 01/06/2026 16:20

I clicked you are being unreasonable because I was stunned that you let this whole situation carry on for so long. Get out now whilst you can. You really don’t have to put up with this sort of crap.

Megifer · 01/06/2026 16:21

AllTheTreesOfTheField · 01/06/2026 16:07

It may take OP a few threads to take action.

Yes, a lot of support will be needed

Badgerandfox227 · 01/06/2026 16:21

OP you have been given lots of excellent advice about ending this relationship, I hope you see this for yourself. In ending this relationship, or even if he already suspects he has overstepped, I would expect him to love bomb you - promise it will never happen again, he’s sorry, he loves you etc. Please don’t believe him, this is just another manipulation.

Ginburee · 01/06/2026 16:24

How many red flags do you need?
This man has shown he has absolutely no respect for you or your family.
Leave now.

NattyKnitter116 · 01/06/2026 16:24

Oh good god. Get rid of him then go and look up the freedom program online and do it so you know how to avoid this type in the future. If your daughter is ND then it’s likely you are too - hence why men like this arrive in your life. I speak from bitter experience. Run run away. As another poster said - his red flags can be seen from space!

Outwiththenorm · 01/06/2026 16:26

He is the arsehole, Op - don’t kick yourself for the situation you’re in. Congratulate yourself for seeing it for what it is, not living with him, and not getting married to him.

PinkyFlamingo · 01/06/2026 16:28

You don't really seem to be listening to people telling you to leave?

Cushionseams · 01/06/2026 16:28

You don't live with him, you're not beholden to him - are you actually getting anything positive out of this relationship?

NattyKnitter116 · 01/06/2026 16:30

You’re certainly not a fool. This can happen to anyone. As women we are socialised not to make a fuss, be compliant and so on.

Bluffinwithmymuffin · 01/06/2026 16:31

“We ended up in this weird little cocoon, just the two of us,” says it all. Isolating you from family and friends is textbook abusive control behaviour.

RobinEllacotStrike · 01/06/2026 16:32

Outwiththenorm · 01/06/2026 16:26

He is the arsehole, Op - don’t kick yourself for the situation you’re in. Congratulate yourself for seeing it for what it is, not living with him, and not getting married to him.

Absolutely this OP.

Don't worry - you actually don't have to argue with him anymore.

Assert some strong boundaries, don't rise to any bait, don't look for "closure" or any other distracting bull.

Change your locks, text him its over and you don't want to see him again, block & delete.

Good luck

Wdutua · 01/06/2026 16:32

Sunglasses1979 · 01/06/2026 12:58

Didn't realise how long my post was đź« 

I didn't feel very respected at all, it was horrible going out so late to what is essentially a student bar just to watch him show me how easily he can pick up other, much younger, women. I wanted the ground to swallow me up.

He is in his 40s and trying to pick up 20 yo women!

allthegoldicouldeat · 01/06/2026 16:35

What a horrible little man he is.
If he wasn’t so abusive, he’d be quite hilarious.

HRTQueen · 01/06/2026 16:35

You know the answer op, I think deep down you know what you need to do

He is abusive and you need to get out of this relationship asap. He will be nice for a while, he will be worse next time and there absolutely will be a next time.

You can send a text telling him its over. No further discussion needs to be had please do not entertain this he will win you round and it will become more and more difficult . Change you locks and report to the police if he becomes abusive

If he has items at yours you can arrange for them to be collected only when others are around (and only contact him for this).

You will miss him, you will want to give him another try but in a few months you will feel better and you will start to see how bad things are as from the outside they are horribly abusive

EmmaOvary · 01/06/2026 16:36

This makes for horrible reading, OP. This behaviour will only get worse if you marry him. He’s already alienating you from your friends and family and making you question reality. It’s right out of the DV textbook. For the love of God, run away as fast as you can and get some therapy to explore why you have such low self esteem.

AllTheTreesOfTheField · 01/06/2026 16:37

PinkyFlamingo · 01/06/2026 16:28

You don't really seem to be listening to people telling you to leave?

Give OP a chance, we are only on page 19! maybe OP is ruminating about other instances of abuse and arseholery, which will be shared here.

WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing · 01/06/2026 16:38

Why on earth are you still with him. You don’t live together? Just dump and try to forget the monumental prick.

JulietteHasAGun · 01/06/2026 16:40

Sunglasses1979 · 01/06/2026 14:07

I think that he definitely has been more negative about my family lately. Whereas before he was not.

He also, weirdly, saw that I had Airbnb opened on my phone, it wasn't deliberately opened I'd accidentally clicked an ad, but he was saying he thought I was secretly booking an Airbnb and made me log into my account to prove that I hadn't made any bookings recently.

The thing that really seemed to bother him was that I would be having lunch with DD's boyfriend's dad. He was crazy jealous and kept saying I was going to have a meal with a strange man I didn't know.

Being negative about your family, distancing yourself from from friends which you also said…..it’s classic patterns of domestic abuse. He’s even trying to distance you from your Dd. He’s acting like a 17yo not a grown man. You’re only being unreasonable if you stay with him in this abusive relationship. The emotional abuse and throwing your stuff around is 100% domestic abuse. Get out.

Sensiblesal · 01/06/2026 16:41

I would have gone for the lunch & then gone home & not back to this man’a house.

his jealousy & his subsequent behaviour towards you is abusive.

I have no idea how long you have been with him but I suggest you run as far away from him as possible

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