I've been with my boyfriend for three years. Back when we had been seeing each other for 3 months, but hadn’t made things official yet, he went on holiday to visit a female friend from university who lives in another country. I was a little uneasy about it at the time because she was a female friend, but I didn’t want to come across as the paranoid girlfriend, especially since we weren’t officially together yet.
Things between us were going really well then, and just two weeks after that trip, we did make our relationship official. We hadn't had sex yet because, for me, that's something I reserve for when I'm sure the relationship is secure and serious.
Now, 3 years later, I’ve found out that he did sleep with her during that trip. What’s even more painful is that I’ve asked him about it a few times over the years, and each time he assured me that nothing had happened between them. He only admitted the truth recently. He said he didn’t tell me earlier because he thought no good would come of it.
This all came to light because they’ve been messaging almost every other day since at least February this year. I had always believed they were just casual acquaintances now due to living in different countries, maybe exchanging occasional updates about life and work. I was wrong, the messages were far more chatty and aome were inappropriate, complimenting her appearance and not once mentioning that he has a girlfriend. He even made plans to meet her while she was visiting the country last week, though he backed out at the last minute. Still, he never told me about any of it.
I'm feeling incredibly hurt—not just because of what happened back then, but also because of the ongoing dishonesty and emotional betrayal. I know we weren’t officially together when he slept with her, but it still feels like a deep breach of trust, especially since we were growing close and had been seeing each other for dates a several times a week for 3 months. We had mentioned the same future goals of marriage, kids etc and I felt like at 30 I had finally find someone to settle down with.
Part of me feels like I don’t have a right to be this upset because we weren’t official at the time—but another part knows that trust and emotional connection were already forming. I’m struggling with how to process all of this and figure out how to move forward and forgive. I think I just need someone to talk to.