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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

It was one of the worst things that anyone has done to me… and he doesn’t even remember?!

84 replies

catsaremyfavoirite · 25/04/2026 14:05

In my early 20s when I was foolish and dumb, I had a holiday romance which turned into a 6-month long distance situation. I thought I was in love but I was stupid, but then I was allowed to be at that age.

At one point he was in a bad state financially and lost his job, told me he was living in his car etc. I loaned him some money (and was clear it was a loan) as an emergency. Less than a week later I was told by 2 independent sources that he was living with another girl and was boasting about how he’d got money from me. I confronted him and he denied it of course, and got angry at me for believing others. But I knew it was true as I found the girl’s social media and her pics confirmed it.

I was obviously very upset and felt humiliated. He promised he would give me the money back when I was there on a certain date, but when the date came he disappeared back to his hometown. I decided for my own sake I needed to move on completely, I sent a final message saying I’m going to give up on getting the money back for my own wellbeing, and I was not going to talk to him again.

And that was how it was for over a decade. I moved on and made my peace, but it’s one of the worst things anyone has done to me. And then one day out of the blue, several years on, he messaged me. I ignored it at first but then he asked why I ‘disappeared’ and sorry if he did anything to upset me. I then replied to say he should know perfectly well, but he didn’t seem to remember at all. I said about the money and he said ‘did you give me money?’ I said how can you not remember? He then said he thinks he gave it back to me and I said no, you did not. He then said he remembers I told everyone about it and that HE FORGIVES ME for doing that. I said ‘it should be you asking me for forgiveness!’ And blocked him.

I just can’t believe some people have no conscience at all and he can’t remember what he did to me. It took me a long time to get over it but I hoped he would feel some remorse. Some people just don’t, do they?

OP posts:
Cob81 · 26/04/2026 23:37

@Gettingbysomehow
Sorry to hear that happened you but this thread ISNT ABOUT YOU!! OP’s feelings are valid, if this is one of the worst things someone has done to her then that’s HER experience of being treated very badly at the hands of someone else. There’s plenty of us out there with similar stories to yours but that doesn’t mean we get to disregard other people’s situations.
People like Elizabeth Fritzel could easily trump your life experiences, my point being, there’s always someone had worse experiences than you, but doesn’t give anyone else the right to belittle someone else’s feelings and say “for goodness sake chalk it up to experience and forget about this horrible man”…..imagine you telling your story and someone saying that to you just because they’ve dealt with something worse than you.

LetsPutThisTwatStraight · 26/04/2026 23:43

Block him and keep him blocked

PullyDog · 27/04/2026 00:07

Gettingbysomehow · 26/04/2026 20:53

Lucky you if thats the worst thing that's happened to you in all these years. Ive been a rape and donestic violence victim and so have loads of other women.
For goodness sake just chalk it up to experience and forget about this horrible man. Every horrible experience is a lesson and Im sure you'll be very careful who you lend to in future.

What a shitty thing to do, to rain on someone elses bad experience and say it could be worse.

WhatTheHellsGoingOn · 27/04/2026 02:05

He might well have forgotten it, disturbingly. Ppl like this have such a coping mechanism bc they’re such shit ppl, which allows them to live with themselves. Self preservation.

Hiddeninthetrees · 27/04/2026 05:04

Block him completely as he may well try to con you further.

Nogimachi · 27/04/2026 11:31

Some people are just awful and they have no business being in your life. He probably got in contact with you again with a view to getting more money. The fact he asked about the money likely indicates that he extorted money out of several people.

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 27/04/2026 12:32

He remembers just fine.

SliceofTosst · 27/04/2026 21:46

What prick. Just think of the shit you would have had to listen to and put up with if you hadn't made the wise decision to cut ties so early.

Wise move back then OP! Take that as a fuck off win.

1836laura · 28/04/2026 06:38

Gingernaut · 25/04/2026 14:17

Abusers like this are so abusive to so many people, that it's a routine for them

What is, for you, one of the most devastating events in your life was a regular weekday to him

He's such a consciousless psycho he doesn't realise/doesn't want to realise the damage he's doing

He's Mr Nice Guy and can't understand why you distanced yourself, or why you don't want to 'stay friends'

Just block him

This

euff · 28/04/2026 06:54

Only natural for his contact to stir up feelings. I think you dealt with him in a really good way.

QuintadosMalvados · 28/04/2026 06:55

There's an African saying:

The axe forgets what the tree remembers

If somebody hurts somebody else ('axe') but feels no hurt themselves by doing so, they're likely to forget it.
The person ('tree') won't forget.
They may also go on to hurt many trees.

I used this knowledge to get revenge on an ex-nothing illegal!! - who'd broken up with me in a nasty way 5 or so years earlier.
I honestly think that the fecker didn't remember.

I was still young at the time of the revenge, maybe I'd let it go now.

If you're going to be a cnut, you've got to understand the impact you have on others and remember it.

LeftieRightsHoarder · 28/04/2026 07:03

FancyBiscuitsLevel · 25/04/2026 14:29

Agree he’s probably got money out of so many women, it doesn’t register as a thing he’s done to just you. I honestly would expect this message now was warming up to ask you to help him with a new emergency for old times sake. He’s probably forgotten you were one who realised you were being exploited.

This, 100%. He’s not worth a moment of your time even thinking about him. He’ll always be the same worthless grifter, relying on stealing from others but losing his ability to ensnare them as he ages, while you have grown up, learnt from your mistakes and are a capable adult.

Pinkyhere · 28/04/2026 07:07

Gingernaut · 25/04/2026 14:17

Abusers like this are so abusive to so many people, that it's a routine for them

What is, for you, one of the most devastating events in your life was a regular weekday to him

He's such a consciousless psycho he doesn't realise/doesn't want to realise the damage he's doing

He's Mr Nice Guy and can't understand why you distanced yourself, or why you don't want to 'stay friends'

Just block him

Absolutely agree with this.
Block, delete and feel glad you don't need to ever deal with this vile person again

aquashiv · 28/04/2026 07:28

He was a cunt then and now. You might think there's a reason or excuse, or even amnesia, but they're just nasty people who spend their lives scamming and using others. Ignore the vile creep.

InfiniteTeas · 28/04/2026 07:41

I think some people are genuinely able to rewrite history to paint themselves as a victim. When I was in my early 20s, I had a flatmate who started off as a friend and ended up as a complete millstone round my neck. I didn’t know what she was really like before I agreed to share with her because she was struggling to find somewhere to live after graduating. She demanded constant emotional and practical support, genuinely thought she was entitled to the biggest/best part of everything because that’s what she’d always had as the spoilt rotten youngest daughter of wealthy parents, and when her demands were refused for any reason, would give you the cold shoulder for days. She eventually lost her job after constantly sleeping in and turning up late, blamed me for not doing more to help her - I was working and doing a postgrad professional course at the time - then left while I was at uni, leaving a note saying she couldn’t afford the rent so her dad had come and picked her up. It left me in a complete mess as it was too close to the end of the tenancy to get someone else in and I couldn’t afford the rent on my own. Fortunately, the landlord was a good friend of the letting agent who was actually a friend of a friend - they’d put us in touch when we were looking for a place and the landlord had needed to move suddenly for work - and we cobbled together a payment plan using my deposit, her deposit (pre-deposit rules and small deposits) and I muddled through until I finished my course and moved away for work. I left a couple of weeks before the end of the tenancy to start my new job and came back on the last day to collect my things. She was there doing the same, refused to talk to me, but rang someone in my earshot and said ‘guess who has just turned up’ before closing the door, presumably to slag me off for whatever fabricated reason she’d come up with. She later emailed me demanding her deposit back. I replied and pointed out that she actually still owed me money, even after the deposit was taken into account. She threatened legal action. I ignored her and she stopped emailing. Several years later she got in touch again, purporting not to understand why I’d ’cut her off.’ I ignored her. She used to periodically email me over the years to tell me how wonderful her life was. I never replied, and she gave up eventually. She had clearly talked herself into somehow believing she’d been wronged. The thing that really rankled was that her dad was a lovely man who had the means to pay off her rent in full without blinking. The fact that he never did and never got in touch suggests that she’d told him some dreadful story about me. I did think at the time about writing to him asking him to pay her share of the rent, but I had so much going on and was so upset that I let it go. I became much less of a pushover fairly quickly after that!

Walkaround · 28/04/2026 08:00

Of course he remembers. He’s enjoying the fact you have demonstrated he still has a big effect on you - it makes him feel good about himself, because he’s a sad little twerp who has never done anything positive to feel good about, so has to get off on all the negatives, instead.

Snorerephron · 28/04/2026 08:02

Gettingbysomehow · 26/04/2026 20:53

Lucky you if thats the worst thing that's happened to you in all these years. Ive been a rape and donestic violence victim and so have loads of other women.
For goodness sake just chalk it up to experience and forget about this horrible man. Every horrible experience is a lesson and Im sure you'll be very careful who you lend to in future.

Seriously ? I am desperately sorry this happened to you (and it has happened to me too) but it's not appropriate to try and get in some competition with the op like this

Snorerephron · 28/04/2026 08:02

I think he was testing who was gullible enough for a second round of scamming op

What a grim man

Mapletree1985 · 28/04/2026 08:07

It's good that you're angry. Stay furious and don't let him back into your life. He will be asking you for money again in no time if you do.

TheBrynGhost · 28/04/2026 08:10

Gingernaut · 25/04/2026 14:17

Abusers like this are so abusive to so many people, that it's a routine for them

What is, for you, one of the most devastating events in your life was a regular weekday to him

He's such a consciousless psycho he doesn't realise/doesn't want to realise the damage he's doing

He's Mr Nice Guy and can't understand why you distanced yourself, or why you don't want to 'stay friends'

Just block him

This.

The trouble is that people with a conscience really struggle to believe that people can be this bad.

My sister is like this. She goes through life abusing everyone around her in small and big ways but because she's so brazen, those around her are left wondering if they are the problem, if they are overreacting etc.

I can't be around her. She schemes constantly. It might be just to get the biggest bit of the cake or how to scam someone out of their inheritance but it's shocking to witness. She will stoop low and call it self protection or any one of her many terms that she uses to excuse her behaviour or none. Often she has no reason that she will offer up and just behaves as if this is how everyone carries on when it damn well isn't. She knows exactly what she's doing. She has zero conscience.

I had an ex that was like it. Once you realise, it's terrifying.

Lurkingandlearning · 28/04/2026 08:17

He is probably lying again when he says he doesn't remember. But if he really doesn't then that might be because he has lost track of the amount of women he has scammed. I'm glad you aren't going to continue engaging with his nonsense

LondonMumo23 · 28/04/2026 08:18

What an awful blast from the past. Sorry you’ve had him reenter your life like that x

AlmostAJillSandwich · 28/04/2026 08:19

My ex fiance cut all contact with me 2 days ago because i made it clear that now he has a full time job, and clearly had money to spend as he just bought a pure bred puppy, he had no reason to not start paying me back the more than £5000 he owes me for keeping a roof over his head and food in his stomach for the previous 18 months.
It was a position i was forced into against my will by his mum and step dad he lived with, downsizing from an owned outright house to a static caravan with just a box second bedroom and not really wanting him to come with. So he found the cheapest shithole possible to rent. But he was only on standard £400 a month UC and banded LCW which doesn't pay any extra, and despite his mums insistence he'd get his full rent covered on top, they didn't actually look into it before selling up, and the LHA actually only paid a little over half. He found out on move in day, with a 12 month lease signed.

His mum insisted they were only just scraping by, as did his dad, and apparently neither could afford to give him any money. So everyone expected me, the long distance gf he only saw once a week, to cover it. I didn't want to, but i loved him and he was emotionally manipulative, regularly using threats of self harm or suicide if he lost his flat. I begged him to apply for discretionary housing payment but it was "too stressful" apparently, he'd rather i just pay for everything.

We split up after i found out he'd lied to me from day 1 about being a porn addict when i'd been clear in the talking stages when we were just friends who liked eachother, that i hate porn, consider it cheating and wouldn't date someone who watches it. He admitted he knew i'd "friend zone" him if he was honest so he lied to get what he wanted. So complete disrespect, dishonesty, and betrayal, for 5 1/2 years (1 1/2 engaged, which i had to push for as a desperate hope for commitment from him to prove i wasn't just a cash cow). He confessed just after new year because he couldn't handle the guilt making him feel bad. When i wanted to split because i was heartbroken, he threatened suicide if i left him.

I left him in February, he immediately gave up his flat (kept the deposits and refunds on pre paid stuff I paid for!) moved in with mummy, and guess what, is doing just fine in that box room despite all his previous suicide threats if he had to move there. Got a full time job 3 weeks ago and is splashing the cash on expensive adult lego sets and said new puppy. When i questioned why he hadn't offered to pay me back anything, i got the "I thought you were willing to pay because you loved me, you could have said no." BS, i was forced at threat he'd kill himself if i didn't. Followed by "I think it's best we cut all contact, we were bound to fall out over something if we stayed friends (which was at his insistance for his MH, i didn't originally want to) I know you're going to think it's about the money but i swear it isn't, i hope you have a good life".

So here i am, heartbroken and feeling completely used with no savings left, while he saunters off into the sunset without a care for what he's done to me.

Sorry for the rant, just triggered by the post about shit men who use you for money and gaslight you about it. And i can't talk to friends about it because they're all mutual and he threatened suicide also if i told any of them what he did and didn't just go with the "things just didn't work out" narrative.

Backawayfromthesausage · 28/04/2026 08:27

I think not wanting close friends due to some bloke scamming some money out you in your early twenties is a very extreme reaction to be honest.

I understand you thought you were in love and it’s devastating to know he used you for sex and money, and didn’t care, but he’s just some loser.

TorroFerney · 28/04/2026 08:54

QuintadosMalvados · 28/04/2026 06:55

There's an African saying:

The axe forgets what the tree remembers

If somebody hurts somebody else ('axe') but feels no hurt themselves by doing so, they're likely to forget it.
The person ('tree') won't forget.
They may also go on to hurt many trees.

I used this knowledge to get revenge on an ex-nothing illegal!! - who'd broken up with me in a nasty way 5 or so years earlier.
I honestly think that the fecker didn't remember.

I was still young at the time of the revenge, maybe I'd let it go now.

If you're going to be a cnut, you've got to understand the impact you have on others and remember it.

My friend has a similar saying , for you it was the worst thing ever, for them it was just another Wednesday. It is true though.