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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

Was my ex controlling and mistrustful, or did I handle this badly?

15 replies

Traum · 16/06/2026 05:39

Last February, I met a guy 10 days before Valentine’s Day. A couple of days later he was already calling me baby and by Valentine’s Day, after all the exchange of gifts, he asked to make it official and I said yes to him. Everything was smooth in the beginning until a few months after I noticed that he didn’t trust or believe anything I said. Like each time I said something to him or told him I was going somewhere for example I kinda had to prove it. I brushed it off and told myself that if I had to prove myself trustworthy to make this work, I was willing to do it.

After another couple of months he suggested we turn on our live locations and I agreed, I thought it was cute just having to know where each person was. One day while I was at work he started messaging me about how I was in my room during work hours, what was I doing there. I tried to tell him I was at work just doing a different task in the building where the rooms were. He insisted that I wasn’t working because when I’m at work I’m usually in a certain area. He then proceeded to video call me. Mind you, phones are very controlled at my work place. He was video calling me and saying I wasn’t being honest with him and other things. Next thing he turned his off saying I could turn mine off since that’s what I always wanted.

At the early stages of the relationship he said we had to tell each other everything from our past so we could start on a clean slate. I didn’t think anything of it so I told him every single thing down to the first person I slept with. He didn’t do the same, he just told me it wasn’t important he had moved on. There’s a guy that I’ve been friends with since I was 17. We dated briefly in 2019, it didn’t work and we went back to being friends. I also told him about the guy and it went downhill from there. He often asked me questions like “what if we have a fight and you go running into his arms”. I kept assuring him that wasn’t going to happen.

At some point, he asked me if I couldn’t block the guy. I told him I could and I would eventually but this is a long time friend that hasn’t done anything to me. Imagine just blocking him out of the blues. He kept on bringing it up every few weeks until I eventually blocked the guy everywhere down to Duolingo. After a while I found out that this same guy that was on my neck to block this person was talking to someone he used to date as well. When I asked he said it wasn’t the same because he and the girl aren’t that close. I just went and quietly unblocked my friend on iMessage and WhatsApp only.

This is getting so long but there were so many other things. Silent treatment one time I slept off and didn’t answer the phone. Mind you, it was 11pm in my location. Accusing me of crazy things and saying I was moving somehow because a male colleague that worked in my workplace kitchen gave me food.

One time we met, he searched my phone and I told him how it wasn’t fair how he always treated me like I was a criminal. He would randomly interrogate me about things I told him in the past like my body count and if I get upset, he’d say he was just seeking clarity and me being defensive meant I was hiding something.

One time last year, I went to see him and he asked me the last time I spoke to my ex and I just told him it had been a while. He then demanded for my phone and went through it and he saw that it was days ago I spoke to him. I tried deleting the chats but it was still in recently deleted so he went through everything. I also changed his name to a different name because I didn’t want him to know that I unblocked him back. He then went through the chat and said I lied to him and that there was actually nothing in the chat so why did I feel the need to delete it. I apologized and told him why I did it. He accepted and we continued dating.

5 months later, 2 days to our anniversary he broke up with me. He said that I didn’t really want him, and was just using him as a placeholder, and he was just a second option. He said if my friend comes back to say he wanted me I wouldn’t choose him, he said I lied to him so he can’t even believe a word of what I say anymore and that he can’t cope with the distance anymore. He said when he asked for my location to be on, I claimed he was monitoring me too much and so many other things. We live in the same country and 3 out of 4 times, I flew to see him.

The story is much longer but I just highlighted the most important parts. My heart is shattered. I know I did wrong by trying to hide the contact but it wasn’t because I was messing around, I was scared of his reaction and I regret it.

OP posts:
BitDrizzly · 16/06/2026 05:42

Controlling twat. So many red flags straight away.Next time a guy does ANY of this, run like the wind. You had a lucky escape!

Ovasaurus · 16/06/2026 05:44

You are well rid of him. More red flags than a May day parade. Consider yourself lucky

PussInBin20 · 16/06/2026 05:46

Wow, who needs all this drama? Sounds like he did you a favour.

CatherinedeBourgh · 16/06/2026 05:47

What the previous posters said, and also you may want to read up on abusers and coercive control so you can spot early warning signs and run a mile.

You had a lucky escape this time, but next time you may not be so lucky unless you learn to spot the red flags and leave yourself rather than waiting for him to leave you.

Vegandiva · 16/06/2026 05:50

He will be back but you need to block him now everywhere so you don’t get sucked back in. He was love bombing you at the start and he sounds dangerous. It’s good he doesn’t live near you. Read up on coercive control as the pp said. Do not tell these types of scrubs anything about your past as they will use it against you later.

comedycentral · 16/06/2026 05:52

I'm so glad he dumped you, please don't look back.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 16/06/2026 06:01

Please read up on abusive behaviour and red flags so next time you won't waste as much time.

Dery · 16/06/2026 07:39

Honestly, OP, he’s awful. He is abusive. This is coercion and controlling behaviour. If you continued dating him, it would destroy you. He wants you to shrink yourself and your life right down. I agree with previous posters - read up about abuse and perhaps think about doing the Freedom Course so that you can recognise the red flags in future.

whippersnapper55 · 16/06/2026 10:37

Thank god you're no longer with him, you've dodged a bullet there!

For future reference -

Any man who 'love-bombs' you at the beginning of a relationship, wanting it to move very quickly, is a big red flag.

It's never ok for a boyfriend to grill you about previous boyfriends and sexual partners.

It's never ok for a boyfriend to demand to know where you are all the time.

It's never ok for a boyfriend to accuse you of crazy things, seeing other people, lying about where you are.

It's never ok for a boyfriend to fixate on someone from your past and demand that you cut contact with people.

It's never ok for a boyfriend to 'punish' you for imagined transgressions by giving you the silent treatment until you fall back in line with what he wants.

I don't know how old you are but you sound young. Please read the above list and look out for these signs in future. Any man who does this is controlling and abusive.

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 16/06/2026 10:44

Everything was smooth in the beginning until a few months after I noticed that he didn’t trust or believe anything I said. Like each time I said something to him or told him I was going somewhere for example I kinda had to prove it. I brushed it off and told myself that if I had to prove myself trustworthy to make this work, I was willing to do it.

At the early stages of the relationship he said we had to tell each other everything from our past so we could start on a clean slate.

Yes, you handled it spectacularly badly. Whichever of these things happened first. That was the point you should have dumped him and never looked back.

Greengage1983 · 16/06/2026 11:10

Mate, I am SO GLAD to see he is an ex. I was having flashbacks there of a former boyfriend of my own. Constantly suspecting me of flirting with other men, and either cheating, or wanting to cheat, even though I had never given him any reason whatsoever to think that. I was also expected to cut off an old friend I'd slept with twice when we were about 17 but just been friends ever since, hassled about my work choices (he didn't want me doing anything that HE deemed would put me in too much contact with other men (just normal jobs, nothing risqué!) I have never cheated on any partner ever, and never wanted to. But he envisioned me as some sort of scarlet woman. You are WELL RID. You can't live like that, it starts ruining your life, ruining your friendships, interfering with your job (as you have seen), and it only gets worse, because NOTHING you can ever do will convince them you're not going to cheat. Because the thoughts are coming purely from their own mind. Ultimately, their suspicions show that they don't respect you, and they don't see you for the person that you are, they only see this weird twisted version of you that they've created in their own head. And that means they can never truly love you either, because they aren't seeing the real you.
I wasted 4 years of my life before I realised all this. It sounds like you've worked it out sooner, and I hope this experience will make you savvy enough to NEVER put up with that nonsense ever again! Only ever stay with a man who trusts you.

Summervibes83 · 16/06/2026 15:36

Yeah, like the PP this reminds me a LOT of my ex. I stayed three years and it only got worse. That was also a long distance relationship and perhaps that helped fuel his need to remotely control me (although we did eventually move in together and that didn't make it any better). I wish I'd got out as early as you!!! Thank your lucky stars you're free, block him on everything so he can't get back into your head, and do some work on recognizing this sort of abuse (it is absolutely abuse) in future.

Traum · 18/06/2026 00:47

Update
Thanks everyone for your input. I’ve been able to read up a bit about abuse and control like you suggested and I’m just now dealing with the emotions that come with the realization of what happened to me, and finding ways to move on from it.

OP posts:
WhatTheHellsGoingOn · 18/06/2026 04:58

So glad it’s over. He was a narcissist -he love bombed you and put you on a pedestal then hated you when the illusion disappeared and he was faced with a real, living woman with a normal past. Be glad it’s over - he was toxic and your MH would unravel the longer you stayed with him. You sound vulnerable, please steer clear of men like this and watch out for this behaviour. It may seem flattering, but no matter what you do it will never be enough to stop you falling from grace (in their eyes) and it always leads to anger, resentment and horrible/dangerous treatment.

What really stood out from your post, aside from the time frame of moving so fast initially then him conveniently dumping you before your anniversary - which the cynic in me would suspect is bc he didn’t want to buy you anything or pay for a trip away or a meal etc - the timing is too coincidental - is that he lured you into disclosing your past honestly and openly on the pretense that it would strengthen your relationship - this is a red flag in itself. It is never the reason - a clean slate - it’s the opposite. They want to know exactly what they’re ’dealing with’ in terms of number of partners (competition to compare them to) and the fact it was suddenly irrelevant when it came to him should have had you running then. He didn’t want to be in the same vulnerable position. He didn’t want to be judged by you as he was judging you. He wanted to hold all the cards.

This piece of shit was abusive and controlling and you don’t realise how lucky you are to have escaped him, OP. Block him on everything bc I can guarantee he will be sniffing around again assuming you will have learned your lesson and become more compliant - with the calculated bonus of him not having had to buy you anything for your milestone anniversary.

And the reason he mentioned your ex in that way after he dumped you was his last little bit of control. He said he knew you’d go running into his arms as soon as your relationship ended with him - therefore making you feel guilty if you do get in contact with him, bc it will be proving him right. He may well get in touch to check up on this bc men like him don’t let partners go just like that, you are still his possession and he can say “There, you see!!!!!!” He may also be banking on the possibility that you believing he may come back to you at any moment will stop you getting back in touch with your ex in case that happens, so he will be able to prevent anything happening between you and this person he was irrationally jealous of forevermore.

Please, for the love of god, block and move on. I get that it hurts and you cared a lot about him - HE DID NOT CARE ABOUT YOU and if you ever let him back into your life you will be crying a lot more over him then you are now. Be kind to yourself from now on 💐

Shelleyblueeyes · 18/06/2026 06:57

Traum · 16/06/2026 05:39

Last February, I met a guy 10 days before Valentine’s Day. A couple of days later he was already calling me baby and by Valentine’s Day, after all the exchange of gifts, he asked to make it official and I said yes to him. Everything was smooth in the beginning until a few months after I noticed that he didn’t trust or believe anything I said. Like each time I said something to him or told him I was going somewhere for example I kinda had to prove it. I brushed it off and told myself that if I had to prove myself trustworthy to make this work, I was willing to do it.

After another couple of months he suggested we turn on our live locations and I agreed, I thought it was cute just having to know where each person was. One day while I was at work he started messaging me about how I was in my room during work hours, what was I doing there. I tried to tell him I was at work just doing a different task in the building where the rooms were. He insisted that I wasn’t working because when I’m at work I’m usually in a certain area. He then proceeded to video call me. Mind you, phones are very controlled at my work place. He was video calling me and saying I wasn’t being honest with him and other things. Next thing he turned his off saying I could turn mine off since that’s what I always wanted.

At the early stages of the relationship he said we had to tell each other everything from our past so we could start on a clean slate. I didn’t think anything of it so I told him every single thing down to the first person I slept with. He didn’t do the same, he just told me it wasn’t important he had moved on. There’s a guy that I’ve been friends with since I was 17. We dated briefly in 2019, it didn’t work and we went back to being friends. I also told him about the guy and it went downhill from there. He often asked me questions like “what if we have a fight and you go running into his arms”. I kept assuring him that wasn’t going to happen.

At some point, he asked me if I couldn’t block the guy. I told him I could and I would eventually but this is a long time friend that hasn’t done anything to me. Imagine just blocking him out of the blues. He kept on bringing it up every few weeks until I eventually blocked the guy everywhere down to Duolingo. After a while I found out that this same guy that was on my neck to block this person was talking to someone he used to date as well. When I asked he said it wasn’t the same because he and the girl aren’t that close. I just went and quietly unblocked my friend on iMessage and WhatsApp only.

This is getting so long but there were so many other things. Silent treatment one time I slept off and didn’t answer the phone. Mind you, it was 11pm in my location. Accusing me of crazy things and saying I was moving somehow because a male colleague that worked in my workplace kitchen gave me food.

One time we met, he searched my phone and I told him how it wasn’t fair how he always treated me like I was a criminal. He would randomly interrogate me about things I told him in the past like my body count and if I get upset, he’d say he was just seeking clarity and me being defensive meant I was hiding something.

One time last year, I went to see him and he asked me the last time I spoke to my ex and I just told him it had been a while. He then demanded for my phone and went through it and he saw that it was days ago I spoke to him. I tried deleting the chats but it was still in recently deleted so he went through everything. I also changed his name to a different name because I didn’t want him to know that I unblocked him back. He then went through the chat and said I lied to him and that there was actually nothing in the chat so why did I feel the need to delete it. I apologized and told him why I did it. He accepted and we continued dating.

5 months later, 2 days to our anniversary he broke up with me. He said that I didn’t really want him, and was just using him as a placeholder, and he was just a second option. He said if my friend comes back to say he wanted me I wouldn’t choose him, he said I lied to him so he can’t even believe a word of what I say anymore and that he can’t cope with the distance anymore. He said when he asked for my location to be on, I claimed he was monitoring me too much and so many other things. We live in the same country and 3 out of 4 times, I flew to see him.

The story is much longer but I just highlighted the most important parts. My heart is shattered. I know I did wrong by trying to hide the contact but it wasn’t because I was messing around, I was scared of his reaction and I regret it.

Stop right now.

You've escaped an abusive relationship.
Don't ever take him back and if you see similar signs with your next relationship run for the hills.

This behaviour is not ok.

Good luck xx.

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