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I Have a Broken Heart

I was in a relationship with a man who was 10 years older than me for 3 years. I was 25 he was 35. We met each other at a bar- I immediately fell head over heals for him, he seemed very charming, very intelligent (he knew a lot about the world and was interested in art, different cultures), good looking and well mannered. We seemed to have lots in common at the time and he was very polite – always asking me if he could hold my hand, open the door for me, etc. As time went by I found out that he had recently broken up with his previous gf that he dated for 10 years. This sort of made me feel uneasy seeing as I later found out that they had only broken up 4 months before we met.
We started having problems when a few months into the relationship – supposedly his ex gf was in town. While we were walking around the city center he asked me to walk slightly in front of him to avoid hurting his ex gf as he had not told her that he was seeing someone new. At the time I found this very hurtful but tried to understand his point of view.
At the beginning of our relationship I shared many photos on social media of us together and I was always puzzled why he would never want to be tagged in them or post any. He would always say that he needed more time to pass before he post any pictures because his ex gf was still in pain after their long relationship. Again I tried to understand and I did not want to put anyone else through pain having been in a previous relationship myself. We broke up several times the first year of our relationship for silly reasons that were easily fixable and each time he asked me to delete all the pictures I had posted of us. It made me feel sad so I decided to avoid posting other pictures of us together. This later annoyed him after two years of dating- he was puzzled to why I wouldn't post any more pictures. He thought I was hiding him but I just didn't feel comfortable posting pictures anymore after the way he acted in the past. But he didn't understand, he was sure I was seeing someone else.
At the time I was finishing medical sciences at University and modeling. My bf was not so happy about that. He told me that I was wasting my time modeling.. That instead of doing something constructive with my time, like reading a book I prefer taking photos, being on social media, etc. I did not have enough knowledge about everything the way that he did and he always made me notice that I do not know enough about the world. I appreciated that about him but at the same time it made me feel like I was inferior and didn’t know much about anything.
I remember one weekend he invited me to meet his parents, I did not feel ready seeing as it had only been 4 months that we started dating and I didn’t feel comfortable yet seeing as he had mentioned a few times that they grew affectionate to his ex gf. It was very important for me that I make a good impression and that they didn’t see me as an intruder in their home. A few times when I went to visit them he fought with me and made me cry in front of his parents, which really made me feel so uncomfortable. Everytime I asked him if his parents liked me he would answer by saying that he didn’t really know.
He would do really kind things for me like surprise me for my birthday and take me on a wonderful trip. He organized a surprise birthday for me, etc. But whenever the slighlest thing was wrong he would react in a very unfriendly way. For example whenever a guy would write to me from University – even if it was just a friend he would make sure to write to another girl. Or if I liked a males photo on instagram (always friends) he would make sure to like a girls friends. It would hurt me so much. Or he would never like my photos but I would always like his to show my support and when he did, it was only to show people that we were together when he doubted people didn’t know. When I would ask him why he didn’t like my photos he would say it was because he didn’t like my modeling pictures or he didn’t find them interesting.
We had some really good moments together but there would always be something off. On our 3 year anniversary at dinner I saw that he received a text from a girl that he would often write to whenever he felts guys would hit on me. It made me so upset that even on our anniversary this would happen.
One time we had a fight on a train - I received a text from a guy in my class who wrote to me if I wanted to grab a coffee (I obviously didn't not reply) he got so angry that he proceeded to spit on me. As time went by I got more distant after these several events but I always had hope that he would realize that he was hurting me and try to change. Instead he accused me of being distant because he thought I was cheating on him, etc.
When I broke up with him he proceeded to contact all my friends and tell them that I was a nasty person, a cheater and showed them personal test messages I sent him when I was vulnerable and needed him the most (when my parents were having an affair) - to show them that I was the crazy one. Shortly after he started dating a 18 yer old model from my sae agency and posted pictures of her on instagram stories - in the same place we went on vacation/gave her the same gift. It was really hard for me
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InvaderNice · 26-30, M
He's doing things to hurt you on purpose and then making them look like your fault. I'm sorry to say this but he's not the person you thought he was when you first met him. That person doesn't exist. The things that you describe do not sound like something a loving man would do.

I know that this probably doesn't fix your heartbreak one bit but I do think it would be good for you (and true) to realize that everything he did was HIS fault. He made you cry in front of his parents on purpose. He made you look dumb and himself look smart, on purpose. He made you feel insecure about his ex, on purpose; and by the way, his recklessness with his ex was his fault, too.

You didn't deserve any of the things he did to you and every bad thing you "learned" about yourself with him, was a lie.

Also please realize that his victimizing you was HIM, not YOU. I'm sure he's victimized many innocent people like yourself in the past.

I hope this helps.
Sensitiveheart · 31-35, F
Sorry for the late reply - Thank you very much for your kind advice. For some reason it was very difficult to leave him (he made me think I was untrustworthy - that I was not an honest person which made me become very insecure and doubt his actions) it was a vicious cycle. I finally managed to request a break/finally end it. Now he is trying to ruin my life- by spreading bad rumors about me to my friends. He is trying to hit on girls I worked with and add a bunch of models. I am very upset by his behavior - the relationship was already difficult but now this is even harder to just move forward @InvaderNice:
InvaderNice · 26-30, M
@Sensitiveheart: I understand what you say about having a hard time leaving him. He made you think that things would be worse for you without him, right?

Can you tell me more about him spreading bad rumors (relational aggression)?
Sensitiveheart · 31-35, F
I decided to start dating again after mY bf and I broke up because he continued to act badly by making me jealous with other women, he was with another woman outside my house in his car dropping her off, a series of these unpleasant events happened when we broke up. Therefore I decided to go on a date with a guy I went to university with who I have know for 6 years -nothing happened on the date but for some reason my ex found out and went crazy. He started spreading rumors about me to my and his friends that I was cheating on him for months /seeing multiple guys at the same time. He tried to make my university friend regret taking me on a date, etc @InvaderNice:
InvaderNice · 26-30, M
Okay. Don't let him make you think you're worthless. He judges a woman's quality by how much he can use her. If you're not on his radar, that's a good thing. You seem like a perfectly fine woman to me, and I have a full spectrum of emotions, including love; unlike him, who can only feel fear and anger.

The way you can scare off a sociopath is to be as boring as possible for them. Their #1 fear is losing control. That's why he's so desperate to get back at you: he's afraid of losing control of you. So do exactly that. Control yourself. It will make him go crazy, which is kinda good and kinda bad. Bad because he'll probably panic and become more aggressive but good because you can use that against him by calling him out on it, probably around the very people he tries to take from you.

And remember: tell as many people as you can about what he's doing to you, preferably before he gets to them.
InvaderNice · 26-30, M
@Sensitiveheart: I hope I'm helping and not just talking too much. Am I listening to you okay?
Sensitiveheart · 31-35, F
Thank you so much! I will do that :) You advice is really appreciated seeing as I have no where to turn to! So I should just ignore him and move forward with my life no matter ho mean he is behaving?@InvaderNice:
InvaderNice · 26-30, M
@Sensitiveheart: Yes! :)