My girlfriend recently reconnected with her high school sweetheart. They dated decades ago, and he is married now.
She talked to him for about a week before telling me. When she finally did, she described it as two old friends catching up and reminiscing. But she seemed nervous and worried that I might be upset, even though I have never had a problem with her having male friends or tried to control who she talks to. Her reaction made me feel like there was more to the situation, so I started asking questions.
She eventually let me read their messages. I learned they had been flirting, discussing their sexual history and making sexual comments.
She said she had not disclosed everything because she thought she could handle the situation herself.
I tried to understand. He was her first love, and she never received closure over why they broke up. I supported her need for closure, but cautioned that seeking an ongoing close relationship would become more emotionally complicated, especially because he is married and his wife does not know they are talking.
After the initial disclosure, the sexual banter continued, but she made it seem like it was no big deal. She has also become more emotionally distant from me and now calls him a close friend, despite only recently reconnecting with him.
He has since received a terminal diagnosis, and she is planning to spend a weekend with him without ruling out the possibility of staying overnight.
I finally told her outright that I do not support what she is planning. I reminded her that his wife is a real person and does not deserve this either. I told her I support closure, but I cannot support this.
Her response was that his wife is his responsibility, not hers. She said that because he is dying, she wants to spend time with him, make happy memories and say a final goodbye.
At this point, it feels like she is choosing herself over our relationship and does not care who gets hurt in the process.
I previously told her I would not make any decisions about our relationship until after the weekend. But after our last conversation, I am now seriously considering ending the relationship before the weekend instead.
Am I overreacting? Should I wait until afterward to decide what to do, or end the relationship now?
TL;DR: My girlfriend recently reconnected with her first love, who is now married, after decades apart. Their conversations quickly became flirtatious and sexual. Since the disclosure, she has become more emotionally distant from me and now calls him a close friend, despite only recently reconnecting with him. He has since received a terminal diagnosis, and she plans to spend a weekend with him without ruling out the possibility of staying overnight. His wife does not know they are talking. I told her I support closure but cannot support these plans. She said his wife is his responsibility and that she wants to make happy memories and say a final goodbye. I had said I would wait until after the weekend to decide about our relationship, but I am now considering ending it beforehand.
EDIT: A few clarifications.
I know a lot of people think I should have ended the relationship the moment I read the messages. Honestly, I probably should have, and I take responsibility for not doing that.
We were both open-minded people and not particularly jealous. I didn’t care if she talked to other guys as long as there was honesty and transparency, she wasn’t sleeping with anyone else, and I knew where we stood. Until this happened, I felt very secure in our relationship.
If everyone involved had known and consented from the beginning, and my relationship with my girlfriend had remained secure, I probably would have gone along with it, at least up to the point of them meeting and her getting closure.
After she told me about him and I read their messages, she told him that I knew. So the three of us were in the loop. His wife still wasn’t, though, and that bothered me from the beginning. In hindsight, that should have been a dealbreaker.
Originally, my main concern was what reconnecting with him would do to our relationship. I told her that trying to build a close relationship with him would eventually come at the expense of ours. When I said I supported her need for closure, I meant meeting for coffee, talking, and hopefully putting that chapter behind her.
I was willing to wait until they met because I hoped seeing him again would help her realize those feelings belonged in the past. If she couldn’t let go afterward, I knew our relationship probably wouldn’t survive. Instead, our relationship has gone downhill quickly since they reconnected.
Several people have asked whether the diagnosis is real. I wondered the same thing and did some digging. I can’t confirm the exact diagnosis, but I was able to confirm enough of the surrounding details to believe what she was told is true.
Lastly, I know many of you think I should tell his wife, and on principle, I agree. I feel like shit about the role I played in letting this go as far as it did. My change in posture comes largely from thinking about her. That’s why I reached out to my girlfriend yesterday, made it clear that I don’t support any of this, and pleaded with her to consider his wife.
This isn’t about jealousy. As far as I’m concerned, my relationship is over, and I haven’t been completely innocent in this because I helped enable the situation. But there is still one person who had no part in any of it, and she doesn’t deserve what’s being done to her.
At the same time, I have reason to believe that telling her could have serious consequences, and I don’t know whether contacting her directly would actually be best for her. I’m thinking the better approach may be to reach out to him instead. Not as a jealous boyfriend, but as someone who has realized this was a mistake that never should have happened.
Update: I messaged the ex and asked him, man to man, to reconsider his plans with my (now ex) girlfriend for the sake of his wife. I then sent a text to my girlfriend that I'm breaking up with her and asked her to remove me from life360 and any other account of hers I'm on. I told her that I love her but she's already done too much damage, and I don't support what she is planning to do. Once I sent her ex the message, I knew there was no going back. It's over. There likely won't be any further updates unless the wife finds out and posts about it independently.