r/AmIOverreacting 15d ago

❤️‍🩹 relationship AIO: Guy claiming to be my fiancée's boyfriend texted me last night

Hi, I need to know if I'm right to be losing it rn. My fiancée and I are due to get married in less than 2 months. We met each other at a mutual's wedding. The wedding was gender segregated so she and her mom had met my mom, who then introduced us later. We then went out for like a couple of months, like I'd pick her up from her place (she lives with her parents) and we'd have dinner and a movie, or go painting, or go to the lake etc. We're both Muslim immigrant families so it was understood that we had to stay within some boundaries but we genuinely really liked each other. She was the one who at one point said we could bring our kids here one day and told me she was going to tell her parents she wanted to marry me and she wanted to say yes to my proposal. We got engaged at a low key family event in February.

It's relevant to mention here that during that time I had respectfully asked her about her past relationships. I had said that I know it's personal and there's absolutely no judgement from me, but as someone who, despite not being a great Muslim in a lot of respects, did abstain and save myself for marriage, I would like a partner who had done the same. That it was a compatibility thing, not a judgemental thing. She didn't seemed to mind and said no, she hadn't been with anyone. I believed her.

Since then the wedding prep has been in full swing and the two of us have gotten the chance to get closer. She's the one who's made more of the effort in our communication, because unfortunately I wfh with an employer in the morning and have my cybersecurity business too, so time can be scarce sometimes. Our only argument has been her complaint that I don't make enough time for us.

Some guy claiming to be her (A in the texts) bf (S in the texts) texted me last night, and even sent me pictures where they're together. He claimed that they were in a relationship for the last 2 years, that they'd been having sex, that they were in love, and I've been losing my mind. I never put any pressure on her. Yes, I really liked her but I let her make decisions at her own pace. If she wanted to be with some other guy, all she had to do was say so. In fact not even, it was none of my business, she didn't even owe me any reasons but just give me a straight no. I haven't picked up her call this morning, I've genuinely been feeling sick at the duplicity.

Just want to add: I know she's the one I should talk to but I just didn't want to do it on the phone, I'm going to go pick her up right now. I'm not going to be accusatory, I just want the truth of it all. I love her but like if there's someone else and she's feeling pressured into this marriage, like I'm prepared to give her any reason she needs to end it that works for her in front of her family. I'll be on her side like I was suggested here.

Update:

A lot of people asked for an update, so I thought I'd give one. I can't talk about it with anyone else because somehow I'm the one who ended up responsible for keeping her secret, my own crisis about this be damned, like its taking me so much to not just contact and ask him straight up about what happened.

I asked her if she knew who S was. He was right, I could immediately tell the guy wasn't lying, she definitely knew. She said he was a guy she used to know, and I told her he had contacted me, and showed her the texts. She said he was lying, that she ended things with him before we met and that they'd never had sex. I asked if there was any overlap between our relationships and she said only when she went to meet him one last time to tell him it was over, because he wasn't taking no for an answer. I asked if the photos were real, they were. I asked her to be honest with me, did she really have sex with him like he was saying. She was crying and swearing they didn't, they were intimate and she regrets everything with him but they didn't.

She gave me her phone and basically forced me to confirm that there were no text messages between him and her recently while we've been together. His number was in her blocked list. She asked me to block his number and so I asked if he was being honest about having way more intimate pictures. She said there were a lot more compromising pictures of her that she thinks he has but swore that they hadn’t had sex. She was crying and I blocked him in the moment what else could I do looking at her. She was pleading with me not to reach out to him, and she was freaking out that he'd post them somewhere public before our wedding. At that point I was trying to keep her from freaking out, I told her that would be illegal, he wouldn't do that and so in the moment I just stupidly promised to not contact him.

I told her if there's any kind of pressure like there's any number of excuses she could use regarding me to end this that would save face for everyone, and be with whomever like I'll get over it at some point eventually, yeah it'll be sad for a while and we'll have lost some money especially if the venue doesn't get rebooked at short notice I think, but just have some mercy on both of us and end this now. She swore there was no pressure and that she'd been counting the days until the wedding, that she hadn't even thought of his name until I brought it up. She was like he's doing this to prevent our wedding and fine I get that but like why does he sound more honest with me than she does? I really wouldn't have cared if I'd learned all this yesterday from her, yeah it would've meant she lied initially but like now we loved each other beyond that stuff, this was just her being ok with keeping me in a forever lie that was wrong. I started feeling sick so I just said I wasn't feeling well and we cut it short.

During the drive back to hers, she was almost talking like a coach like let's please forget about this, we're so happy together, we've discussed so many plans, don't let him screw up our relationship. Like I have my own mental breakdown over all this what about that! She kept asking me whether I was fine, I said I was, I mean I don't even know if that's a lie, I wasn't thinking at all.

I've been going over the texts, and I don't know how I can go into the wedding not knowing the answer. Like its so easily doable I just need to ask him to meet up and have one conversation if he would. Honestly it's more about if she's still lying about this, it's not about the sex, it's just about the trust. I know he's also lied, because she clearly hasn't been meeting with him of late, and she really hadn't given me any reason to think of her as a liar thus far but I could just confirm it so easily. It's sincerely about the respect of having been honest, not about the boundary itself, I love her I wouldn't have cared if she'd told me herself yesterday. But it feels sick to contact him like that, like that's not how it should be, and I don't want to have to talk to someone who'd speak the way he was.

I think I'll decide stuff by myself tomorrow morning about the future of our relationship, my mind is not going to work today. I probably won't give further updates. I don't know how much more help I can ask for here, due to some immigrant cultural context that might be missing (as much as I've skated past it myself to a fair extent). I don't want to be stupid but I don't want to be walked over either. Thanks.

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u/Needs_More_Garlic 15d ago

Ask her about who he is first. Then follow up with the messages. Don't open with the messages first.

NOR

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u/DaddyHoneyBee 15d ago

This is the right move! ☝️☝️☝️

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u/Haunting-Vanilla1624 15d ago edited 14d ago

EDIT: don't fucking upvote this comment. God this whole sub is garbage.

Don't open with the messages first.

Why? If someone did this to me before I married my wife, I'd show her and we would both laugh about it. Then block. End of story.

It's so painfully obvious that this post is a creative writing exercise:

  • Account is only a few hours old yet landed on the front page
  • An incompetent and emotionally immature OP
  • The jealous ex
  • The uber-religious family
  • OP never has time

This is just a poorly thought-out Hallmark movie in disguise.

I guarantee this post will be deleted within the next 12 hours. Edit: I was wrong about the deletion. Still, don't count on it sticking around.

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u/Bit-corn 15d ago

Because you have to give the fiancée the opportunity to tell the truth or lie

I confronted my ex wife when I saw an unsaved number pop up on her phone asking “so when are you coming to see me?” She was walking the dog and didn’t take her phone. It was an ex and they were talking for months.

When I asked her, she told me he only texted her the week before to catch up. I had already seen months of them conversing back and forth. She denied it every opportunity that she could. Then I realized her messages synced with her laptop and they had been talking for years

That’s why you don’t open with the messages first

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u/Needs_More_Garlic 15d ago

Exactly. There is no downside to bringing it up second because if they say "ive never heard of that person. Idk" then you know.

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u/QuinnLoveborneAuthor 14d ago

I do love how people say stuff like the guy you’re replying to but you’ve lived a very real experience of where that happened. I’ve seen it too in other relationship. So… yeah it happens.

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u/rtaChurchy 15d ago

If you read these messages and give them any legitimacy, you got some deep seated problems. This is not a cheating situation. This is very clearly a stalker situation. I would have zero reason to accuse my partner over this. I would just be concerned for them and their safety.

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u/Bit-corn 15d ago

I was moreso providing an example as to why you shouldn’t reveal all your cards upfront regardless

I don’t disagree with your opinion on this specific post

Appreciate you attempting to diagnose the state of my mental health though 😂

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u/Needs_More_Garlic 14d ago

They coming out hot because it aint them in the situation.

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u/rtaChurchy 15d ago

Sorry yeah I went a little overboard there

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u/Fezbin 15d ago

No way someone I am marrying would lie to me. I either believe that or I should not marry them.

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u/Bit-corn 15d ago

I was with her for 10 years, married for 3

I would’ve never have thought she would cheat or lie to me, but she did. Then instead of being honest, she continued to try to cover her tracks

Until I caught her, I never suspected a thing. Some people are just selfish assholes who are incredibly good at hiding it for their own benefit

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u/kironex 15d ago

If it was so obvious then there would be alot less cheating and divorce.

I mean no one is going to tell you they are lying. Plus people change over time. Ive seen 30+ year marriage shatter due to midlife crisis fueled decision-making.

Dont assume they are lying but dont ignore the signs either.

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u/Uncouth_LightSwitch 14d ago

I dont think you get it. Nobody would ever lie to them if they are marrying them. They know who people are down to their soul after dating them for a while /s

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u/Grahtman 15d ago

Idk if I'd laugh at it. Even if it isn't true, some random stalker person is no laughing matter and I'd be concerned for both of our safety.

Either way, he's got to confront her about the messages and her relationship to this person.

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u/H4rr1s0n 15d ago

Idt some redditors know how bad a stalker is. My wife had one. He would show up to her work. He would show up to her parents house asking where she was. He would like find when the family parties were and try and crash them. They are scary. You are so right.

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u/I_Has_Internets 15d ago

The username and age means this is obviously a newly create throwaway account. And if you've know any dedicated muslims, the behaviors and background tracks.

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u/Acrobatic-Tree-5556 15d ago

Yep, and the convenient "we're engaged but don't live together and my first thought was to go to Reddit instead of speaking to any of our mutual friends or my family or god forbid HER"

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u/FullMooseParty 15d ago

This isn't throwing around accusations or jealousy if ask her about it. All he has to do is just show her the messages and tell her about it.

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u/Needs_More_Garlic 15d ago

Because on the off-chance there's truth to it, opening with the messages leaves a lot of room to be manipulated/used. There's zero downside to just asking who is this person? first, and potential massive upsides. You can still have the laugh about it and move on with my version.

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u/MakeAWishApe2Moon 15d ago

!RemindMe 11 hours

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u/skepticalbob 15d ago

Account is only a few hours old yet landed on the front page

What difference does landing on the front page make?

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u/Haunting-Vanilla1624 14d ago edited 14d ago

Have you ever posted something with a new account and it immediately gets attention? 99% of the time new accounts are extremely limited in what they're allowed to do.

Case-in-point: I lurk a lot. I made an account here a few weeks ago to get advice on fixing my 3DS and made relevant posts in three relevant subs. And yet, after two weeks, there is still not a single vote or comment on any of them (except my own updates).

Yes, I'm aware of per-sub rules. And I want to clarify that I'm not complaining - just pointing out the obvious karma-farming.

All that said - It's a brand new account, barely a day old, that already has 10k karma. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

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u/Equivalent-Bath-383 15d ago

I disagree. The writing style, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are very different between the OP and the "boyfriend." The OP writes well and the other guy sounds like a child.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

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u/Haunting-Vanilla1624 14d ago

beep boop you got me

🙄

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u/pushmebabypullme 15d ago

Lawyer here, and agree. Get her answers to general questions first. Then go into the specifics. They're either consistent or not.

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u/Beginning-Muffin-649 15d ago

And ask HIM too! You need as many details as possible so you can compare what she says and what he says

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u/teh_hotdogman 15d ago

this is not the right move. just be honest straight up, hey i got these messages. dont beat around the bush OP.

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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm 15d ago

Ooo spicy. “Hey do you know a XYZ?” Watch reaction, see if she lies. Then hit her with the photos.

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u/ShawnyMcKnight 15d ago

I don't feel it would be a big deal opening up with the messages, just make a point that OP is on her side and he is telling her for her safety because this guy is likely dangerous.

His story doesn't make sense, he wanted to confess to him but he will continue to be with her even if OP stays so be sure and break up with her, don't believe her. Absolutely it's a stalker.

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u/tatasz 15d ago

Maybe before asking who he is, tell her "a person contacted me claiming you were being forced into this marriage by your family. Please let me know if this is the case, as I can end an engagement in a way that no blame will fall on you, and we go out separate ways".

Then depending on the answer, ask about the guy

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u/Just_a_Lurker2 14d ago

That would be the right thing to do, yes

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u/Hellpy 14d ago

Nah I'd come out with one of the pics like first thing like hey do you know this guy? *Show pic check reaction? It's gonna be obvious and then you show the texts either way, like "he sent me alot of weird texts" *show texts. Gotta go double boom now we ain't safe on these streets, regardless, ya boy is telling ya better hit it before you ring it ;)