Framed

The big breakup on Nov 22nd

Of course, he had broken up with me before, influenced by his mother's constant pressure. Despite knowing she always had a backup plan for him to meet someone else, I pleaded with him not to leave. This breakup, however, truly devastated me; he blocked me immediately afterward. Two days before Thanksgiving and two days before his getaway vacation with his family, he already had a new partner.

It was a brutal breakup. I sensed it was coming, like the ones before. In desperation, I lied and told him I had gone to the doctor, hoping to elicit a response because he hadn't texted me all weekend while spending time with his family. I feared his mother's dramatic nature and knew she could manipulate him into ending things.

He was adamant about the breakup and demanded hospital proof, which I couldn't provide. Feeling pressured, I fabricated the proof. He accepted it but wanted more evidence, seemingly searching for a reason to justify breaking up with me. I later discovered his mother had been involved, showing him the website where I had faked the proof.

That night, around 11 P.M., he heartlessly broke up with me via text message. The pain was indescribable—it felt different from any breakup I had experienced before. I do not remember every detail because I blocked out how he broke up with me. I do not want to remember something like that again. I sensed a narcissistic streak in him that night, and it made me realize where he might have learned such behavior.

Throughout our relationship, R.S. and I dined with his family only four times: the seafood dinner I prepared in their backyard and their usual dinners upstairs with his family. I regret not asking more probing questions about his family to piece together their dynamics. On one occasion during dinner, I casually asked his parents how they had met, knowing from their son that it was through a newspaper ad 30 years ago. His mother lied, claiming they had met through friends. Later, when we were alone in the basement, I confronted him about the discrepancy. He couldn't explain his mother's lie, yet he quickly punished me for a white lie, threatening to break up with me over it. He doesn't even know his mother's real name; does he also know his sister's actual age? It made me question: Is R.S. blind, or does he not care enough to see the truth? Or is his mother feeding him only what she wants him to know, and is he learning these narcissistic traits?

His mother grew up poor and filed for bankruptcy in the 1990s, as I later discovered. She also had trouble finishing school in her teenage years due to her mental issues. I am not denying or justifying my lie, but she lied on multiple levels and multiple times in his life, especially to get her son to act like a husband. His mother frequently manipulated him into spending more time with his adoptive sister instead of me, making him take on the role of a father and husband, which made me feel unwelcome in their company. It was secretive and exclusionary when he and his adoptive sister were together.

That night of the breakup, he blocked and unblocked me for nearly a year until August 31st, 2023, but they wanted to catch me in something to intimidate me.