Her story might seem familiar to many—it’s about discovering red flags that had been overlooked, and finally summoning the courage to walk away. What makes her experience stand out, however, is how the support of online communities helped her see the reality she was blind to, ultimately guiding her to make a difficult but necessary decision. It’s a tale about trusting your instincts, digging deep into the truths, and realizing your worth in the process.
In the end, her story highlights a powerful message: sometimes, the hardest endings pave the way for new beginnings. The unsettling truth she uncovered led her to break free from a toxic relationship and embrace her own wellbeing. Her journey serves as a beacon of hope for others who might be going through similar situations—reminding them that, even in the darkest moments, there is a path toward healing and self-discovery.

This is probably a bit stupid but that boy has got me questioning my own mind. Either way, sorry if this is a bother.
I broke up with my bf a few weeks ago. I had realised – in part thanks to Reddit – that some of his behaviour was absolutely not okay & when I tried to talk to him, the conversation escalated to me breaking up with him.
I have a pretty severe case of face blindness/prosopagnosia. It means I can’t recognise/remember people’s faces & go by other characteristics to try & put a name to someone.
(Voice, (hair)style, posture, etc.) People around me know & introduce themselves when we meet & other things to make it easier. (I have a lot of anxiety because of it.)
He used to try & test me, which gave me a lot of stress. Changed up his look without warning to see if I knew it was him, and a lot more. He called it pranks. (He is a jokester.)
So, we broke up. It’s been a lot. He’d been calling/messaging non-stop with both apologies & non-apologies, ‘till I blocked him.
In moments of a lot of emotion I said things like I never wanted to see him again, and he’d reply that he was hurt, that I wouldn’t even know if it was him & I was lucky he wouldn’t do it.
Made me feel icky.
He’s contacted me again yesterday – through a new account – saying he just wants one more face-to-face conversation, if only to give him his stuff that is still at my place & get some closure so we can both move on.
I said my plan was to get a mutual friend to bring it over to him. He was hurt.
He did seem a lot more calm than before & told me we were together for a year, he just wanted one conversation after I suddenly broke things off. That he had some time to process now, etc & that he doesn’t understand how he suddenly – after a year of loving each other – became so evil I couldn’t have one chat with him.
But I don’t feel good about it. My gut’s telling me this will not be a good conversation, my worst fears are telling me he might play a trick to prove some point.
WIBTA if I don’t reply anymore/just say no?
Edit: I didn’t expect all these replies. I hope it’s okay I respond like this. Thank you all, really. I think I knew already but somehow started to doubt myself. (The past weeks have been a lot.) I really appreciate & needed these words.
I’m ready for all of this to be over & done with.
Also just a little thank you in general. Reddit’s been a wonderful community & it’s helped me a lot.
Conclusion
Her story ends on a note of empowerment, illustrating how the courage to confront uncomfortable truths can ultimately lead to personal growth and freedom. By trusting her instincts and turning to supportive online communities, she uncovered the reality of her relationship and made the brave choice to walk away. Although the ending may seem somber with the breakup, it is also a new beginning—one where she prioritizes her well-being and finds hope beyond heartbreak.
This journey showcases the importance of awareness, self-respect, and the strength to leave behind what doesn’t serve your happiness. For anyone feeling trapped or confused in their own relationships, her experience offers a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to seek clarity and take control of your destiny. Sometimes the toughest stories have the most inspiring endings—proving that even after pain and betrayal, there is hope, healing, and a brighter tomorrow.
Here’s how people reacted:
So everything is your fault and he did nothing wrong ?
You shouldn’t bother, it won’t be productive conversation and you’ll probably feel worse.
If you suffered from regular blindness and he tripped you all the time would it be ok?
Stay away from this hurtful person.
> after a year of loving each other – became so evil I couldn’t have one chat with him.
He did it many times, so it’s not ‘suddenly’.
This isn’t just a relationship issue, his past behavior crossed the line into being abusive. Being alone with him in an apartment is not a good idea. Now if you want to give him closure then there are some ways you can do it.
1. Meet him in a public place (restaurant) with friends or family at a nearby table.
2. Let him come get his stuff but have 2 friends or family members present. Make sure one is a man or a woman with self defense training.
Personally with his past behavior he lost the right to closure. Have a mutual friend take his stuff back to him and block him on everything. Stay safe.
“Closure” is Reddit speak for “Let me have one last chance to beg, belittle, berate and blame.”
How many times out of 100 would you think it would ever go like this?
Person A: Here are the reasons I am breaking up with you.
Person B: Okay, I understand.
Person A: Goodbye and good luck.
Person B: You too.
I am guessing the answer is ZERO.
i bet if you DID (pleaseeee don’t) if you DID go meet him, he will have completely changed himself to completely fuck with you. Like fully change hair color, grow a full beard, go and get fake contacts and blah blah. He can’t “see how he became so evil in a year…” HE KNOWS HE”S EVIL, he’s being smug.
get his stuff out today, block him every time he makes a new account. he’s a nutjob.
“You played on my disability to amuse yourself. This is a dealbreaker.
You ruined my trust in you. This is a dealbreaker.
You continued to do this after I had told you it upset me and caused me stress. You don’t respect my boundaries. This is a dealbreaker.
You care about your amusement more than me. This is a dealbreaker. “
NTA. I hope he suddenly has to move across the country.
Pack his shit up and have the mutual friend deliver it, as you planned.
You made the right decision to part from him, and you are making the right decision not to meet him again. You don’t owe him anything.
As for this:
“that he doesn’t understand how he suddenly – after a year of loving each other – became so evil I couldn’t have one chat with him.“
You can tell him that you don’t understand either how he could be so evil, but there you are. Knowing that was not what he meant, it is still pretty spot on.
He has proven that you can’t trust him, “he’s a jokester” is code for “he doesn’t care about anyone else’s wants or needs, just the fleeting adrenaline rush of attention”. … He’s even demanding your attention now (my theory is he’s pissed because eh can’t command you as a participant anymore).
Tell him you’ll meet him. And then either go with a friend, or send the friend alone.
You broke up with him for good reasons. His toxic and immature behavior says a lot about him.
Move forward and have a friend drop off his stuff. You owe him zero explanation or closure.
NTA
“don’t contact me” = don’t contact me.
even if he deserved anything. he lost it by manipulating a new account to contact you against your wishes.
give his stuff to a mutual friend. she block any new account
my 2c.
Please trust your gut. Send someone else to bring him his stuff without you there and definitely don’t meet him for a talk.
If you told him you were a paraplegic would he hide your wheelchair, you know, just for funsies?
You need someone who considers your feelings. He doesn’t deserve the gift of closure he so desperately wants.
You wanted him to be a good person. He wouldn’t deliver that to you.
Looking back you will realize how big of a bullet you dodged.
This person has no respect for you or your condition and he’s not going to change. Especially after he made that comment that you wouldn’t even recognize him. DUH! That is the exact nature of your condition.
Find someone that at least tries to understand… Someone with a lot less ego that’s not going to get butthurt because “you don’t recognize him.”
The fact that he tests you like that is hurtful and cruel. If you meet him, don’t be surprised if he does it again. He seems to think he’s funny when he isn’t.
Pack up his stuff, very nicely. Take pics of it to prove it is. It broken or stolen. Give it to the friend and have it dropped off.
It is never worth being with someone that places on a weakness or insecurity or with your feelings. People like that don’t need closure.
And I was simply reply and answer his question and say:
You seem to think my face blindness is funny, so maybe you can find the amusement in this too- you didn’t become so evil I can’t talk to you, this is who you always were I just couldn’t see it. I cant get my year back but Now that my eyes are open to your abusive manipulative behavior I will no longer be subjecting myself to you.
NTAH OP. You have a medical condition that is difficult to live with and your ex partner, who was supposed to love you, was a straight up ass. He CHOSE to play horrible pranks are you (which aren’t pranks, it’s straight up bullying). He CHOSE not to listen to you when he brought up your concerns. And it sounds like her CHOSE to continue this bad behavior for a while. This isn’t love. This is a child throwing a temper tantrum. And now he’s gaslighting you about it.
You’re correct about not seeing him again. From now on, don’t answer any of his calls. Let them go straight to voicemail and if you have to (I mean like he forgot his birth certificate at your place) then only reply to text. Once your friend gets all of the things out of your place (take a video proving what it all is), then block him everywhere. You have no reason to speak to him again and he doesn’t need closure. He had closure when you broke up with him when you told him what was wrong.
The closure he needs is to know he shouldn’t prank people using there greatest weakness. Especially if you love them. That is just mean.
What he did was not pranks, it wasn’t ‘jokes’. It was cruelty for entertainment. It amused him to fuck with you, that’s the bottom line.
OP, f this guy. Nothing good can come out of meeting up with him. You’re only considering it because, again, it’s what HE wants. Time for you to start listening to your gut and do what YOU want for a change. Enough of your energy has been wasted on his wants. NTA
Because you were hoping with time he would realize how cruel toying with your condition is and actually stop, INSTEAD he chose to keep doing it.
THAT is what made him “evil” as he’s labeling it.
He was treating something you struggle with as a game and then the post break up comments honestly DO make him sound evil. I would genuinely feel anxious about the “you won’t Even know it was me if I come see you anyways” remarks and would not be able to put any trust back into a person that basically is threatening to go against my wishes and purposely weaponize my condition against me to do so purely for his own benefit.
That’s toxic as hell.
NTA OP
***He called it pranks. (He is a jokester.)***
Hunny, as someone who’s a jokester and who had no idea wtf face blindness was until this post, he’s not a jokester or into pranks. He’s just fledged asshole, who uses it as an excuse to be one. So make the call and be done with this shit. Give yourself a good life without the trouble.
I remember your first post. Your ex is a selfish pos that was using your disability as a way of amusing himself regardless of the impact it has on you. You don’t owe him anything, least of all closure.
If you are wanting to say anything to him at all, when you get your friend to take his stuff to him ask them to pass on the message that it’s not that you can’t have one last conversation with him, it’s that due to his actions you don’t want to have one. You have absolutely no desire to speak to, or even be near, him at all.
The kindest thing you can do for yourself and the best/only way for an asshole to grow is if you tell him nothing needs to be said, block and stop contact.
I know abuse is complicated and women have been socialized to be ‘nice’ to people who literally choose to traumatize us. It’s your decision. But please do not put the comfort of this loser above your own.
I’m very happy for you, OP. Remember, you deserve good things.
That would be when he decided to use your disability as joke fodder, akin to stealing a person’s prosthetic leg and teasing them with it, or taking a person’s wheelchair and taunting them to walk to him.
Honestly, he might really do this. If you’re meeting him, make sure you bring a companion. He has lost your trust at this point.
In light of what he said about if he sees you, you won’t know it’s him I think a chat with the police is in order for some advice on making the situation as safe as possible.
Don’t even give one thought to his wants or discomfort. He didn’t for yours.
I would just respond “I don’t trust you and I don’t want to see you again. The friend will drop off your things. These are the consequences of your actions”
He knows exactly what he did that made you broke up with him.
Him calling himself “evil” is a manipulation attempt (you’re supposed to say “you’re not evil” and invite the conversation next. Don’t do that)
I have no words. He doesn’t seem to be safe. He can reflect on his own. You don’t own him to prove that he is not evil. This is bs.
Be careful because he can still mess with you and take advantage of you.
NTA
Here’s a lesson for your ex: if you’re gonna be a complete dick hole, you won’t ever get the closure you want because you don’t deserve it, and you just have to accept that people will be left with the impression that you are a dick hole. That’s how it goes.
Do NOT meet with this monster again.
You’ve already told him what the issue is. Rehashing a conversation won’t give him the closure he seeks because he still won’t *understand*. He doesn’t understand that it wasn’t “one singular event and he’s evil all of a sudden”- you breaking up with him was the result of an entire *year* of bullshit and disrespect.
Until he can understand that his behaviour was shitty from the beginning, then he doesn’t deserve closure. You’ve already told him what he did wrong and you already gave him a years worth of chances.
He fucked around, now he’s finding out.
It will be a lesson that he brings into his next relationship. He doesn’t sound like a terrible guy, just an idiot who refused to be even a little bit empathetic.
What a complete ass for ” joking ” about Something like that.
Its his own fault.
Very VERY good you didn’t accept his BS.
GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH
Watch your back and be vigilant of your surroundings. I’m not trying to make you paranoid, but unfortunately, the mental health of all young adults is in decline, male and female, but too many stories of women giving in for one last time and they end up killed. You do not know him, even after a year of being with him. I thought I knew my ex, and after 20 years, he still did things after the break up that shocked me.
The only fucking with my partner’s prosopagnosia I’ve ever done is show him old family photos to see if he can tell who’s who (which he enjoys to a degree), but as soon as he gets frustrated or distressed, we stop.
Don’t ignore your gut.
Do not meet him in person.
This is someone who was cruel to you.
You don’t owe him any closure.
>became so evil I couldn’t have one chat with him.
This is him trying to continue to manipulate you. Don’t fall for it.
>WIBTA if I don’t reply anymore/just say no?
Don’t reply. Block him again. Change your number. Be alert and listen to your gut feelings.
Always trust your gut instincts & never let someone guilt/make you feel rude for your intuition!
If your family/friends/neighbours don’t know what he looks like; Make sure they do! Just in case he tries to weasel his way back into your life through trickery.
And lastly change your locks & get cameras. If it turns out he’s not an obsessive psycho ‘oh well better to be safe than sorry’ but if he is, you’ll be thankful that you set up some safe guards. Also if he crosses any more lines go straight to the police. Stay strong & make sure your family/friends/neighbours know if things escalate.
Tell him to grow up a lot before getting into another relationship. He will have many failed relationships if he doesn’t treat his partner with more respect.
After leaving this I hope you are not in elementary grade school.
This is what someone who loves and understands you does. They are out there. Go find you one.
Don’t humor him. Chances are he’s gonna use this as some form of petty get back at you.
When you realize someone likes to needle you or mess with you and you have to leave them because they won’t stop you need to realize that no matter what they say or do they are just going to continue that behavior because they get a rise out of it. You have to be the adult and put your foot down and stop the toxicity. He just wants to see how far he can push you so he can feel that you are beneath him.
i can tell you 100000% the conversation is not worth it. nothing he says is going to help you and you owe him nothing.
i can also say that if you’re like me, you’ll have something MUCH better on the horizon. <3
Well, sucks to be him, don’t meet up with him. Trust your gut.
You owe him nothing. He didn’t ‘suddenly’ become ‘evil’, he was working up to it the whole relationship. He kept pranking you and making light of your condition, triggering anxiety in you. You had to walk on eggshells *because* he was tricking you on purpose.
Continue with your plans to have a friend drop off what’s left of his stuff – I wouldn’t put it past him to try and trick you one last time by pretending to be someone else and trying to sue you for giving his stuff away to the wrong person. Ask a friend to do it and wash your hands of your ex.
***WIBTA if I don’t reply anymore/just say no?*** No. He is the asshole. And always will be due to his level of immaturity.
***I’m ready for all of this to be over & done with.*** Change your phone number. If he chases you down, call police and file stalking complaint.
Anyone who treats the disability of any person, let alone someone he claims to love, as a source of folly, is a rectal opening to the umpteenth degree, and at any cost, ***MUST*** be ommitted from your life.
So no, for your own safety, don’t ever speak to him again .
Love is caring about the partner not a selfish fulfillment of own desires (being it power or jokes or whatever).
He does not deserve your time.