Not every relationship is meant to last. Sometimes the break is mutual and sometimes it's not. Often times, a relationship dies a slow and horrible death, with the couple dragging on and on in misery. It's better when a moment of clarity comes—at least you know it's over and break things off shortly thereafter. The following stories of relationship tipping points capture the spectrum of all kinds of scenarios, ranging from ridiculously hilarious breakups to downright sad ones. Read on for some real-life tales of woe and despair.
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#1 What Else Was He Hiding?
#2 Who Did This Guy Think He Was Fooling?
He kept treating his dance partner better than me. He would take her out for drinks, buy stuff for her, post photos of her online, etc.) but he wouldn't even hold my hand in public. He had nothing about me on social media whatsoever. I have no issue with him having female friends or dance partners, but I do have an issue with him paying for dinner and drinks with them, then have me, his girlfriend, pay for every single date night. I once dropped $70 for a movie night, $40 of which were spent on his drinks. The guy still hit me up whining about how we could've worked out, how he misses my cat, etc. I dumped him over a year ago.
#3 No One Likes A Control Freak
We moved into a house together. Things between us were a little on the rocks, but I figured I could work a little harder and she would too. I had my doubts though—she was a control freak and really only took what I said about things at face value. We had a huge fight about the living room paint color. She said it was just awful and couldn't put up with it.
We went back and forth about it for a week or so until I finally just decided to concede on this one. She compromised and let me choose the bedroom color. When I showed her which one I wanted to use, she described it as a cream color, but like adding too much creamer to coffee. "Disgusted" was her word for it. Anywho, I'm standing in the paint aisle on my day off and utterly exhausted from a week of work and remodeling.
I'm dead tired and she's combing through the paint swatches. She finds the color and we get it mixed. We end up in an argument in the car as I'm opting for bed and she wants to paint. I told her it is better to do it during the day so we can open the windows and let it air out better. It was currently raining and I didn't want water spots. The argument escalated and grew until she finally just got so upset that she left.
I decided to be nice and start painting the opposing window wall to at least show her I heard her thoughts. After a few strokes, I was just done. I was sick of her and her controlling attitude. I was done feeling like a jerk for things I didn't do wrong. I was tired of living her dream life. Do you know why it hit me? That paint was the exact same color as the wall.
#4 Listening Isn't Her Strong Suit
#5 Putting The Ex Before The Current Is Not Acceptable
#6 No Thanks, Minnesota
#7 When Your Threat Backfires
#8 Freeloading Can't Work Out Forever
#9 How You Treat Animals Says A Lot About You
#10 Fierce Competition With Your Partner Doesn't Usually End Well
We went to a new country for both of us (the Netherlands, I'm Portuguese and she's Polish). I got a job, she didn't. She got upset and started stressing. I got a better job, she got an average one, and the stress continued. In order to get an even better job, she applied to work in ANOTHER country. She got accepted and soon our relationship was over.
#11 Long Distance Is Tough
We were in a long-distance relationship and had been having problems for a long time. I flew home to visit him for his birthday and felt like I was going to have a panic attack the whole time I was there. We had some fun and didn’t fight a ton, but I was super tense. Finally, I got back and it just felt like such a relief. A couple of months later, he was just about to visit me and we got in a fight. He threatened to cancel his trip and not come. At first, I argued against the idea, but then actually considered it and realized what a weight off it was.
#12 Caught In The Act
We had been together for five years. She started dating someone else for the last five months of our relationship. I work night shift as a police officer and I only found out because I realized I left something at home when I left for work and went home to get it around midnight and this random guy was sleeping in my bed and my girlfriend was nowhere to be found—she was making a run to Walgreens. That’s when I confronted the guy. He told me he knew all along that she was dating me, and they had been seeing each other in secret every time I had a night shift.
#13 It's The Thought That Counts, And He Was Thoughtless
We were at a food festival, standing in line for like 10 minutes for some french toast thing. He ordered first and got his food, but when it was my turn, I realized it was cash-only. I only had my debit card. He turned to me and basically yelled, "Wow, what are you going to do?" After being together for 10 months, cohabitating, and splitting everything 50/50, he wasn't willing to spot me $5 for french toast, even though his salary was double mine. He even felt the need to call attention to it loudly in front of the whole line.
We walked away from the vendor with him chomping down on his french toast and me empty-handed. It seems trivial, but if I had just stood in line with someone I loved or even a good friend, I would have just covered them. It gave me the impression that he would never really have my back. I could never see him the same after that, and we broke up the next month.
#14 The Secret's Out
His wife rang me and introduced herself after a two-year relationship.
#15 Once A Liar, Always A Liar
We were apartment hunting and we agreed on trying to find a two-bedroom so that I could have an office (extra space was really important to me for various reasons). We found a great apartment that I absolutely loved, but it was way over budget so we couldn't get it. Then, the landlord called after we turned it down and was willing to give us an amazing deal because he knew us.
My boyfriend secretly turned down the offer and we ended up moving into a tiny and expensive one-bedroom. Turns out, he liked the renovations in the small apartment and didn't think my need for space was worth giving that up, so he made the executive decision without me. He didn't tell me about it until we officially signed the lease so there was no backing out. It was hard to trust him after that.
#16 Sometimes It's Just Not Meant To Be
He wanted to party and travel. I wanted marriage and babies. We broke up so we both could pursue our dreams. Fast forward to ten years. I’m happily married with a house, three kids and a minivan. He’s still partying and traveling. Both of us are super happy with our choices! Kudos to all!
#17 Not The Type That Cares About Family
#18 You Shouldn't Need Permission For This
#19 Don't Look Back
I recently moved in with a guy who had moved across the country to make a go of it with me. We weren’t really in love, but I think we both thought maybe we should give it a shot. He kind of wanted to get out of his town and I guess I wanted to be in love with someone. After about a month, we were sitting outside together. I don’t remember at all what we were talking about, we weren’t fighting at all, just casually chatting...
But for some reason, I said to him: “If you ever leave me, I want you to do me a favor. Wait until I’m at work, pack your stuff up, drive away, and don’t ever look back.” I knew deep down it wasn’t working out, but I said it loosely like I was just joking. A few days later, that’s exactly what he did. It was the best thing he ever did for me.
#20 The Driver
#21 Go Be With Beth Then
He told me I had put on weight during our relationship and that he wasn't attracted to me anymore. In fact, he added that my coworker Beth's body type was more appealing to him.
#22 She'll Never Be Able To Share A Bed
#23 Take The Jewelry And Run
I found jewelry in his bedroom that was not mine.
#24 Just Trying To Stay Alive, Man
I was diagnosed with cancer and started my chemotherapy, but according to her, I wasn't focusing enough on her. Sorry, I was just trying not to, you know, die.
#25 He Broke The Rules
#26 The Overly Sensitive Type
I had panic attacks from just thinking about talking to her and telling her something. So many times she would take everything as an insult and cry. Everything. I would have to practically crucify myself in order to make her stop crying. It just got to be too much.
#27 Sometimes The Breakup Comes As A Surprise To Both
Funny enough, it was something we both felt would be positive for our relationship. She was planning on buying a house in a town near where we lived. We had lived in an apartment rent-free for three years and she had always wanted a house. So the plan was we’d live separate for a year and then I’d get a job in that town and move in.
Then one night we were driving home with a friend, and she was so excited about the house and “doing her own thing.” Everything she was saying sounded like she wanted to be single, and after a few minutes of her talking about how excited she was to live on her own, I said, “Uh...it kinda sounds like you want to be single. Do you want to be single?”
She responded with “Uh...I...I don’t know.” We drove the rest of the way home silent, dropped the friend off, then went home and we broke up. Honestly, it was a huge relief. We were absolutely not the right fit for each other and while we were okay at the time, there had consistently been bad periods with intermittent good times with us. We always worked as friends but being in a relationship together was taking a toll on both of us. No hard feelings towards her, honestly, it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ve found someone I work incredibly well with and so has she and I couldn’t be happier for her.
#18 Can't Compete With Jesus
#29 Differing Opinions Can Really Ruin Things
He that he did not support same-sex relationships, but one of my best friends are gay.
#30 Not The Sweetest Thing A Person Could Say
"When you die and I sell the house, I don't see why your kids should get any of my hard-earned money because letting them live here is a gift." Yeah, okay, we're good.
#31 What Happens When You Date A Pathological Liar
A year in, I found out she lied about her age and where she was from. She said she was from Australia, and she faked the accent and everything. It wasn't until I was having dinner with her parents that I caught her in her lie. I let it all go, then she ended up cheating on me. I let that go too. She moved into a building not too far from me and told me her dad wasn’t home for the weekend, so I decided to spend the weekend with her.
When she went to school I’d stay at her house and clean, make dinner, etc. One day, she was supposed to be home around 7 p.m., but she didn’t come home until 11 p.m. When I asked her what happened she just brushed it off. It felt really sketchy so I checked her phone, and I found out she had been going on dates the entire weekend, then coming home to me. I snapped and left her.
#32 Veganism Isn't For Everyone
#33 Taking Victimhood Too Far Is A Dealbreaker
My ex would constantly rant about white people being successful just because they’re white. He claimed he was destined to never reach success because he was born a minority. I’m not white—I come from a family of immigrants and was taught to work hard for success. Although I personally experienced setbacks and hardships, which some (not all) of my white counterparts did not, I never felt deterred from achieving what I wanted. I put myself through law school and consider myself fairly successful.
My ex had a similar upbringing to mine and had all the resources I had to pursue any career he wanted. He got an associate’s degree and worked for a local government office. He hated the job but never did anything to improve his situation. I live in the suburbs and whenever he came out to visit, his mood would turn sour because he hated looking at “nice houses” and “successful people," complaining that he’d never be able to afford a house.
I constantly disagreed with him and used myself and other family members as examples of why that wasn’t true. In fact, I’d show him demographic data of “wealthy” areas with a high percentage of black and Hispanic residents. The last time he brought it up, I simply told him the reason he’d never be successful was that he lacked ambition and used race as an excuse to do nothing about his financial failure. I had no interest in being with someone like him. I don’t deny the existence of white privilege, unequal distribution of wealth and systemic racism in this country. But none of that stands in the way of, at the very least, making an effort to better yourself and your situation.
#34 Relationships Are A Two-Way Street
#35 Honesty Isn't Everything
#36 Blatant Theft
My ex lost his job, but he had a copy of my credit card. He used it to pay his personal bills and buy all sorts of other things, like a tattoo. I ended up owing almost $7,000 on credit card.
#37 Just Let It Go
Around our three-year anniversary, my ex started to be really obsessive about the fact that I had slept with people before him. He began shaming me for things that had happened years before we started dating. He would get incredibly angry at the fact that I didn’t regret sleeping with people. It took me a few months to actually break up with him, but that was definitely what made me want to get out the relationship.
#38 It's Never Too Late To End Things
#39 A Couple Who Travels Together, Stays Together
#40 Her True Colors Came Out
I got really sick last March out of nowhere, and doctors initially thought it could've been colon cancer. I was only 23, so this obviously had me shaken to my core. They expedited everything and a week after I first went in for my symptoms. I was getting put under for them to take a closer look. My girlfriend knew what time the procedure was and roughly how long it would last.
When I woke up, I turned my phone on and was blown up with messages from friends all over, asking me what the results were and how I was doing. But there was no text from the girlfriend. About an hour later, she texted me saying, "Are you serious?" and I asked what she was talking about. She responded that someone dinged her car door at work.
I didn't respond. She then asked me how the procedure went and what the results were. She knew I was upset and said she figured I'd just tell her later. With my symptoms, the doctors told us if it was colon cancer, it would have to be pretty bad at this point, but yet she was fine with waiting an entire day to hear how I was. Luckily, it wasn't cancer. I broke up with her not long after.
#41 She Was Clearly Not Ms. Tranquility
I was leaving the gym and I told her I would be over at her apartment after 45 minutes. I just needed to shower. I kid you not, at the 45-minute mark, she was already texting me, upset that I wasn't there yet. I apologized and told her I had to go to the bathroom, so it was taking a little longer. I showed up at the 50-minute mark and she would not open the door beyond leaving the security latch attached. She kept telling me to get out through the small opening.
After about five minutes of trying to reason with her to let me in, I decided to leave. When I got back to my apartment, I figured I might as well enterta.in myself and play some video games. About 40 minutes later, she showed up to my place, banging on the door. I happily opened the door thinking she changed her mind! She saw that I was clearly playing video games and enjoying a glass of wine. She walked over, then threw thew the wine on the ground. She then smashed my Playstation
She saw how in shock I was, so she tried to brush up the broken wine glass with her bare hands. She started bleeding and crying, so I began pleading with her to stop because she was tearing her hands up. The last time we were in the same room together. What a whirlwind of a relationship that was!
#42 Communication Is Key
I’d been saying we’d had communication issues for some time, among other issues. Then, a few days before Christmas, I texted him asking if he wanted to get together to exchange gifts. He informed me that he had already left to visit his parents without telling me he was leaving. Safe to say, I was a bit upset.
#43 The Cookies That Broke The Camel's Back
#44 Family Knows
I came to the realization that none of my friends or family had anything nice to say about him. They never talked bad about him or anything; they just never brought him up. It was a huge red flag that I overlooked. After I got out of that relationship, I found another guy, and the first time he met my parents, they immediately told me, "We like him!" The joy I got from that was unreal. I ended up marrying him, and we celebrate our three year anniversary this month.
