In July 2023, I joined a new gym and met a girl. For the first few days, we would stalk each other at the gym. My first reaction when I saw her was that it felt like we had known each other for ages, and she was made for me. After a few days, we started talking, and from our first conversation, it never felt like we were strangers. Slowly, we started talking all day, even late into the night.
One day, out of the blue, she told me that she was already in a relationship with someone who lived in another city. At first, I thought she was joking, but later I found out she was serious. The problem was, I had already fallen deeply in love with her. She said she was also developing feelings for me and that I was the best bond she ever had. Then one day at the gym, her boyfriend suddenly showed up.
She was just as shocked as I was but didn’t show it. Seeing them together made me panic, and my heart felt like it stopped beating. I ran out of the gym immediately. That night, she sent me a thousand texts saying she didn’t know her boyfriend was in town and was as surprised as I was. I didn’t reply because I wasn’t in the right state of mind, and I had panic attacks all night. In one of her texts, she said, “I love you more than anyone, please don’t leave me.”
The next day, we met, and she started crying, begging me not to leave her. I continued with her for several months. She asked me to wait so she could end her relationship with her boyfriend, and I agreed. But one day, I saw her with him again, and the same feelings overwhelmed me as before. I confronted her, and she said she couldn’t leave him, but if I was okay with it, we could stay friends. I refused and left her and that place immediately.
Now, it’s been almost 8 months, and I still can’t get over the trauma. My mental health has been ruined. I don’t even blame her because she was honest about her past and present. How can I move on and start living happily?